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Parker T. Hart papers, 1965-1986

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Hart, Parker T., 1910-1997
Title
Parker T. Hart papers
Dates
1965-1986 (inclusive)
1971-1986 (bulk)
Quantity
8.60 cubic ft. (19 document boxes)
Collection Number
09026
Summary
Consultant, author, and former ambassador’s correspondence, reports, speeches and subject files about business possibilities in, and the political climate of, the Middle East for work with the Bechtel Corporation, RCA and U.S. Steel.
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
The creation of the EAD-version of this finding aid was made possible through a grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.
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Historical Note

A Foreign Service officer for 31 years, U.S. Ambassador Parker Thompson Hart was an expert on foreign policy in the Middle East. He was born September 28, 1910, in Medford, Massachusetts to William Parker and Ella Louisa (Thompson) Hart. Hart attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1933, earned his master’s degree in diplomatic history from Harvard in 1935, and a year later received a diploma from L’Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland. Later in life, Hart studied at Georgetown University’s Foreign Service school and, in addition, completed a one-year course of study at the National War College in 1952.

In 1949, Hart married Jane Constance Smiley, granddaughter of Elmer Smiley, fourth president of the University of Wyoming. They had two daughters.

He began his diplomatic career in 1938 serving as vice consul in Austria then in Brazil. In 1944, he went to the Middle East and opened the first U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia at Dhahran, site of newly discovered oil fields. In 1947 he worked for the State Department then returned to Dhahran as consul general in 1949. In 1952, he became the State Department’s Middle East director then moved quickly up the career ladder to deputy assistant secretary for the Middle East, ambassador to Saudi Arabia and then ambassador to Turkey from 1965 to 1968.

Next, Hart served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs and as director of the Foreign Service Institute. He retired from foreign service and became president of the Middle East Institute, a private foundation in Washington D.C., from 1969 until 1972. Then, for the next 18 years, he worked as a consultant and special representative for the Middle East and North Africa for the giant Bechtel Corporation.

Hart also did private consulting work for other large corporations such as RCA, General Motors and U.S. Steel, and published two books on the Middle East: Two NATO Allies at the Threshold of War: Cyprus, A Firsthand Account of Crisis Management, 1965-1968 (Durham: Duke University Press, 1990) and Saudi Arabia and the United States: Birth of a Security Partnership (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998).

Parker T. Hart died on October 15, 1997, at the age of 87.

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Content Description

The Parker T. Hart papers, 1965-1986, contain correspondence, reports, speeches, copies of papers presented, and subject files about development of business possibilities in, and the political climate of, the Middle East for his consulting work with the Bechtel Corporation, as well as RCA, U.S. Steel, and IBM. There is a small amount of correspondence related to the Arab boycott of Egypt. Hart’s consultation services concerning General Motors’ Saudi Arabian petition to the Saudi government for reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with its vehicle assembly program are documented, and there is background information on Prince Talal, son of the founding King of Saudi Arabia, which Hart provided to the Santa Fe International Corporation.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Preferred Citation

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Parker T. Hart papers, 1965-1986, Collection Number 09026, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Administrative Information

Related Materials

Related Materials

Three other archival collections created by Parker T. Hart are known to exist at other institutions as of the date of processing. Collections of Hart’s ambassadorial papers are available at:

Georgetown University, Lavinger Library, Special Collections Division. 37th and N Streets, N.W., Washington, DC, 20057 University of Virginia Alderman Library, Special Collections Department. P.O. Box 400113, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4113 Additional papers of Hart are available at Dartmouth University.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information

Parker T. Hart donated his papers to the American Heritage Center in 1985, 1986 and 1987.

Processing Note

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Ronda Frazier in March 2003.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Industrial development projects--Egypt.
  • Industrial development projects--Middle East.
  • Industrial development projects--Saudi Arabia.
  • Industrial development projects--Sudan.
  • Industrial development projects--Turkey.
  • Pipelines--Egypt.
  • Pipelines--Middle East.

Corporate Names

  • Bechtel Corporation.
  • Radio Corporation of America.
  • United States Steel Corporation.

Geographical Names

  • Middle East.

Occupations

  • Consultants.

Processed by Ronda Frazier
2006

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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