Jones, Owen T. Papers

Foreign Service Officer in Korea, Syria, Israel, and Turkey, 1948-1956; Director, Office of Greek, Turkish and Iranian Affairs, Department of State, 1956-1960; Director, U.S. Operations Mission to Yugoslavia and Economic Counselor, U.S. Embassy, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1960-1962; Counselor, U.S. Legation, Budapest, Hungary, 1962-1964

The papers of Owen T. Jones consist of diaries kept by Jones over a period of more than half a century. The diaries recount Jones’s personal and professional activities from his days as a student at Oberlin College through his career as a diplomat and State Department official. The collection also includes a few letters, photographs, and printed items that were enclosed with the diaries.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 3 linear feet, 6 linear inches (about 6,400 pages).
Access: Open, with the exception of a few documents that are closed for reasons of national security, because of legal restrictions, or in accordance with the donor’s deed of gift.
Copyright: The donor gave his copyright to his unpublished writings in this collection to the U.S. Government.
Processed by: Randy Sowell, Sharie Simon, and Janice Davis (2010).

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1907 (October 7)		Born, Lima, Ohio
1929		A.B. Degree, Oberlin College
1929-1930		Worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio
1932		M.B.A. Degree, Harvard
1932-1938		Employed with William Iselin and Company, Inc., New York City
1938-1941		Worked for Commodity Credit Corporation, Chicago
1941-1946		Served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of Captain
1946-1948		Associate Chief, Korean Economic Mission
1947		Member, Joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. Korean Commission
1948		Appointed Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State
1948-1949		Foreign Service Officer, Seoul, South Korea
1949-1950		Foreign Service Officer, Syria
1951-1953		Foreign Service Officer, Tel Aviv, Israel
1953-1956		Foreign Service Officer, Ankara, Turkey
1956-1960		Director, Office of Greek, Turkish and Iranian Affairs, Department of State
1960-1962		Director, U.S. Operations Mission to Yugoslavia and Economic Counselor, U.S. Embassy, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
1962-1964		Counselor, U.S. Legation, Budapest, Hungary
1964		Became Member of the State Department Board of Examiners
1967		Retired from the Foreign Service
2003 (January 10)		Died

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Owen T. Jones are comprised of a series of diaries kept by Jones from 1927 to 1979. There are significant gaps in the written record left by Jones. For example, there are no diaries in the collection for the period from April 1948 to June 1953, and Jones’s entries for the period from 1953 to 1956 are comparatively brief and limited in scope. But for most of the 52-year period covered by the diaries, Jones made extensive handwritten or typewritten entries on a daily basis, recounting events in his personal life and professional career.

The earliest diary entries date from 1927, when Jones was a student at Oberlin College in Ohio. The diaries record his experiences as a college student at Oberlin; as a clerk with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio; as a graduate student at Harvard Business School; as a young businessman with William Iselin and Company in New York; and as a traveling agent for the Commodity Credit Corporation in Chicago.

Jones joined the U.S. Navy in 1941 and was initially stationed in Washington. The diaries recount his activities as a naval officer with the Administrative Division of the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, from 1941 to 1944; and as a trainee at military government schools in Charlottesville, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; and Monterey, California from 1944 to 1945.

Jones was stationed in Korea for most of the period from 1945 to 1949, serving first as an official in the U.S. military government in Seoul, and later as a Foreign Service Officer after the establishment of the Republic of Korea. His diary entries for the 1946-48 period describe the political turmoil in Korea, the challenges facing American officials as they tried to promote stability and economic growth, and disputes with the Soviet Union over the future of the divided country.

Jones was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey when he resumed his diary entries in 1953. His entries over the next three years consist for the most part of travel itineraries and notes of meetings with U.S. and Turkish officials, primarily relating to economic aid and development.

In 1956, Jones became Director of the Office of Greek, Turkish and Iranian Affairs at the State Department in Washington. His diary entries from 1956 to 1960 include frequent references to the situation in the Middle East, the Baghdad Pact, the Cyprus conflict, U.S. relations with the Shah’s government in Iran, concerns about the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to the United States, the 1960 coup in Turkey, and day-to-day activities and conflicts within the State Department. Jones’s diary entries for this period include comments on such officials as John Foster Dulles, Christian Herter, C. Douglas Dillon, Loy Henderson, Fletcher Warren, and William Rountree.

In 1960, Jones went to Yugoslavia to serve as Director of the U.S. Operations Mission and Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade. His diary entries over the next two years refer to U.S. relations with Joseph Tito’s regime, economic development and social customs in Yugoslavia, the 1961 Belgrade Conference of non-aligned nations, day-to-day activities at the Embassy, and the actions and personalities of U.S. Ambassadors Karl L. Rankin and George F. Kennan. Jones’s accounts of his interactions with and impressions of George Kennan are especially extensive.

Jones’s next assignment was as Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, Hungary, a post that he held from 1962 to 1964. Subsequently, he served in Washington and in Cairo, Egypt before retiring from the Foreign Service in 1967. His diary entries during this period refer to Embassy politics, U.S. relations with Hungary and Egypt, and various problems he encountered during the latter stages of his diplomatic career.

From 1967 to 1979, Jones’s diary entries consist mostly of references to his family and personal life; accounts of his travels, hobbies, and civic activities; and observations on politics, current affairs, the arts, and diplomacy.

Jones sometimes enclosed correspondence, printed items, and photographs in his diaries, especially during the early years. These materials are also included in the collection.

The Truman Library has the papers of many other State Department officials, Foreign Service Officers, ambassadors, and diplomats of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, including: John Allison; Ben Hill Brown, Jr.; Myron Cowen; John Paton Davies, Jr.; Henry F. Grady; Harry N. Howard; George C. McGhee; Edward G. Miller, Jr.; Richard C. Patterson, Jr.; Charles W. Thayer; and S. Walter Washington.

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