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The itinerary for the exhibit and the slide show, including selected viewer comments, is accessed by using the drop-down menu below. Attendance totals are estimated. If you are interested in bringing the exhibit to your community, please contact us.

Select the year of interest from 1994 to current:

About the Exhibit and Slide Show

CHINA: Exploring the Interior, 1903-1904, was first exhibited in 1994. Since then,
it has travelled to a total of 33 venues in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Florida, Colorado, Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Ohio. The collection has reached an estimated 75,000 public viewers.

A slide show is available for groups and organizations lacking the space to display the entire exhibit, and is a useful teaching aid for students of all ages. Sample slides are available. We also could consider a mini exhibit using less than the full complement of 73 framed photographs. Contact us for more information.

The exhibit’s web site has been on-line since 1998; during that time, the curator has responded to several questions a month from visitors, many of them students and teachers. (See the bibliography, compiled by China scholar J. K. Holloway, for related information.) Nearly 95,000 people from around the world have visited this site, which suggests its value as an educational resource and its positive contribution to relations between China and the U. S. For its Visions of China series, CNN linked to this web site, and it was site-of-the-day on Inside China Today.

Learning Resource Center, Dyersburg State Community College, Dyersburg, Tennessee. In conjunction with Dyersburg Book Fest 2009: The Cultural and Historical Origins of Modern China. Estimated viewers: 175.

American International College, Springfield, Massachusetts. Estimated viewers: 250.

COMMENTS
"A wonderful opportunity to see how the Chinese lived at the turn of the last century." "Enjoyable and eye-opening."

University of Rhode Island, Providence campus, and Moses Brown School. Total estimated viewers: 600. Estimated audience at opening reception in conjunction with Gallery Night Providence, 50-75.

COMMENTS
"Simply awe-inspiring amazing photos of history."

Bangor (Maine) Public Library. In conjunction with Linda Butler: The River beneath the Lake and the Yangtze Remembered Conference. Total estimated viewers: 2,300.

COMMENTS
“You've saved some wonderful historical photographs and preserved them for others to see. Congratulations!”--Linda Butler, author of Yangtze Remembered: the River Beneath the Lake

“Magnificent collection. In this digital age, I would hope that this show gets a big crowd to see the beauty and timelessness of traditional black and white photographs.”
“Fascinating glimpse into a China forever changed.”
“This is an excellent photo-history documentation. Well done."”

Bangor Public Library; in conjunction with “Yangtze Remembered” conference.

“The photos were interesting, but they were transformed into an experience through the slide show and narration of Bob Sargent, assisted by his wife, Jane.”

Library, United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York. Talk, Dr. Robert Gardella. Total estimated viewers: 600.

COMMENTS
"Fascinated by the look back at Chinese culture." "Black and white photos were sobering in their starkness." "The photos show a way of life that has vanished in some areas."

Roland Howard Room, Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill, Maine. Gallery talk, January 12. In conjunction with 2006 Camden Conference. Total estimated viewers: 400.

COMMENTS
“It was a great presentation, a unique opportunity for a generation of kids raised in a world of instantaneous communication to look back into time and see things that they found truly foreign and strange. I don't think that Bob (Sargent), myself, nor any of the teachers in the room could have anticipated the questions that 10- to 12-year-old students would ask. They looked deep into each picture and asked probing questions about every detail. As a result, Bob's presentations turned into a wonderful dialogue
between students, teachers, and presenter—an afternoon that I don't think any of us who attended will soon forget.”–Ross Little, volunteer coordinator, Dora L. Small School

COMMENTS
“Great historical work, but why not pictures of cities?” (Curator’s response: These were snapshots taken by a young man on his first trip out of his own country. He was on an expedition the purpose of which was to find a specific trilobite fossil: that search took the expedition very far indeed from any cities. Along the route, R. Harvey Sargent happily snapped away—the fortunate result is a collection of photos, which are rare, personal, and touching. Rare, because most photos of that time were indeed taken in the coastal cities, not the remote countryside; personal, because of the sense the viewer gets of the young (amateur photographer) Sargent’s delight in a world completely new to him; and touching by virtue of the glimpse, frozen on film, at a time and a place and at living souls long vanished.)

“Fascinating view of a distant land and time.” “Impressive collection of photographs. Wonderful that all sorts of people are exposed to their story.” “Makes me want to read more about China.”

COMMENTS
“I thought it would be boring, but it wasn't!” “When I saw them, I was amazed.” “It tells you about the hard-working life (sic) these people lived.” “We visited Beijing 2 years ago, and enjoyed tremendously this exhibit because of that trip.” “Very fine exhibit — info and pictures. Pamphlet on Mary Morrill, missionary, will be incorporated into my [next] sermon.” “Fascinating exhibit of photography and of a long ago period. Should be published.” “Enjoyed getting a real sense of true China in the faces of these people.” “Breath-taking!” “Eye-opening!”

COMMENTS
“A delight — unique, special — a gift offered to us, giving new perspective.”

COMMENTS
“Incredible photos, informative lecture — great fun!” “This exhibit is a powerful addition to the study of China.”

COMMENTS
“The photo exhibit is very exciting and moving. So old yet up-to-date...” “Wonderful photos — especially interesting because of the Maine connection.” “Invaluable — a treasure.” “An amazing window!” “Important perspective on an upcoming world power.” “The photographs are well focused and the subjects are illustrative of the region and the era.”

COMMENTS
“Wonderful photos — so informative. I learned so much about the Boxer Rebellion and early 20th century Chinese culture.” “Fascinating look at the interior of China during early 1900s.” “Beautiful photography. Having been to China, it was fascinating to see that some areas still look the same 100 years later.”

COMMENTS
“Provided information on a people/culture which is distant, and at times, an enigma.” “Great insight into daily life back then.”

COMMENTS
“An extraordinary collection.” “It looks incredible, and what a special lesson for the children.” “It is especially helpful to see this collection in such excellent and available condition: a photo documentation of another culture—in depth—and historical representation here on the Blue Hill peninsula.”–Bayard Brokaw, Director, The Bay School

COMMENTS
“The group portraits are striking.” “An excellent display for its historic and geographic interests, but also as a photo essay on rural Chinese life at the turn of the century.” “This historic document is quite remarkable. Mr. Sargent created not only wonderful photographs, but captured and glimpsed a culture which is so distant from our own, helping to appreciate the ‘ancient’ China of 1903.

COMMENTS
“This is a remarkable historic document.” “Evocative, particularly impressive given the state of photography at that point in time.” “Impressed by the imagery.” “As an Asian studies student, I want to express my gratitude for the time and trouble you took to compile this fine exhibit.”

COMMENTS
“One of the most outstanding exhibits on this wall that I have seen.” “Educational, informative, well mounted.” “Beyond the capability of modern explorers to duplicate this effort. A truly marvelous exhibit.” “The exhibit was very well received at the Survey’s National Center. More than 2,000 employees are permanently assigned here, and thousands of visitors walk through the Main Hallway Gallery each month. We were very pleased with the exhibit and its portrayal of a little bit of Chinese history at the time of the Boxer Rebellion.”–Charles Nethaway, Show Chairman, Fine Arts Committee, USGS.

COMMENTS
“Learned more from this exhibit than from textbooks.” “Very interesting and well-organized.” “Hope to see more such exhibits.” “A moment captured in time…” “Photos vivid and clear, show a lot of character and detail in faces and places.”

COMMENTS
“This exhibit is a pearl.” “Well worth coming to see.” “Photo 17 is quite remarkable, as the Mongol’s eyes move with you about the room.” “Good balance for Imperial Tombs.” “Great appreciation for our early work exploring other countries.” “These photos gave a better understanding of how people lived, worked, and travelled in China at this period of time.” “Captions informative and well worth reading.”

COMMENTS
“Interesting and well-planned, lecture did a very good job of conveying the essential information about the period 1903-1904 in clear and concise fashion.” “Truly beautiful and descriptive of a culture I otherwise would be ignorant about.” “It’s amazing how an individual’s personal record can later become such an important vestige of a lost culture.” “A new vista unfolds before our eyes–wonderful!” “A unique set of photographs made in China after the bloody Boxer Rebellion anchors this winter’s China Trade Exhibit at the Maine History Gallery. Forty-nine enlargements reveal rural Chinese life, architecture and monuments of the early 20th century.” –from the newsletter of the Maine Historical Society.

COMMENTS
Asian Studies Professor Kidder Smith: “The exhibit’s greatest strength is the images themselves. They go right to the heart...with the information contained in the captions, they are enormously effective in communicating something of China ninety years ago. It offers us a complex intersection of various forces, interest, and historical currents, in Maine of the early twentieth century, in China, and in our own classrooms and exhibit halls.”

COMMENTS
“Wonderful quality to the photos, and a fascinating history of an earlier time.” “These photographs have shown me some of the China of long ago. I was not familiar with China or her people. I am also reminded of how powerfully black and white photography describes people and places.” “Remarkably fine photographs, beautifully printed and presented.” “Brings history and geography to life.”

COMMENTS
“Absolutely fantastic!” “What a wonderful chance to see the China of so long ago.” “I’ve enjoyed this tremendously.” “Well-presented and informative.” “ Very effective; explained in great detail.” “Have been to China once and now want to go again.” “Came because my book group is reading The Good Earth; exhibit very informative.” “I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit. Some of my ancestors built the ships that sailed to China in those days.” “Interesting connection between Maine and China.” “I teach Global Studies with a focus on East Asia; I stayed overnight to see the exhibit. Fabulous.”

COMMENTS
“We should have more stuff like this more often! ” “It was neat.” “Excellent exhibit, interesting display.”

COMMENTS
“Enjoyed it immensely. ” “I was moved by the connection of Maine to interior China. As a descendant of Maine sea captains, this connection has always intrigued me.” “The lecture was very helpful.” “I’m going back for a closer look.” “The pictures are a true treasure. I am a young Chinese from mainland China–it is truly nice to see these pictures.”

COMMENTS
“Excellent. Loved the local connection with Annie Gould.” “Interesting. Quality of photographs impressive.”

COMMENTS
“Good time to recollect on old China.” “Informative; very telling photos. ” “An excellent use of USGS resources.” “Great! Reminded me of home. I lived in north China in 1927-41.”

COMMENTS
“Exceptional photo quality...black and white photography is hard to beat...lecture was informative and concise.” “Incredible clarity.” “Quite surprised by quality of photos...interested in Sargent, the man...Good job!” “Fascinating...the (captions) are very helpful...” “Very interesting exhibit. Good framing.”

COMMENTS
“...a rare glimpse of the traditional Chinese peasant culture from which the Chinese Revolution was to come.”

COMMENTS
“Excellent presentation.” “Photos are well printed and presented, as well as interesting to look at.” “Well done. Plain talk for general folks.” “This amateur photographer had a remarkable sense of composition.” “Revealing photographs (which) tell a story of rural China at a critical time in history...” “You won’t see stereotypical views of opium dens. Instead there are curious, mostly serious, faces, and huge monuments contrasting flat barren land. The black and white images only accent the harsh, gritty life these people led, working, worshiping, and surviving in a remote land.” –from the Machias Valley News.

COMMENTS
“I wish I could experience a journey like this.” “My high school-aged daughter was thrilled.” “Beautiful photography.” “I’m a Chinese, and the exhibit helped me to learn a lot.”

COMMENTS
“The photographs were of very high quality and so rare as to be a treasure.” “The speakers were clear and interesting.”