J.C. Hurewitz papers, 1789-2005

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Summary

Creators:
United States. Foreign Operations Administration, Hurewitz, J. C., 1914-2008, and Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez
Abstract:
The J. C. Hurewitz papers consisted originally of a collection of printed materials, much of it relating to the history of the British mandate of Palestine. This part (Boxes 1-22) includes numerous publications issued by various Zionist parties in the period leading up to the creation of the state of Israel. The increment to the papers greatly expands the volume of the collection, making it a significant addition to the holdings of the archives on the history and politics of the Middle East. The incremental materials reflect Hurewitz's professional involvement with the region over a period of more than fifty years, beginning as a U.S. government analyst and then continuing during a long and distinguished academic career as a professor of political science at Columbia University. The increment consists of speeches and writings; a subject file of clippings, articles, and reports; correspondence and conference materials; photocopies of documents; and printed matter.
Extent:
107 manuscript boxes, 1 card file box, 7 oversize boxes, 11 oversize folders, audiovisual materials (45.5 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], J.C. Hurewitz papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The J. C. Hurewitz papers consisted originally of a collection of printed materials, much of it relating to the history of the British mandate of Palestine. This part (Boxes 1-22) includes numerous publications issued by various Zionist parties in the period leading up to the creation of the state of Israel. The increment to the papers greatly expands the volume of the collection, making it a significant addition to the holdings of the archives on the history and politics of the Middle East. The incremental materials reflect Hurewitz's professional involvement with the region over a period of more than fifty years, beginning as a U.S. government analyst and then continuing during a long and distinguished academic career as a professor of political science at Columbia University. The increment consists of speeches and writings; a subject file of clippings, articles, and reports; correspondence and conference materials; photocopies of documents; and printed matter.

Hurewitz was a prolific writer, and the increment contains drafts of his major works, including volumes he edited. It includes drafts of an unpublished third volume of his The Middle East and North Africa in World Politics: A Documentary Record, as well as multiple drafts of another unpublished work, "The Tangled Web: The Struggle for the Mandate's Succession." The increment also contains numerous scholarly articles written by Hurewitz for various journals, as well as more topical articles written for magazines and newspapers. The initial focus of Hurewitz's research was on the history of the British mandate of Palestine, but he wrote on many other subjects relating to the Middle East and North Africa, ranging from Ottoman era diplomacy to the various attempts to negotiate a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

The extensive subject file in the increment largely follows Hurewitz's original arrangement and headings, and consists principally of clippings, articles, and reports. It includes detailed information on the history of the British mandate of Palestine and the complicated series of events leading up to the partition of Palestine and the founding of the state of Israel. Additionally, there are numerous materials relating to the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Algerian war of independence, the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, and the series of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in recent decades. There are accounts of the many issues involved in these negotiations, including the status of Jerusalem and the general question of Palestinian sovereignty. There are other materials describing the Israeli political landscape and the tension between religious and secular forces in the country. The subject file also documents the role played by the United States in the Middle East from the aftermath of World War II until the Iraq War.

Materials in the increment relating to Hurewitz's teaching career can be found under the headings for academic career file. These include correspondence, conference papers, and summaries of meetings held by Hurewitz with officials and academics during his trips to the Middle East and elsewhere. There are also copies of a number of lectures on Middle East history, notes for other lectures given by Hurewitz, and records kept of his various research trips.

Hurewitz's interest in the diplomatic history of the Middle East led him to acquire a large number of monographs and pamphlets devoted to this subject. The printed matter in the increment includes numerous British government publications relating to mandatory Palestine and copies of both American and British treaties negotiated with countries of the Middle East. The increment also contains many photocopies of British government documents from the Public Records Office, as well as some declassified U.S. government documents. All these relate to British and American policies in the Middle East, and include reports on various countries in the region.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1914
Born, Hartford, Connecticut
1936
B.A., Trinity College
1937
M.A., Columbia University
1943-1945
Senior political analyst, Office of Strategic Services
1946
Political adviser to the U.S. Cabinet Committee on Palestine
1949-1950
Political affairs officer, UN Secretariat
1950
Author, The Struggle for Palestine
1950
Ph.D., Columbia University
1950-1984
Professor of government, Columbia University
1953
Author, Middle East Dilemmas
1956
Author, Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: A Documentary Record
1969
Author, Middle East Politics: The Military Dimension
1974
Author, Middle East and North Africa in World Politics: A Documentary Record
1979
Author, The Persian Gulf: After Iran's Revolution
2008
Died
Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1998, with an increment in 2012
Arrangement:

The collection is not arranged into series.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

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], J.C. Hurewitz papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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