SHELDON BAIRD VANCE:
An Inventory of the Sheldon and Jean Vance Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Vance, Sheldon Baird, 1917-, creator. | |
| Title: | Sheldon and Jean Vance papers. | |
| Dates: | 1901-1995 (bulk 1942-1995). | |
| Abstract: | Papers of an American diplomat and his wife relating primarily to his years as American ambassador to the African nations of Chad and Zaire, as well as to earlier diplomatic service in such places as Brazil and France. | |
| Quantity: | 1.0 cubic feet (1 box, and 1 oversize folder filed separately). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Sheldon Baird Vance was born in Crookston, Minnesota, on January 18, 1917, the son of Erskine Ward and Helen (Baird) Vance. He graduated from Austin High School, Austin, Minn., in 1935. He earned a bachelor's degree from Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., in 1939, and a law degree from Harvard University in 1942. He joined the Ropes, Gray, Best, Coolidge & Rugg law firm, Boston, in 1942.
Vance joined the Foreign Service in 1942, and served as an economic analyst at the American embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1942-1946); U.S. vice consul in Nice, France and in Monaco (1946-1949); U.S. consul at the U.S. embassy in Martinique, West Indies (1949-1951); Swiss Desk Officer (1951-1952); Belgium-Luxembourg desk officer with the State Department in Washington, D.C. (1952-1954); first secretary at the American embassy in Brussels, Belgium (1954-1958); chief of personnel placement in the Bureau of Africa, Middle East, and South Asia (1958-1960); student Senior Seminar in Foreign Relations (1960-1961); director of the Office of Central African Affairs (1961-1962); deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in Ethiopia (1962-1966); and senior foreign service inspector (1966-1967). He served as American ambassador to Chad (1967-1969) and to Zaire (1969-1974). He was promoted to the rank of career minister in 1971. Vance served as senior adviser to the secretary of state, coordinator for international narcotics matters, and executive director of the President's Cabinet Committee on International Narcotics Control (1974-1977). After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1977, he practiced international law in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Vance, Joyce, Carbaugh and Fields (1977-1989).
Vance married Jean Chambers on December 28, 1939. They had two children: Robert Clarke and Stephen Baird Vance. In later years they made their home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Sheldon Vance died at Bethesda, Maryland, on November 12, 1995.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, dinner menus and programs, and other papers. There is a literary manuscript written by Vance and his wife discussing American foreign policy since World War II; letters from Sheldon and Jean to his mother Helen in Austin, Minnesota; an essay by Vance about problems faced by Zaire in the 1990s; and the transcript of a television news program interview (1984) wherein Vance is questioned about events in Zaire. There is information about American foreign policy; Vance's career in the diplomatic service; the family's life and experiences in the various countries in which they served; and commentary about a variety of world leaders and political conditions in countries around the world.
There is also information about Vance's work with the State Department in its efforts to control international narcotics trade.
Correspondents include Sheldon and Jean Vance; Sheldon's mother Helen; State Department officials; Henry Kissinger, George H. W. Bush, and other government officials.
Some of the material is in French.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Sheldon and Jean Vance Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 15,440; 16,056
Processing Information:
Processed by: David B. Peterson, August 1999; Kit Smemo, June 2005
Catalog ID number: 990017358120104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| 147.H.3.2F | American Diplomacy: An Insider Look (manuscript), 1994. 2 folders | ||||||||||
| Typescript manuscript written by Sheldon and Jean Vance describing their experiences in the foreign service. In this manuscript Sheldon Vance argues that "the great promise of American world leadership through an effective foreign policy" was lost in the decades following World War II. 378 pages. | |||||||||||
| Oral history interviews of Sheldon and Jean Vance, 1989-1991. | |||||||||||
| Transcripts of three interviews, one with Sheldon (1989) and two with Jean (1990, 1991), carried out by the Association for Diplomatic Studies, an independent scholarly organization working through Georgetown University. The interviews summarize the Vances' ambassadorial career. | |||||||||||
| Biographical information, undated and 1901, 1935-1995. | |||||||||||
| Carleton College (Northfield, Minn.), 1939, 1979. | |||||||||||
| Massachusetts Bar Association letters and certificates, 1942-1945. | |||||||||||
| Department of State promotions and commendations, 1942-1974. | |||||||||||
| French West Indies, 1949. | |||||||||||
| Brazil: | |||||||||||
| Letters to Helen Vance from Sheldon and Jean in Brazil, 1942-1946. | |||||||||||
| Brazil reminiscences, undated and 1976. | |||||||||||
| Letters to Helen Vance from Sheldon and Jean in France, 1946-1948. | |||||||||||
| Miscellany from Ethiopia, [196-], 1966. | |||||||||||
| Chad: | |||||||||||
| Most of the letters are from Sheldon and Jean to family in the U.S., especially parents and children. They relate family matters and the Vances' day-to-day lives at the embassy. | |||||||||||
| Clippings, undated and 1968. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence and official papers, 1965-1969. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Photographs, 1967-1968. | |||||||||||
| Letter from Ngarta Tombalbaye to Sheldon (handwritten), 1974. | |||||||||||
| Foreign Service restructuring and reform proposals, 1979. | |||||||||||
| International narcotics control, 1974-1976, 1993. | |||||||||||
| Letters from Sheldon to George Bush, 1979-1980. | |||||||||||
| Zaire: | |||||||||||
| Appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 27, 1969. | |||||||||||
| Clippings, undated and 1969-1977. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence and official papers, undated and 1969-1975. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| As in the Chad series, most of the letters are to family in the U.S., and relate family matters and the Vances' day-to-day lives at the embassy. | |||||||||||
| Calls, invitations, and guest lists, 1969-1972. | |||||||||||
| Jean Vance volunteer work, 1969, 1972. | |||||||||||
| Addresses, undated. | |||||||||||
| Photographs, undated and 1969-1970. | |||||||||||
| The Background of the Disasters in Zaire, 1993. | |||||||||||
| Essay by Sheldon Vance discussing the history of Zaire since gaining its independence from Belgium in 1960, and the metamorphosis of its leader, president Mobutu Sese Seko, from a friend of the United States to an absolute dictator blamed for the "disastrous and often bloody" chaotic mess in which the country found itself by the 1990s. | |||||||||||
| Letter from President Richard M. Nixon to Sheldon, 1974. | |||||||||||
| Vance interview on "60 Minutes" television program, 1984. | |||||||||||
| Includes a transcript of a January 24, 1984 interview with Mike Wallace of CBS News. | |||||||||||
| Jean Vance Papers: | |||||||||||
| Essays, 1954-1972. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Articles, 1949-1981. | |||||||||||
| "Eloli, Daughter of the Sun": Manuscript and correspondence, 1972-1989. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| A Zairian children's story re-told by Jean Vance, for which she sought U.S. publication. | |||||||||||
| +293 | Foreign Service Officer appointment certificates, 1966. 2 oversize items. | ||||||||||
RELATED MATERIALS
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Ambassadors' spouses.
- Diplomatic and consular service, American.
- Diplomats' spouses.
- International relations.
- Places:
- Africa--Description and travel.
- Africa--Politics and government.
- Austin (Minn.).
- Brazil--Foreign relations.
- Chad--Foreign relations.
- Congo (Democratic Republic)--Foreign relations.
- France--Foreign relations.
- United States--Foreign relations.
- Zaire--Foreign relations.
- Persons:
- Bush, George, 1924-2018.
- Mobutu Sese Seko, 1930-1997.
- Vance, Helen Baird.
- Vance, Jean, 1916-.
- Organizations:
- United States. Department of State.
- Types of Documentation:
- Manuscripts.
- Photographs.
- Occupations:
- Ambassadors.
- Diplomats.
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