Philip Khuri Hitti papers

Collection

Identifier: IHRC894

Staff Only

Philip Hitti digitized photos and documents

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Digitizing Immigrant Letters project - Hitti letters

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Abstract

Papers (1915-1978) of Philip Khuri Hitti (1886-1978), a Lebanese American scholar and college professor and authority on the Near East include personal correspondence; professional correspondence; lectures and speeches; book reviews; writings; personal memorabilia; tapes, films, photographs, maps, newspaper clippings, a scrapbook, and copies of United States sponsored archaeological dig contracts. Correspondents include Viola (Hitti) Winder, and Mrs. Philip K. Hitti.

Hitti’s papers (20 linear ft., 1915-1978) include personal correspondence, professional correspondence, manuscripts of and notes for lectures and speeches, book reviews, writings, personal memorabilia, tapes, films, photographs, maps, newspaper clippings, a scrapbook, and copies of United States sponsored archaeological dig contracts. Considerable information pertains to his role as a spokesperson for the Arab perspective in America on foreign affairs, including testimony provided at the founding of the United Nations. The collection is regarded as one of very few significant sets of primary source material available on the early history of the Arab American experience.

Selected items from the collection have been digitized and are available in the University of Minnesota's U Media Archive and on the Digitizing Immigrant Letters project website (see "Digital material" below).

Dates

Creation: 1915-1978

Creator

Hitti, Philip Khuri, 1886-1978 (Person)

Language of Materials

Mainly in English. Some Arabic

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS

The Hitti, Philip Khuri collection is available for public research with the exception of selected files which are restricted (as indicated below - Box 27).

OWNERSHIP & LITERARY RIGHTS

This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.

For further information regarding the copyright, please contact the IHRCA.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

Philip Khuri Hitti (1886-1978) was born in Shimlan, Lebanon. He graduated from the American University of Beirut and taught there until he came to the United States in 1913. In 1915, he received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he lectured in the Department of Oriental Languages. In 1920, he returned to the American University of Beirut as a professor of history. From 1926 until his retirement in 1954, he taught at Princeton University in the Departments of Oriental Languages and Literatures and Near Eastern Studies. In the United States, he was an authority on the cultures, history, religions and languages of the Near East and did much to create among Americans an appreciation and understanding of Arabic and Islamic cultures. In 1945, he served as adviser to the Arab delegations to the United Nations organizational meeting in San Francisco. He also served as a consultant to American government agencies and corporations. Hitti was the author of numerous books and trained generations of scholars. His major work was the "History of the Arabs" (1937).

Extent

20 Linear Feet

Additional Description

PROVENANCE

Collection donated to the IHRC by the Hitti family in 1979. It was processed by Mary George in 2009, Arabic language materials processed by Sarah Barakat in 2014.