George Clayton Foulk papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
George Clayton Foulk (1856-1893) served as naval attaché to the first U.S. legation sent to Korea in 1883 and was chargé d'affaires in Seoul from 1885 until 1887. Subsequently, he was a businessman in Japan and then a university professor of mathematics in Kyoto. Collection consists of dispatches, correspondence, reports, notes, photographs, prints, and several documents. Dispatches, 1884-1887, are letterpress copies written while Foulk served at the U.S. legation and describe current events in Korea. Correspondence, 1883-1887, both private and official, is from naval officers and others. Notes and reports concern Korea and affairs of the legation. Also, photographs of Foulk, prints of Korean ironclads, and Korean language documents.
George Clayton Foulk (1856-1893), an 1876 graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, served as naval attaché to the first American legation sent to Korea in 1883. He served under the minister, Gen. Lucius Foote and took charge of the legation upon Foote's departure in 1885; Foulk became a favorite of the Korean king and worked at the difficult task of helping Korea defend its national interests against domination by China and Western European powers. He was eventually recalled to the U. S. in 1887 on demand of the Chinese government. He married a Japanese woman that year and spent the remainder of his life in Japan, first as a businessman and later as a university professor of mathematics in Kyoto.
Foulk's papers, 1883-1887, contain letterpress copies of his dispatches while naval attaché and chargé d'affaires of the U. S. legation at Seoul, official and some personal correspondence, and reports. Correspondents include Secretary of State T. F. Bayard, the Department of the Navy, and diplomats Horace N. Allen, Hugh Dins more, and W. W. Rock hill. Included also are two photographs of Foulk, two prints of Korean ironclads, and several documents written in Korean.
May 7, 1900, Received from C. M. Foulke
Accessioned by Melanie Yolles, January 1985
N. A. [Horace Allen Papers].
Entire collection (except for oversize items) available on microfilm; New York Public Library; *ZL-309