Collection ID: LMC 1080
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Collection context

Summary

Abstract:
The Berry mss., 1925-1971, consists of the papers of diplomat Burton Yost Berry, 1901-1985.
Extent:
14 Boxes (9 standard, 5 custom) and 17 bound
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Berry mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Burton Yost Berry was born on August 31, 1901, in Fowler, Indiana. Berry studied at Indiana University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1923 and a master's degree in 1927, and began his career as an American diplomat in 1928. Berry served as Vice-Consul to Istanbul, 1929-1931; Consul to Athens, 1938; Consul to Istanbul, 1943; Minister to Rumania, 1944; director of the State Department's Office of African, South Asian and Near East Affairs, 1947; and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Iraq, 1952-1954. He also held diplomatic positions in Iran, Italy, Egypt, and Colombia. During his consulship in Greece at the start of World War II, Berry notably negotiated with the Axis powers to allow for food distribution. He retired after his ambassadorship to Iraq in 1954, but continued to live abroad in Istanbul, Beirut, and Cairo until the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. He briefly returned to the United States with a short stay in San Diego before moving to Zurich, Switzerland, where he spent the rest of his life. In his personal life, Berry was an avid numismatist and art collector with a particular interest in Middle Eastern jewelry, coins, textiles, gems, and other antiques. He donated his collection of Greek and Turkish textiles to the Art Institute of Chicago; his collection of ancient jewelry and other artifacts to the Eskenazi Museum of Art (formerly, the Indiana University Art Museum); and a large portion of his coin collection to the American Numismatic Society. Berry passed away in Zurich, Switzerland, on August 22, 1985, at the age of 83.

Scope and Content:

The Berry mss., 1925-1971, are the papers of Burton Yost Berry, 1901-1985, diplomat. They consist of correspondence with diplomats, foreign service officers, army officers, statesmen, educators, congressmen, senators, editors, governors, lawyers, businessmen, numismatists, bankers, museum curators, government officials, and archaeologists; reports on Turkish life and civilization; diaries; pictures; newspaper clippings; and memorabilia. The letters to and from his parents give a good account of daily happenings and travels. Reports and correspondence of a diplomatic nature are concerned with African affairs, Albania, Arabs, Bulgaria, Crete, Egypt, Greece, Near Eastern affairs, persecution of Jews, Rumania, U.S. foreign relations; World War II; and the account of Samuel Insull's conversations with Berry aboard the S.S. Exilona and during the ensuing trip to Chicago in 1934. There are also letters and articles which deal with the patterns, stitchings, decorations, and embroidery work of old Turkish towels; Turkish gardens; oriental rugs; gems; coins; Turkish door furnishings; old Turkish silver snuff boxes; Anatolia; and Iran.

Among the correspondents represented in the collection are Baron Abernant; Dean Gooderham Acheson; Theodore Carter Achilles; Garret G. Ackerson; Mehmet Aga-Oglu; Christine Alexander; Charles Edward Allen; George Venable Allen; Paul Humiston Alling; Laird Archer; Athenagoras; John DeForest Barker; Robbins Wolcott Barstow; Jacob Dyneley Beam; Floyd Henson Black; William McCormick Blair; Jacob Blaustein; Charles Eustis Bohlen; Chester Bowles; George Louis Brandt; Ellis O. Briggs; Edward Henry Buehrig; William Carter Burdett; James Francis Byrnes; Henry Alfred Byroade; Harold Anthony Caccia; Jefferson Caffery; Jon Coert Campbell; Cavendish Welles Cannon; Homer Earl Capehart; Wilbur John Carr; William Richards Castle; Ivy Leone Chamness; Selden Chapin; James Rives Childs; William Wendell Cleland; Horace Merle Cochran; Robert Douglas Coe; William Robertson Coe; Francis Patrick Corrigan; Earl Thomas Crain; Edward Savage Crocker; William Smith Culbertson; John Paton Davies; Homer Woodhull Davis; Monnett Bain Davis; Arthur Stone Dewing; Paul Franklin Douglass; Gerald Augustin Drew; Allen Welsh Dulles; John Foster Dulles; Donald Carl Dunham; James Clement Dunn; George Howard Earle; Abba Solomon Eban; William Alfred Eddy; Walter Evans Edge; Dwight David Eisenhower; Eliahu Elath; John George Erhardt; Feridun Cemal Erkin; Melih Esenbel; Mark Foster Ethridge; Charles Raymond Everitt; Herbert Granville Fell; Bert Fish; Henry Holcomb Ford; Andrew Brisbin Foster; Peter Fraenkel; Andrew David Fritzlan; Daniel Gaudin; Guy Mark Gillette; Henry Francis Grady; Everett Dwight Graff; Joseph Coy Green; Joseph Clark Grew; Dwight Palmer Griswold; Charles Abraham Halleck; Orville Harden; Raymond Arthur Hare; William Averell Harriman; Parker Thompson Hart; L. Douglas Heck; Loy Wesley Henderson; John Dewey Hickerson; Henry Albert Hill; Julius Cecil Holmes; Henry Radford Hope; John Evarts Horner; William Harrison Hornibrook; Harold Boies Hoskins; Charles L. House; Frederick Lawson Hovde; Frank Leland Howard; John Brigham Howard; Cordell Hull; John Edwin Hull; Carlisle Hubbard Humelsine; Cloyce Kenneth Huston; Charles S. Hyneman; Samuel Insull; 1859-1938; Samuel Insull; 1900- ; Philip W. Ireland; Kenneth Ross Iverson; Cornelius Comegys Jadwin; Philip Brutton James; William Ezra Jenner; John Durnford Jernegan; Ellis Adolph Johnson; George Lewis Jones; Thorsten Kalijarvi; James Hugh Keeley; Charles Fabens Kelley; Robert Francis Kelley; George Frost Kennan; Donald Dwight Kennedy; Homer Eaton Keyes; Foy David Kohler; Carl Hermann Kraeling; Harold Albert Lamb; Frederick Larkin; Frederick Palmer Latimer; Harold Francis Linder; James Alexander Linen; Boaz Walton Long; Robert Fresnel Loree; Donald Bradford Lourie; Cecil Burton Lyon; Douglas MacArthur; John Van Antwerp MacMurray; Chauncey McCormick; James Grover McDonald; Ernest William McFarland; George Crews McGhee; William McNeir; Lincoln MacVeagh; John Henry Madonne; Elbert George Mathews; H. Freeman Matthews; Gordon Henry Mattison; Roy Malcolm Melbourne; George Strausser Messersmith; Robert Graham Miner; Harold Bronk Minor; Paul Monroe; James Sayle Moose; DeWitt Schuyler Morgan; Leland Burnette Morris; Wallace Murray; George Hewitt Myers; John Nuveen; Sir Francis D'Arcy Godolphin Osborne, Duke of Leeds; Thomas Rossman Palfrey; Ely Eliot Palmer; Joseph Palmer; Jefferson Patterson; John Emil Peurifoy; Christian Magelssen Ravndal; Leslie Edgar Reed; George Frederick Reinhardt; Daniel Catton Rich; Arthur Raymond Robinson; Edward Stanley Gotch Robinson; James Jaquess Robinson; Frederic Gordon Roe; Lewis Henry Rohrbaugh; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; William Manning Rountree; Alexander Grant Ruthven; Joseph Charles Satterthwaite; Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Schuyler; Harold Shantz; John Shapley; Gardiner Howland Shaw; Charles Hitchcock Sherrill; Ruth (Bielaski) Shipley; John Farr Simmons; Robert Peet Skinner; Donald William Smith; Lawrence Henry Smith; Ray Winfield Smith; Walter Bedell Smith; Harold Edward Stassen; Laurence Adolph Steinhardt; Edward Reilly Stettinius; Gorham Phillips Stevens; Harold Hilgar Tittmann; Gerald Toulmin; George Crosby Towner; Sir John Monro Troutbeck; Arthur Gilbert Trudeau; Harry S Truman; Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule; Alan John Bayard Wace; George Wadsworth; Jay Walker; Avra Milvin Warren; Herman B Wells; Edward Gordon Wenham; E. Wynham White; Thomas Whittemore; Sir Charles George Wickham; Thomas Murray Wilson; John Garrett Winter; Frank Gardiner Wisner; William Witman; Charles Anderson Wolverton; William Robert Wood; Sam Edison Woods; Ruth Frances Woodsmall; Jerauld Wright; Henry Merritt Wriston; Cyril Wynn; Charles Woodruff Yost; Rodney Stuart Young.

In the first box of the collection is a folder containing biographical information.

Among other materials is a bound volume of letters received in response to a gift copy of A Numismatic Biography (privately printed, 1971) written by Burton Yost Berry. Bound in blue, having 328 pages, the volume contains letters dated 1970-1976 from figures in the numismatics field, friends, relatives, and personalities such as Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Patricia Nixon, Jacqueline Onassis, Harry S. Truman, and Herman B Wells. A partial inventory of names is filed with the volume.

An additional volume is Turkish Fountain Notes compiled by Burton Yost Berry during his foreign service tour of duty in Istanbul during the 1930s. Ninety-one photographs are mounted in the 156-page work. The text offers the Turkish inscription on the fountain, the transliteration and English translation, with commentary and location of fountain. One of the photographs was taken by Ambassador Joseph Clark Grew.

Note on Indexing Term - "Art": Included are letters and articles which deal with the patterns, stitching, decorations, and embroidery work of old Turkish towels; Turkish gardens; oriental rugs; gems; coins; Turkish door furnishings and old Turkish silver snuff boxes. Material pertaining to numismatics and Turkish fountains is also included.

Note on Indexing Term - "Slavs": Some reports and correspondence of a diplomatic nature are concerned with Albania, Bulgaria, and Rumania.

Note on Indexing Term - "World War, 1939-1945": World War II reports and correspondence with diplomats, military officers, statesmen, congressmen, senators and governors are included, some deal with war atrocities and some deal with occupied territories.

Acquisition information:
Gift: 1976, 1981
Arrangement:

This collection is organized into six series: I. Bound Reports & Volumes, II. Correspondence, III. Writings & Printed Materials, IV. Pictures, V. Other Personal Papers & Items of Burton Yost Berry, VI. Oversized Items.

Physical location:
Lilly - Stacks; ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility) (Box 10)

Indexed Terms

Subjects:
Arts and diplomacy
Cultural diplomacy
Diplomacy
Diplomatic documents
International relations
Numismatics
Turkey--Foreign relations--United States
United States--Foreign relations--20th century
United States--Foreign relations--Turkey
Art
Indiana--Politics and government
International relations
Slavs
United States—Politics and government—20th century
World War, 1939-1945
Names:
Abernant, Baron
Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971
Achilles, Theodore C. (Theodore Carter), 1905-1986
Ackerson, Garret G.
Aga-Oglu, Mehmet, 1896-1949
Alexander, Christine, 1893-1975
Allen, Charles Edward, 1881-1967
Allen, George V. (George Venable), 1903-1970
Alling, Paul Humiston
Archer, Laird, 1892-1981
Barker, John DeForest
Barstow, Robbins Wolcott
Beam, Jacob D., 1908-
Berry, Burton Y. (Burton Yost)
Black, Floyd H. (Floyd Henson), 1888-1983
Blair, William McCormick, 1884-1982
Blaustein, Jacob, 1892-1970
Bohlen, Charles E. (Charles Eustis), 1904-1974
Bowles, Chester, 1901-1986
Brandt, George Louis
Briggs, Ellis, 1899-1976
Buehrig, Edward H. (Edward Henry), 1910-1986
Burdett, William Carter
Byrnes, James F. (James Francis), 1882-1972
Byroade, Henry A. (Henry Alfred), 1913-
Caccia, Harold Anthony
Caffery, Jefferson, 1886-1974
Campbell, Jon Coert
Cannon, Cavendish Welles
Capehart, Homer E. (Homer Earl), 1897-1979
Carr, Wilbur J. (Wilbur John), 1870-1942
Castle, William R. (William Richards), Jr., 1878-1963
Chamness, Ivy Leone
Chapin, Selden, 1899-1963
Childs, J. Rives (James Rives), 1893-1987
Cleland, William Wendell
Cochran, Horace Merle, 1892-1973
Coe, Robert Douglas
Coe, William Robertson, 1869-1955
Corrigan, Francis P. (Francis Patrick), 1881-1968
Crain, Earl Thomas
Crocker, Edward Savage
Culbertson, William Smith, 1884-1966
Davies, John Paton, 1908-1999
Davis, Homer Woodhull
Davis, Monnett Bain, 1893-1953
Dewing, Arthur S. (Arthur Stone), 1880-1971
Douglass, Paul
Drew, Gerald Augustin
Dulles, Allen, 1893-1969
Dulles, John Foster, 1888-1959
Dunham, Donald (Donald Carl), 1908-2000
Dunn, James C. (James Clement), 1890-1979
Earle, George Howard, 1890-1974
Eban, Abba Solomon, 1915-2002
Eddy, William A. (William Alfred), 1896-
Edge, Walter E. (Walter Evans), 1873-1956
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Elath, Eliahu, 1903-
Erhardt, John George
Erkin, Feridun Cemal
Esenbel, Melih, 1915-
Ethridge, Mark F. (Mark Foster), 1896-1981
Everitt, Charles Raymond
Fell, Herbert Granville, 1872-
Fish, Bert, 1875-1943
Ford, Henry Holcomb
Foster, Andrew Brisbin
Fraenkel, Peter Adolf, 1923-2007
Fritzlan, Andrew David
Gaudin, Daniel
Gillette, Guy M. (Guy Mark), 1879-1973
Grady, Henry Francis, 1882-1957
Graff, Everett D. (Everett Dwight), 1885-1964
Green, Joseph Coy
Grew, Joseph C. (Joseph Clark), 1880-1965
Griswold, Dwight P. (Dwight Palmer), 1893-1954
Halleck, Charles A. (Charles Abraham), 1900-1986
Harden, Orville
Hare, Raymond A.
Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1986
Hart, Parker T.
Heck, L. Douglas
Henderson, Loy W. (Loy Wesley), 1892-1986
Hickerson, John D. (John Dewey), 1898-
Hill, Henry Albert
Holmes, Julius C. (Julius Cecil), 1899-1968
Hope, Henry R. (Henry Radford), 1905-1989
Horner, John E. (John Evarts), 1916-
Hornibrook, William Harrison
Hoskins, Harold Boies
House, Charles L.
Hovde, Frederick L., 1908-1983
Howard, Frank Leland
Howard, John Brigham
Hull, Cordell, 1871-1955
Hull, John Edwin, 1895-1975
Humelsine, Carlisle H.
Huston, Cloyce Kenneth
Hyneman, Charles S., 1900-1985
Insull, Samuel, 1859-1938
Insull, Samuel, 1900-
Ireland, Philip Willard, 1902-1991
Iverson, Kenneth R. (Kenneth Ross), 1909-
Jadwin, Cornelius Comegys, 1835-1913
James, Philip, 1901-1974
Jenner, William E. (William Ezra), 1908-1985
Jernegan, John D. (John Dunford), 1911-1981
Johnson, Ellis Adolph
Jones, George Lewis
Kalijarvi, Thorsten V. (Thorsten Valentine), 1897-
Keeley, James H. (James Hugh), 1895-1990
Kelley, Charles Fabens, 1885-1960
Kelley, Robert F. (Robert Francis), 1894-1976
Kennan, George F. (George Frost), 1904-2005
Kennedy, Donald Dwight
Keyes, Homer Eaton, 1875-1938
Kohler, Foy D.
Kraeling, Carl H. (Carl Hermann), 1897-1966
Lamb, Harold, 1892-1962
Larkin, Frederick, 1814-1910
Latimer, Frederick Palmer
Leeds, Francis D'Arcy Godolphin Osborne, Duke of, 1884-1964
Linder, Harold F.
Linen, James A.
Long, Boaz Walton, 1876-1962
Loree, Robert F.
Lourie, Donald Bradford
Lyon, Cecil Burton
MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964
MacMurray, John Van Antwerp, 1881-1960
McCormick, Chauncey, 1884-1954
McDonald, James G. (James Grover), 1886-1964
McFarland, Ernest William, 1894-1984
McGhee, George Crews, 1912-
McNeir, William
MacVeagh, Lincoln, 1890-1972
Madonne, John Henry
Mathews, Elbert G. (Elbert George), 1910-1977
Matthews, H. Freeman, 1899-1986
Mattison, Gordon Henry
Melbourne, Roy M., 1913-
Messersmith, George S. (George Strausser), 1883-1960
Miner, Robert Graham, 1911-1990
Minor, Harold Bronk, 1902-1984
Monroe, Paul, 1869-1947
Moose, James Sayle
Morgan, DeWitt Schuyler
Morris, Leland Burnette
Myers, George Hewitt
Nuveen, John
Palfrey, Thomas Rossman, 1895-1973
Palmer, Ely E. (Ely Eliot), 1887-1977
Patterson, Jefferson, 1891-1977
Peurifoy, John Emil
Ravndal, Christian Magelssen, 1899-1984
Reed, Leslie Edgar
Reinhardt, G. Frederick (George Frederick), 1911-1971
Rich, Daniel Catton, 1904-1976
Robinson, Arthur R. (Arthur Raymond), 1881-1961
Robinson, E. S. G. (Edward Stanley Gotch)
Robinson, James J. (James Jaquess), 1893-1980
Roe, F. Gordon (Frederic Gordon), 1894-1985
Rohrbaugh, Lewis Henry
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Rountree, William Manning
Ruthven, Alexander Grant, 1882-1971
Satterthwaite, Joseph C. (Joseph Charles), 1900-
Schuyler, C. V. R.
Shantz, Harold
Shapley, John
Shaw, Gardiner Howland, 1893-1965
Sherrill, Charles Hitchcock, 1867-1936
Shipley, Ruth
Simmons, John F. (John Farr), 1892-1968
Skinner, Robert Peet, 1866-1960
Smith, Donald, 1946-
Smith, Lawrence Henry, 1892-1958
Smith, Ray Winfield
Smith, Walter Bedell, 1895-1961
Stassen, Harold E. (Harold Edward), 1907-2001
Steinhardt, Laurence A. (Laurence Adolph), 1892-1950
Stettinius, Edward R., Jr. (Edward Reilly), 1900-1949
Stevens, Gorham Phillips, 1876-
Tittmann, Harold H., 1893-1980
Toulmin, Gerald
Towner, George Crosby, 1901-1999
Troutbeck, John Monro, Sir
Trudeau, Arthur G. (Arthur Gilbert), 1902-1991
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
Wace, A. J. B. (Alan John Bayard), 1879-1957
Warren, Avra Milvin, 1893-1957
Wells, Herman B
Wenham, Edward, 1884-
White, E. Wynham
Whittemore, Thomas, 1871-1950
Wickham, Charles George, Sir
Wilson, Thomas Murray
Winter, John Garrett, 1881-1956
Wisner, Frank (Frank G.)
Witman, William, II, 1914-1978
Wolverton, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1880-1969
Wood, Will R. (Will Robert), 1861-1933
Woods, Sam, -1953
Woodsmall, Ruth Frances, 1883-1963
Wright, Jerauld
Wriston, Henry M. (Henry Merritt), 1889-1978
Wynn, Cyril
Yost, Charles Woodruff
Young, Rodney S. (Rodney Stuart), 1907-1974
Places:
Romania
Bulgaria
Albania

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Berry mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu