ACOR's history spans back to the foundation of the American School of Oriental Research in 1900 in East Jerusalem,[2] supporting the study of the MENA region.
The center was intended to serve as a consortium in support of North American projects working in the Middle East, specifically including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and territories of the Arabian Gulf.
Murray Nicol was appointed new director in 1970 but was prevented from serving by the second phase of the war in Jordan, so Siegfried H. Horn replaced him at the urging of the U.S. Embassy in Amman, followed by Henry O. Thompson.
ACOR moved to a purpose-built building in 1986, with partial funding from USAID's office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad and a ribbon-cutting ceremony by H.R.H.
The Amman center underwent a comprehensive renovation from 2021-2023, converting the hostel to a residence, expanding the library’s capacity, and modernizing all systems.
in the Palestinian village of Zakariyya, who served as such for the duration of ACOR's existence [5] and Librarian Carmen (Humi) Ayoubi, who managed the library from 1988 to 2020.
Photographs from six different private collections are part of the project donated by George Bass, Linda Jacobs, Rami Khouri, Robert Schick, Jane Taylor, and Charles Wilson.