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William Alfred Eddy Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
William A. Eddy was born in Sidon, Syria, on March 9th, 1896. He was graduated from Princeton in 1917, the year in which he married Mary Garvin. His A.M. and Ph.D were also from Princeton. In WWI he was badly wounded at Belleau Wood and received many citations. From 1922-1936 he taught English at Peekskill Military Academy and Dartmouth College, and was chairman of the department of English at the American University, Cairo. In 1936 he was called to be president of Hobart College. With the outbreak of the second World War he offered his services again to the Marines, was commissioned a Major and was made a full colonel in the staff of Mark Clark. In 1942 Eddy was Naval Attache in Tangier, and was instrumental in the planning of the Allied North African landings. In 1944 he resigned from the Marine Corps to become Minister Plenipotentiary to Saudi Arabia. Fluent in Arabic (and French), he acted as interpreter for President Roosevelt and King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia during the historic meeting in the Suez Canal, and was key in developing the U.S. treaty with The Yemen in 1946. He served in the OSS and CIA for the remainder of his life, and was also a full-time consultant for the Arabian-American Oil Company. He died at his home in Beirut in 1962.
Consists of papers of Eddy (Princeton Class of 1917). Included are notes and articles (and drafts) concerning his interests in the Arabic language, 18th-century literature, and Jonathan Swift; Hobart College presidency correspondence and related scrapbooks; military documents regarding his role in planning WWII North African landings, the President Roosevelt/King Ibn Saud meeting at the Suez Canal, and the U.S. treaty with Yemen (1946); numerous addresses, some college journals, and class notebooks; and photographs of Middle East dignitaries and landscapes. In addition, there are genealogical papers, memoirs, family correspondence, and papers (1937-1978) of his wife, Mary Garvin Eddy, and films.
The Papers were in the possession of his wife, Mary Garvin Eddy, who donated the papers in 1978. Personal correspondence from 1914-1918, 1935, and the 1940s was donated by his daughter, Mary Garvin Eddy Furman, in 1991.
This collection was processed by C. A. Prettiman in July, 1991. Finding aid written by C. A. Prettiman in July, 1991. Finding aid updated by Helene van Rossum in February, 2020.
No appraisal information is available.
People
Organization
- American University in Cairo. Department of English and Comparative Literature
- Arabian American oil company
- Hobart College
- Princeton University. Class of 1917
Subject
- Arabic language
- Diplomatic and consular service, American -- Saudi Arabia -- 20th century
- Diplomatic and consular service, American -- Yemen -- 20th century
- English literature -- 18th century
- Petroleum industry and trade -- Saudi Arabia
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- United States
Place
- Middle East -- Kings and rulers -- Photographs.
- Saudi Arabia -- Photographs.
- Saudi Arabia -- Foreign relations -- United States -- 20th century.
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Saudi Arabia -- 20th century.
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Treaties -- 20th century.
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Yemen -- 20th century.
- Yemen -- Foreign relations -- United States -- 20th century.
Occupation
- Publisher
- Public Policy Papers
- Finding Aid Author
- C. A. Prettiman
- Finding Aid Date
- 1998
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. For quotations that are fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For those few instances beyond fair use, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold the copyright and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from the Mudd Library to move forward with their use.
Collection Inventory
No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series I, Correspondence: (1858-1978) The Correspondence is divided alphabetically by correspondent and chronologically within these sections. "General Correspondence" deals with Eddy's professional, day-to-day correspondence, and the "William A. Eddy" series contains his personal letters. A large portion of the collection is letters to and from his wife and four children (much of it carbon copies; the originals still may be retained by the three surviving children). A great number of his wife's personal papers are included. Other extensive selections are the professional correspondence from the Hobart presidency (1936-1941), personal correspondence from the World War I era, and files on Tangier (1942) and The Yemen (1946). Individual files include correspondence with Dorothy Thompson, Robert Murphy, and John Foster Dulles.
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series II, Documents: (1917-1969) The Documents principally concern Eddy's military promotions, citations and service records from both World Wars, medical records, geneological information, part of his will and property deeds, and a list of books in his personal library. They are arranged chronologically.
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series III, Publications: (1920-1963) These are publications by William A. Eddy only; no publications concerning him by others are included in this collection. These articles are essentially of three types: the earliest are articles from scholarly journals concerning eighteenth-century English literature, especially satire. From his academic career also are many sermons and pamphlets of a religious nature. The third type of article is from popular magazines and concerns U.S.-Middle Eastern relations. They are arranged chronologically.
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series IV, Addresses: (1924-1957) Eddy's Addresses are on the same topics as the Publications, and often material actually overlaps from article to address, and vice-versa. They are arranged chronologically.
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Series V, Diaries and Notebooks: (1914-1961) Some of the journals are class notebooks from Eddy's college days. Others are "class notes" for classes that Eddy was teaching as a young professor; they give a coherent idea of his opinions on various literary subjects. There is a short diary kept by his future wife Mary Garvin from 1914-1915. Also contained in the series are daybooks and journals for various years, and a set of "Middle-east memoirs". They are chronologically arranged.
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Series VI, Memorabilia: (1918-1963) Principally Middle-Eastern and military momentoes. They are arranged chronologically.
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Series VII, Photographs and Negatives: (1890-1976) This series of photographs, some of which have accompanying negatives, is divided into two sections: Portraits and Landscapes. In the portrait section there are photographs of William A. Eddy and his family, friends, and professional acquaintances. The majority of photos are dated between 1945-1961. One photo scrapbook does detail his family life from boyhood to WWI. There are many pictures of Eddy and dignitaries at various official and political functions. The landscapes section contains extensive pictures of Middle Eastern landmarks and scenes of daily life. Middle Eastern lifestyles, dress and customs are represented in detail. There are also a few military aerial shots. They are arranged chronologically.
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Includes Marine officers Quantico school alumni-Yale club (1937), Banquet for King Saud (undated), and Arabic writing (1946).
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Series VIII, Scrapbooks: (1936-1949) Three of the scrapbooks are newspaper clippings exclusively concerning the Hobart College years. The fourth scrapbook contains photographs of the Eddys in the Middle East in 1945.
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Includes six undated 16 mm film reels and one betacam tape, mainly concerning Saudia Arabia and Yemen.
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Contains three 16mm reels labeled "1. Mary Arabia 2. Ibn Saud," "Yemen," and "Yemen 2" (possibly duplicated on the betacam video)
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Unidentified 16 mm reel with a label "Official U.S. Navy Motion Picture film"
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Includes a diary of Mary Garvin (1914), correspondence, photographs, and condoleances (1962)
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