This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License. | Details of our policyCollection Description: Letters, manuscripts, photographs, and other materials documenting the remarkable diplomatic career of Cornelius Van Engert, who served in a number of foreign service postings, including Addis Ababa, Constantinople, the Hague, Havana, Kabul, Santiago, and Teheran.
Date Span: 1896-1980.
Extent: 12 linear feet.
Collection Description: Letters, memoranda, photographs, and other materials relating to J. Graham Parsons' lengthy career in the U.S. foreign service. Includes documents from his postings in Japan, Laos, and Sweden, together with his work on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
Date Span: 1932-1991.
Extent: 19 linear feet.
Collection Description: Correspondence and other documents amassed by Cecil B. Lyon from his U.S. foreign service assignments in Ceylon, Chile, Cuba, and France.
Date Span: 1930-1971.
Extent: 29.25 linear feet.
There is a separate Research Guide detailing our manuscripts collections concerning the Panama Canal.
Collection Description: One bound letterbook containing handwritten copies of outgoing letters dated from 1842 to 1844 from Irving while he served as U.S. Minster to Span from 1842 to 1846.
Date Span: 1842-1846.
Extent: 0.25 linear feet.
The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) in Arlington, Virginia, conducts oral history interviews of former U.S. Foreign Service officials as part of the Foreign Affairs Oral History Project (FAOH). The interview transcripts are posted online, full-text, and free-of-charge on the ADST Web site at https://adst.org/what-is-adst/. There are more than 2500 transcripts.
There are also "Country Readers" which contain the excerpts from all of the interviews concerning a specific country. The "Country Readers" are available on the ADST Web site at https://adst.org/oral-history/country-reader-series/
The FAOH transcripts are also accessible on the following Library of Congress Web page: https://loc.gov/collections/foreign-affairs-oral-history/about-this-collection/
The best way to access the interviews is from the ADST Web page or the Library of Congress Web page.
Collection Description: Correspondence, manuscripts, and other personal papers of James Brown Scott, highlighting his work with the Second Hague Conference, the Paris Peace Conference, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, international law, and women's rights.
Date Span: 1891-1967.
Extent: 43.75 linear feet.
Collection Description: Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. Papers: Part 1. Personal papers of Fr. Walsh, S.J., a long-time leader of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Includes materials on his work with the Papal Relief Mission to Russia in the 1920s, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, the Catholic Church in Mexico, and as a consultant at the Nuremburg War Crimes Trials.
Date Span for Part 1: 1885-1955.
Extent for Part 1: 22 linear feet.
Collection Description: Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. Papers: Part 2. Contains letters from Fr. Walsh to his brother partly discussing the Nuremburg War Trials, postcards from Fr. Walsh from Europe, manuscripts, printed materials, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Date Span for Part 2: 1904-1956.
Extent for Part 2: 2.75 linear feet.
Collection Description: Papers of William A. Wilson, who was the U.S. special representative (1981-1984) to the Vatican and the first U.S. ambassador (1984-1986) to the Vatican since Reconstruction.
Date Span: 1980-1992.
Extent: 6.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: Materials from Martin's diplomatic career from his entry into the foreign service in 1941 through his ambassadorship to Burma (1971-1973). Includes Martin's diary documenting his travels in China from 1947 to 1949, when the Communist Party took over that nation.
Date Span: 1931-1991.
Extent: 7 linear feet.
Collection Description: Consists of material originally pasted/sewn into a folio scrapbook album, probably by Spence, chiefly concerning his career as U.S. envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Sublime Porte (Turkey). Includes correspondence and addresses sent and received by Spence by high ranking officials, diplomats, as well as various American and foreign residents in Turkey. Also includes information about the genealogy of Spence's family.
Date Span: 1822-1888.
Extent: 2.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: Papers of diplomats Aaron Homer Byington (U.S. Consul to Naples), Homer Morrison Byington I (Naples, Rome, Bristol, Leeds, Palmero, and U.S. State Department state-side), and Homer Morrison Byington II (Cuba, Naples, Belgrade, Rome, etc.).
Date Span: 1835-1996.
Extent: 2.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: Postcards, letters, and printed material documenting the life and times of A. Homer Byington and other members of the Byington family. Of interest are postcards to and from A. Homer Byington from Naples, where he served as U.S. consul at the turn of the twentieth century. The postcards describe life in Naples, volcanic activity there, and even an occasion when the King off Italy took of his hat out of respect for an American flag flying over Byington's residence
Date Span: 1822-2001.
Extent: 0.75 linear feet.
Collection Description: Includes 8 letters to and from Aaron Homer Byington from 1844 to 1899. The majority of these are typed letters signed by John Addison Porter to Byington. The letters cover a broad range of topics including Washington Cabinet appointments, Connecticut Senatorial races, consular salaries, significant newspapers, the Republican Party, and the Spanish-American War.
Date Span: 1844-1899.
Extent: 0.42 linear feet.
Collection Description: A collection of 300 letters, dated mostly between 1897 and 1901, written to and by Robert S. Chilton, Jr., chief of the U.S. Consular Bureau of the State Department from 1895 until 1905. The letters shed light on the issues facing the U.S. consular service at the turn of the twentieth century, when America was in the midst of acquiring an overseas empire and enacting consular reform.
Date Span: 1892-1905.
Extent: 0.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: Personal papers of Hamilton King, the U.S. minister resident and consul general (1898-1903) and envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary (1903-1912) to Thailand (then Siam). The collection includes much correspondence relating to diplomatic matters. An important supplement is the lengthy series of diaries kept by King's wife from 1898 to 1915, which provide a detailed view of diplomatic life in Siam at the time.
Date Span: 1883-1915.
Extent: 11.0 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Richard T. Crane Papers are divided into three series: the State Department Series (1915-1919), the Prague Series (1919-1922), and the Virginia Series (1922-1951), corresponding, respectively, to Richard Crane's years as private secretary to Secretary of State Robert Lansing; as the American ambassador to Czechoslovakia; and finally, as the owner of Westover Plantation in Virginia.
Date Span: 1915-1951.
Extent: 40.75 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Richard T. Crane Papers 2 primarily consists of correspondence, photographs and financial records. This addition to the Richard Crane Papers 1 consists mostly correspondence from the period that Crane was working in the State Department (1915-1918). An interesting theme in this addition is that of Russia and the Revolution of 1917, during which time Charles Crane was travelling in Russia. Charles Crane sent frequent telegrams to Richard giving details of what he saw and experienced.
Date Span: 1900-1922.
Extent: 2.0 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Robert F. Kelley Papers document relations between the United States and the Soviet Union during World War II and the Cold War period to 1975. Included are articles and addresses by Kelley on this topic.
Date Span: 1917-1975.
Extent: 7.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Jon S. Lodeesen Papers consist of records of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and include annual and budget reports, as well as files relating to Lodeesen's many years of work in Radio Liberty's programming and research departments. The research files include articles and reports on the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries during the early sixties through the late eighties, particularly relating to freedom of information in published and broadcast media, and the role of RFE/RL.
Date Span: 1960-1996.
Extent: 15.0 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Jack K. McFall Papers consist primarily of correspondence received from State Department colleagues on the occasions of McFall's various career appointments, notably his appointment as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations in 1949, and as U.S. minister and later ambassador to Finland, in 1952 and 1953, respectively. McFall's service as U.S. Naval Observer in Sierra Leone, Africa (1942 1943) is particularly well represented in the Subject Files Series. He also served in the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada.
Date Span: 1925-1990.
Extent: 2.75 linear feet.
Collection Description: Papers of former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (1951-1953) and West Germany (1963-1968) include files relating to both ambassadorships, as well as materials documenting McGhee's role in a number of important official and informal posts, among which are the Combined Raw Materials Board (during World War II), the Bilderberg Group, the Draper Committee, the Business Council for International Development, and the Committee for Economic Development.
Date Span: 1942-1976.
Extent: 101.5 linear feet.
Typed finding aid is available in the repository.
Series XXV: Scrapbooks has an online finding aid: Collection: George C. McGhee Papers | Georgetown University Archival Resources
George C. McGhee's extensive book collection on Turkey and the Ottoman Empire is preserved in the Booth Family Center for Special Collections. The books can be accessed through Hoya Search, Georgetown University Library's main catalog, at HoyaSearch (exlibrisgroup.com)
Collection Description: The Samuel D. Berger Papers consist of correspondence, manuscript material, photographs, and miscellany pertaining to Mr. Berger's concern with the study of labor unions and his years in the U.S. Foreign Service. The collection offers an interesting look at Berger's career in the Foreign Service, from his college days to his service in Vietnam, as well as glimpses into the affairs of the countries in which he served: London, Tokyo, Wellington, Korea, and Vietnam.
Date Span: 1937-1979.
Extent: 2.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: The August Velletri Papers include correspondence received by Mr. Velletri during his assignment as political officer to the U.S. Embassy in Rome (1955-1960). The primary correspondent is Archbishop Eugene (or Igino) Cardinale, chief of protocol to the Vatican secretary of state.
Date Span: 1943-1967.
Extent: 3.0 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Raymond A. Hare Papers document Hare's interest in Islamic architecture with articles, photographs, detailed maps of sites and a collection of 12 audio cassettes on the history of architecture. While serving as ambassador to Egypt and Turkey, Hare kept detailed scrapbooks on significant members of political, social and cultural circles as well as on his own career as ambassador
Date Span: 1950-1984.
Extent: 1.0 linear feet.
An oral history by Raymond A. Hare about his diplomatic career is available online as part of the Foreign Affairs Oral History Project administered by the Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training in Arlington, Virginia. Please see: Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training (adst.org)
Collection Description: The Parker T. Hart Papers highlight the career of a long-time American foreign service officer who served as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1961-1965) and Ambassador to Turkey (1965-1968).
Date Span: 1935-1996.
Extent: 10.75 linear feet.
An oral history interview by Parker T. Hart about his diplomatic career is available online as part of the Foreign Affairs Oral History Project administered by the Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training in Arlington, Virginia. Please see: Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training (adst.org)
Collection Description: Official correspondence, subject files, speeches, appointment calendars, newspaper clippings, and photographs, pertaining principally to Jova's ambassadorial appointments to Honduras (l965-69), OAS (l969-74), and Mexico (l974-77).
Date Span: 1945-1977.
Extent: 16.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Richard B. Parker papers comprise the personal papers of a long-time American diplomat who was U.S. Ambassador to Algeria (1974-1977), Lebanon (1977-1978), and Morocco (1978-1979). This collection contains research materials generated by Parker concerning diplomatic activities of the United States with the Barbary states around 1800 and concerning American diplomacy in the modern Middle East and North Africa. The materials also document Parker's career as an American diplomat in the Middle East.
Date Span: 1960-2011.
Extent: 19.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Robert Theodore Curran Papers 1 document the foreign service career of Robert Theodore Curran. Containing correspondence, printed materials, photographs, and other materials, the Curran Papers provide a glimpse into the life of a career foreign service officer. Material from Curran's time in Germany, Yemen, Mexico, and Morocco is retained.
Date Span: 1955-1990.
Extent: 6.0 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Robert Theodore Curran Papers: Part 2 comprise a small portion of the personal papers of foreign service official Robert Theodore Curran. Of particular interest is a series of letters written by Curran to his parents describing his experiences during the summer of 1949 studying at the Rethel School in Dusseldorf, Germany. Also of note is a group of photographs and postcards from Moscow, Russia. A set of manuscripts written by Curran provides light on some of his research interests, including Arabic proverbs and Soviet Central Asia.
Date Span: 1949-1961.
Extent: 0.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: Although Ambassador Paul C. Warnke's official papers are at the Johnson Presidential Library, this collection documents the controversy that preceded his confirmation as Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and as a principal U.S. negotiator of the SALT II treaty. Most importantly the collection portrays his continuing role in the non-government arms control movement. There is much on the Vietnam War. The collection consists of appointment calendars and log books, manuscripts, memoranda, printed material, and extensive correspondence
Date Span: 1963-2000.
Extent: 57.0 linear feet..
Collection Description: The Paul C. Warnke Papers: Part 2 include document lists, files concerning Warnke's government service, documents related to the organizations to which Warnke belonged, texts of some of Warnke's oral presentations, publications, and a limited amount of correspondence to and from Warnke.
Date Span: 1959-1999.
Extent: 2.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: Personal papers of economist, educator, and diplomat Lev E. Dobriansky, who taught at Georgetown University from 1948 to 1986 and served as director of the Institute on Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University from 1970 to 1986. The papers include personal correspondence; printed materials; and documents about the Fund for American Studies, the University Club, the Victims of Communism Memorial, and the National Captive Nations Committee.
Date Span: 1950-2002.
Extent: 5.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: Collection primarily of photographs of state occasions and visits organized by Selwa Roosevelt as U.S. Chief of Protocol. A generous accumulation of formal invitation cards is included, as well as souvenir programs for events.
Date Span: 1954-1988.
Extent: 39.75 linear feet.
Collection Description: Correspondence, daily schedules, and press clippings from Cynthia Schneider's time as U.S Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1998 to 2001.
Date Span: 1998-2001.
Extent: 22 linear feet.
Collection Description: The collection consists of the papers kept by John O'Leary during his Ambassadorship in Chile from 1998 to 2001 and in preparation for his assignment there. The collection includes daily schedules, correspondence (primarily email printouts), subject files, press clippings, video tapes, and awards.
Date Span: 1965-2001.d
Extent: 63.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: This one box collection is additional material about John O'Leary, U.S. Ambassador to Chile from 1998 to 2001. The papers contained here are more personal in nature including handwritten notes and correspondence.
Date Span: 1993-2001.
Extent: 1.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: The John O'Leary Papers 3 contain documents by and about John O'Leary (1947-2005), U.S. Ambassador to Chile from 1998 to 2001 during the Clinton Administration. The collection includes correspondence (much of it e-mail printouts), photographs, reports, contact lists, and photo albums.
Date Span: 1956-2011.
Extent: 11.25 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Otto Donner Papers contain materials by and about Otto Donner (1902-1981), a noted economist who served as an economics professor at Georgetown University and a public official at the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund. Correspondence, manuscripts by Donner, subject files, publications by Donner, and publications by others are present in the collection.
Date Span: 1945-1980.
Extent: 24.75 linear feet.
Collection Description: Although the papers document Mooney's contributions to the development of corporate management thinking and organization through his presidencies of General Motors Export Company and Willys-Overland, the most important segment concerns his informal diplomatic contacts in 1939-1940 with Adolf Hitler and the German government on behalf of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mooney's unpublished "Letters in Peace and War" describes these contacts. Besides manuscripts, speeches, articles, and decorations, there is a long series of letters from Mooney to his wife, Ida MacDonald Mooney, dated 1928 to 1945.
Date Span: 1924-1955.
Extent: 12 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Lawrence D. Egbert Papers contain official military documents including personal statements by war criminals, printed materials, photographs, newspaper cliippings, and personal correspondence. This collection would be of interest to anyone studying the Second World War; its effects on France, German War crimes, or the Nuremberg Trials.
Date Span: 1920-1971.
Extent: 9.25 linear feet.
Collection Description: Historian Jean Edward Smith amassed these materials for his full-length biography of Lucius D. Clay entitled "Lucius D. Clay: An America Life" (New York: Holt, 1990). Cooperating with his biographer on this project, Clay exchanged correspondence with Smith, recounted key events, agreed to take part in numerous oral history interviews, and provided access to key documents. The correspondence between Clay and Smith represents the highlight of this collection
Date Span: 1860-1990.
Extent: 12 linear feet.
Collection Description: Correspondence, related files, and statistical summaries documenting Keller's work as acting director of the Far East Regional Publishing Center (1952-1954), where he oversaw publication of USIA materials, and as head of the Far Eastern and Latin American branches in the International Press Division of USIA, where he was in charge of publishing propaganda in the form of comic books. A file of these comics is included in the collection. Some comic books from the Keller Papers have been digitized and are available in Digital Georgetown as the Alliance for Progress Cartoon Book Program in Latin America Collection. Please see the link below.
Date Span: 1939-1967.
Extent: 1.68 linear feet
Collection Description: The American Committee on United Europe Collection contains correspondence, reports, photos, pamphlets, news clippings, minutes of meetings and related material. The American Committee on United Europe, a non-profit tax exempt American corporation, was in existence from 1949 to 1960. This organization developed as a result of the idea that was prevalent on the Continent after World War II, that Europe needed to unite in order to survive.
Date Span: 1948-1960.
Extent: 2 linear feet.
Collection Description: The papers document Green's long tenures with the United States Information Agency, especially in the Congo in the early 1960s, and, later, with the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as his involvement with a host of other organizations both professional and personal.
Date Span: 1902-1990.
Extent: 7.2 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Richard M. Helms Papers: Part 1 comprise part of the private papers of Richard M. Helms, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1966 to 1973 and the U.S. Ambassador to Iran from 1973 to 1976.
Date Span: 1922-2004.
Extent: 40.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Richard M. Helms Papers: Part 2 comprise part of the private papers of Richard M. Helms, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1966 to 1973 and the U.S. Ambassador to Iran from 1973 to 1976.
Date Span: 1933-2003.
Extent: 2 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Richard M. Helms Papers: Part 3 comprise part of the private papers of Richard M. Helms, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1966 to 1973 and the U.S. Ambassador to Iran from 1973 to 1976.
Date Span: 1930-2004.
Extent: 9.5 linear feet.
Collection Description: The Cynthia Helms Papers consist of letters, manuscripts, photographs, scrapbooks, and printed materials documenting the life of Cynthia Helms, author, Middle East expert, and wife of Richard M. Helms, who served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1966 to 1973 and U.S. Ambassador to Iran from 1973 to 1976.
Date Span: 1935-2006.
Extent: 8 linear feet.
Collection Description: Material relating to Anna J. Gurvin's work as assistant cultural affairs officer at the U.S. Information Agency. Includes Federal reports and publications by private organizations regarding cultural and educational funding and support abroad. In August 1966, Gurvin joined the U.S. Information Agency as assistant cultural affairs officer in Montevideo, Uruguay, where she served until 1970. From 1972 to 1973, Gurvin was assistant cultural affairs officer in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Date Span: 1970-2000.
Extent: 7 linear feet.
Collection Description: From 1897 until 1905, Horace Porter held the post of U.S. Ambassador to France. Although most of this collection relates to his service as a Union officer during the American Civil War, this collection includes some medals and decorations from Porter's time as U.S. Ambasador to France.
Date Span: 1855-1921.
Extent: 13 linear feet.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License. | Details of our policy