L. Newton Hayes

Born on April 19, 1883, in Soochow (now Suzhou), China, Luther Newton Hayes grew up in a setting that shaped his lifelong interest in Chinese life and tradition. Sources agree that he was the son of American missionaries, and that he later studied in the United States, earning a B.S. from Wooster College in 1905 and an M.A. from Princeton University in 1907.

Hayes spent much of his early career in China, where he worked largely with the YMCA. Accounts also note that he served as an English tutor to the grandson of a Chinese prime minister. That close familiarity with the language and culture helped give his writing a grounded, informed tone, especially in books such as The Chinese Dragon and The Great Wall of China.

After returning to the United States, he worked in academic administration and later as a museum curator. Archival records at Yale preserve papers connected with his work, including lantern slides of the Great Wall of China. He is generally listed as having lived from 1883 to 1979, though some library-style records differ slightly on the exact year of death.