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THE PARR-SMITH ARCHIVES
The Smith-Parr Archives primarily consist of
correspondence, clippings, medals and photographs collected by D. Harrison
Smith and John F. Parr, most relating to their friendship with Edmund
S. Walsh, S.J. and their connections with Georgetown University.
The collection consists of 1 linear foot of material arranged in
24 folders in 2 boxes. John F. Parr was born in 1917 in
Michigan. He attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown
University, where he began lifelong friendships with Donald Harrison
Smith, a fellow student, and Rev. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. In 1940, after
Parr had received his BSFS and MA from Georgetown University, Walsh
appointed Parr Private Secretary to the Regent of the School. In 1941,
Parr war called up to active duty as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and was
sent to the Panama Canal Zone. In 1943, Parr was transferred to
the North Atlantic Fleet and began regular trans-Atlantic
convoy services to Europe. After the War, Parr obtained his doctorate
at the University of Fribourg and began a professorship there. In 1956
Parr returned to Georgetown at the request of Reverend Walsh as Assistant
Dean of the School of Foreign Service, and in 1958 he was raised to full
Dean. Parr worked for the University of Maryland in Germany from 1961 to
1969 as the resident Dean of its undergraduate two-year college. Parr was
Dean of Liberal Arts at Anne Arundel Community College from 1970 until his
retirement in 1977. John F. Parr and D. Harrison Smith then moved to the
Villa de la Grangette in Lens-Lestang, France. Donald
Harrison Smith was also born in 1917 and began attending Georgetown
University's School of Foreign Service in 1935 with John F. Parr. After
receiving his BSFS and MA from Georgetown in 1942, he signed up for the
Foreign Service, believing that he would be ineligible for the Armed
Forces because of a heart condition and spent a year at the American
Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. After continued appeals to the Navy for a
commission, Smith was finally called up as Ensign and assigned as
American Vice-Consul at Montevideo, Uruguay. After a short stationing
in the North Atlantic's Amphibious Forces on the American East
Coast, Smith was assigned to the South East Asia Allied Staff
Headquarters in Ceylon. After the War, Smith returned to Georgetown to
receive a PhD in 1950, and later received a Doctorate at the University
of Fribourg. Smith taught History at Georgetown University off and
on until 1961, and then moved to the University of Maryland in
Germany and Anne Arundel Community College until 1977. Smith was
an authority on Malta and wrote several books on Maltese history
and government. The Smith-Parr Archives contain correspondence
relating to John F. Parr's tenure at Georgetown University. Manuscripts
by Parr and Smith are also in the Archive, including "My
Three Musketeers" ("Mes Trois Mousquetaires"), about Smith and
Parr's close friendship with Rev. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. Medals
received by Smith and Parr are also in the collection including the
Bronze Star, the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta, the
French Academic Wreaths and a medal received by Smith from Pius XII
during an audience with him in 1956. Also in the Archive are a number
of photographs collected by Smith and Parr, mostly involving their stay
at Georgetown, but including one photo of D. Harrison Smith in audience
with Pius XII and one signed photo of President Dwight D. Eisenhower with
John F. Parr. - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - :
-Extent: 1 linear foot Number of Boxes: 2 Span Dates: c.1930 -
1981 Provenance: Gift of John F. Parr and D. Harrison Smith,
1981 Processed by: Michael J. North Date: 23 April, 1991
- : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - : - Abbreviations
ALS
Autograph Letter signed by the author TDS
Typed Document Signed TLS Typed Letter Signed by
the author TMs Typed Manuscript
ACCESSION DATA: Gift of John F. Parr and D. Harrsion Smith, 1981.
BULK DATES: 1940 - 1981
SPAN DATES: 1940 - 1981
EXTENT: 2 BOXES
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