Britta Fischer, U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association Photograph Collection, 1978

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A sociologist of science and engineering and member of Science for the People, Britta Fischer traveled to the People's Republic of China in 1978 as part of a tour arranged by the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association. Organized in 1974 to foster people-to-people diplomacy and a vision of veteran civil rights activist Unita Blackwell, the USCPFA sponsored speakers, seminars, and cultural exchanges with the PRC, and became one the first groups to organize tours to China from the United States. The 449 color slides (35 mm.) that comprise the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association collection document a tour to the PRC undertaken at the height of agitation over the Gang of Four. Beyond simple touristic scenes, the collection depicts a state-sponsored version of everyday life in China during the early post-Mao era.