Allen-Angier family papers, 1819-1981

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Summary

Creator:
Allen, George V. (George Venable), 1903-1970
Abstract:
Two Durham families. Collection includes papers kept by Zalene Allen Angier which include correspondence, 1936-1969, largely letters from her brother George Venable Allen (1903-1970), diplomat, official of the Tobacco Institute, and trustee of Duke University. Includes material on the U.S. Foreign Service, the U.S. Information Agency, U.S. foreign relations, India, Iran, the tobacco industry, and the cigarette smoking and health controversy. Also includes family photographs from the Angier house on Trinity Avenue in Durham.
Extent:
12.5 Linear Feet (17 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.10097

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes papers kept by Zalene Allen Angier which include correspondence, 1936-1969, largely letters from her brother George Venable Allen (1903-1970), diplomat, official of the Tobacco Institute, and trustee of Duke University.

Allen's letters describe his diplomatic career and personal matters, including foreign relations and social life in Greece, Egypt, and Iran in the 1930s and 1940s; the royal family of Iran; the Potsdam Conference; and customs of Saudi Arabia. Letters of the 1950s mention celebrities Allen met, such as Yehudi Menuhin and Aristotle Onassis; and relations of the U.S. with India and of Russia with Yugoslavia. Letters of Allen's wife Katherine Martin Allen reflect diplomatic social life.

Clippings relate to Allen's career as diplomat and as director of the United States Information Agency, to his family, and to his death.

Miscellaneous papers include invitations; White House dinner menus; press releases; a report, February 9, 1932, on Japanese-Chinese relations; articles by Allen; and other printed materials.

There are photographs of Allen and many acquaintances, including Marshall Tito, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Amjad All, Abba Eban, Wellington Koo, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John Foster Dulles, and William Fulbright.

Papers, 1945-1970, kept by George and Katherine Allen include letters from Eisenhower and Dulles about Allen's shift from the State Department to the USIA; a report on the political situation in Iran, January 21, 1948; correspondence on Egyptian-U.S. relations in the 1950s and the Henry A. Byroade scandal, the Cold War, the cigarette smoking and health controversy, and on Allen's speeches.

Enclosed with a letter from Allen of May 10, 1970, is a petition against slavery by the Baptist Church of Augusta, Maine, dated August 17, 1843.

There are files of speeches and related correspondence on Russia, propaganda, the space race, foreign policy, peace, the tobacco industry, India, Iran, UNESCO, and other topics.

There is material on the Dulles and Eisenhower oral history projects and on various honors and awards received by Allen.

Two scrapbooks contain clippings about Allen's career and family photographs. There is also a photocopy of his book-length manuscript reminiscence of experiences as Ambassador to Iran in the 1940s and 1950s; a letter from Josephus Daniels, 1940, commenting on Allen's review of Daniels' book, Tar Heel Editor; and a tape recording of Allen's address, 1967, to the Tobaccoland Kiwanis Club on the United States in the world.

Biographical / historical:

The Allens and Angiers were two white Durham families.

Zalene Allen (1897-1987) moved to Durham as a child, attended Durham city schools, and graduated from the Southern Conservatory of Music. She married Samuel Angier in 1917.

Zalene's borther, George Venable Allen (1903-1970), was a diplomat, director of the U.S. Information Agency, and president of the Tobacco Institute. Allen graduated from Trinity College in 1924 and married Katharine Martin in 1934.

Sources: Winston-Salem Journal (10 July 1917) and The Herald-Sun (23 March 1987), accessed via Newspapers.com on 06 March 2023.

Acquisition information:
The Allen-Angier family papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gifts in 1971-1972, 1993, 2010, and 2019.
Processing information:

Processed by: Rubenstein Library staff

Updated by Leah Tams, March 2023.

Accessions described in this finding aid: 1971-1972; 1993-0171; 2010-0029; 2019-0001.

Arrangement:

Collection is organized into two series--Allen Materials and Angier Materials--with two additions that have not been interfiled. Accession 2019-0001 was interfiled with correspondence.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Allen-Angier family papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.