2
3
4
5
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This joint resolution honors the life and service of Helen Foster Snow.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This resolution:
12 ▸ recognizes the life of Helen Foster Snow in the United States, China, and other
13 countries;
14 ▸ honors the work Helen Foster Snow created when she served as a war
15 correspondent in China;
16 ▸ recognizes the significant role Helen Foster Snow played in bearing witness to
17 Chinese revolutionary leaders;
18 ▸ recognizes Helen Foster Snow as a talented journalist and a principal leader in the
19 creation of Chinese cooperatives;
20 ▸ commemorates the awards and honors she received; and
21 ▸ honors her legacy and recognizes August of 2021, as the 90th anniversary of when
22 Helen Foster Snow first traveled to China.
23 Special Clauses:
24 None
25
26 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
27 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow was born in 1907 in Cedar City to John Moody Foster
28 and Hannah Davis;
29 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow was a descendant of Mormon pioneers and was raised
30 as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints;
31 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow, moved to Salt Lake City to live with her grandmother
32 and aunt to attend West High School where she became the editor of the school's yearbook and
33 was elected the vice president of the student government, the highest position for a female
34 student at that time;
35 WHEREAS, upon graduation, Helen Foster Snow attended the University of Utah;
36 WHEREAS, in 1931, Helen Foster Snow traveled to China to pursue writing where
37 upon she met Edgar Snow, who would later become her husband;
38 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow, daughter of a suffragist, was a fearless pioneer who
39 helped push the bounds for political roles for women in the early 20th century;
40 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow wrote 64 books and 27 manuscripts, of which only
41 seven books were published in the United States, including her 1984 autobiography, My China
42 Years: A Memoir;
43 WHEREAS, less than one week after Helen Foster Snow traveled to China, she
44 reported on the Yangtze River flood, which killed over 600,000 people and destroyed 12
45 million homes;
46 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow became a journalist who reported from China in the
47 1930s under the name Nym Wales on the Chinese Civil War, the Korean Independence
48 movement, and the Second Sino-Japanese War;
49 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow made it a priority to interview and report on the lives
50 of the female leaders in Yan'an, who provided her with detailed information of the issues the
51 people faced and resulted in her famous book Inside Red China;
52 WHEREAS, in 1938, Helen Foster Snow was a principal organizer and creator of the
53 Chinese Industrial Cooperatives and the Gung Ho movement, which created jobs for millions
54 of destitute individuals driven from farms and workshops into the interior, quickly rehabilitated
55 the industrial bases, and laid the social and economic foundation for rebuilding post-war China;
56 WHEREAS, Gung Ho is Chinese for work together, which represents all peoples
57 working together in cooperation;
58 WHEREAS, the work of Helen Foster Snow had a worldwide impact;
59 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow was recommended to the President of Korea for
60 commendations by prominent Korean academics as the American journalist and writer who,
61 among all non-Koreans, best understands the Korean people;
62 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow was regarded as the Mother of Cooperatives in India;
63 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1981 and
64 1982 for her world view on peace and progress in the world, and for her creation of the Gung
65 Ho movement;
66 WHEREAS, in 1991, Helen Foster Snow was the first recipient of the China Writers
67 Association's literary award;
68 WHEREAS, in 1991, the Edgar and Helen Snow Studies Center was founded in China;
69 WHEREAS, the Edgar and Helen Snow Studies Center has been researching and
70 publishing Helen's life with the support of three major Chinese universities: Peking, Northwest,
71 and Yan'an;
72 WHEREAS, many commemorative programs and activities commending Helen Foster
73 Snow's work can be found in China today including the exhibits at the Gung Ho Museum and
74 the Former Eighth Route Army Museum, numerous books, news articles, video documentaries,
75 TV dramatized series, memorial garden, and a digital platform;
76 WHEREAS, in 1996, Helen Foster Snow was the first American and fifth person ever
77 to be honored by the Chinese government as a Friendship Ambassador, one of China's highest
78 honors offered to a foreigner;
79 WHEREAS, in 2009, the United States-China Cultural Exchange Committee placed a
80 seven foot bronze statue of Helen Foster Snow in the Main Street Park in her home town of
81 Cedar City;
82 WHEREAS, although Helen Foster Snow was sympathetic to the early revolutionary
83 movement in China, she was never a member of the Chinese or American Communist Party;
84 WHEREAS, Senator Orrin Hatch summarized the ultimate aspiration of Helen Foster
85 Snow at the time of her death as, "Mrs. Snow built a bridge of goodwill between the hearts of
86 the Americans to the hearts of the Chinese people. Let her life stand as a reminder that what
87 lies behind the very different political systems of the world are real people whose hearts and
88 minds are not so far apart.";
89 WHEREAS, Helen Foster Snow was an exceptional Utahn who brought her pioneer
90 heritage to make a positive impact on the world stage; and
91 WHEREAS, August of 2021, will be the 90th anniversary of when Helen Foster Snow
92 went to China:
93 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the Legislature of the state of Utah honors
94 the memory and contributions of Helen Foster Snow and her legacy as a journalist, author, and
95 visionary, who dedicated her life as a bridge-builder between the people of the United States
96 and China;
97 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Legislature of the state of Utah views Helen Foster
98 Snow's bridge of goodwill as a reminder to bring American and Chinese people together; and
99 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah commemorates
100 August of 2021, as the 90th anniversary of Helen Foster Snow's first arrival in China.