Skip to main content
COLLECTION Identifier: HUGFP 71.xx

Papers of A.J. Meyer

Overview

A.J. Meyer (1919-1983), economist, taught economics and Middle Eastern studies at Harvard University from 1955 until his death in 1983; he was appointed associate director of Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies in 1964. Meyer's papers document his teaching, research, and professional activities, and contain correspondence, consultation papers, speeches, teaching materials, and photographs.

Dates

  • Creation: 1955-1983 and [undated]

Creator

Researcher Access

The Papers of A.J. Meyer are open for research with the following exceptions: Personnel and student records are closed for 80 years. Restrictions are noted at the series level. Requires further review by the archivist; please see reference staff for details.

Extent

7.02 cubic feet (20 document boxes, 2 folders)

The Papers of A.J. Meyer document his teaching, research, and professional activities. The collection contains correspondence, reports, and other papers generated by the Industrial Bank of Japan Trust Company, of which Meyer was a director. It also contains materials pertaining to economic relations between the Middle East and Arab countries, and the United States. There are also reports and related correspondence concerning Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. Additionally, the collection contains photographs, consultation papers, and speeches. Meyer’s teaching materials include course descriptions, reading lists, course lists, and student questionnaires for his economics courses taught in the Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

Biographical note on A. J. Meyer

Albert Julius ("A.J.") Meyer (1919-1983), economist, taught economics and Middle Eastern studies at Harvard University from 1955 until his death in 1983. He received his BA and MA degrees in history and economics from the University of California at Los Angeles, and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1947. In 1950, Meyer became the first director of the United Nation's Refugee program in the Gaza Strip.

Meyer began teaching at Harvard in 1955. Beginning in 1964, he also served as associate director of Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He married educator Anne Avantaggio Meyer (1927-2020); the couple had three children.

Meyer was Chief of Mission for the Special United States Economic Mission to Saudi Arabia in 1962, an event that helped to create closer ties between the two countries. In 1966 and 1967, he went on leave from Harvard as a Fulbright-Hays visiting scholar in the Middle East, where he served as visiting professor of economics at American University in Beirut, Lebanon. He took another research leave in 1974 and 1975 to study in London and the Middle East. Throughout his career, Meyer published many articles and two books, Middle Eastern Capitalism in 1959 and The Economy of Cyprus in 1962. He died in 1983.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in four series:

  1. Correspondence, speeches and other papers, circa 1962-1983 (HUGFP 71.6)
  2. Photographs (HUGFP 71.6 p)
  3. Reports, circa 1955-1981 (HUGFP 71.41)
  4. Teaching materials, 1975-1982 (HUGFP 71.65)

Acquisition

Specific acquisition information, when available, is noted at the series level:

  1. Gift of Albert Julius Meyer, May 10, 1984; Accession 10049
  2. Gift of Anne Avantaggio Meyer, July 24, 1984; Accession 10156
  3. Gift of Albert Julius Meyer, November 16, 1984; Accession 10274
  4. Transferred from the Harvard Department of Middle Eastern Studies, May 22, 1989; Accession 11696

Related Materials

In Schlesinger Library:

  1. Anne Avantaggio Meyer Interviews (87-M39--89-M212; T-198)

Inventory update

This document last updated 2022 April 22.

Processing Information

This finding aid was created by Olivia Mandica-Hart in April 2021. Information in this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories and container management data. The collection was not re-examined by the archivist.

Title
Meyer, A.J. (Albert Julius). Papers of A.J. Meyer, 1955-1983 and [undated] : an inventory
Status
completed
Author
Harvard University Archives
Date
April 5, 2021
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua28021

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository

Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.

Contact:
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461