Holdings Liberal Arts and Sciences History Department Albert H. Lybyer Papers Finding Aid Holdings Liberal Arts and Sciences History Department Albert H. Lybyer Papers Finding Aid Title: Albert H. Lybyer Papers, 1876-1949
ID: 15/13/22
Primary Creator: Lybyer, Albert Howe (1876-1949)
Extent: 20.3 cubic feet
Arrangement: By type of material, alphabetically (correspondence) or chronologically thereunder.
Subjects: Course Notes, Europe, Faculty Papers, Florida, Genealogy, Harvard University, Indiana, Iowa, King-Crane Commission, Music -- Illinois, Near East, Oberlin College, Ottoman Empire, Peace, American Commission to Negotiate, Princeton University, Robert College, Turkey - History and Geography, World War I - Diplomacy and Politics, World War I - Military Government and Peace
Formats/Genres: Papers
Languages: English, Turkish,Ottoman(1500-1928)
Papers of Albert Howe Lybyer (1876-1949), professor of History (1913-1944) including correspondence, memoranda, diaries, notes, photographs, manuscripts, bibliography slips and financial records relating to courses taken at Princeton and Harvard and taught at Robert College (1901-1907), Oberlin (1910-1913), and Illinois (1913-1944); service with the Inquiry, the American Commission to Negotiate Peace and the King-Crane Commission on mandates in Turkey (1918-1919); schools and relief in the Near East; travel in the U.S., Europe and the Near East; contributions to periodicals and encyclopedias; addresses and radio talks; service on University committees (1920-1940); manuscript bibliographies on the Ottoman Empire; historical association committees; conservation; mathematics; real estate investments in Florida, Iowa, Indiana and Illinois; family history and genealogy and personal affairs. The series includes 2x3 inch glass slides of travel scenes in Europe and the Ottoman Empire (1912).
Albert Howe Lybyer (1876-1949) was associate professor (1913-16); professor (1916-44); and professor emeritus (1944-49) of history at the University of Illinois (UI). He is widely considered a founding scholar of Ottoman studies in the United States (Lowry, 65).
Lybyer was born in Putnamville, Indiana, in 1876. He earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton University (1896) and a master's degree from Princeton Theological Seminary (1899), becoming an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1900. Lybyer then taught at Robert College in Istanbul (1900Â-06) and Harvard University (1907-09) before earning a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1909. His dissertation, "The Government of the Ottoman Empire in the Time of Suleiman the Magnificent," was published in 1913 and became an influential early work in the field of Near Eastern studies in the United States. Lybyer taught at Oberlin College (1909-13) before joining the history faculty at the University of Illinois in 1913. Under his leadership, the UI became "the first institution to grant multiple degrees to students working on Ottoman studies in America" (Lowry, 65/66). At the end of WWI, Lybyer served as technical advisor for Colonel Edward House's Inquiry into Peace Terms (August-March 1919); the American Commission to Negotiate Peace (August-March 1919); and the King-Crane Commission on Mandates in Turkey (April-September 1919). Following WWI, the modern history of the Balkans became Lybyer's primary research interest. He later served as trustee for the American College in Sofia, Bulgaria; associate editor and contributor to Current History (1923-30); and president of the New Orient Society of America (1936-39).
Lybyer was active in the Champaign-Urbana chapter of the Progressive Citizens of America. He was married to Clara Lybyer, and he died in 1949.
Sources:
"Albert H. Lybyer, 72, Taught at Illinois U," New York Times, March 29, 1949, accessed May 21, 2020, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/03/29/84203154.html?pageNumber=25.
Heath W. Lowry, "The State of the Field: A Retrospective Overview and Assessment of Ottoman Studies in the United States of America and Canada," Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 24, no. 1 (Spring 2000): 65-119, accessed online May 21, 2020, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43384750?seq=1.
"Record Series 15/13/22, Lybyer, Albert Howe, Paper, 1876-1949," University Archives PDF (UIUC), accessed May 21, 2020, https://archives.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1513022.pdf.
Wikipedia, s.v. "Albert Howe Lybyer," accessed May 21, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Howe_Lybyer.
Course Notes
Europe
Faculty Papers
Florida
Genealogy
Harvard University
Indiana
Iowa
King-Crane Commission
Music -- Illinois
Near East
Oberlin College
Ottoman Empire
Peace, American Commission to Negotiate
Princeton University
Robert College
Turkey - History and Geography
World War I - Diplomacy and Politics
World War I - Military Government and Peace
URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1513022.pdf
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