The papers of Charles Habib Malik (1906-1987) span the years 1888-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930 to 1982. The collection documents most facets of Malik's life including his lengthy teaching career at the American University of Beirut from 1937 to 1976 and public service as Lebanon's minister to the United States from 1945 to 1953, as delegate to the United Nations from 1945 to 1959, and as Lebanon's foreign minister from 1956 to 1958. A significant feature of the papers is the material documenting Malik's role in the drafting of the United Nations Human Rights Declaration. The collection is arranged in eight series: General Correspondence , United Nations , Subject File , Speeches , Writings , Miscellany , Oversize , and Closed . The papers are in English, Arabic, French, and German.

The General Correspondence series is arranged in three sections established by Malik and his staff. Malik's activities as a recent graduate of the American University of Beirut during the early 1930s, his subsequent graduate work in philosophy at Harvard University and Universität Freiburg from 1934 to 1937, and his early teaching career in the philosophy department of the American University of Beirut are explored in letters to and from family, friends, and colleagues in a chronological file . Exchanges with fellow American University of Beirut graduates in the early 1930s provide insights into the Middle East during the interwar years. Letters written at the beginning of his teaching career in 1937 detail Malik's theories about the ways in which Western philosophy could contribute to the development of Arabic thought in the twenthieth century. Other correspondence with close friends prior to 1945 can be found in the alphabetical file . See in particular correspondence with Ralph Harper, Nicola Khayr, Julian Knipp, Frederic C. Lawrence, Howard Schomer, Zekin Shakhashiri, Shukri Hanna Shammas, Evangelos Stephanou, and Afif Tannous.

The bulk of the alphabetical file of correspondence dates after the beginning of Malik's diplomatic career in 1945. The file contains letters to and from political, religious, and diplomatic world leaders, public inquiries concerning Malik's activities in the United Nations, requests for speaking engagements, and exchanges with students and academic colleagues. Correspondence with prominent Lebanese political and religious leaders includes letters from Antony Bashir, Emile Bustani, Camille Chamoun, Pierre Gemayel, George Hakim, Bishārah Khalīl Khūrī, and Henri Pharon. Prominent correspondents include William J. Baroody (1916-1980), Clare Booth Luce, Henry Robinson Luce, David Rockefeller, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Nauman Shuster, and Lowell Thomas. For the most part, Arabic correspondence is alphabetized according to the transliteration provided by Malik's staff.

A reading file duplicates Malik's outgoing correspondence between 1952 and 1978 in the alphabetical file .

The United Nations series documents Malik's nearly fifteen-year association with the institution beginning with his participation in the United Nations Conference on Organization in San Francisco in 1945 and ending with his presidency of the General Assembly in 1958-1959. The series includes material relating to Malik's work on the Human Rights Declaration drafting committee in 1947 and 1948. Included are drafts of the declaration, notes, reports, and a record of the committee's meetings. While most of the material regarding the declaration is filed under the Commission on Human Rights, notes relating to the drafting process can be found in a large file arranged by Malik by year. Many of these notes relate to his work on human rights while others pertain to the workings of the Economic and Social Council, Security Council, and General Assembly. The series also features a topical file containing draft resolutions, reports, notes, and correspondence on a variety of issues, including the internationalization of Jerusalem, the "Palestinian question," the Soviet peace resolution of 1949, and a plan promoted by Malik to translate the world's classics into all major languages.

The Subject File largely concerns Malik's institutional and organizational associations. A significant portion relates to the American University of Beirut. Long-range planning proposals, faculty minutes, and candid correspondence with university presidents and boards of trustees reveal the active part Malik played in shaping the institution's role within a rapidly changing region. Intra-university communications as well as exchanges between Malik and Lebanon's president Suleiman Franjieh between 1968 and 1975 discuss the university's ongoing financial difficulties and problems with student unrest. Reports, minutes, correspondence, curriculum planning, and lectures comprising departmental files chronicle Malik's efforts to establish a viable philosophy program.

The Subject File also relates to Malik's various government positions. Included are diplomatic cables, correspondence, and reports produced by Malik while serving as Lebanese minister to the United States from 1945 to 1953 and ambassador from 1953 to 1955. Many of the reports include detailed accounts of meetings with American officials. The series also contains material from Malik's appointment as minister of foreign affairs from 1956 to 1958, a term that coincided with the outbreak of civil unrest in 1958. Included are minutes from Council of Ministers meetings during the height of the unrest between May and August. Also included are cables, statements, and resolutions concerning Malik's efforts to secure the United Nations Security Council's assistance in suppressing the uprising. The series also includes correspondence, campaign ephemera, and notes relating to Malik's election to parliament from his native al-Koura district in 1957. Files regarding the Front of Freedom and Man in Lebanon provide insight into Malik's involvement in public affairs following renewed outbreak of civil conflict in 1975.

Malik's interest in theological issues and involvement in religious organizations are also represented in the Subject File . Included are minutes from meetings of the "fortnightly group," a religious debating society run by Malik and other members of the Young Men's Christian Association in Cairo, Egypt, between 1930 and 1932. Also contained within the series is correspondence and related material from the Oxford Group (later known as Moral Re-armament) which Malik joined in 1933 as a graduate student at Harvard University. Malik, a Greek Orthodox, continued to participate actively in various religious organizations after the end of his public career in 1959. Included is material from his involvement with Campus Crusade for Christ International, World Council of Christian Education, and World Council of Churches.

A large portion of the Subject File concerns Malik's numerous speaking engagements at American and Lebanese colleges and universities and at meetings of various civic organizations, Lebanese American clubs, and churches. The series documents arrangements and publicity for these events and frequently contains evidence of popular reaction to Malik's speeches. Texts of his speeches are located in the Speeches series. Also found in the Subject File is correspondence with publishers and editors, files relating to television and radio appearances, and material concerning Malik's participation in various conferences. Files from the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, include Malik's account of his meeting with Zhou Enlai.

The Speeches series contains drafts of speeches, lectures, and sermons delivered by Malik between 1928 and 1982. Malik spoke frequently on human rights, the United Nations, the threat of communism, conditions in the Middle East, and on various religious themes. Published versions of his addresses are included with the drafts. Many of his speeches were published by more than one magazine or newspaper which widely disseminated his views, particularly in the 1950s.

The Writings series consists of drafts of articles, book reviews, books, introductions, forewords, prefaces, and unidentified manuscripts. Many of the books represented in the series were never published. Unpublished, book-length manuscripts include a compilation of personal reflections entitled "The Race," a book on diplomacy, and a collection of Malik's writings in Arabic.

The Miscellany series contains lecture notes and writings created during Malik's graduate work in philosophy at Harvard University and Universität Freiburg. Included are lecture notes from courses conducted by Martin Heidegger, William Ernest Hocking, and Alfred North Whitehead, among others. The series also contains drafts and notes from Malik's dissertation on Whitehead and Heidegger. Malik's public career after 1945 is documented by a large clipping file and numerous interview transcripts. Also included are appointment calendars, bibliographies of his writings and speeches, and notebooks. Address books as well as Christmas card and guest lists record Malik's circle of friends and professional associations.

Prominent among family papers in the series are diaries, notebooks, and patient logs kept by Malik's father, Habib Malik, a physician. The volumes cover his medical practice in Lebanon from 1898 to 1914 and his service as a physician in the Turkish army from 1914 to 1919. His subsequent practice in Cairo from 1920 until his death in 1942 is discussed in letters to his son. These letters, as well as other family correspondence, can be found in the chronological file in the General Correspondence series.