Contents and Arrangement
Online

Subseries 5A: Diaries, 1941 March-1949

8 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The Diaries subseries contains Forrestal's diaries from while he was Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of Defense. In the diaries, Forrestal recorded his work for the military, conversations he had with military and government officials, the result of official meetings (including with the President), and his analysis of current events. His diary entries are typed, rather than handwritten, and he interleaved his diary with copies of related correspondence, newspaper articles, and pages from his appointment calendars. During World War II, his diary entries were predominantly concerned with managing the Navy, the war effort, and military personnel. After the war, Forrestal wrote about the various plans for unifying the U.S. military, post-war Europe and world conditions, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the many world events and crises of the time, including atomic energy. Many of the entries after he was appointed Secretary of Defense in September 1947 are related to cabinet meetings. Also included are the galleys for the published version of his diaries and two notebooks. One notebook is from March to June 1941 in which Forrestal recorded the requirements of the Navy, the official Navy positions on legislation, and the opinions of government officials with regards to the Navy. The second notebook, from 1944 to 1949, contains lists and notes from meetings and Forrestal's thoughts on issues facing the military.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Collection History

Appraisal

Duplicate materials have been separated from this collection.

Sponsorship:

These papers were processed with the generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Adriane Hanson with the assistance of Clelia Douyon, Grace Haaland, Brandon Joseph, and Jamie LaMontagne in 2009. Finding aid written by Adriane Hanson in March 2009.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Phonograph recordings of speeches and television appearances by Forrestal are located in Boxes 180 and 181.

Credit this material:

Subseries 5A: Diaries; James V. Forrestal Papers, MC051, Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • ReCAP (rcpph): Box 145-151
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (mudd): Box 207

Find More

Existence and Location of Copies

Microfilm of Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the diaries (1944-1945) is requestable through this finding aid.

Related Materials

The Mudd Manuscript Library holds a number of collections related to World War II which may be accessed by selecting the subject "World War II" on the Princeton University Library Finding Aids Subject Browse Page. Collections of particular relevance to the James V. Forrestal Papers are the papers of Harold Gardiner Bowen, special assistant while Forrestal was Secretary of the Navy, and Ferdinand Eberstadt, an advisor to Forrestal throughout his military career.

Related collections at other institutions include the records of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Department of the Navy, and the Secretary of Defense at the National Archives and a collection of Forrestal papers at the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C.

The Forrestal Diaries, edited by Walter Millis, was published in serial form in the New York Herald Tribune and in book form by Viking Press in 1951.

Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during the preparation of the biographical note: "Forrestal, James Vincent" by Jeffery M. Dorwart, American National Biography Online. www.anb.org (accessed January 14, 2009). "Forrestal, James V." biography from Current Biography, H.W. Wilson Company, 1948. "Forrestal Killed in 13-Story Leap; U.S. Mourning Set" by Walter H. Waggoner, The New York Times, May 23, 1949. "James V. Forrestal," U.S. Department of Defense biography. http://www.defenselink.mil (accessed January 14, 2009).

Names:
United States. Department of Defense
United States. Navy
Forrestal, James (1892-1949)