Oliver F. Atkins (1917-1977) was born February 18, 1917 in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. He earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1938, and accepted a position with the Birmingham Post as a staff photographer. Within two years he became chief photographer for the Scripps Howard-owned paper. In 1940, he joined the Washington Daily News where he remained until 1942 and the outbreak of World War II. During the war, he served as a correspondent and photographer for the American Red Cross covering the African campaign, the invasions of Sicily, southern Italy, southern France, and Germany. After the war, Atkins joined the staff of the Saturday Evening Post. As the Washington correspondent for the Post, he photographed many important leaders of the United States and the world. Among them were Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Winston Churchill, Gamel Nasser, Nikita Kruschev, Josip B. Tito, and Jawaharlal Nehru. He was the Post's Far East correspondent in 1951, and also enjoyed a personal and working relationship with the magazine's famous illustrator, Norman Rockwell.

In 1969, Atkins became personal photographer to President Richard M. Nixon and Chief White House Photographer. Of his many images of Nixon, the series documenting the meeting of December 18, 1970 with Elvis Presley is perhaps the most famous and is the most requested. Among the many famous visitors to the White House captured on film by Ollie Atkins; musicians, actors, and politicians; were Nixon's favorite type - athletes. Members of the sporting world's elite met and were photographed with the president, including Brazilian soccer great, Pele.

Nixon in his famous meeting with Elvis Presley

Meeting with soccer legend Pele

After Nixon's resignation in 1974, Atkins became vice president of Curtis Publishing Company of Indianapolis and remained there until his death in 1977. Ollie Atkins' awards include the White House News Photographers' Association Grand Award, the Graflex All American Photo Contest Portrait Award, and the National Press Photographers' Association Personalities Award. Books by Ollie Atkins include Camera on Assignment (co-written with Charles Baptie, 1957), and The White House Years: Triumph and Tragedy (1977). He also contributed to William Safire's Eye on Nixon (1972).

A stop on Nixon's 1972 Campaign

The Oliver Atkins Nixon White House Photographs collection features official black-and-white and color photographs of President Richard M. Nixon, the Nixon family, staff, Air Force One, campagins, famous meetings with Heads Of States as well as meetings with many celebrities. Other photographs found in this collection include his official trips to Russia and China and family vacations. The collection also offers personal photographs of his daughter, Tricia's wedding; documents his trips abroad; and recounts his campaign activities.

Nixon bowling in the basement of the White House

Nixon playing piano

Nixon with the Shah of Iran

GMU Library's Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) preserves and makes available to all students, faculty, and researchers many kinds of original scholarly materials. Subject areas in SC&A include Northern Virginiana, Planned Communities, Congressional Papers, Performing Arts, Maps, the Civil War, and George Mason University.  Formats in SC&A include manuscripts, rare books, playbills, musical scores, audio and videotapes, architectural drawings, photographs, and slides. 
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