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Title: Eliot Grinnell Mears papers
Date (inclusive): 1910-1944
Collection Number: 25004
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2 manuscript boxes, 3 oversize boxes
(4.55 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, and photographs relating to economic conditions in the Balkans and Near East, to American commerce
with Turkey, and to the American war economy during World War II.
Creator:
Mears, Eliot Grinnell, 1889-1946
Creator:
United States. Navy Department. Training Division
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1925.
[Identification of item], Eliot Grinnell Mears papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Eliot Grinnell Mears was born in 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard College, receiving his BA in 1910 and
an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1912. From 1916 to 1920 Mears worked for the United States Bureau of
Foreign and Domestic Commerce, serving as the Chief of the Foreign Service Division, the American Trade Commissioner in the
Near East, and the US Trade Commissioner in Turkey. During this time, he operated primarily out of Constantinople and Athens
and focused on capital flow in the defeated Ottoman Empire, particularly the Mediterranean and the Balkans. In 1921, Mears
came to Stanford University as a professor of geography and international trade, working at the Stanford Graduate School of
Business when it was established in 1925 and remaining in that position until his death. He also served as the director of
the Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace starting in 1924. Mears died from a heart attack in 1946 while on sabbatical
from the University.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Eliot Grinnell Mears papers consist of correspondence, reports, and photographs relating to economic conditions in the
Balkans and Near East, to American commerce with Turkey, and to the American war economy during World War II.
The papers consist chiefly of memoranda, reports, and correspondence regarding trade in the defeated Ottoman Empire during
Mears' tenure as US Trade Commissioner in Constantinople from 1919 to 1920. Some documents are in Arabic or French, particularly
those that deal with Turkish production and consumption of raw material. Others address the flow of capital and resources
in the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Included in the first two boxes is a collection of photographs from Mears' years in
Turkey.
Also of note is a collection of War Department training posters that were given to Mears by the US Naval Training Division.
The 770 posters depict cartoon characters as naval mechanics and anti-submarine flight crews during World War II. They were
designed to be displayed on ships to encourage discipline and enhance job performance.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Economic aspects
Balkan Peninsula -- Economic conditions
Middle East -- Economic conditions
Turkey -- Commerce -- United States
United States -- Commerce -- Turkey