Robert Gorham Davis Correspondence on the American Committee for Cultural Freedom
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Abstract
Robert Gorham Davis (1908-1998), was a literary critic and a professor of English at Columbia University. Davis served as chairman, and on the executive board of the American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF) from 1953-1954, which was affiliated with the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an international organization. The collection contains correspondence of Davis, and third party correspondence for the year 1954, mostly incoming, and mostly concerned with the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, as well as some ACCF executive board minutes, memoranda and other internal documents.
Historical/Biographical Note
Robert Gorham Davis (1908-1998), was a literary critic and a professor of English at Columbia University. He became a member of the Communist Party, but after the Hitler-Stalin pact of 1939, he grew disillusioned with Communism. In 1953, Mr. Davis testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, giving the names of some of his fellow Communists, after they had already been named in a secret session of the committee. Davis also served as chairman, and on the executive board of the American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF) from 1953-1954, which was affiliated with the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an international organization. The ACCF was composed of prominent anti-communist artists and intellectuals, annd 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. 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. The ACCF was subsequently learned to have accepted funds from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains correspondence of Davis, and third party correspondence for the year 1954, mostly incoming, and mostly concerned with the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, as well as some ACCF executive board minutes, memoranda and other internal documents. The most frequent correspondent is Sol Stein, then chair of the ACCF, and the third party letters include one letter each from Norman Thomas and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1954, are expected to enter the public domain in 2074.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Robert Gorham Davis Correspondence on the American Committee for Cultural Freedom; TAM 537; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials found in collection; provenance is unknown. The accession number associated with this collection is 2010.040.