Guide to the American Committee for Cultural Freedom Records
1939-1957

Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012

Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: gail.malmgreen@nyu.edu

© 2003 Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. All rights reserved.
New York University Libraries, Publisher

Machine-readable finding aid derived from a MS Word document dated: 2003. Machine-readable finding aid created by Brian Stevens. Description is in English.


Descriptive Summary

Creator: American Committee for Cultural Freedom.
Title: Records
Dates: 1939-1957
Abstract: The American Committe for Cultural Freedom was formed in the 1950s as an affiliate of the International Congress for Cultural Freedom and membership included prominent liberal and leftist artists and intellectuals across a broad political spectrum. The group's activity involved the organization and execution of numerous anti-communist campaigns and programs. As Cold War tensions diffused, the group disolved. This collection includes the Committee's minutes, publications, proceedings of conferences, financial records, and files dealing with its relationship with Arthur Miller, Jean Paul Sartre, and Bertrand Russell.
Quantity: 8.25 linear feet (12 boxes)
Call Phrase: Tamiment 023
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Historical/Biographical Note

Committee of prominent artists and intellectuals organized as the U.S. affiliate of the Congress for Cultural Freedom in 1950, but with roots in a long dormant domestic organization, the Committee for Cultural Freedom (1939-1940). Activities and programs on behalf of cultural freedom were generally informed by the staunch anti-communist orientation associated with the height of the Cold War period. Variant responses to the mid-1950's waning of these Cold War tensions led first to disaffiliation with the international organization and finally to formal dissolution in 1957. At the height of its activities, scores of artists and intellectuals across a surprisingly broad political spectrum were involved with the Committee either as invited members, as participants in its numerous campaigns and programs, or as correspondents. In leadership roles and among the most significant correspondents were Daniel Bell, James T. Farrell, Sidney Hook, Irving Kristol, and Diana Trilling. Less actively involved but well represented by letters are Robert Oppenheimer, David Reisman, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and Norman Thomas. Negative responses to membership invitations include Hannah Arendt and James Conant.

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Scope and Content Note

The collection is organized into three series: I. Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF); II. Committee for Cultural Freedom; III. American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF). The ACCF series comprises some 90% of the collection, and is organized into ten subseries: A. Correspondence, General; B. Corporate Records; C. Financial Affairs; D. Administrative Structure; E. Relations with Affiliated Organizations; F. Public Activities (Topics, Individuals, Misc.); G. Proposals and Projects that Failed to Materialize; H. Miscellaneous Activities; J. Miscellaneous; K. Clippings.

For the Congress for Cultural Freedom the records consist of a very small sampling of minutes and publications and a substantial array of the proceedings of conferences and congresses held all over the world from 1950 to 1956. Additional material concerning the CCF is located in those ACCF files dealing with its relationships with affiliate organizations. Records for the American Committee for Cultural Freedom include extensive files of minutes, correspondence, corporate and financial records. Documentation of public activities is similarly extensive. These include ACCF generated arts festivals, forums and petition campaigns; advocacy interventions in visa cases, deportations and loyalty-security hearings; the often unsuccessful courting of foundation grants for a wide range of activities; and numerous instances in which the Committee took on the role of warning intellectuals engaged in particular non-ACCF programs in defense of cultural freedom that they were allying themselves with politically tainted persons. Other instances of disparate responses among the intellectual community to Cold War issues are documented in the final subseries of the records in such files as those dealing with the Committee's relationship with Arthur Miller, Bertrand Russell, and Jean Paul Sartre. Note that the same correspondents may appear in both the Administrative Affairs subseries (general correspondence), and in the Public Activities subseries. Other notable correspondents include: Norman Jacobs, David Reisman, Clinton Rossiter, George S. Schuyler, Stephen Spender, Gleb Struve, Harold Urey, Karl Wittfogel.

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Arrangement

The collection is organized into three series: I. Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF); II. Committee for Cultural Freedom; III. American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF); Restricted Material.
Folders are generally arranged alphabetically within each series.
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Separated Material

Separated: Joseph Gordon Manuscripts and Correspondence (Collection number: Tamiment 82).

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Permission to access material must be obtained from Daniel Bell, 65 Francis Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138; fax: 617-547-9645.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: gail.malmgreen@nyu.edu

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Access Points

Subject Names:
Bell, Daniel
Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979.
Hook, Sidney, 1902-
Kristol, Irving.
Trilling, Diana.
Subject Organizations:
Congress for Cultural Freedom.
International Association for Cultural Freedom.
National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (U.S.).
Subject Topics:
Anti-communist movements -- United States.
Right and left (Political science).
Document Types:
Clippings.
Correspondence.
Minutes.
Proceedings.
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Administrative Information

Provenance

Gift of the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, ca. 1968.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); The American Committee for Cultural Freedom Records ; Tamiment 023; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

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Container List

[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]

 

Series I: Congress for Cultural Freedom

Box Folder Title Date
1 1 Brussels Conference 1950
1 2 Berlin Conference 1950
1 3 Strasbourg Seminar 1951
1 4 Paris Arts Festival 1952
Box Folder Title Date
2 1 Milan Conference 1955
2 2 Rangoon Conference 1955
2 3 Mexico City Conference 1956
2 4 Soviet Invasion of Hungary- Protest 1956
2 5 Publications 1952-1957
2 6 Submitted Reports and Articles 1951-1956

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Series II: Committee for Cultural Freedom (predecessor organization)

Box Folder Title Date
2 7 Correspondence 1939-1940
2 8 Minutes 1939-1940
2 9 Publications and Reports 1940
2 10 Stationary Samples undated

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Series III: American Committee for Cultural Freedom

 

Subseries A: Correspondence, General

Box Folder Title Date
3 1 Correspondence: A 1952-1957
3 2 Correspondence: Asia Foundation 1955-1957
3 3 Correspondence: Aware, Inc. 1955
3 4 Correspondence: B 1954-1956
3 5 Correspondence: C 1954-1956
3 6 Correspondence: D 1954-1955
3 7 Correspondence: E 1954-1956
3 8 Correspondence: F 1954-1957
3 9 Correspondence: James T. Farrell 1955-1956
3 10 Correspondence: Ford Foundation 1953-1956
3 11 Correspondence: Fund for the Republic 1953-1954
3 12 Correspondence: Fund for the republic 1955-1956
3 13 Correspondence: G 1953-1956
3 14 Correspondence: H 1953-1956
3 15 Correspondence: Sidney Hook 1952-1956
3 16 Correspondence: International Rescue Committee 1956
3 17 Correspondence: J 1956-1957
3 18 Correspondence: Norman Jacobs 1957
Box Folder Title Date
4 1 Correspondence: K 1954-1955
4 2 Correspondence: Milton Konvitz 1953-1955
4 3 Correspondence: Irving Kristol/ Encounter 1953-1954
4 4 Correspondence: L 1953-1954
4 5 Correspondence: M 1952-1956
4 6 Correspondence: Robert Marshall Civil Liberties Trust 1954
4 7 Correspondence: N 1954-1955
4 8 Correspondence: O Dec 1955
4 9 Correspondence: P 1954-1955
4 10 Correspondence: Merlyn Pitzle 1952-1956
4 11 Correspondence: R 1952-1957
4 12 Correspondence: David Reisman 1953-1955
4 13 Correspondence: Rockefeller Foundation 1953-1955
4 14 Correspondence: Clinton Rossiter 1954-1956
4 15 Correspondence: S 1952-1956
4 16 Correspondence: Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. 1952-1956
4 17 Correspondence: George S. Schuyler 1952-1954
4 18 Correspondence: Stephen Spender 1953
4 19 Correspondence: Sol Stein 1954-1956
4 20 Correspondence: Gleb Struve 1954-1956
4 21 Correspondence: T 1952-1956
4 22 Correspondence: Norman Thomas 1952-1956
4 23 Correspondence: Diana Trilling 1955-1957
Box Folder Title Date
5 1 Correspondence: U 1952-1956
5 2 Correspondence: U.S. Information Agency (Missing) undated
5 3 Correspondence: Harold Urey 1953-1956
5 4 Correspondence: V 1952-1955
5 5 Correspondence: Peter Viereck 1952-1956
5 6 Correspondence: W - Wh 1952-1955
5 7 Correspondence: Wi - Wz 1952-1955
5 8 Correspondence: Alan Furman Westin 1953-1955
5 9 Correspondence: C. Dickerman Williams 1954-1956
5 10 Correspondence: David C. Williams 1954-1955
5 11 Correspondence: Karl Wittfogel 1952-1956
5 12 Correspondence: X - Y - Z 1954-1955
 

Subseries B: Corporate Records

Box Folder Title Date
6 1 Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws 1951-1956
6 2 Ratification of By- Laws 1956
6 3 Policy Statements 1952
6 4 New York State Registration as Charitable Organization 1954-1956
6 5 Leases 1951
6 6 Personnel 1951
6 7 WQXR Spot Announcement Contract 1953
 

Subseries C: Financial Affairs

Box Folder Title Date
6 8 Auditors Reports 1951-1955
6 9 Festival Account 1950-1952
6 10 Chase Manhattan Bank 1950-1955
6 11 Tax-Related Materials 1952-1956
6 12 Stock Transactions 1953
6 13 Fund Raising Campaign Contract 1954
6 14 Asia Foundation Grants (Reception Center) 1955-1957
6 15 Congress for Cultural Freedom- Financial Relations 1952-1956
6 16 Fairfield Foundation 1952-1955
6 17 Robert Marshall Civil Liberties Trust- Financial Relations 1954-1956
 

Subseries D: Administrative Structure

Box Folder Title Date
7 1 Boards of Directors 1952-1956
7 2 James T. Farrell Resignation 1956
7 3 Minutes: Membership, Executive and Administrative Committees: Planning Conference: Board of Directors 1950-1957
7 4 Censorship Committee 1955-1956
7 5 Legal Commission 1953-1954
7 6 Publishers Advisory Board 1955
7 7 Theater and Film Advisory Board 1955
7 8 Miscellaneous Material Relating to Organizational Structure 1955
 

Subseries E: Relations With Affiliated Organizations

Box Folder Title Date
7 9 CCF: General 1954-1955
7 10 CCF: Stalin Philosophical Dictionary 1953
7 11 CCF: Fleishman Correspondence 1951-1954
7 12 CCF: Josselson Correspondence 1952, 1955-1956
7 13 CCF: Nabokov Correspondence 1952-1957
7 14 Australia 1953-1956
7 15 Brazil 1952
7 16 Burma 1952-1955
7 17 Chile 1955
7 18 Cuba undated
7 19 France/ Preuves 1953-1956
7 20 Germany 1952-1953
7 21 Germany/ Monat 1951-1955
7 22 India 1951-1956
7 23 India/ Ouest 1955-1956
7 24 Indonesia 1953-1956
7 25 Japan 1951-1956
7 26 Lebanon 1955-1956
7 27 Mexico 1954
7 28 Pakistan 1956
7 29 Scandinavia 1952-1955
7 30 Siam 1951-1952
7 31 Letterhead Samples 1953-1954
7 32 Referendum on ACCF Programs 1954
7 33 Membership Invitations- Negative Responses 1950-1953
 

Subseries F: Public Activities

Sub-subseries 1: Topics

Box Folder Title Date
8 1 Academic Freedom Statement 1953
8 2 "Animal Farm" Film Promotion 1955
8 2A1 "Anti-Americanism in Europe (conference) 1954
8 2A2 Berlin Philharmonic Tour (Condemnation of Protest) 1955
8 3 Books for Vietnam 1954-1955
8 4 Broadcasts Behind Iron Curtain 1954-1955
8 5 Chaplin Film Festival (Protest of Cancellation) 1955
8 6 Conference Series: Ideas, Stereotypes and the American Liberal- a Reexamination Nov 1951Dec 1951
8 7 Conference Series> Manuscripts 1951
8 8 Cultural Freedom Award 1954
8 9 "Darkness at Noon" (Film Promotion) 1954-1955
8 9A "The Device of the United Front" (re Khrushchev's 'secret speech') 1956
8 10 Facts Forum Radio Show Proposal (Protest) 1954
8 11 Hungary/ College Tribute 1956
8 12 Hungary/ Petition Campaign 1956
8 13 Hungary/ Nobel Prize Winners' Protest 1956
8 14 Hungary/ "White Book" 1956
8 15 Hungary/ Miscellaneous 1956
8 16 Joliot- Curie Protest (Nobelists' Contesting Change of UN use of Germ Warfare in Korea) 1952
8 17 Moscow University University Bicentennial Greetings 1955
8 18 New Soviet Policy (Opinion Survey) 1956
8 19 "Nightmare in Red" (film promotion) 1956
Box Folder Title Date
9 1 "Reception Center"- Asia- Visitors (A-K) 1952-1957
9 2 "Reception Center"- Visitors (L-Z) 1955-1957
9 3 "Reception Center"- Jules Romain Reception 1955
9 4 "Reception Center"- Spring Forum 1951
9 5 "Reception Center"- Spring Forum 1953
9 6 "Reception Center"- Spring Forum 1954
9 7 "Reception Center"- Spring Forum 1955
9 8 University Discussion Groups 1952
9 9 Venezuela Protest (UN Meeting Site) 1955
9 10 WEVD Radio Program 1956
9 11 Waldorf Astoria Conference- "In Defense of Free Culture" Mar 1952
9 12 Waldorf Astoria Conference- "Anti-Americanism in Europe" Nov 1953

Sub-subseries 2: Individuals' Cases

Box Folder Title Date
10 1 German Arciniegas Case (Detention at Ellis Island) 1953
10 2 Argentine Protest (Arrest of Intellectuals) 1953
10 3 William Buckley/ Haverfort News Case (Ethical Issue) 1955
10 4 Charlie Chaplin Case(Immigration Dept. Ruling) 1952
10 5 Lowell Clucas Case (Loyalty Issue) 1954
10 6 Alfred Sprague Coolidge Case (Employment) 1956
10 7 Moshe Decter Case (Employment) 1954
10 8 Milovan Djilas Case (Arrest and Book Burning) 1956
10 9 Milovan Djilas/ Vladimir Dedijer Case(Indictment) 1954-1955
10 10 Herbert Fuchs Case (Employment) 1956
10 11 Bert Holland Case (security Clearance) 1954
10 12 Thaddeus Jarecki Case (Polish Emigre) 1955
10 13 Chris A. Jecchinis Case (Visa Denial) 1956
10 14 Kalmuck Delegation (Visa Problems) - See also: Tamiment collection# 29, Kalmuck Resettlement Committee Records, 1950-51, 0.5 linear feet 1954
10 15 Arthur J. Kraus Case(Passport Revocation) 1955
10 16 Edward Labin Case (Visa Denial) 1952-1953
10 17 Wolf Ladejinsky Case (Security) 1954
10 18 Edward Lamb Case (FCC License Denial) 1955
10 19 Charles Lazoff Case(Employment) 1955
10 20 David Lerner Case(Loyalty) 1953
10 21 Napthali Lewis Case (Scholarship Denial) 1953
10 22 Alfred Lilienthal Case (Radio Program Cancellation) 1954
10 23 Elinor Lipper-Catala Case (Visa Problem) 1951
10 24 Joseph Lobodowski Case (Polish Emigre) 1955
10 25 Val R. Lorwin Case (Loyalty) 1954
Box Folder Title Date
11 1 Kingsley Martin Case (Academic Freedom) 1952
11 2 Barry Miller Case (Undesirable Discharge from U.S. Army) 1954
11 3 Czeslaw Milosz Case (Visa Denial) 1951-1953
11 4 Alberto Moravia Case (Visa Denial) 1952
11 5 J. Robert Oppenheimer Case (Loyalty-Security) 1954
11 6 Michael Polanyi Case (Visa Denial) 1952
11 7 Ezra Pound Case (Institutionalization) 1955
11 8 Reed College Cases (Academic Due Process) 1954
11 9 Wilhelm Reich Case (Destruction of Personal Library) 1956
11 10 Klaus Romppanen Case (Deportation) 1956
11 11 Milton Sacks Case (Passport Restriction) 1952-1953
11 12 David Sills Case (Security) 1953
11 13 Stephen Spender Case (Visa Denial) 1953
11 14 Symphony of the Air (Tour Cancellation) 1952
11 15 W. Lou Tandy Case (Academic Freedom) 1953
11 16 James Wechsler Case (Employment) 1952

Sub-subseries 3: Miscellaneous

Box Folder Title Date
12 1 ACCF Bulletin 1954
12 2 ACCF Newsletters 1953-1956
12 3 "A Memorandum on the Visa Muddle" 1952
12 4 Missing
12 5 McCarthy and the Communists: Book Reviews and Notices 1954
12 6 Alfred Kohlberg Correspondence 1954
12 7 Owen Lattimore Libel Charges 1955
12 8 Press Releases 1951-1954
12 8A Self-Taught Negro Artists (exhibit, NYC) 1954
 

Subseries G: Proposals & Projects that Failed to Materialize

Box Folder Title Date
12 9 Anti-Intellectualism in the U.S. (Book Proposal) 1953
12 10 Book Distribution Project 1955-1956
12 11 Committee of 100 Against Communist Inhumanity- Contracts and Finances 1953
12 12 Committee of 100 Against Communist Inhumanity- Organization and Program 1952-1954
12 13 Committee of 100 Against Communist Inhumanity- Clippings 1953
12 14 Communism in the U.S.A. (Documentary Film Proposal) undated
12 15 Cultural Assistance to Hungarian Refugees Proposal 1956-1957
12 16 Heresy Fund Proposal 1953
12 17 Human rights Commission Proposal 1956-1957
12 18 Intellectual Freedom Fund Proposal 1955-1956
12 19 International Affairs Anthology (Textbook Proposal) 1956
12 20A Magazine Fellowship Fund Proposal 1954-1955
12 20 Magazine Conference Proposal 1953-1954
12 21 "Opinion Abroad" (Journal Proposal) 1954-1955
12 22 Patterson Project (Handbook on World Conspiracy) 1954
Box Folder Title Date
13 1 Project for the Study...[of] Strategy in the Struggle Against International Communism undated
13 2 Proposal to Study History...of Communist Influence...on Large Non-Communist Sectors of American Population 1954-1956
13 3 Proposal to Study Communist Party Influence in the Field of Civil Liberties 1956
13 4 Proposal to Study Effect...of government Security and Loyalty Regulations and Procedures 1954-1955
13 5 Proposal to Study Use and Abuse of Fifth Amendment undated
13 6 Proposal to Study Organized Extremist Groups in U.S. undated
13 7 Soviet Arts 1952-1955
13 8 "Sport in Art" Tour 1956
13 9 Theater Union Study Proposal 1954-1955
13 10 WQXR Radio Series Proposal 1953-1954
 

Subseries H: Miscellaneous Activities

Box Folder Title Date
13 11 "Bibliography of the Communist Problem in the U.S." (Criticism) 1955
13 12 Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (Warnings to Sponsors of Various Programs of ECLC's Communist Ties 1953-1954
13 13 HUAC Hearings on California Musicians (Identification of Communist Ties of Protest Group) 1956
13 14 HUAC Hearings on John Cogley's Blacklisting Study (Protest) 1956
13 15 Owen Lattimore Case (Protest Against New Republic Article Supporting Lattimore) 1954-1956
13 16 The Nation Libel Suit Against the New Leader (Support for the New Leader) 1951-1954
Box Folder Title Date
14 1 Post Office Censorship Protests 1952-1956
14 2 Proznan Uprising 1956 (Activities in Support of Insurrectionists) 1956
14 3 Reece Committee Investigation of Tax-Exempt Foundations (Protest) 1954
14 4 Rumanian Anti-Communist Siezing of Embassy (Commendation) 1955
14 5 "360 Petition" to Void Internal Security Act (Denunciation) 1955
14 6 Harold Urey Testimonial (Protest Sponsors' Communist Ties) 1955
14 7 Veterans of Foreign Wars (Protest Norwalk Chapter's Vigilantism) 1954
14 8 "Wages of Fear" (Protest Showing of Film with Communists in Cast) 1955
 

Subseries J: Miscellaneous

Box Folder Title Date
14 9 Fund for the Republic / ACCF Controversy 1956
14 10 Joseph P. Kamp Attacks on ACCF 1954
14 11 Arthur Miller / ACCF Relations 1954-1956
14 12 Eugene Rabinovitch / James Burnham Controversy (Atomic Energy) 1953
14 13 Bertrand Russell / ACCF Relations 1953-1956
14 14 Jean-Paul Sartre / ACCF Controversy (Sobell Case) 1956
14 15 Submitted Ms.- Anthony Bouscaren; Guillermo Brown; George S. Counts; Christopher Emmet 1954-1956
14 16 Submitted Ms.- Philip Linnik; Dwight McDonald; Norbert Muhlen; John P. Roche; Gleb Struve; Ernest van der Haag 1952-1956
14 17 Photos: Robert Gorham Davis; Norbert Muhlen undated
14 18 Americans for Intellectual Freedom; Friends of Russian Freedom 1949
14 19 Kalmuck Resettlement Committee see also, Tamiment collection# 29, Kalmuck Resettlement Committee Records, 1950-51, 0.5 linear feet 1951-1955
Box Folder Title Date
15 1 International Conference of Contemporary Music 1954
15 2 Facts Forum 1954-1955
 

Subseries K: Clippings

Box Folder Title Date
15 3 Newspaper Clippings undated
15 4 Newspaper Clippings 1950
15 5 Newspaper Clippings 1951
15 6 Newspaper Clippings 1952
15 7 Newspaper Clippings Jan 1953-Mar 1953
15 8 Newspaper Clippings Apr 1953-Dec 1953
15 9 Newspaper Clippings Jan 1954-Sep 1954
15 10 Newspaper Clippings Oct 1954-Dec 1954
15 11 Newspaper Clippings Jan 1955-Feb 1955
15 12 Newspaper Clippings Mar 1955-Dec 1955
15 13 Newspaper Clippings Jan 1956-Mar 1956
15 14 Newspaper Clippings Apr 1956-Oct 1956
15 15 Newspaper Clippings Nov 1956-Dec 1956

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MATERIAL CLOSED UNTIL 20XX

Box Folder Title Date
16 1 Ceylon 1952-1956
16 2 Fund Raising Campaign 1955
16 3 Jacobs, Norman: Correspondence 1956-1957
16 4 Jacobs, Paul : Allegations re Daniel Bell 1956
16 5 Leontief, Vassily: Loyalty Case 1954
16 6 McCarthy and the Communists : Beacon Press Contract & Correspondence 1954
16 7 Pro Musica Antiqua Case (Tour Cancellation) 1955-1956
16