O'Neal, Emmet Papers

United States Ambassador to the Philippines, 1947-1949

The papers of Emmet O'Neal consist of biographical information, Corregidor Bataan Memorial Commission records, correspondence, menus and programs, photographs, printed materials, the contents of scrapbooks, written accounts by Filipinos of their experiences under Japanese occupation, and other items. They relate primarily to O'Neal's public career and especially to his service as U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines and as Chairman of the Corregidor-Bataan Memorial Commission.

Size: 3 linear feet, 6 linear inches (about 6,400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: Mary O'Neal donated to the U.S. government her copyright interest in all writings in this collection. Documents created by U.S. government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Elizabeth Carrington (2011).

The Emmet O'Neal Papers are comprised of an address, biographical information, the contents of scrapbooks, Corregidor-Bataan Memorial Commission records, correspondence, a film script, menus and programs, records relating to Philippine burial benefits, a photo album, photographs, printed materials, a rock from Corregidor, a sound recording, twelve volumes of "Stories by Filipinos of World War II" with related background information, and other items. The papers relate to O'Neal's public career, and especially to his service as U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines and as Chairman of the Corregidor-Bataan Memorial Commission. The collection consists of one series, a Subject File, arranged alphabetically by record type.

O'Neal's Service as Ambassador to the Philippines fostered his involvement in a number of causes related to memorializing both Filipino and United States involvement in World War II and the post-war aftermath. Along with the Philippine Ambassador to the United States, J. M. Elizalde, and several Philippine political figures, O'Neal pushed for the 1951 Congressional approval of P.L. 82-21 authorizing funeral and burial benefits for Commonwealth Army veterans residing in the Philippines. O'Neal also served as a member, and eventual chairman, of the Corregidor-Bataan Memorial Commission, which coordinated the design and construction of the Pacific War Memorial on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines. Although O'Neal died before completion of the memorial, his wife received correspondence, photographs, and printed materials related to the inaugural ceremony.

The sound recording contains the remarks and speeches given at the June 22, 1968 inaugural ceremonies of the Pacific War Memorial on the island of Corregidor.

The twelve volumes of "Stories by Filipinos of World War II" contain handwritten or typewritten personal accounts of the experiences of individual Filipinos during the occupation of the Philippines by Japan, 1941-1945. The accounts were solicited primarily through the Philippine school system by O'Neal during his ambassadorship.

Related materials at the Truman Library include the Papers of Harry S. Truman (especially Official File 1055 – The Philippines), Myron Cowen, J. Weldon Jones, Frank Waring, and Daniel Cleary.