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The A.A. ‘Jack’ Drummond Collection at UCO Archives and Special Collections hosts over one hundred boxes of memorabilia from the life of one of Oklahoma’s most successful businessmen. I expected to be drawn in by a personal letter of Drummond’s or maybe a gripping file from the court cases he was part of, but what I found surprised and excited me- pamphlets from World War II.
Drummond served with the United States Navy and thus spent time around the world. His collection contains books Drummond purchased in India for 3 rupees (294 rupees in 2024). During his travels with the Navy, Drummond acquired military publications and memorabilia as well.
I found two U.S. War Department pocket guides for American soldiers serving in Egypt and Iran. The pamphlets surprised me as I am used to seeing a certain kind of rhetoric used towards people living in the Middle East. There certainly is violent rhetoric that Americans like myself post-September 11, 2001 are used to, such as a section advising soldiers not to trick Muslims into touching pigskin. The pamphlet reads, “...if you think this a joke, remember hundreds of white women and children died because of such a belief”. But the pamphlet also advises soldiers on essential Arabic phrases liks Bismillah (in the name of God), salam alaykum (peace be upon you), mashallah (praise be to God).
The inclusion of common phrases and, especially, religious phrases shocked me because I’ve found that many Americans show fear over the phrase “Allahu Akbar”, which simply means “God is great” in Arabic. I have watched Islamophobic protesters in London chanting “Who the **** is Allah?”. For me, learning that American soldiers in WWII learned about the intricacies of Islam, including how to behave during Ramadan and in mosques, starkly contrasts with current Western talking points not just about Muslims but about Arabs in general. Current opinions on the Middle East and Muslim Arabs echo some of the points found in the pamphlets, like tips that soldiers should not stare too long at objects in Iranian households because Iranian people may want to appease the American soldier by giving him the object. Or the false stereotype that Iranian men are weaker, thus American men should be careful when shaking hands. Despite insistence on American superiority, the pamphlets also praise the Arabic language and the beauty of Islamic architecture while sharing respect for Muslim, which felt out of place compared to what I am used to seeing.
As we move into a world where young adults like me have only lived in a world post-September 11th, sources like these pamphlets come in handy to understand the past before the sharp incline of Islamophobia in the United States. Working in the archives and finding sources in unlikely places was exciting, and I cannot wait to do more archival research.
Cait Clymer is a senior history student at the University of Central Oklahoma graduating in May 2025. She works at the Harn Homestead Museum in Oklahoma City and the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond as a historical interpreter.
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