The Records of the Association on American Indian Affairs document the corporate life of an influential and resilient player in the history of twentieth-century Native American advocacy. From its formation by non-Indians in New York in 1922 to its re-establishment in South Dakota in 1995 under a wholly Indian administration, the AAIA has defended the rights and promoted the welfare of Native Americans and, in this process, has shaped the views of their fellow citizens. The AAIA has waged innumerable battles over the years, touching on the material and spiritual well-being of Indians in every state of the Union: from the right of Native Americans to control their resources to their right to worship freely; from their right to federal trusteeship to their right to self-determination. The evolving nature of this struggle, in terms of conception and execution; the environment in which it was waged, both within and without the AAIA; the parade of men and women who figured in it; and the relationships among them can all be found in the abundant and insightful records which constitute these Records. The correspondence, minutes, reports, articles, clippings, and other documents in the collection, augmented by photographic and audiovisual material, represent a window not only on the AAIA but on the entities and personalities with which it interacted. While its vision has co-existed with others, and while it has been far from alone in its contribution to Indian life, no consideration of twentieth-century Native American affairs can disregard its arduous and, for the most part, fruitful work.

George Stanley McGovern was a Congressman (1957-1961), a U.S. Senator (1963-1981), and a Democratic presidential nominee known for his strong liberal stance, particularly during the Vietnam War. This collection contains legislation files, campaign materials, correspondence, speech texts, schedules and invitations, travel files, patronage files, subject files, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting McGovern's activities in the House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate, as well as his time as Director of Food for Peace.

H. Alexander Smith served as the executive secretary of Princeton University and was later elected to the United States Senate representing New Jersey. Smith made contributions to United States foreign policy while serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The bulk of documentation focuses on his tenure in the Senate and the period immediately after his retirement; reports, correspondence, and printed material from his work at Princeton are also included. The papers contain diaries, correspondence, speeches, notes, photographs, and memorabilia.

The American Civil Liberties Union Records document the activities of the Union in protecting individual rights from 1920 through 1995. The files contain materials on freedom of speech, expression, and association; due process of law; equality before the law; legal case files; and organizational records. Within these categories files reflect subject areas such as academic freedom, censorship, racial discrimination, aliens' rights, privacy concerns, labor concerns, amnesty, and government loyalty and security. The files reflect work on litigation, advocacy and public policy, and subject files on various areas of interest connected with civil liberties. Materials include correspondence, court documents, memoranda, printed matter, minutes, reports, briefs, and legal files. Also included are materials from ACLU affiliate organizations, and the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee. Subgroup 2, Series 3 has been digitized and is available for members of the Princeton community to view here. To view the database from outside Princeton University, please see the Guide to the American Civil Liberties Union Records.

Harold Raymond Medina (1888-1990) was a noted jurist, Princeton alumnus, and creator of a New York State Bar preparation course. This collection includes legal records, personal and professional correspondence, photographs, audio recordings, and teaching materials; in aggregate, they offer a substantial record of Medina's life and work.

The Karl L. Rankin Papers consist of correspondence, writings, memoranda, diaries, scrapbooks, and photo albums kept by Mr. Rankin which span his lifetime and career as an ambassador.

Werner (pseudonym of Alexander Schifrin) was a Russian native who was exiled to Germany (1923-1933) and subsequently lived in France (1933-1939) and the United States (1940-1951). Consists of selected papers of Werner

E. Kimbark MacColl has written extensively on the history and politics of Portland, Oregon. Consists of notes, outlines, correspondence, and chapter drafts for MacColl's Ph.D. thesis, "The Supreme Court and Public Opinion: A Study of the Court Fight of 1937" (1953).

The papers consist primarily of records maintained in William Fitts Ryan's congressional office in Washington, D.C. his district office in New York City, and campaign materials.

Don Oberdorfer (1931-2015) worked as a journalist for nearly four decades; twenty-five of those years were as a staff member at the Washington Post, where he served as White House correspondent (1968-1972), Northeast Asia correspondent (1972-1975), and diplomatic correspondent (1976-1993). The collection is mostly composed of Oberdorfer's notebooks that chronicle his assignments with the Post, as well as his work post-retirement. The collection also consists of transcripts of interviews conducted by Oberdorfer with both American and Soviet foreign policy officials for his book The Turn: From the Cold War to a New Era, The United States and the Soviet Union, 1983-1990 (Poseidon Press, 1991, and Touchstone Press, 1992). Additionally, the papers contain a significant amount of research material and writings related to Oberdorfer's career, foreign policy actions taken by the United States and the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, and the political climate of Japan and Korea from the late 1960s into the early twenty-first century.

William E. Colby, Princeton University Class of 1940, was a career agent in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Director of Central Intelligence from 1973-1976. However, the bulk of the collection documents his post-CIA career and contains correspondence, speeches, writings, newspaper clippings, and subject files that reflect Colby's professional and private interests.

Philip A. Crowl (1914-1991) was a military historian who taught at universities and conducted research for the United States government, and also served as an intelligence officer. Crowl's Collection on John Foster Dulles is composed of Crowl's research materials for an unwritten biography on Dulles, including photocopies of correspondence, oral histories, and other materials about Dulles's entire career, as well as his family and personal life.

Dana Gardner Munro (1892-1990) was an American diplomat to Latin America and a professor of history and director of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. His papers document segments of his scholarly and diplomatic work, and include Department of State press releases, subject files, lectures, correspondence, and articles relating to United States-Latin American relations and Latin American history.

Herman Struve Hensel (1901-1991) was an international lawyer. This collection consists of two scrapbooks containing clippings, correspondence, press releases, photographs, articles and speeches relating to Hensel's service as assistant secretary of the Navy and to the Army-McCarthy Hearings.

The Rubber Development Corporation, Amazon Division Records (1942-1945) reflect Philip H. Williams' interests and concerns as manager of the Manaos Office in Brazil. As manager, Williams was called upon to play various roles including diplomat, manager and administrator. His fellow staff members were C. Homer McDuff–Acting General Manager, Mr. Swain–Accounting Department, H. A. Beck–Acting Manager, Manaos Office, George A. Seaman–Assistant to Mr. Williams, John Herman Neumann–Manager of Amazon Division and Douglas H. Allen–President of the Rubber Development Corporation. The bulk of this collection consists of copies from William's personal files. The majority of the collection is composed of correspondence, memoranda, reports, charts, photographs and newspaper clippings.

Consists of papers of Scott relating, for the most part, to his positions as chairman of the General Munitions Board during World War I, co-founder and chairman of the War Industries Board (1917), chief of the Cleveland Ordnance District (1924-1928), and adviser to the Army Industrial College (1925).

Harold Sprout was a professor of Politics at Princeton University. Consists of Sprout's collection of copies of papers in the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library (Iowa) pertaining to the London Naval Conference of 1930 which resulted in a treaty for the limitation of naval armaments and the exchange of information concerning naval construction between the United States, Great Britain, and Japan.

The Allied Mission to Observe Greek Elections was established when on September 19, 1945 the Governments of Britain, France, and the United States accepted the Greek Government's invitation to send observers for the general elections and plebiscite to be held in 1946. The collection consists of correspondence, circulars, memos, press extracts, and and maps, including one annotated map depicting the locations of headquarters among the country.

Harry Dexter White (1892-1948) was an economist with expertise in international finance and monetary issues. White served in the United States Department of the Treasury from 1934 to 1946, rising to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and was one of the principal architects of the Bretton Woods agreements in 1944 that established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. White's papers document his service in the Department of the Treasury and include correspondence and memoranda, notes, and writings.

Melvin A. Hall's renaissance career as adventurer, aviator, soldier, agent, financial administrator and author spanned four and a half decades, and is well represented in this collection. The materials include: diaries; personal and business correspondence; official documents, reports and correspondence from his tenure with the American Financial Mission in Persia; copies of his published writings, including drafts of his books Journey to the End of an Era and Bird of Time; articles, reviews, speeches and military intelligence reports; copies of unpublished writings; subject files containing background and research notes; information on his medals, awards and commendations; diaries and correspondence from Hall's father, William Augustus Hall, Hall's wife Josephine Johnson Hall, a World War I field nurse; and photographs and scrapbooks.