Scope and Content Note
The papers of Frances Hawks Cameron Burnett, wife of Charles Burnett (1887-1939), United States military attaché in Japan, 1911-1914, 1919-1924, and 1925-1929, span the years 1818-1936, with the bulk from 1911 to 1936. The collection consists of correspondence, speeches, articles, poems, drawings, writings, practice books, newspapers clippings, and memorabilia. Approximately one-third of the material is in the Japanese language with English translations of some speeches, poems, and correspondence. The poems are written in polite-colloquial Japanese. The earliest item in the collection is an 1818 letter of Francis Lister Hawks (1798-1866), orator, author of several state histories, compiler of Matthew C. Perry's Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan (1856), and an ancestor of Frances Burnett. The remainder of the material is dated from 1911 to 1936 and relates chiefly to Burnett's involvement with Japanese society and culture when she accompanied her husband on his assignments to that country and to her later efforts in the United States to arrest the decline of American-Japanese relations. The collection is organized in five series: Correspondence, Subject File, Speeches and Writings File, Miscellany, and Oversize.
The Correspondence series is divided into two sections, family and general. Letters to and from Mrs. Burnett's husband, Charles, her mother, F. H. Cameron, and her adopted father, Japanese statesman Kentaro Kanekō, make up the family correspondence. The 1925 correspondence from Kanekō includes his resignation as president of the Japan-American Society stating, as his reason, his disapproval of the immigration Act of 1924, which banned the immigration of people from East Asia, and also the anti-Japanese activities on the West Coast of the United States.
General correspondence and the Speeches and Writings File constitute the bulk of the collection and document Burnett's close association with prominent and influential members of Japanese society. Among her correspondents were Nobuake Makino, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal; Viscount Yasumichi Katō, Master of Ceremonies at the Imperial Court of Japan; Viscount Eiichi Shibusawa, prominent business leader of the Meiji and Taisho eras; Miyoko Saitō (wife of Japan's ambassador to the United States, Hiroshi Saitō) from 1934 to 1939; and Takeko Kujō, prominent Japanese poetess.
Burnett's primary interest was in Japanese classical arts and literature. Her efforts to master the language, particularly polite-colloquial and written Japanese, were awarded when, in 1921, she competed with distinguished Japanese poets in the annual New Year's poetry party at the Imperial Palace and was awarded fourth place. The title of her poem was "Before the Shrine of Ise at Dawn." The writings file represents her poetic accomplishments in the Japanese language, including poems dedicated to the Japanese Imperial family that commemorate specific dates and events (e.g., wedding of Prince Regent Hirohito and Princess Nagako Kuni and birthdays of various members of the Imperial family). Original drawings and a manuscript entitled "Kumo No Kaoiji" (My Greatest Treasure) are part of the writings file and demonstrate the quality of Burnett's composition, style, and calligraphy in the Japanese language.
An advocate of humane treatment of animals, Frances Burnett founded the Nippon Jindo Kai (Japan Humane Society). She served for a time as president of the society, traveling throughout the country, making speeches and writings articles on the subject. Coinciding with this activity was her interest in the Boy Scouts of Japan. In April 1927, she was appointed honorary councilor of the Nippon Renmei Shonendan (Boy Scouts of Japan) by the mayor of Tokyo. On her return to the United States in 1929, she continued her affiliation with both organizations and worked on ameliorating strained relations between American and Japan through the Humane Society and Boy Scouts in the two countries. In addition to the speeches and articles relating to these activities in the collection, there are also subject files for the Japan and American Humane Societies and the Boy Scouts of Japan, documenting her activity in this area.
Clippings in the Miscellany series, 1913-1936, contain miscellaneous information on the activities of the Burnetts, particularly Frances Burnett, on the Japanese Imperial family, and on the many events of historical significance to Japan during the years specified. Many of the clippings are from the English supplement of the Japan Gazette and The Japan Times and Mail. Clippings after 1929 highlight the Burnett's activities in fostering Japanese-American relations in the United States.
The Miscellany series also holds memorabilia collected by Frances Burnett during her years in Japan and includes such items as invitations from the Imperial Palace, honorary certificates, and poems and writings by others (some dedicated to Burnett).
There is a minimal amount of material on Charles Burnett, including two speeches and miscellaneous correspondence.