Photograph Albums, 1919

The original Sami Ibrahim Haddad Papers comprise one photograph album loosely held by thread, “Vain Hope, or the American Commission, June-August 1919.” Haddad served as the doctor and translator for the King-Crane Commission in the Middle East.

Additional material, created by his granddaughter Ranwa Haddad, comprise scans of the King-Crane Commission album photographs, a scan of a letter from Oberlin President Henry Churchill King and Harry Crane upon Haddad’s departure from the Commission, a PowerPoint on the album on the Commission’s work, a biographical sketch of Sami Haddad, and a print-out of a photographic portrait of Sami Haddad. The PowerPoint was printed out by Archives staff for reference.

A number of the photographs in the Commission photograph album are duplicates of the photographs in the Henry Churchill King papers, available in digital form in the King-Crane Commission Digital Collection from the Oberlin College Archives website. However, those that are unique are an important contribution to the documentation of the Commission’s work. Ranwa Haddad’s PowerPoint presentation on her grandfather’s photographs (includes captions not in the original album) and his work are also valuable to the researcher on the history of post-World War I in the Middle East, the King-Crane Commission’s role, and the Allies peace terms presented at the Paris Peace Conference.

The original photographs are fragile and care must be taken in handling the pages of the album. The printed PowerPoint on the Commission album, with images from each page, is an excellent substitute for or prelude to handling the original.