John Gillespie Magee (October 10, 1884 – September 11, 1953) was an American Episcopal priest, best known for his work in

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

as a missionary, and for the films and pictures he shot during the

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the ...

. He is also credited with saving thousands of lives throughout the event.

Early life and education

Magee was born in 1884 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Magee came from a wealthy Pittsburgh family. His brother was aviator and Congressman James McDevitt Magee. Magee went to school at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

, 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 a missionary from Helmingham in Suffolk, England, Faith Emmeline Backhouse. They had four sons:

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, Hugh, David and Christopher. Their oldest son went on to write the famous poem '' High Flight'', when he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.

Nanking Massacre

During the Nanking Massacre, Magee was performing missionary work in Nanking and was at the same time the chairman of Nanking Committee of the International Red Cross Organization. During the period when hundreds of thousands of defenseless Chinese were 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 The Nanking Safety Zone (; '', Nankin Anzenku'', or , ''Nankin Anzenchitai'') was a demilitarized zone for Chinese civilians set up on the eve of the Japanese breakthrough in the Battle of Nanking (December 13, 1937). Following the example of Jesu ...

, going through streets and lanes, and took part in rescuing more than 200,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians who were facing being slaughtered. Magee filmed several hundred minutes with what was then the most advanced 16mm movie camera, which filmed at 6 frames per second. Some people wanted to buy Magee's original film for large sums of money for political purposes, yet he would not budge. He said he wanted to give the historical materials to the right person without charge at the right moment.

The 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, the Legation Secretary of the German Embassy, Rosen, wrote to his Foreign Ministry about a film made in December by 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 (...)»

Magee's role in documenting the

is featured in the movie ''

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 Set in late December 1937, the story focuse ...

''. In the film ''

'', Magee was portrayed by actor Hugo Armstrong.The New York Times
/ref> In 2001, John Magee's son, David Magee, donated the four rolls of film tape (105 minutes in length) that his father documented with a 16mm camera to Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.

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 John Magee’s name.

Later career

After Magee left Nanking, he served as curate at Church of the Presidents St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. While there, he was one of the Episcopal priests who officiated at the funeral of President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

in April 1945. Magee also served as chaplain to President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

. Before his death on September 11, 1953, he also served as the Episcopal chaplain at

References

External links

About Magee's Documentary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magee, John 1884 births 1953 deaths 19th-century American Episcopalians American Anglican missionaries American Episcopal priests American expatriates in China Anglican missionaries in China People assisting Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre Witnesses of the Nanjing Massacre Yale University alumni