Eliot Grinnell Mears papers, 1910-1944

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Mears, Eliot Grinnell, 1889-1946 and United States. Navy Department. Training Division
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.
Extent:
2 manuscript boxes, 3 oversize boxes (4.55 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Eliot Grinnell Mears papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1925.
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], Eliot Grinnell Mears 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
Website