Introduction
A
Early career (1937-47),
1941-92
B
United Nations career (1947-75),
1929-87
B.1 United Nations agencies and general papers,
1929-81
B.2 Africa, 1958-87
B.2.1 General African papers,
1960-76
B.2.2 Tanganyika and Zanzibar,
1958-70
B.2.3 Congo, 1960-87, and (c. 6475)
British Protectorates, 1960-70
B.2.4 Northern and Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland,
1961-73
B.2.5 South Africa, 1962-76, and (c.
6482) South West Africa, 1963-75
B.3 Middle East, 1950-8
B.4 Dag Hammarsjold,
1953-84
B.5 Secondments from the United Nations,
1961-78
C
Correspondence, 1941-95
C.1 Special correspondence,
1942-95
C.2 General correspondence, 1941-95,
and letters to the press, 1976-94
C.2.1 General correspondence,
1941-95 (correspondence later than December 1977 is
closed)
C.2.2 Copies of letters written by Smith to the press,
1976-94
D
Literary papers, 1930-95
E
Family, personal and business papers,
1894-1995
F
Newscuttings, 1941-94, and photographs,
1888-1995
G
Printed material, 1945-92, and
memorabilia, c.1920-94
G.1 Printed material including some publications inscribed
to Smith and others containing articles by him or relating to him,
1945-92
G.2 Memorabilia, c.1920-94
| Abstract: Papers of George Ivan Smith (1915-95), relating to his career as a broadcaster and international civil servant, with some family and personal papers. |
George Ivan Smith (1915-95) was born in Sydney, Australia, the son of George Franklin Smith, a prison governor, and May Sullivan. After education at Bathurst and Goulburn High Schools and at Sydney University, Smith began work as a newspaper journalist. In 1937 he joined the Australian Broadcasting Commission as talks editor and in 1939 became director of the newly-founded overseas broadcasting service, Radio Australia. In 1941 Smith was seconded to the BBC's Overseas Service in London where he became head of the Pacific Service and organised overseas coverage of the Second Front. In 1945 he joined the J. Arthur Rank Organisation where he worked on the documentary series 'This Modern Age'.
Smith joined the United Nations in 1947 and went to New York as Director of External Affairs to establish the organisation's first international radio programmes. In 1949 he moved to a more political role when he came to Britain as first director of the London United Nations Information Centre, remaining there until 1958. He began to act frequently as spokesman for Dag Hammarskjold, who had become Secretary-General in 1953, and accompanied him on many missions, including his visit to the Middle East following the Suez crisis. He was in charge of press liaison at the Four Powers' summit conference and foreign ministers' meeting in Geneva in 1955. In 1958 Smith returned to New York, firstly as Director of the External Relations Division of the UN Office of Public Information and later as Director of Press and Publications.
Smith's close association with Africa began in 1960-1 when he undertook several missions to the Congo and served as chief of civilian operations in Katanga in the wake of Hammarskjold's death in an air crash in September 1961. The following year he was appointed regional representative of the UN Technical Assistance Board (UNTAB) in East Africa and personal representative of the new Secretary-General, U Thant, in East, Central and Southern Africa. Based initially in Dar es Salaam and, from January 1964, in Lusaka, Smith negotiated with the colonial governments and the emerging African leaders.
In 1965 Smith took a sabbatical from the United Nations and became visiting lecturer in international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the following year a visiting professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston. In 1967 he undertook four months work for the World Security Trust on the problems of nuclear proliferation and acted as consultant to various international corporations. In 1965 he was nominated for the new post of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth but the appointment went to his namesake Arnold Smith of Canada.
In 1968 Smith was again appointed director of the London Information Centre where he remained until his retirement from the United Nations in 1975. From his home in Gloucestershire he continued to be an active commentator on international affairs and supporter of the United Nations, travelling, lecturing, and writing articles, letters to the press and a book, Ghosts of Kampala (London, 1980), about the rise and fall of Idi Amin. He began work on other books, notably an autobiography and an account of his pioneering ancestors in early Australia, but did not complete them, mainly because he was caring for his wife, who was in poor health.
In 1938 Smith married Madeleine Oakes (1909-66) in Sydney and they had three children. The marriage broke up during the war. In 1944 he married Mary Douglass (b.1909) who had two daughters from her first marriage to Cyril Conner (1900-81), the writer Penelope Gilliatt (1932-93) and the sculptor Angela Conner (b.1935?). In 1964 the Smiths adopted Edda Mutzawelo (b.1960).
Correspondence and papers of George Ivan Smith (1915-95), broadcaster and international civil servant. The papers are mainly arranged in chronological sections which maintain their original order and reflect the different phases of Smith's career. The first section (A) contains papers from his employment with the BBC and J. Arthur Rank Organisation and the second (B) papers from his United Nations career, which is subdivided into sections on Africa, the Middle East, Dag Hammarskjold, and secondments from the United Nations. Subsequent sections are (C) correspondence, (D) literary papers, (E) family and personal correspondence and papers, (F) newscuttings and photographs and (G) printed material and memorabilia.
Oxford, Bodleian Library [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. Eng. c. 6454, fols. 1-2].
George Ivan Smith also contributed material to the United Nations Career Records Project (MSS. Eng. c. 4702, fols. 132-225; c. 4733, items 5-6; c. 4797, fols. 187-230 - see the on-line catalogue). A small file of material, generated during Smith's time in the BBC's Overseas Service and mainly concerning the reporting of the D Day landings in June 1944, was given to the BBC Written Archives Centre in 1994 (BBC Archives reference: S260). A cigarette box (containing small bottle and bullet) engraved by an inmate of Goulburn Jail, c.1920, broken 'love arrow', n.d., and Katanga 1961 badge (fabric) are now Janitor's List of Library Portraits and Objects, nos. 736/1-3.
| Papers concerning Smith's employment with the BBC,
c.1941-2 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6454 Extent: 265 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence and papers concerning Smith's employment
with the BBC, 1942-5 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6455 Extent: 191 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence in connection with BBC work,
1941-92 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6456 Extent: 242 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Cassettes of interviews with Smith,
1989 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. e. 3295 Extent: 5 items Scope and Content:
|
| Papers concerning Smith's broadcasting career,
1945-54, 1989 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6457 Extent: 267 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence on general UN matters,
1950-70 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6458 Extent: 367 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
| Correspondence with C.V. Narasimhan,
1962-8 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6459 Extent: 295 leaves |
| Correspondence and papers,
1949-78 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6460 Extent: 277 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence files,
1948-70 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6461 Extent: 306 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence files,
1953-6 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6462 Extent: 303 leaves Scope and Content: Relates to
|
| General UN files,
1956-70 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6463 Extent: 320 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| General UN files,
1929-81 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6464 Extent: 132 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| General correspondence concerning Africa,
1960-5 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6465 Extent: 239 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence,
1962-74 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6466 Extent: 300 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
| Africa files,
1963-76 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6467 Extent: 264 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Background material on Africa,
1962-7 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6468 Extent: 237 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Background material on Africa,
1968-75 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6469 Extent: 193 leaves Scope and Content: Includes typescript articles
|
| Appointment diary while Smith was based in
Lusaka, 1964 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. e. 3253 Extent: iv + 226 pages |
| Correspondence and papers,
1958-70 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6470 Extent: 252 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Papers concerning Tanganyika (Tanzania) and
Zanzibar, 1961-8 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6471 Extent: 240 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence and cables concerning situation
in the Congo, 1960-4 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6472 Extent: 215 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Miscellaneous papers concerning UN operation
in the Congo (ONUC), 1960-9 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6473 Extent: 265 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Congo files,
1961-87 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6474 Extent: 256 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| British Protectorates (Botswana, Lesotho and
Swaziland) files, 1960-70 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6475 Extent: 236 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Northern Rhodesian (Zambian) files,
1961-9 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6476 Extent: 205 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Nyasaland (Malawi) files,
1962-5 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6477 Extent: 214 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Files on Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia),
1961-73 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6478 Extent: 282 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Files concerning the Central African
Federation, 1961-5 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6479 Extent: 253 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Papers concerning the Republic of South
Africa, 1962-76 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6480 Extent: 206 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Republic of South Africa files,
1964-5 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6481 Extent: 164 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Background material on South West Africa
(Namibia), 1963-75 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6482 Extent: 179 leaves Scope and Content: Includes papers on
with
|
| Papers concerning the Middle East,
1950-8 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6483 Extent: 233 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Papers concerning the Middle East,
1956-7 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6484 Extent: 199 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Copies of the Secretary-General's correspondence
and cables from the 1956 Middle East
mission Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6485 Extent: 433 leaves |
| Papers relating to the Middle East,
1956-7 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6486 Extent: 245 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Middle East files,
1956-8 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6487 Extent: 342 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Files concerning Dag Hammarskjold,
1953-84 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6488 Extent: 247 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Files concerning Dag Hammarskjold,
1958-61 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6489 Extent: 312 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Papers of Smith's investigations into
Hammarskjold's death, 1961-82 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6490 Extent: 251 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Papers of Smith's investigations into
Hammarskjold's death, 1971-81 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6491 Extent: 188 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Four cassettes containing dictation by Smith and an
interview concerning Hammarskjold's death, c.1980 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. e. 3254 Extent: 4 items |
| Files concerning Dag Hammarskjold,
1962-73 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6492 Extent: 125 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Papers concerning the World Security Trust,
1961-7 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6493 Extent: 317 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence and papers concerning Smith's
appointments as visiting lecturer, 1963-78 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6494 Extent: 271 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence concerning Smith's secondment work,
1967-76 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6495 Extent: 181 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence,
1958-87 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6496 Extent: 243 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
| Correspondence,
1965-94 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6497 Extent: 308 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
| Correspondence,
1942-95 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6498 Extent: 231 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
| Correspondence,
1956-88 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6499 Extent: 281 leaves Scope and Content: With
with (fols. 213-81) correspondence concerning Moore and Hepworth projects and photographs of Moore sculptures, 1961-80 Restrictions on Access: Correspondence later than December 1977 is closed. |
| Correspondence,
1952-95 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6500 Extent: 258 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
| Correspondence,
1943-93 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6501 Extent: 254 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
| Correspondence,
1947-94 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6502 Extent: 285 leaves Scope and Content: With
|
|
1941-9
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6503 Extent: 289 leaves |
|
1950-9
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6504 Extent: 113 leaves |
|
1960-3
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6505 Extent: 334 leaves |
|
1964-5
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6506 Extent: 287 leaves |
|
1964-6
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6507 Extent: 290 leaves |
|
1966-9
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6508 Extent: 210 leaves |
|
1970-9
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6509 Extent: 201 leaves |
|
1979-89
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6510 = Res. Extent: 320 leaves |
|
1990-1
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6511 = Res. Extent: 181 leaves |
|
1992
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6512 = Res. Extent: 230 leaves |
|
1992-5
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6513 = Res. Extent: 228 leaves |
| Copies of letters written by Smith to the
press, 1976-94 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6514 Extent: 166 leaves |
| Speeches and broadcasts, with related correspondence,
1940-89 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6515 Extent: 209 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Articles, 1937-95 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6516 Extent: 171 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Literary papers concerning Australia,
1936-51 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6517 Extent: 223 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Literary papers,
1946-85 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6518 Extent: 360 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Literary papers,
1976-85 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6519 Extent: 211 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Miscellaneous literary papers, c.1930-85 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6520 Extent: 336 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Notebooks containing miscellaneous jottings,
1955-90 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. e. 3255 Extent: 284 leaves |
| Literary papers,
1933-94 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6521 Extent: 148 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Draft poems, some under the pseudonym 'Africanus',
1940-90, with (fols. 119-41) related letters from
publishers, 1944 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6522 Extent: 141 leaves |
| Correspondence with Mary Smith (many letters undated),
1945-67 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6523 Extent: 228 leaves |
| Correspondence and papers concerning Penelope Gilliatt,
1961-95 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6524 = Res. Extent: 239 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence and papers concerning Angela Conner,
1956-95 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6525 = Res. Extent: 246 leaves Scope and Content:
|
| Correspondence and papers concerning Edda Ivan Smith,
1964-95 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6526 = Res. Extent: 326 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Papers of Edda Ivan Smith,
1974-87 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6527 Extent: 252 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Papers of Smith's aunt, the pianist Jean Melville (stage
name of Eadith Sullivan), 1906-94 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6528 Extent: 530 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Family correspondence, 1936-95,
including (fols. 1-209) wartime correspondence with family and friends in
Australia, 1936-47 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6529 Extent: 275 leaves Restrictions on Access: Correspondence later than December 1977 is closed. |
| Correspondence and papers concerning Smith family
history, 1894-1988, including (fols. 1-80) papers
concerning Smith's father, George Franklin Smith, and his work as a prison
governor, 1894-1939, including (fols. 57-80) newscuttings,
c.1936-50 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6530 Extent: 305 leaves Restrictions on Access: Correspondence later than December 1977 is closed. |
| Passports, identity cards and vaccination certificates
of George and Mary Ivan Smith, 1935-73 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. d. 3190 Extent: 333 leaves |
| Smith's financial and business papers,
1949-95 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6531 Extent: 188 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Newscuttings relating to Smith from the British and
international press, 1941-94 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6532 Extent: 291 leaves |
| Photographs, mainly of family and Australia,
c.1888-1962 Shelfmark: MS. Photogr. c. 104 Extent: 108 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Family photographs, c.1964-95 Shelfmark: MS. Photogr. c. 105 Extent: 79 leaves |
| Photographs of Smith's working life, c.1940-60 Shelfmark: MS. Photogr. c. 106 Extent: 49 leaves Scope and Content: at
|
| Photographs of Smith's first visit to Tanganyika
(Tanzania) and Zanzibar, 1960 Shelfmark: MS. Photogr. c. 107 Extent: 86 leaves |
| Photographs of Smith as a UN civil servant,
1960-2 Shelfmark: MS. Photogr. c. 108 Extent: 41 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Photographs of Smith as a UN civil servant,
c.1963-75 Shelfmark: MS. Photogr. c. 109 Extent: 69 leaves |
| Photographs of Jean Melville (stage name of Eadith
Sullivan) who was Smith's aunt, c.1910-90 Shelfmark: MS. Photogr. c. 110 Extent: 43 leaves |
|
1945-86
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6533 Extent: 16 items |
|
1945-67
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. d. 3191 Extent: 10 items |
|
1967-92
Shelfmark: MS. Eng. d. 3192 Extent: 9 items |
| Printed ephemera,
1943-94 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. c. 6534 Extent: 182 leaves Scope and Content: Includes
|
| Invitations and programmes for tour with Dag
Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General, to Europe, Middle East, Asia and
Australasia, Jan.-Feb. 1956 Shelfmark: MS. Eng. d. 3193 Extent: 131 leaves |