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Robert Taylor Papers

An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives


Finding aid created by: Anna Smallwood
Date: 2015

Biography

Photograph of Robert Taylor

Robert Taylor was born on June 15, 1918 in Ithaca, New York. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from Cornell University in 1940, his master’s degree in library service from Columbia University in 1950 and his master’s degree in history in 1954 from Lehigh University. With the onset of World War II, Taylor served on the counter intelligence team attached to 84th Infantry Division. There he met Henry Kissinger in January of 1945 and they soon became friends. Each earned a Bronze Star during their time of service. After World War II, Taylor worked for the Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) from 1945 until 1947. During this time, he was involved in the recruitment of Klaus Barbie, a Nazi war criminal, for CIC but left shortly after Barbie’s recruitment.

Before coming to Syracuse University, Taylor worked at Lehigh University as a cataloger of the Rare Books Collection and a professor and director of the Center for the Information Sciences. He was also the director of the library center at Hampshire College. During his professional career, Taylor was a member of the American Library Association, American Society of Information Science and Sigma Xi. He served as president of the Library Education Section of New York Library Association (NYLA).

Taylor came to Syracuse University in 1972 and served as dean of the School of Information Studies until 1981. He was largely responsible for the change of name from the School of Library Science to the School of Information Studies. He created the first master’s program in the country in information resources management, now called information management. Taylor became professor emeritus in 1981 and retired from Syracuse University in 1983. He died on January 1, 2009.

Scope and Content Note

The Robert Taylor Papers contain clippings, photographs, publications and awards relating to Robert Taylor’s professional life and is divided into ten different series:

The Clippings Series contains newspaper articles about Henry Kissinger, Joshua I. Smith (founder of Maxima Corp.), and Taylor’s career at Hampshire College, Lehigh University and Syracuse University.

The Correspondence Series includes personal and professional correspondence between the years of 1947 and 1994, much of which deals with Taylor’s publications and conferences.

In the Klaus Barbie Series comprise materials about Barbie, including annotated books, clippings, correspondence and a report.

The Lecture and Seminar Notes Series includes the written notes Taylor made and collected for his seminars and classes.

The Notebooks Series contains the hand-written notes Taylor took about various subjects and books that he researched between 1943 and 1970.

The Papers and Speeches Series has the general academic papers and speeches Taylor created or gave during his career. They are organized by year.

The Personal Papers and Recognition Series contains the awards and certificates given to Taylor as well as personal statements and vitas.

The Photographs Series contains photographs of Taylor, conferences and Kissinger.

The Publications Series includes the published writings of Taylor and materials relating to these writings.

The Reports Series comprise those made by Taylor during his career and include field reviews and reports he compiled for Lehigh University and the Standard Oil Company.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The Archives has clippings and portrait files on Robert Taylor.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Taylor, Robert S. (Robert Saxton)
Syracuse University -- Faculty.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.

Types of Material

Photographs.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Robert Taylor Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Materials in the Taylor Papers were donated to the Archives by Professor Taylor in 1994 and 2005.

Processing Information

Materials were placed in archival folders and boxes.

Arrangement

Materials in the Robert Taylor Papers are divided into series and filed in alphabetical order.

Table of Contents

Clippings

Correspondence

Klaus Barbie

Lecture and Seminar Notes

Notebooks

Papers and Speeches

Personal Papers and Recognition

Photographs

Publications

Reports

Inventory