William Yale Papers, 1916-1972

Collection number: MC 21
Size: 5 boxes (2 cu.ft.)

About William Yale

William Yale, an authority on the Middle East, was born in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., on August 6, 1887. He served as a civil engineer with the Isthmian Canal Commission in Panama in 1907, and received a doctorate from Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University in 1910. His career in the Middle East began in 1913 when he was sent to Constantinople by Standard Oil Company of New York to explore for oil. In 1917, he was appointed special agent in Cairo for the U.S. Department of State, and the following year he was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Army and assigned as American Military Observer with General Allenby’s forces in Palestine. In 1919, he was technical advisor to the King-Crane Commission sent by President Wilson to the Paris Peace Talks to discuss the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following World War I.

Yale served as Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire from 1928-1942, and again from 1945-1957; from 1942-1945 he was Department of State Specialist for the Palestine Area. From 1957-1967 he taught history at Boston University. He died on February 26, 1975 in Derry, New Hampshire.

Yale authored The Near East: A Modern History (1958; revised 1968) and many articles and letters on related concerns.

About the William Yale Papers

The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts – mainly written by Yale after 1970 – copies of earlier writings, documents dealing with his activities in the Middle East, and photographs from Yale’s college days, work on the Panama Canal, and his journeys to the Middle East.

Of special interest is the correspondence of François Monod, a French civil servant, concerning the Nazi occupation of France. Monod, a former curator of the Musée du Luxembourg, was chief of staff under M. Tardiere and on the Secretariat of the League of Nations.

There are also three letters from the Honorable Felix Frankfurter discussing the possibility of a Jewish homeland, written in November 1930.

Also from William Yale: Yale purchased a miniature hat collection from an arts and crafts teacher, Miss Baldensperger, who in 1870 fled from war-torn France to Palestine. She and her students fabricated 54 miniature headdresses that represent the array of colorful head garments worn in the Middle East. Yale bought them as a wedding gift for Edith Hanna, a woman he met in Jerusalem and to whom he intended to propose. They subsequently married in 1919. AMARA (The American Arabic Association) donated the hat collection to the University of New Hampshire in memory of the Yales. The collection is maintained by the University Museum.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

This collection is open.

Copyright Notice

Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], [Folder], [Box], William Yale Papers, 1916-1972, MC 21, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Multiple acquisitions, 1928-1964 (Accession numbers: 115; 61-3471; 64.17; and unrecorded)

Collection Arrangement

Collection arranged as 7 series.

Collection Contents

Series 1: Correspondance, 1916-1972

Subseries A: Letters to Yale

Box 1
Box 1, Folder 1		Richard Aldington, Nov. 7, 1955 (1) [copy] Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 3, 1939 (1) Jeanne Baurain, April 14, 1919 [in French] (1) W.B. Bishai, Sept. 2, 1964 (1) Dennis S. Boyer, Jan. 25, 1971 (1) R.B. Brown, n.d. (1) Ralph J. Bunche, United Nations, June 4, 1956 (1) Robert Caix, Sept. 25, 1919 and October 14, 1919 [in French] (2) Erwin Canham, Editor-in-Chief, Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 11, 1970 (1) Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 24 1939; Nov. 6, 1939; Dec. 2, 1939 (3) L. Curtis, August 26, 1935 (1) Edna M. Eckert, July 5, 1970 (1) [has Yale's response on back] W.H. Edgar, April 11, 1923 (1) Hall [Ellsworth], Nov. 23, 1969 (1) Prince Faisal [Feisal] of Jordan, dinner invitation [--] 28, 1918 (1) [in Arabic with English translation] Sydney N. Fisher, Nov. 10 and Nov. 23, 1972 (2) Elizabeth Fox, August 29, 1972 (1) Mill[icent?] Fox, June 13, 1965 (1) Felix Frankfurter, Nov. 14, Nov. 18 and Nov. 25, 1930 (3)
Box 1, Folder 2		Zvi Ganin, Sept. 15, 1972 (1) J.L. Garvin, director of The Observer (British newspaper), August 19, 1926 (1) [misaddressed to "William Galg"] David Garnett, Nov. 15, 1955 (1) [copy] M. Gaster, Sept. 14, 1917 (1) [also enclosed is letter to Mr. Buckler dated Sept. 11, 1917 referring to Yale's proposed visit] Alanta Gillette, Christmas 19–? (1 small card] Dana Greeley (?), Oct. 22, 1964 (1) Martin H. Halabian, Sept. 16, 1970 (1) Harper & Row, Publishers (Fred D. Wieck, editor), June 30, 1966 (1) Harper’s Magazine, Oct. 25, 1939 (1) Granville Hicks, April 24, 1937 (1) D.G. Hogarth, May 24, 1919 (1) Harry N. Howard, Sept. 18, 1970 (1) — Humphrey, March 29, 1942, April 12, [1942] (2) Robert John, Sept. 23, 1968 (1) Garé Lecompte, May 16, 1969 and Jan. 17, 1970 (2) Michele, Nicole, Andre, Dory and Garé Lecompte, Christmas 1971 (1)
Box 1, Folder 3		C.S. Maitrfoir (?), Sept. 8, 1916 (1) Tom E. Marshall, Dec. 12, 1971 (1) Jeffery Meyers, Feb. 10, Feb. 16 and Feb. 26, 1971 (3) Abdul Mejid, August 20, 1919 (1) Major General A. W. Money, Chief Administrator, O.E.T.A., Jerusalem, Palestine, June 14, 1919 (1) Lieut. F.F. Monk, [British Intelligence], Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, 1918 (2)
Box 1, Folder 4		François Monod, 1926-1935 (8) (in French)
Box 1, Folder 5		François Monod, 1936-1937 (9) (in French)
Box 1, Folder 6		François Monod, 1938-1939 (16) (in French)
Box 1, Folder 7		François Monod, Jan - April 16, 1940 (12) (in French)
Box 1, Folder 8		François Monod, April 17 - May 9, 1940 (9) (in French)
Box 1, Folder 9		François Monod, May 10 - May 21, 1940 (7) (in French)
Box 1, Folder 10		François Monod, May 23 - June 6, 1940 (5) (in French)
Box 1, Folder 11		François Monod, undated (2)(in French)
Box 1, Folder 12		Yale’s translations of letters from Monod: May 8, 1939; Sept. 9, 1939; Nov. 15, 1939 (3)
Box 1, Folder 13		Newspaper clippings and printed matter from Monod, 1940 (in French)
Box 1, Folder 14		Elizabeth Monroe, Middle East Centre, St. Anthony’s College, Oxford, Dec. 17, 1968 and Jan. 10, 1969 [written by Mrs. R. Puri for Miss Monroe], Jan. 15, 1969, June 19, 1970, and Dec. 15, 1971 (5) Henry Morgenthau, Feb. 14, 1931 (1) Eveline Ogilvy, March 16, 1924 (1) Howard E. Ordway, Waterville Empire Press, Feb. 23, 1957 (1) Allan Partridge, UNH History Dept., Dec. 7, 1971 (1) John P. Richardson, American Near East Refugee Aid, Inc., April 28, 1969 and Dec. 11, 1970 (2) Everett B. Sackett, Sept. 26, 1970 (1) Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1939 Standard Oil Company, Henry Cole, director, May 17, 1919 and June 4, 1919; L.I. Thomas, director, Sept. 12 and Sept. 18, 1919 (4)
Box 1, Folder 15		Sefton D. Temkin, Rabbi, Temple Emanuel, Lowell MA, Nov. 10, 1967 (1) Lowell Thomas, Dec. 1, 1965 (1) Maximillian V. Toth, March 25, 1919 (1) University of Michigan Press, Oct. 15, 1969 (1) Arthur Walworth, Jan. 21, 1965 (1) Kim Watson, Dec. 1, 1970 and Jan. 11, [1971?] (2) Loyal Lincoln Wirt, International Commissioner, Near East Relief, April 20, 1923 and May 29, 1923 (2) Yale University Library, Oct. 22, 1969 (1) Israel Zangwill, Oct. 5, 1919
Box 1, Folder 16		Unidentified: French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sept. 17, [1919?] (1) [in French, with Yale's reply, also in French] [Tranblerbetty?], Le Temps, Paris, Oct. 2, 1919 (1) [in French] Trisha — (Yale’s niece), Huntington Beach, CA, Nov. 6, 1969 (1) Webb & Phyl —, December 1971 (1)

Subseries B: Letters from Yale

Box 1, Folder 17		1917-1966: Leland Harrison, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17, 1917 François Monod, Oct. 18, 1939 Joseph Barber, Jr., Editor, The Atlantic Monthly, Oct. 19, 1939 Editor, The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 19, 1939 Lee Hartman, Editor, Harper’s Magazine, Oct. 19, 1939 Editors, Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 19, 1939 Editorial Board, The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 30, 1939 François Monod, Nov.4, 1939 J. Roscoe Drummond, Executive Editor, Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 7, 1939 François Monod, March 29, 1940 David Jolly, UNH Librarian, October 7, 1941 re Yale’s donation of his article “Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s “Special Mission” of 1917″ to the library (see Box 2 Folder 15) Thelma Brackett, UNH Librarian, April 25, 1945 re Yale’s attendance at the opening session of the United Nations Conference on International Organization. Program for same Evan Wilson, NE Division, Dept, of State, Washington, D.C., May 23, 1946 Dr. Oskar Rabinowicz, Oct. 27, 1959 Judith Schiff, Yale University Library, Sept. 25, 1964 Lowell Thomas, Dec. 9, 1965 Ruth Davis, Editor, Yale University Press, Nov. 9, 1966
Box 1, Folder 18		1969-1972: John P. Richardson, NERA, May 14, 1969 Erwin Canham, Editor-in-Chief, Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 1970 Editors, Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 1970 Editors, Boston Globe, Dec. 8, 1970 Walter Lippman, Dec. 15, 1970 (2 drafts) John P. Richardson, Secretary of the Organizing Committee for an Appeal for Peace and Justice, Dec. 15, 1970 Erwin Canham, Editor-in-Chief, Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 19, 1970 (second and third drafts of this letter Dec. 21, 1970) Millicent Fox, Jan. 19, 1971 John P. Richardson, Jan. 28, 1971 Prof. Paul Bohannan, Feb. 14, 1971 Jeffrey Meyers, Feb. 15, 1971 Editors, Boston Globe, Feb. 19, 1971 R. Bradley & Co., Oct. 21, 1971 Mr. Lilenthal, Nov. 20, 1971 [?] Millicent Fox, April 17, 1972 Erwin Canham, May 13, 1972 Erwin Canham, Editor-in-Chief, Christian Science Monitor, May 14, 1972 Editor-in-Chief, Boston Globe, May 16, 1972 (2) Millicent Fox, May 27, 1972 Dr. Howard Gottlieb, Boston University, May 1972 (in blue examination book) President Thomas Bonner, University of New Hampshire, June 15, 1972 Editors, Bennett Bulletin, Oct. 1, 1972 Millicent Fox, Nov. 2, 1972
Box 1, Folder 19		Undated or unidentified: William F. Buckley, Boston Globe (1) Joseph C. Harsch, Christian Science Monitor (1) Editor, The Derry News (4) Millicent Fox (2) Edward Fox (1) Moshe Menuhin, Institute for Palestine Studies, Beirut (2) Editor, New York Times (1) Times Publishing Company, London (1) Arthur (1) Draft of contents of various “Letters to the Editor” Two lists of letters written and received by Yale

Subseries C: Others to Others

Box 1, Folder 20

Maud — to Edith Yale, April 24, 1964 Major General A. W. Money to Frank L. Polk, Assistant Secretary of State, March 15, 1919 (1 page fragment) From Polk, Acting Sec. of State, May 21, 1919, typed copy of telegram From Phillips, Acting Sec. of State, Sept. 18, 1919 François Monod to Stettinius, Feb. 4, 1920 (in French) 1 page fragment, handwritten, author unknown

Series 2: Manuscripts, 1923-1972

Box 2
Box 2, Folder 1		Materials for review/analysis of The Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia, by Phillip Knightly and Colin Simpson (1970), preliminary drafts, foreword and introductory remarks
Box 2, Folder 2		Review of Secret Lives, foreword and introduction
Box 2, Folder 3		Review of Secret Lives, Chapters 1 and 2
Box 2, Folder 4		Review of Secret Lives, Chapters 3 - 5
Box 2, Folder 5		Review of Secret Lives, Chapters 6 - 7
Box 2, Folder 6		Review of Secret Lives, Chapters 8 - 10
Box 2, Folder 7		Review of Secret Lives, Chapters 11 - 14
Box 2, Folder 8		Review of Secret Lives, Chapters 15 - 18
Box 2, Folder 9		“Evolution of United States Near East Policies” – preliminary materials for a book
Box 2, Folder 10		“Audition” – projected work on U.S. Near East policy, 1942-1945
Box 2, Folder 11		“Audition” – drafts and incomplete version of book
Box 2, Folder 12		Notes towards “An Autobiography,” November 1972
Box 2, Folder 13		“U.S. Policy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict”
Box 2, Folder 14		“Central Asia”
Box 2, Folder 15		Miscellaneous short writings: “Adjustment and Environment” “The Arab-Jewish Conflict” “The Basic Law of Life” “Darwinism” “The Evolution of Love” “How Palestine Became a Major Interest in My Life” “Illusions” “A Memorable Decade in Retrospect:The Near East, 1913-1923″ “Reflections on the Changing World” “Reflections on Religion” “Revolution Now” “Sex and Love” “A Walk with an Arab Moslem” “Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s 'Special Mission' of 1917”
Box 2, Folder 16		Notebook containing drafts
Box 2, Folder 17		Notebook containing drafts, 1970
Box 2, Folder 18		Notes, scraps, and unidentified writings
Box 2, Folder 19		Typed drafts of “Egyptian Nationalism,” 1923 – notes and materials collected on the subject, speaking notes for lecture, and copy of manuscript
Box 2, Folder 20		Typed drafts of “Egyptian Nationalism,” 1923 – notes and materials collected on the subject, speaking notes for lecture, and copy of manuscript
Box 2, Folder 21		Typed copies of Yale writings, 1923-1945: “Near East Relief,” 1923 Segment of “Allenby’s Last Campaign,” 1928 “It Takes So Long,” 1938 “Talk to the Graduating Class of the Perley High School, Georgetown, Mass.” 1941 “Memorandum Concerning Palestine and the Other ‘Arab lands’ in Western Asia,” 1942 “Reflections on Palestine” “The Security of the State of Israel” and copy of a telegram sent by Yale to the Foreign Editor of the Christian Science Monitor, November 15, 1945
Box 2, Folder 22		Miscellaneous copies of published articles: “The Middle East Crisis,” The New Hampshire Alumnus, Jan. 1957 Letter to the Editor, Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 6, 1967 “Recollections,” an account of King Hussein of Jordan’s visit to Boston in 1969, Boonville Herald, Boonville, Oneida County, New York, July 17, 1969

Series 3: Documents, 1918-1919

Box 3
Box 3, Folder 1		GHQ Intelligence Summaries, Sept. 17 - 30, 1918
Box 3, Folder 2		GHQ Intelligence Summaries, Oct. 1 - 16, 1918
Box 3, Folder 3		GHQ Intelligence Summaries, Oct. 18 - 31, 1918
Box 3, Folder 4		GHQ Intelligence Summaries, Nov. 1 - Dec. 21, 1918
Box 3, Folder 5		Topographical reports, Sept. 25 - Oct. 24, 1918, including Beirut-Tripoli, Alexandretta and surrounding country, Aleppo-Alexandretta; Undated topographical reports, including Tripoli-Homs, Damascus-Homs, Rayak-Homs, and Homs-Aleppo
Box 3, Folder 6		Meteorological reports, Sept. - Nov. 1918, and translations of various captured documents, including the orders of battle of the Turkish Army, the Yildirim Army Group, and the XXII Army Corps; Also map of occupied area as result of operations from Dec. 31, 1917 - Sept. 17, 1918
Box 3, Folder 7		Photostatic copies of documents dealing with Yale’s activities in the Middle East at the close of WWI: Memorandum by Yale on Emir Faisal’s communication to Lloyd George, September 16, 1919 Report by Yale to American Peace Commission (on interviews conducted in London, September 27, 1919 to October 14, 1919) Report by Yale to American Peace Commission entitled “Position of the Syrian Question Today,” October 21, 1919 Letter to Yale from Colonel J. K. Watson, October 28, 1919 Letter to Yale from W. H. Buckler, Dec. 9, 1919 Draft of article by Yale, published anonymously, in London Times Memorandum by W. H. Buckler, entitled “Memorandum on the Policy of the U.S. Relative to the Treaty with Turkey”
Box 3, Folder 8		Documents concerning the end of the First World War: Commission des Capitulations: Etats des Travaux (in French), 14pp carbon copy, typed, undated Various typed documents concerning agreements reached between Britain, France and Russia at the end of the First World War about the spehres of influence of each as regards Asiatic Turkey, 18pp, typed

Series 4: Printed Material, 1919-1970

Box 3, Folder 9		The full text of the Peace Treaty, The Times, London, June 28, 1919 Memorandum by Hristo Mexi for members of the Peace Conference concerning the rights of Albanians (in French). Published in Bucharest, 1919 Photocopied front page of Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 17, 1945 with lead story “More Promise for Palestine: Can Anglo-U.S. Commission Untie Knot?”
Box 3, Folder 10		Middle-East materials, late 1960s: “The Moral Case For The Arabs,” Dr. John Nicholls Booth “Political Circumstances and Land Use: Tunisian Private Farms,” John L. Simmons, Oct. 1969 “Towards An Evaluation of Adult Education in a Developing Country,” John L. Simmons, Nov. 1969
Box 3, Folder 11		Middle-East materials, late 1960s: Newsletter: Middle East Perspective, Sept., Oct., and Dec. 1969 and cover letter Newsletter: Kuwait, Dec. 1969 Reader’s Digest reprint: “King Faisal: Saudi Arabia’s Modern Monarch,” 1967 Refugees in the Middle East: A Solution in Peace, Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C., 1967 “How The Arab Leaders Created the Middle East Refugees.” From The London Evening Standard, 1969 “Four Solutions to the Palestinian Problem.” The Association for Peace, Tel Aviv, 1969(?) American Middle East Rehabilitation, letter of March 24, 1969 and minutes of 1969 annual meeting Provisional list of articles on the Middle East situation, New Haven Committee on the Middle East Crisis, Oct. 1967 “Nietzsche and T.E. Lawrence,” Jeffrey Meyers, Summer 1970 (with some annotations by Yale) Clipping from The New York Times, letter written by Bruce J. Chasan, June 1, 1969 on the Israel-Arab Peace and copies of two letters to Chasan in response to it

Series 5: Miscellaneous

Box 3, Folder 12		Personal documents including a letter of passage signed by the first secretary of the U.S. Embassy, Arthur Hugh Frazier, Oct. 4, 1917; Special Order, Feb. 15, 1919; menu, June 22, 1919, signed (on reverse) by King-Crane Commission members; certificate of appreciation from Project Learn, and insurance policy certificate
Box 3, Folder 13		Yale’s genealogy notes
Box 3, Folder 14		Materials about Yale
Box 3, Folder 15		Inventories of Yale Papers at Houghton Library, Harvard University and at Yale University Library
Box 3, Folder 16		Materials on Frank Maria; Yale-Maria Lecture in Middle East Studies program (including information on miniature hat collection)
Map Drawer A6		Map published by Le Matin, March 17, 1919, showing 31 countries in eastern Europe and western Asia that regained their independence after The Treaty of Versailles; Outline map of Central Palestine showing troop movements for the week ending Sept. 13, 1918

Series 6: Photographs

Box 3, Folder 17	58 miscellaneous negatives (1948)
Box 3, Folder 18	Negatives 28 miscellaneous negatives (around home, 1955) 20 miscellaneous B&W photographs (around home, 1955) 28 miscellaneous B&W photographs (around home, 1955)
Box 3, Folder 19	Negatives 35 miscellaneous B&W photos / 1 color photo (1960) 16 miscellaneous B&W photographs
Box 3, Folder 20	Negatives B&W Fabian Bachrach studio portrait of Yale, n.d. B&W studio portrait of William Yale, n.d. Another from the above session B&W photo of Yale accepting an award, n.d. Two B&W photos taken at lecture by William Yale at Middle East
Box 3, Folder 21	Photos B&W photo, unidentified, n.d. (William’s father?) 7 B&W photos of Amalfi, Italy, n.d.

Series 6: Scrapbooks

Oversize Box 1
Item 1		Scrapbook of Yale University years, 1906-1909, photos and memorabilia, etc.
Item 2		Photo-book: Trip to Cairo, 1914
Item 3		Photo-book: “Our Happy Home: Palestine in War Time,” Sept - Oct 1918
Item 4		Photo-book: “Tunbridge Wells to Port Said,” July 3 - Aug 4, 1921
Item 5		Photo-book: Cairo, 1922
Item 6		Yale passport, 1917 (12×17)
Oversize Box 2
Item 1		Scrapbook of Yale University years, 1909-1910 (Vol. 2 of above), photos, memorabilia, etc.
Item 2		Leather-bound book with illustrated cover containing autographs, photos, calling cards, memorabilia from trip to Egypt 1921-1923
Item 3		Yale Genealogy and History of Wales, by Rodney Horace Yale, 1908