Archibald Roosevelt

A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Michael Spangler
Revised by Michael Spangler with the assistance of Pamela Watkins

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2008

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2007

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007104

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Personal Names

Organizations

Subjects

Locations

Occupations

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Copyright Status:

Security Classified Documents

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement of the Papers

Description of Series

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Administrative Information

The papers of Archibald Roosevelt, intelligence officer, diplomat, and consultant were given to the Library of Congress by Roosevelt in 1988 and 1989. Additional material was received from Selwa Roosevelt, his wife, between 1990 and 2005.

The papers of Archibald Roosevelt were arranged and described in 1991. The collection was expanded and revised in 1996 and 2008.

Copyright in the unpublished writings of Archibald Roosevelt in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.

Government regulations control the use of security classified material in this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information concerning access to and use of classified material.

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number and roman numeral designating the Part, Archibald Roosevelt Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Part I

Part I of the papers of Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt, Jr. (1918-1990), grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, spans the years 1838-1988 with the bulk of the material concentrated in the years 1942-1947. The material reflects primarily his service in intelligence for the United States Army in North Africa, Iraq, and Iran during World War II and immediately thereafter. The papers include diaries, reports, notes, notebooks, correspondence, photographs, and scrapbooks arranged in the following series: Diaries, Subject File, Academic Notebooks, Miscellany, and Oversize.

The Diaries and Subject File document Roosevelt's military service as an army intelligence officer assigned successively to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, and Iran during and briefly after World War II. Roosevelt began his intelligence career as an interpreter during interrogations of French and Moroccan prisoners captured when American military forces invaded Morocco in November 1942. He was subsequently stationed in Algeria and Tunisia. Intelligence reports, printed materials, notes, and letters located in the Subject File record Roosevelt's activities in these countries and his observations on Arab nationalism and discontent with the French administration of North Africa.

The Diaries along with reports, notes, correspondence, maps, and printed material in the Subject File also record Roosevelt's activities in the Middle East where he served extended tours of duty in Baghdad, Iraq, and Tehran, Iran, from 1944 to 1947. From these posts he reported on Arab politics, the tribes of Iraq, the Soviet Union's influence in the Iranian province of Azerbaijan, and his travels in the region. Of particular interest are a report and accompanying photographs describing his visit in 1946 to the short-lived, independent Kurdish republic in northern Iran and an account of his visit to Palestine in 1947 shortly after the United Nations approved the partition of the area between Arabs and Jews. Also included in the Diaries is an account of Roosevelt's summer trip to Alaska in 1935.

The Academic Notebooks series contains Roosevelt's student notes and essays from Groton School and Harvard University. The Miscellany series includes photographs and scrapbooks relating to Roosevelt's military service and the Roosevelt family, appointment calendars, and a reference work on Iraqi tribes.

Part II

Part II of the Archibald Roosevelt Papers spans the years 1919-2002, with the greatest part concentrated in the period 1974-1990. The Chase Manhattan Bank series recounts Roosevelt's post-government activities as director of international relations for that institution. Prominent are his reports on political, social, and economic developments regarding nations and regions in the Middle East and Africa and how they relate to the interests of the bank, the United States, and the international community. Also contained in this series is correspondence with bank officials, professional colleagues, and friends.

The Miscellany series contains a disparate group of material, the largest part of which pertains to Roosevelt's writings. Included are correspondence and reviews relating to his published memoir For Lust of Knowing, diaries, reviews, a speech, and miscellaneous writings. The series also contains personal correspondence, diaries, engagement calendars, financial and military records, photographs, and printed matter.

An Addition series to Part II includes more international reports, writings, and drafts of Roosevelt's memoir with related book production material. Correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, clippings and photographs relate primarily to the personal and social activities of Roosevelt and his wife, Selwa.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is composed of nine series arranged in two parts

Part I:

• Diaries, 1935-1953
• Subject File, 1940-1986
• Academic Notebooks, 1934-1939
• Miscellany, 1838-1988
• Oversize, 1838-1964

Part II:

• Chase Manhattan Bank, 1936-1990
• Miscellany, 1933-1991
• Addition, 1919-2002
• Classified, 1964
• Oversize, 1951-1962

Description of Series

Container List