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John Magee (priest)
Encyclopedia
John Gillespie Magee was an American
Episcopal
priest.
. Magee went to school at Yale University
, where he was a member of Skull and Bones
, and then on to divinity school in Massachusetts. A missionary in China, he was the minister at an Episcopal mission in Nanking from 1912 to 1940.
While in China, Magee married another missionary, Faith Emmeline Backhouse. They had four sons: John, Hugh, David and Christopher. Their first son was named after his father: John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
, who went on to write the famous poem, "High Flight."
Magee was doing missionary work in Nanking and was at the same time the chairman of Nanking Committee of the International Red Cross Organization. During the dark period when hundreds of thousands of defenseless Chinese were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Japanese army, Magee was appalled by the atrocity of the Japanese invaders.
Disregarding his own safety, Magee ran out of the Nanking Safety Zone
, going through streets and lanes, and took part in rescuing more than 200,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians who were facing being slaughtered. Magee shot several hundred minutes film with then the most advanced 16mm movie camera, which filmed at 6 shots per second. These films recorded men being beheaded by the Japanese army, women raped, and babies who lost parents with corpses lying all over in villages. They are the earliest and the most complete photo evidence of the massacre.
In 1938 when Magee published 10 of the photos in Life magazine the whole world was shocked. Some people wanted to buy Magee's original film with large sums of money for political purposes, yet he was not budged. He said he wanted to give the historical materials to the right person without charge at a right moment.
On 10 February 1938, Legation Secretary of the German Embassy, Rosen, wrote to his Foreign Ministry about a film made in December by Reverend John Magee to recommend its purchase. Here is an excerpt from his letter and a description of some of its shots, kept in the Political Archives of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.
Magee's role in documenting the Nanking Massacre
is featured in the movie Don't Cry, Nanking
. In the documentary film Nanking
, Magee was portrayed by actor Hugo Armstrong.
Christian Bale
portrays John Magee in the upcoming historical drama war film
The Flowers of War
, directed by Zhang Yimou
.
According to his father's last wish he offered the historical materials without charge. To remember the special contribution that Magee had made to the Nanking people a library was built in the name of Magee.
in April 1945. Magee served as chaplain to President Harry S. Truman
.
Before his death in 1953 he also served as the Episcopal chaplain at Yale University
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
priest.
Early life and education
Magee was born in 1884 in Virginia of the United States. Magee came from a wealthy Pittsburgh family. His brother was aviator and Congressman James McDevitt MageeJames McDevitt Magee
James McDevitt Magee was an aviator and a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Biography:James M. Magee was born in Evergreen, Pennsylvania...
. Magee went to school at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he was a member of Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
, and then on to divinity school in Massachusetts. A missionary in China, he was the minister at an Episcopal mission in Nanking from 1912 to 1940.
While in China, Magee married another missionary, Faith Emmeline Backhouse. They had four sons: John, Hugh, David and Christopher. Their first son was named after his father: John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr. was an American aviator and poet who died as a result of a mid-air collision over Lincolnshire during World War II. He was serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, which he joined before the United States officially entered the war. He is most famous for his poem "High...
, who went on to write the famous poem, "High Flight."
Nanking Massacre
During the Nanking MassacreNanking Massacre
The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder, genocide and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing , the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second...
Magee was doing missionary work in Nanking and was at the same time the chairman of Nanking Committee of the International Red Cross Organization. During the dark period when hundreds of thousands of defenseless Chinese were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Japanese army, Magee was appalled by the atrocity of the Japanese invaders.
Disregarding his own safety, Magee ran out of the Nanking Safety Zone
Nanking Safety Zone
The Nanking Safety Zone was a demilitarized zone for Chinese civilians set up on the eve of the Japanese breakthrough in the Battle of Nanking...
, going through streets and lanes, and took part in rescuing more than 200,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians who were facing being slaughtered. Magee shot several hundred minutes film with then the most advanced 16mm movie camera, which filmed at 6 shots per second. These films recorded men being beheaded by the Japanese army, women raped, and babies who lost parents with corpses lying all over in villages. They are the earliest and the most complete photo evidence of the massacre.
In 1938 when Magee published 10 of the photos in Life magazine the whole world was shocked. Some people wanted to buy Magee's original film with large sums of money for political purposes, yet he was not budged. He said he wanted to give the historical materials to the right person without charge at a right moment.
Film
Magee managed to film abuses of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers during the Nanking Massacre in December 1937. Magee's films were smuggled out of Nanking; copies were shown to members of the United States government, and sent to the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade them to institute sanctions against the Japanese government.On 10 February 1938, Legation Secretary of the German Embassy, Rosen, wrote to his Foreign Ministry about a film made in December by Reverend John Magee to recommend its purchase. Here is an excerpt from his letter and a description of some of its shots, kept in the Political Archives of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.
«During the Japanese reign of terror in Nanking - which, by the way, continues to this day to a considerable degree - the Reverend John Magee, a member of the American Episcopal Church Mission who has been here for almost a quarter of a century, took motion pictures that eloquently bear witness to the atrocities committed by the Japanese. (....) One will have to wait and see whether the highest officers in the Japanese army succeed, as they have indicated, in stopping the activities of their troops, which continue even today (...)»
«5. On December 13, about 30 soldiers came to a Chinese house at #5 Hsing Lu Koo in the southeastern part of Nanking, and demanded entrance. The door was open by the landlord, a Mohammedan named Ha. They killed him immediately with a revolver and also Mrs. Ha, who knelt before them after Ha's death, begging them not to kill anyone else. Mrs. Ha asked them why they killed her husband and they shot her dead. Mrs. Hsia was dragged out from under a table in the guest hall where she had tried to hide with her 1 year old baby. After being stripped and raped by one or more men, she was bayoneted in the chest, and then had a bottle thrust into her vagina. The baby was killed with a bayonet. Some soldiers then went to the next room, where Mrs. Hsia's parents, aged 76 and 74, and her two daughters aged 16 and 14. They were about to rape the girls when the grandmother tried to protect them. The soldiers killed her with a revolver. The grandfather grasped the body of his wife and was killed. The two girls were then stripped, the elder being raped by 2-3 men, and the younger by 3. The older girl was stabbed afterwards and a cane was rammed in her vagina. The younger girl was bayoneted also but was spared the horrible treatment that had been meted out to her sister and mother. The soldiers then bayoneted another sister of between 7-8, who was also in the room. The last murders in the house were of Ha's two children, aged 4 and 2 respectively. The older was bayoneted and the younger split down through the head with a sword. (...)»
Nanking Massacre
The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder, genocide and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing , the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second...
is featured in the movie Don't Cry, Nanking
Don't Cry, Nanking
Don't Cry, Nanking, also known as Nanjing 1937 , is a 1995 Chinese film about the 1937 Nanking Massacre committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in the former capital city Nanjing, China.-Plot:...
. In the documentary film Nanking
Nanking (film)
Nanking is a 2007 film about the 1937 Nanking Massacre committed by the Japanese army in the former capital city Nanjing, China. The film draws on letters and diaries from the era as well as archive footage and interviews with surviving victims and perpetrators of the massacre...
, Magee was portrayed by actor Hugo Armstrong.
Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
portrays John Magee in the upcoming historical drama war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
The Flowers of War
The Flowers of War
The Flowers of War , previously called Nanjing Heroes and 13 Flowers of Nanjing, is an upcoming historical drama war film directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Christian Bale and Shigeo Kobayashi...
, directed by Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
.
Disposition of the Nanking Massacre film
In 1953 Magee left the 16mm camera and the film to his son David who had accompanied him in Nanking. In 2002 when David heard of the news that China was going to build a museum in memory of the people who were killed during the Nanking Massacre, he came to Nanking.According to his father's last wish he offered the historical materials without charge. To remember the special contribution that Magee had made to the Nanking people a library was built in the name of Magee.
Later career
After Magee left Nanking, Magee served as curate at Church of the Presidents St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square (Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C. While there he was one of the Episcopal priests who officiated at the funeral of President Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in April 1945. Magee served as chaplain to President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
.
Before his death in 1953 he also served as the Episcopal chaplain at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
See also
- Minnie VautrinMinnie VautrinWilhelmina Vautrin was an American missionary renowned for saving the lives of many women at the Ginling Girls College in Nanjing, China, during the Nanking Massacre.- Biography :...
- John RabeJohn RabeJohn Rabe was a German businessman who is best known for his efforts to stop the atrocities of the Japanese army during the Nanking Occupation and his work to protect and help the Chinese civilians during the event...
- List of Protestant missionaries in China
- Christianity in ChinaChristianity in ChinaChristianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants , Catholics , and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its lineage in China is not as ancient as the institutional religions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the social system and ideology of...