Series VI: Photographs, 1950-1972

Series — Box: 34-55

Scope and Contents note

From the Collection:

The Armin Meyer Papers are divided into six series. The first contains materials from Meyer’s pre-Ambassadorial career. The second, third, and fourth series are devoted to Meyer’s service as Ambassador in Lebanon, Iran, and Japan, respectively. The fifth series pertains to Meyer’s post-Ambassadorial career. The final series contains all photographic materials from the collection.

The first series includes monthly summary reports from Meyer’s OWI offices in Cairo and Baghdad, as well as his personal diaries and correspondence from the period. The series contains little from Meyer’s years in Washington, DC, though there are some dispatches from his overseas postings in 1952-1957.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of embassy documents from each of Meyer’s ambassadorial postings. After retirement, Meyer requested copies of his communications under the Freedom of Information Act. Some of the documents are redacted heavily, some documents were not released, and some were released only years Meyer’s initial request. These documents are primarily telegrams, airmail, briefing papers, dispatches to Washington, daily schedules, press clippings, entertainment records, speeches, and correspondence. Correspondence files are broken into personal and general categories.

The fifth series is an eclectic collection of the various projects Meyer took part in after his retirement from the Foreign Service. Included are numerous student papers on various aspects of mid-east diplomacy from an editorial book project with John Kincannon, a collection of the many oral history projects Meyer was interviewed for, papers for an academic conference on the “Nixon Shocks,” some reports on various countries written by Meyer in his capacity as a consultant, and records from the Ferdowski Project between Georgetown University and Ferdowski University.

The photographic series is comprised of photographs from Meyer’s time as an Ambassador. As Ambassador, Meyer came into contact with many world leaders at diplomatic functions, all of which are well documented in the series. Large format pictures that are captioned are individually sleeved and placed in albums (boxes 34-39), while smaller pictures are arranged in rough chronological order in boxes (boxes 40-47). The series also includes a number of presentation albums from Meyer’s various ambassadorial postings, especially his years in Japan (boxes 48-54).

Dates

1950-1972

Conditions Governing Access note

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Extent

20 Linear Feet (Box 34: Album of photographs from 1950s, 60s; Beirut posting, 1961-65. Box 35: Tehran photographs, 1965, 1966. Box 36: Tehran photographs, 1967. Box 37: Tehran photographs, 1968, 1969. Box 38: Tokyo photographs, 1969, 1970. Box 39: Tokyo photographs, 1971, 1972. Box 40: Beirut, 1962. Box 41: Beirut, 1963. Box 42: Beirut, 1964-65. Box 43: Beirut, snapshots 1962-1965. Box 44: Tehran, 1968. Box 45: Tehran, 1969. Box 46: Tehran, 1965-1969. Box 47: loose photographs, 1950s-1972. Box 48: 9 albums from Beirut and Tehran; 1 album from Tokyo. Box 49: 7 albums from Tokyo. Box 50: 6 albums from Tokyo. Box 51: 1 album from Tokyo; 1 album from Beirut; "China Post" magazine. Box 52: 3 albums from Tokyo. Box 53: 1 album from Tokyo. Box 54: 1 album from Tokyo. Box 55: Nippon Shortwave Broadcast, 19 April 1971; 3 May 1998 Tokyo NHK Documentary "Okinawa Reversion and US-Japan Security Relations"; Sony videocassette; handwritten notes; "Summary Report US Information Service Baghdad, Iraq, 1 Jan 1945-1 Jul 1946"; "Annual Reports, Board of Managers, Syrian Protestant College, 1866-67 to 1901-03"'; presentation copy of "The Artwork and Journal of World & Diplomatic Travels of Cecilia Degolyer McGhee"; report, "Japan and the United States"; book, "The Campaign to Discredit Israel"; book, "Quiet Diplomacy: From Cairo to Tokyo in the Twilight of Imperialism," by Armin Meyer; book, "Twin Rivers: A brief history of Iraq, from the earliest times to the present day," by Seton Lloyd, with notes by Armin Meyer. )