Charles Henry Riggs

Charles Henry Riggs (Chinese: 查尔斯·里格斯, 林查理, February 6, 1892—March 13, 1953) was born in Aintab, Turkey. He was an American Presbyterian missionary and agricultural engineer. He is the grandson of Elias Riggs.[1][2]

Biography

At the age of two, Riggs's family relocated to Ohio. He was raised in Oberlin and completed his education at Oberlin High School in 1909. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Ohio State University in 1914. One year later, he encountered his future wife, Grace Edna Frederick. They wed on August 31, 1916, and thereafter journeyed to China together. The pair resided in Nanjing for one year, enrolled in a language school, before proceeding to Shaowu, Fujian province, where Riggs oversaw the newly established Agricultural Experiment Station.[3]

Subsequently, Riggs returned to the United States to advance his study. He obtained his Bachelor of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1931 and his Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering from Cornell University in 1932. Upon his return to China, he was designated Professor of Agricultural Engineering at University of Nanking in 1932.[4]

In the autumn of 1937, as the Japanese military advanced into Nanjing, Grace Edna Riggs returned to the United States with her children, while Charles Henry Riggs remained and commenced his work for the Nanking Safety Zone. During Nanjing Massacre, Riggs served as the Housing Commissioner for the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone, tasked with the responsibility of opening and arranging residences for the refugees.[5] In a letter to his wife, he stated that he relocated over 100,000 individuals within a single week. In the initial phase of the occupation, Riggs frequently patrolled the university grounds and expelled any intruders. Subsequently, he assumed responsibility for the fuel transportation to the facilities in the refugee camps and became a technical advisor overseeing the transportation system.[6][7]

In 1939, he made a brief trip to the United States to reunite with his family. After about three months in the United States, he and Grace returned to West China, where the Chengdu campus of University of Nanking had been transferred. Riggs was solicited to assist in the production of textiles, including military blankets. Subsequently, he served as an advisor to the National Agricultural Engineering Cooperation in Chongqing and Guiyang, Guizhou province.[8]

In 1945, he was summoned to Washington D.C. to offer his expertise to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration China Aid Initiative.[9] After only six months later, he traveled back to Nanjing, where he resumed his professorship in 1946. Riggs left China in 1951 due to Korean War and returned to the United States. In July 1951, he underwent laryngeal surgery but did not recover and died on March 13, 1953.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Wallace, John Hankins (1901). Genealogy of the Riggs Family: With a Number of Cognate Branches Descended from the Original Edward Through Female Lines and Many Biographical Outlines. The author. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  2. ^ The Missionary Herald at Home and Abroad. Missionary herald. 1939. p. 214. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  3. ^ "Death of Rev. Charles H. Riggs, China Missionary" (PDF). The Enterprise, Altamont, NY. 1953-03-20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  4. ^ "第二节 农学院的教学工作". historymuseum.nju.edu.cn. Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  5. ^ Lu, Suping (2004-11-01). They Were in Nanjing: The Nanjing Massacre Witnessed by American and British Nationals. Hong Kong University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-962-209-685-1. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  6. ^ "南京大学校史". historymuseum.nju.edu.cn. Archived from the original on 2018-03-04. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  7. ^ chinanews. "真实版《金陵十三钗》：费吴生将胶卷缝进大衣出城-中新网". www.chinanews.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
  8. ^ China Reconstructs. China Reconstructs. 1985. p. 28. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  9. ^ Union Seminary Quarterly Review. Union Theological Seminary. 1949. p. 41. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  10. ^ Sheng, Zhang (2021-11-08). The Rape of Nanking: A Historical Study. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 154. ISBN 978-3-11-065278-9. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  11. ^ Rabe, John (2007-12-18). The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-307-42868-4. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
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