Contents and Arrangement
Online

Subseries 2C: Privacy Project, 1971-1978

21 boxes

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The Privacy Project subseries (8.82 linear feet) contains records of project director Trudy Hayden. The project had a litigative component and a non-litigative component. The non-litigative section of the project gathered information related to privacy issues, conducted studies, researched legislation, issued reports and publications, and advised the national staff and affiliates on privacy concerns, particularly those resulting from advances in surveillance and data-gathering technologies.

The Privacy Project was the successor to the Project on Privacy and Data Collection which was established in 1973 in Washington, D.C. and closed in October 1974. After the project ceased operations in Washington, D.C., Hayden continued editing the project's main publication, the Privacy Report, from New York. Additional funding allowed the Privacy Project to resume in 1976, this time in New York with Hayden as director. The records include correspondence, memoranda, reports, surveys, studies, briefs, newspaper and magazine clippings, state legislation, and testimony.

The subseries is broken down into organizational files and subject files. The organizational records include information pertaining to other projects concerned with privacy issues, including those established by affiliates, and material about the Privacy Report. The subject files include examinations of federal, state and local government laws and rules for the collection and dissemination of personal information. Much of the material comprising these records was forwarded from affiliates.

Topics found include the unauthorized use by individuals, organizations, or the government of the Armed Services Vocational Battery Test; arrest records; bank records; credit reports; criminal justice records; employers and employment files; juvenile delinquency records; medical records; hospital records; psychological testing; psychiatric confidentiality; Social Security information; and student records. The subseries also documents police practices in gathering information, including eavesdropping and electronic surveillance. (The Wiretapping and Surveillance subject files (Series 3) also contain material on this topic.) The issues of child abuse and neglect and the limits of coercive intervention on the part of government are also documented.

Arrangement

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Collection History

Appraisal

During the processing of this collection, many items were discarded, including newspaper clippings from the New York Times and other major newspapers, government publications, well- known serial publications, and publications and large distribution memoranda from well-known and well-documented organizations such as the American Jewish Committee or Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Sponsorship:

These papers were processed with the generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the John Foster and Janet Avery Dulles Fund.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Paula Jabloner in 1994-1996 with the assistance of Assistant Archivist for Technical Services Daniel Linke, Special Collections Assistants Amy Escott, Claire Johnston, Alison McCuaig, and Tom Rosko, and students Laurie Alexander, Christina Aragon, Laura Burt, Jue Chen, Clement Doyle, Joe Faber, Said Farah, Boyd Goodson, Naomi Harlin, Janet Hine, Matthew Honahan, Katherine Johnson, Damian Long, Theresa Marchitto, Laura Myones, Olivia Kew, Grace Koo, Dan Sack, Bijan Salehizadeh, Tina Wang, Kyle Weston, and Elizabeth Williamson.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Subgroup 2 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.

Credit this material:

Subseries 2C: Privacy Project; American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 2, Project Files Series, MC001-02-02, 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:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (mudd): Box 683-703

Find More

Existence and Location of Copies

American Civil Liberties Union Records: Subgroup 2, Project Files Series, Boxes 623 through 703 are stored offsite. The records in these boxes have been digitized and are available online to members of the Princeton University Community, or visitors to campus, through the Princeton University Library's subscription to the Gale database American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990. Please contact the contact Mudd Manuscript Library for further information.

Public records of the ACLU from 1917 to 1989, have been microfilmed by the Microfilming Corporation of America (MCA) and University Microfilms International (UMI). These records include minutes of the board of directors, mailings to the board of directors, biennial conference papers, policy guides, the national legal docket, organization manuals, constitution and bylaws, legal briefs, and publications. The microfilm may be requested through this finding aid, in the second series.

Related Materials

American Civil Liberties Union, Washington, D.C. Office Records

American United for the Separation of Church and State Records

Roger N. Baldwin Papers

Osmond K. Fraenkel Diaries

Fund for the Republic Records

Arthur Garfield Hays Papers

Peggy Lamson Collection on Roger N. Baldwin

Law Students Civil Rights Research Council Records

PEN American Center Records (at Firestone Library)

Other Finding Aids

This finding aid describes a portion of the American Civil Liberties Union Records held at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. For an overview of the entire collection, instructions on searching the collection and requesting materials, and other information, please see the Guide to the American Civil Liberties Union Records.

Bibliography

Historical sketch based on In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU by Samuel Walker. See also Samuel Walker's The American Civil Liberties Union: An Annotated Bibliography.

Names:
American Union Against Militarism
United States. | Constitution. 1st-10th Amendments
Marshall Civil Liberties Trust Fund
National Civil Liberties Bureau (U.S.)
New York Times company
Baldwin, Roger N. (Roger Nash), 1884-1981 (1884-1981)
Dorsen, Norman
Dulles, John Foster (1888-1959)
Ennis, Bruce J., 1941-
Epperson, Susan
Escobedo, Danny
Everson, Arch R.
Gault, Gerald Francis, 1949 or 50-
Gideon, Clarence Earl
Griswold, Estelle
Hays, Arthur Garfield, 1881-1954
Holtzman, Elizabeth.
Jacobellis, Nico
Levy, Herbert Monte, 1923-
Malin, Patrick Murphy, 1903-1964
Miranda, Ernesto
Neier, Aryeh, 1937-
Neuborne, Burt, 1941-
Nixon, Richard M. Richard Milhous 1913-1994
Pemberton, John de J., Jr., 1919-2009
Perry, Richard L.
Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972.
Powell, John A. (John Anthony)
Reitman, Alan
Schempp, Edward L.
Schwarzschild, Henry
Scopes, John Thomas, 1900-1970
Seeger, Daniel A.
Tinker, John Frederick
Wulf, Melvin A.