H. Arthur Steiner (1905-1991) was a Marine corps officer during World War II and a professor of international relations and political science at UCLA. His areas of expertise were in India and China. The collection is composed of documents relating to Steiner's service as an operations officer during World War II. Included are U.S. military maps, intelligence photographs, photograph albums documenting Saipan operations, military proclamations and military pamphlets and ephemera, as well as Japanese language material.

Professor and World War II Marine corps officer H. Arthur Steiner was born in 1905. Steiner completed his B.A. and M.A. degrees at UCLA in the late 1920s and received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1930, specializing in the field of international relations. He taught political science and international law first at the University of Michigan and returned to teach at UCLA in 1931. Apart from his wartime service Steiner stayed in residence at UCLA until his retirement at the end of the 1960s. He was chosen as Political Science Professor of the Year by the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society in 1963. Steiner left his position as associate professor at UCLA in 1942 to serve as a captain in the Marine corps. He served in the World War II Marshall and Gilbert islands campaigns, and participated in the fighting on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. He was attached as operations officer to the staff of Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, commander of all Marine forces in the Pacific area, and his responsibilities included maintaining front line contacts and conducting aerial reconnaissance of landing beaches. In March of 1945 he was awarded a letter of commendation from Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz for his work collecting and evaluating information of technical value during the Marianas Islands campaign. Steiner also served at Iwo Jima. Steiner first visited India and China as a Marine Corps officer and later made these regions his area of expertise. His authored works include Communist China in the world community (1961), Principles and problems of international relations (1940), Government in fascist Italy (1938), and the lecture series Mussolini's Italy (1936-37). He edited Chinese communism in action (1953), Maoism: a sourcebook; selections from the Writings of Mao Tse-tung (1952), American Academy of Political and Social Science Report on China (1951), Significant Supreme court decisions, 1934-1937 (1937), and edited and translated Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, adopted by the Seventh National Party Congress, Yenan, June 11, 1945 (c1949). Steiner also contributed to the published works The international position of Communist China, political and ideological directions of foreign policy. Thirteenth conference, Institute of Pacific Relations, Lahore, Pakistan, February, 1958 (1958), and Local government in Europe (c1939). In the late 1950s and in the 1960s Steiner was described as an old China hand. He never mastered the Chinese language, but was selected by his peers to participate in the formation of the Joint Committee on Contemporary China of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. Arthur Steiner was married to Lois Steiner; the couple lived in Los Angeles. He was Professor Emeritus at UCLA when he died in 1991.

3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.) 2 oversize boxes 11 map folders

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.