Scope and Content Note
The papers of Eger Vaughan Murphree (1898-1962) span the years 1932-1963, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1957-1962. The collection consists primarily of correspondence and speeches, supplemented by reports, memoranda, newspaper clippings, photographs, and biographical information. The papers are organized into three groupings: subject file, speeches and writings, and miscellany.
The correspondence in the subject file is composed primarily of carbons or photocopies of incoming and outgoing letters for the years 1956-1962. There is no correspondence previous to 1956. The correspondence is mostly of a business nature and concerns Murphree’s activities as president of Esso Research and Engineering Company, the research and development arm of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, and his activities as an official of the Fifth World Petroleum Congress in the period 1956-1960. Of special interest in the Fifth World Petroleum Congress file is correspondence relating to the admission of Soviet scientists to the United States and their restriction with regard to technical information.
Correspondents include William Sterling Byrd Lacy, John A. McCone, Richard M. Nixon, Glenn Theodore Seaborg, Lewis L. Strauss, and Edward Teller.
Murphree’s writings include typed, mimeographed, and handwritten copies of his speeches, addresses, and published articles for 1932-1962. An index to the published articles is in the biographical file in the miscellany.