Hugh Gibson papers, 1900-1983

Summary

Creators:

Gibson, Hugh, 1883-1954

Abstract:

Diaries, writings, correspondence, reports, minutes of meetings, photographs, and printed matter relating to American foreign relations, international disarmament, the League of Nations, and relief work in Europe during World Wars I and II. Diaries from 1918 also available on microfilm (1 reel). Food mission diaries of 1946 and 1947 are also available at http://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections or at https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/

Extent:

138 manuscript boxes, 27 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders, 22 envelopes, 1 phonorecord, 1 microfilm reel, memorabilia (92.6 Linear Feet)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Hugh Gibson papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The Hugh Gibson papers consist of diaries, writings, correspondence, reports, minutes of meetings, photographs, and printed matter relating to American foreign relations, international disarmament, the League of Nations, and relief work in Europe during World Wars I and II. Gibson's diaries of 1918 are also available on microfilm, and his food mission diaries of 1946 and 1947 are available at http://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections or at http://digitalcollections.hoover.org/

The first increment was acquired in 2013 (boxes 153-155) and is comprised of family correspondence and an address book. The bulk of the correspondence is letters sent to Ynes Gibson and maintains the original arrangement of the creator.

The second increment (boxes 156-157) was acquired in 2014 and is comprised of correspondence, Ynes Gibson's diaries, photographs, and news clippings, speeches, and correspondence regarding Gibson's death.

Biographical / historical:

Date	Event
1883 August 16	Born, Los Angeles, California
circa 1898	Attended Los Angeles Military Academy
circa 1900	Attended Pomona College
1907	Graduated, École libre des sciences politiques, Paris
1908	Took the Diplomatic Service Examination
1908-1909	Secretary, American Legation, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
1909-1910	Second Secretary, American Embassy, London
1910	Private secretary to the Assistant Secretary of State, Washington
1911	Clerk, Department of State, Washington
1911-1913	Secretary, American Legation, Havana, Cuba
1913	Observer, elections for Constituent Assembly of Santo Domingo
1914-1916	Secretary, American Legation, Brussels; liaison between Herbert Hoover and the Belgian government for the Commission for Relief in Belgium
1916	First Secretary, American Embassy, London
1917	Attached to Belgian War Mission during visit to the U.S. Aide to Lord Balfour, British Minister of Foreign Affairs, during visit to the U.S. Author, A Journal from Our Legation in Belgium Assigned to State Department - War Missions
1918	First Secretary, American Embassy, Paris; advisor to General Pershing
1918-1919	Member, Interallied Mission to Countries of former Austro-Hungarian Empire
1919-1924	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Poland (Warsaw)
1922	Married Ynes Reyntiens, Brussels
1924	Attended Temporary Mixed Commission for the Reduction of Armaments, League of Nations, Geneva; maintained as Ambassador-at-Large, League of Nations
1924-1927	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Switzerland (Bern)
1925	Vice-Chairman, American Delegation, Arms Traffic Conference, Geneva
1926-1930	Chairman, American Delegation, Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference, Geneva
1927	Chairman of American delegation and conference, Conference for the Further Limitation of Naval Armaments (also called Tripartite Naval Conference or the Three Power Conference), Geneva Delegate, Conference on Private Manufacture of Arms, Geneva
1927-1933	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium and Envoy Extraordinary Minister Plenipotentiary to Luxemburg (Brussels)
1928	Doctor of Diplomacy and Political Science, Universite Catholique de Louvain
1929	Birth of son Michael Francis, Brussels
1930	Delegate, London Naval Conference Doctor of Law, Universite Libre de Bruxelles
1931	Observer, Conference of Experts for a Moratorium on Intergovernmental Debts (also called the London Conference or the International Conference of Ministers), London Doctor of Law, Yale University
1932-1933	Acting Chairman, American Delegation, General Disarmament Conference, Geneva
1933-1937	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
1935	American Representative, Mediatory Group to end the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay; delegate, Chaco Peace Conference, Buenos Aires
1937	Author, Rio
1937-1938	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Luxemburg (Brussels)
1938	Retired from foreign service
1939	Vice-President, Belgian American Educational Foundation; Chairman, A.R.A. Association Author, Belgium: The Country and Its People
1940	European representative for the National Committee on Food for Small Democracies Escaped from France during German occupation
1940-1941	Director General for Europe of the Commission for Polish Relief and the Commission for Relief in Belgium
1942	Author, The Problems of Lasting Peace (with Herbert Hoover)
1944	Author, The Road to Foreign Policy
1945	Author, The Basis of Lasting Peace (with Herbert Hoover)
1946-1947	Member, Herbert Hoover Food Mission (Herbert Hoover, Chairman)
1947	Member, Investigatory Committee for postwar German economic policies
1950	Death of Ynes R. Gibson
1952	Director, Provisional Intergovernmental Commission on Movements of Migrants from Europe (ICEM)
1954 December 12	Died, Geneva, Switzerland

Acquisition information:

Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1956, with additional increments in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Physical location:

Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Separated material:

The following publications, newspapers, and pamphlets have been transferred to the Hoover Institution Library:

List of items from the collection transferred to the Hoover Library:

All bound publications of the League of Nations regarding various disarmament conferences

Conference on the Limitation of Armament - Subcommittees, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922 Testament Politique du Cardinal Duc de Richelieu, Henri Desbordes, Amsterdam, 5th edition, 1696 Le Temps Present, nos. 1-36 (not inclusive), 1914-1915

La Vie Universelle, no. 2

La Petite Illustration, 1921 March 3 American Experiments in Disarmament and the London Conference of 1930, by William I. Hull, Committee on Peace and Service of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends, 12 p., 1929

Cost of Armaments, by William H. Gardiner, Navy League of the United States, 8 p., 1930 January 7 The Covenant of the League of Nations with a Commentary thereon, London: Majesty's Stationery Office, 19 p., 1921

Covenant of the League of Nations with Annex (French/English) Final Protocol of the Locarno Conference (and annexes), together with Treaties between France and Poland, and France and Czechoslovakia, London: Majesty's Stationery Office, 1925 Fleet (the British Empire and Foreign Countries), London: Majesty's Stationery Office, 95 p., 1929

Investigation of Communist Propaganda, Report no. 2290, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., 1931 January 17 Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, Treaty between the United States of America and Other Powers, Treaty Series, no. 830, Washington, D.C., 37 p., 1931 London Naval Conference, speeches and press statements by members of the American delegation, State Department Publication, Washington, D.C., 67 p., 1930

London Naval Treaty of 1930, State Department Publication, Washington, D.C., 23 p., 1930

Memorandum ... of the Optional Clause of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice, London: Majesty's Stationery Office, 13 p., 1929 Organisation et programme des cours, Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, Paris, 141 p., 1906-1907

Papers regarding the Limitation of Naval Armaments, London: Majesty's Stationery Office, 46 p., 1928 Parity in Naval Strength, by William H. Gardiner, Navy League of the United States, 12 p., 1930 January 11 Peace Treaty of Trianon, Society of Hungarian Lawyers, Budapest, 39 p., 1931 Photographic History of the Bolshevik Atrocities, 39 p., undated

Records of the Conference for the Limitation of Naval Armament, presented by Mr. Hale, 70th Congress, 1st session, Sen. Doc. No. 55, Washington, D.C., 220 p., 1928

Report of the Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference and Draft Convention, State Department Publication, Washington, D.C., 102 p., 1931 Trade and Navies, by William H. Gardiner, Navy League of the United States, Washington, D.C., 11 p., 1930 January 9 The United States and the Other American Republics, Address by Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of State, Washington, D.C., 18 p., 1931

The Year's Major Factors in the Progress of Peace, Address by Charles E. Hughes, 71st Congress, 1st session, Senate Document no. 19, Washington, D.C., 11 p., 1929

Alternative form available:

Diaries from 1918 also available on microfilm (1 reel). Food mission diaries of 1946 and 1947 are also available at http://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections or at https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/

Indexed terms

Subjects:

World War, 1914-1918 -- Civilian relief
Disarmament
International relief
World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief
Diplomats -- United States

Names:

League of Nations
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964

Places:

United States -- Foreign relations -- Poland
Poland -- Foreign relations -- United States
Brazil -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- Brazil
Belgium -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- Belgium
Switzerland -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- Switzerland

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Hugh Gibson papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:

Hoover Institution

Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US

Contact:

(650) 723-3563

hooverarchives@stanford.edu

Website