Iran-Related Stanford Library Archives
An essential part of the Program's work is to help Stanford University Libraries expand their holdings on modern Iranian history and culture. Stanford's many libraries and archives offer a growing and unique collection of books, documents, films, audio recordings, manuscripts, posters, and private papers on modern Iran. Listed in descending order of date acquired by Stanford.
Nategh Archive - Green Library
Homa Nategh was an eminent historian of modern Iran. Her research work and writings focused on Iran's social, political, and intellectual history from the 19th century through the 1979 revolution. Dr. Nategh served on the Faculty of Letters at Tehran University from 1968 to 1981 and was later forced into exile in Paris, where she was appointed a professor of Iranian Studies at the Sorbonne. Her scholarship covered a wide range of topics, including the Qajar era, the Constitutional Revolution, women’s social progress, and persecution of minorities in the broader Middle East. Dr. Nategh was a political activist before the 1979 Revolution and participated in numerous social and political organizations. During her exile in France, her activism waned, and she expressed regret about her involvement in the Revolution.
Ebrahim Golestan
Golestan Archive - Green Library
The Ebrahim Golestan Archive was donated to Stanford's Green Library in 2023. This collection is essential for anyone interested in studying Iran's modern intellectual history and specifically contemporary Iranian writers and poets. It includes hundreds of letters exchanged between Golestan and a generation of Iranian writers, intellectuals, and poets. Material is currently being processed.
Yarshater Papers - Green Library
The Yarshater family donated the Ehsan and Latifeh Yarshater papers to the Stanford University Library in 2023. The collection consists primarily of Yarshater’s correspondence with hundreds of scholars worldwide over four decades (1980s-2000s). The papers include hundreds of archival documents, correspondence, and press cuttings collected by the late Latifeh Yarshater (1926-1999) on women’s rights organizations, events, and activists in Iran during the 1950s-1960s. The documents and correspondences in the collection are primarily in Persian, English, and French.
Meskoob Archive - Green Library
The papers of Shahrokh Meskoob, one of modern Iran’s most respected and acclaimed public intellectuals, literary critics, memoirists, and Shahnameh scholar and commentator, were recently donated to Stanford. The collection includes hundreds of letters from some of Iran's most prominent intellectuals, thousands of pages of notes, and first drafts of many of his manuscripts.
Sarshar Archive - Green Library
Homa Sarshar, one of the most prominent Iranian journalists of our time, kindly donated her archives to Stanford University. Her radio program, with almost forty years of continuous broadcasting, chronicles virtually every aspect of life in the Iranian diaspora, and includes interviews with some of the most prominent artists and public intellectuals on Iran. More information forthcoming.
Watch a discussion with Ms. Sarshar about the Iranian women's movement
Zahedi Documents & Photos - Hoover Library & Archives
The archive includes several hundred boxes of diplomatic correspondence, government documents, personal letters, and never-before-seen photos, donated by Ardeshir Zahedi—the former Foreign Minister under Mohammad Reza Shah and Iran’s ambassador to the U.S. from 1971-1979. The archive also includes the papers of his father, Fazlollah Zahedi, a general who held the post of prime minister in the 1950s.
Golshiri Collected Papers - Green Library
The collected papers of Houshang Golshiri, Iran’s acclaimed writer, were donated to Stanford's Green Library. This is one of the most substantial and important papers of any modern Iranian writer available in the United States, and indeed outside Iran.
Allamehzadeh Collection - Green Library
The film archives of Dutch-Iranian filmmaker Reza Allamehzadeh were donated to Stanford's Green Library. The collection includes hundreds of hours of never-seen interviews with some of Iran’s most important modern figures.
Pahlavi Iran Collection - Green Library
Stanford's Green Library includes extensive declassified material from the British, U.S., and German archives collected over the years by Dr. Abbas Milani in preparation for several of his books on modern Iranian culture and history.