Memos, 1959

This subseries documents Melville's work as an advisor to the U.S. government on the tribes of Cambodia and Laos as a Foreign Service officer of the State Department. Melville was stationed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 1959 to 1963 and spent approximately one year of that period in Laos. His job required frequent travel in northeast Cambodia and northern Laos where he lived among the mountain tribes. He also took numerous hunting trips, typically on elephant-back in these regions. The subseries includes photo albums of the people, places, flora, and animals that he encountered on these trips, as well as State Department correspondence, and social invitations. Some of his photographs and field notes were published in "A Northeast Forest" (2000).