Allen, George V. Papers

U.S. Ambassador to Iran, 1946-1948; Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, 1948-1949; U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia, 1949-1953

The papers of George V. Allen concentrate primarily on the Iranian crisis of 1946 that occurred while he was serving as Ambassador to Iran. A good portion of the collection consists of an unpublished manuscript written by Allen on his diplomatic service in Iran. Also included in the collection are personal letters to Allen's family, general correspondence, an article by Allen that was posthumously published in Vox Persica (Voice of Iran) in October 1971.

Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (about 450 papers).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The Truman Library has received no donation of copyright interest in the writings in this collection. Documents created by U.S. Government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of these documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1972).
Updated by: Tessa Li Powell (2003) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and Amy Williams.

Many of the documents in the George V. Allen Papers are copies of original documents located in the Allen-Angier family papers in the Perkins Library at Duke University. Those documents that were not in the family papers include a typed manuscript of George Allen’s that was never published and a few pieces of correspondence.

The collection is organized into three series. The first series, the Correspondence File, contains a letter written in July 1945 in regards to the Potsdam Conference, and also correspondence between Allen and Professor Alexander George of Stanford University discussing Truman's handling of the Iran Crisis of 1946.

The second series, the Manuscript File, contains a typewritten manuscript, outlining the Iran Crisis of 1946, as well as George V. Allen's experiences during his time spent in Iran. It is divided into ten chapters and describes the society and government of Iran, and Soviet influence in the region.

The Family File, the third series, consists of a series of documents from the Allen-Angier collection at Duke University. The "Family Correspondence" folder contains letters, both written and typed, between George V. Allen and his family. The letters are mostly of a personal and familial nature, though some business is discussed (such as his impressions of the Potsdam Conference). These letters span the years 1945-1953.

The “General Correspondence” folder contains a number of letter relating to Allen and his diplomatic career. One letter is from a publisher rejecting Allen’s request for the publication of his manuscript on Iran.

The Family File also contains articles written by George V. Allen. “American Advisers in Persia” was written for the July 23, 1944 issue of the Department of State Bulletin. The Vox Persica, a publication of the Iranian Embassy in Washington, contains “Metamorphosis in Iran" (1943-1970), another Allen article.

The Speeches folder within the Family File contains a one-page statement regarding the Iranian parliament and its consideration of an oil agreement with the Soviet Union. The other two documents in this folder are summaries of speeches on Iran delivered by Allen.

Other relevant materials at the Truman Library include an oral history interview with Evan M. Wilson, who served as assistant chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs in the State Department, 1946-1947, and as second secretary and vice consul, and later first secretary and consul at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, March 1947-June 1949. (OH No. 259)