Saudi Arabia Manuscripts Collections Research Guide

The Booth Family Center for Special Collections in the Georgetown University Library contains a number of manuscripts collections concerning the history of Saudi Arabia.  Manuscripts collections are generally collections of an individual's personal papers or an organization's records.  One of the primary collecting areas of the Booth Family Center is international affairs.  The Saudi Arabian collections fall under that category.

Most of the collections related to Saudi Arabia in Special Collections document the history of ARAMCO, the Arabian American Oil Company.  This list of Saudi Arabia related collections below provides links to the finding aid for each collection.  Finding aids give details about the contents of each specific collection. Some of these collections are stored off-site, and it usually takes a few business days to recall boxes from off-site storage.

The H. St. John B. Philby book collection includes books owned by Philby.  The library also has a run of his first editions.  These books are searchable in Hoya Search, the Georgetown University Library's search function.

The Foreign Affairs Oral History Project (FAOH) is administered by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) in Arlington, Virginia.  The ongoing program interviews former U.S. foreign service officials and makes the resulting transcripts available full-text, free-of-charge on the ADST Web page listed below. There are also "Country Readers" which contain all of the extracts of the interviews from a specific country. Another entry point for the collection is the Library of Congress Web page listed below. The Booth Family Center used to hold the print transcripts, but those have been returned to ADST. The best way to access the collection is from one of the Web pages below.

Collection Description: Correspondence, manuscripts, subject files, and photographs concerning the career of Parker T. Hart, U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1961-1965.  Date Span: 1935-1996.  Extent: 10.75 linear feet.

Collection Description: Reports, minutes, planning guides, and charts of senior ARAMCO executive Joseph A. Mahon.  Date Span: 1957-1995.  Extent: 0.75. linear feet.

Collection Description: Detailed letters from Clarence McIntosh, vice-consul in Dhahran, to his family and some photographs.  Date Span: 1942-1945.  Extent: 1.65 linear feet.

Collection Description: Extensive photographs taken by Dorothy Miller, of the Law Department of ARAMCO and later the company treasurer, of ARAMCO operations and life in Saudi Arabia.  Date Span: 1930-1993.  Extent: 11 linear feet.

Collection Description: Correspondence, reports, and photographs documenting geologist Robert P. Miller's activities as one of the first Americans to enter Saudi Arabia on a mission to locate oil.  Date Span: 1932-1948.  Extent: 0.75 linear feet. 

Collection Description: Extensive collection of ARAMCO executive and unofficial company historian William E. Mulligan containing correspondence, reports, manuscripts, printed materials, and photographs related to the history of ARAMCO.  Date Span: 1930-1993.  Extent: 29 linear feet. 

Collection Description: Manuscripts and printed materials about Saudi Arabia and the Middle East complied by ARAMCO employee Garry Owen.  Date Span: 1950-1969.  Extent: 2.5 linear feet.

Collection Description: Includes manuscripts by Philby: "Empty Quarter" and "Background of Islam."  Date Span: 1925-1947.  Extent: 1.0 linear foot.

Collection Description: Correspondence, photographs, and printed materials of George S. Rentz, Jr., of the Research and Translation Division of ARAMCO.  Date Span: 1932-1996.  Extent: 4.5 linear feet.

Collection Description: Photographs taken in Saudi Arabia by Bert Seal, ARAMCO Public Relations Department photographer.  Date Span: 1955-1960.  Extent: 0.5 l.f.

Collection Description: Papers of Lois M. Wolfrum with letters from ARAMCO colleague and artist Penny Williams Yacoub.  Date Span: 1970-2004.  Extent: 1.0 linear feet.

Collection Description: Documents concerning the work of James H. Critchfield in the Middle Eastern nation of Oman. Includes correspondence to and from Critchfield dated 1974 to 1991. It also contains technical reports and files from Critchfield's consulting firm Tetra Tech International regarding its work developing the oil, natural gas, water, and mineral industries in Oman. Date Span: 1960-2002. Extent: 93.5 linear feet.

Collection Description: Geological and mineralogy reports, along with some geological journals. Most of the material relates to the United States Department of Interior Geological Survey Saudi Arabian mission, and was published by either the USGS or by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Date Span: 1904-1996. Extent: 18.25 linear feet.

Collection Description: The Robert L. Norberg Papers comprise correspondence, reports, publications, maps, photographs, oral history interviews, and video footage documenting the activities of the Arabian and American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in Saudi Arabia. Norberg, a longtime executive at ARAMCO, preserved these documents from his career with the company. Date Span: 1930-2003. Extent: 5 c.f. 

Collection Description: The Thomas C. Barger Papers contain materials related to Barger's career working as an oil explorer and executive for the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO). This collection includes family correspondence, personal correspondence, manuscripts, reports, photographs, maps, film footage, and Barger's diaries. Date Span: 1937-1979. Extent: 13.56 cubic feet.

Collection Description: Papers of ARAMCO executive Charles H. Holland, Jr., former Supervisor of the Accounting Services Unit of the Drilling and Workover Services Department of ARAMCO. It includes oral history interview transcripts of individuals who worked for ARAMCO as part of the ARAMCO History Project. It also includes reports and other printed materials, as well as maps and audiovisual media. Date Span: 1940-2006. Extent: 6.5 cubic feet.

Collection Description: Collection compiled by Michael Crocker, whose parents worked for ARAMCO. There are over 400 black-and-white photographs of people, places, and activities in Saudi Arabia from 1948 to 1955. The collection also includes 12 VHS tapes containing still images and video footage of people, places, and activities in Saudi Arabia. Some of these audiovisual recordings document the lives of American expats and their families in Saudi Arabia. Date Span: 1930-1997. Extent: 1.8 cubic feet.