Title
Daniel F. Myers - A Friend to China
Document Type
Student Presentation
Presentation Date
4-15-2013
Faculty Sponsor
Sharon Wei
Abstract
This short talk introduces the life of Daniel F. Myers (1889-1973) and his experience in China from 1929 to 1944. Myers was an American automotive engineer selected initially by a representative authorized by Marshal Zhang Xueliang to set up and engineer a truck manufacturing factory in Mukden (Shenyang), Manchuria (Dongbei, North-East China). Although Shenyang fell to the Japanese in 1931, Myers stayed until 1933. Throughout the 1930s, Myers continued to work for the Chinese, first as technical advisor and service manager of Cathay Motors, then as Technical Advisor, regarding the development of automotive and other industries, to the Trust Department of the Central Bank of China, under Minister of Finance, Dr. H. H. Kung. By 1941, he was in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the China Defense Supplies Corporation, helping the Chinese appeal to the Lend-Lease Administration for road-building equipment and trucks needed to maintain the Burma Road. He continued his work for China Defense Supplies, Inc., until June 30, 1944, when it became clear that the Burma Road was closed and CDS transitioned into the China Supplies Commission.