Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

Series 1: Administrative Management: The Administrative Management division of the Committee to Defend America was in charge of the day-to-day work of the Committee at the New York City National Headquarters office, under the general daily supervision of Robert F. Duncan. Included in this series are four groups of correspondence: General Correspondence (1940 June-1941 December); Roger S. Greene's Correspondence files (1940 August-1941 December); Inter-Office Correspondence (1940 June-1942 May); and State and Local Chapter Correspondence (1940 December-1941 December). Also included are Daily Reports (1940 May-1941 July) and the Subject Files (1940 May-1941 December).

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

Description:

Series 2: Executive Committee (1940 June-1942 Jan) contains material relating to the Executive Committee of the Committee to Defend America as well as the National Committee and the National Policy Board. All material in this series is arranged chronologically. The Executive Committee material consists of correspondence (1941 January-1941 April) and minutes (1940 June-1942 January) of the Executive Committee. The correspondence is not very extensive, but consists of memoranda and letters relating to the activities of the Executive Committee. The bulk of the material consists of the minutes of the Executive Committee from 1940 June through 1942 January. The minutes are complete, including all attachments, from 1940 June to 1941 July, but from 1941 August through 1942 January consist only of carbon copies of the recorded minutes. Attachments include budgets, memoranda, correspondence referred to in the minutes, and other related materials.

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

Description:

Series 3: State and Local Chapters makes up the largest series of the collection. As noted the State and Local Chapters were the strength of the Committee. Each chapter, or, rather, the head of each chapter, was overseen by Frances Thomas [Mrs. Harrison Thomas] from the National Headquarters Office in New York City. Mrs. Thomas and her staff maintained an extensive correspondence with the chapters giving advice on how chapters should be organized and maintained, dealt with specific problems as they arose, and also explained Committee policy decisions to members. In essence, Mrs. Thomas played the role of liaison between the State and Local Chapters and the Executive Committee, the National Committee, National Policy Committee, and the Administrative Management in New York City. There is correspondence between State and Local Chapters and Committee staff in almost every series. Rather than bringing it all together the correspondence has been kept with the division to which the members wrote. Thus, there is correspondence in the following locations: Series 1: Administrative Management–Correspondence (all sections) and Subject File–Suggestions; Series 6: Fund Raising–Correspondence (State and Local Chapters), Finance Committee (Chapter Correspondence), and Contributors (Correspondence). The State and Local Chapters series is broken down into four subseries: Administrative; Correspondence; Field Representatives; and State and Local Chapter Records.

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

Description:

Series 4: Divisions contain the records of the College Division, the Labor Division, and the Women's Division of the Committee to Defend America as kept by the New York City office. The materials are arranged in chronological order within each file.

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

Description:

Series 5: Fund Raising (1940 May-1942 February) consists of the New York City Committee headquarters files for fund raising across the country. The Fund Raising division was responsible for designing and implementing appeals to the general public as well as various selected groups in order to raise money for the Committee to Defend America's operations. The John Price Jones Corporation played an integral part in identifying selected groups of people for the Committee to target, as well as advising the Committee on financial and fund raising matters. Fund Raising was organized with the Treasurer (Frederick C. McKee) in charge and under him was the Executive Finance Committee of three members (Thomas K. Finletter, subsequently Ellsworth Bunker, Chair). The Executive Finance Committee oversaw the Auditors (Haskin & Sells, Co.), the Comptroller (M. Areskog), and the Technical Assistant (Caleb Coffin). The Finance Committee was a smaller division within the Fund Raising division that oversaw the running of the division and was in charge of writing appeal letters and recruiting people, mostly prominent businessmen from across the country, to help raise funds. In addition there were committees for Local Committee Support, the National Finance Committee, the National Commerce and Industry Committee, and the Women's Finance Committee. Members of these committees also served in other capacities with the Committee. The series is grouped into five subseries: Correspondence; Finance Committee; Subject File; Appeals; and Contributors.

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

Description:

Series 6: Publications (1940 May-1942 Aug) consists of published materials put out by the Committee to Defend America and by Citizens for Victory. Publications are divided into the following types and are arranged chronologically when dates are given: Cartoons; Chapter Mailings; Christmas Cards; Flyers; Invitations; Membership Cards; Musical Scores; Newsletters; Newspaper Advertisements; Newspaper Clippings; Pamphlets; Petitions; Postcards; Press Releases; Programs; Radio Transcripts; Reprints; Speeches; Statements of Policy; Stickers; and Subscription List Forms. The Newsletters are further arranged by National Newsletters, State and Local, College Division and Women's Division. The Press Releases include general releases by the Committee, copies of a syndicated column sponsored by the Committee called "It Makes Sense", and the press releases of the National Labor Division of the Committee.

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

Description:

Series 7: Oversize Materials contains posters and newspaper advertisements published by the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies.

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

Description:

Series 8: Microfilms contains positive and negative microfilms of files in Series 1.

Arranged by reel number.

Description:

Series 9: Photographs and Artifacts contains miscellaneous photographs as well small activist pins relating to the Committee to Defend America.

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

Scope and Contents

Consists of files relating to the political, educational, and fund-raising activities of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Included are 1) correspondence (such as that of Roger S. Greene, associate director of the Committee), daily reports, and subject files of the Committee's administrative management division at its national headquarters office in New York City; 2) executive committee correspondence and minutes; 3) state and local chapters material--correspondence, field representatives files, chapter records; 4) records of college, labor, and women's divisions; 5) fund-raising files from the Committee's NYC headquarters; and 6) published materials put out by the Committee, such as cartoons, Christmas cards, newsletters, pamphlets, press releases, radio transcripts, and speeches. Other Committee members who figure prominently in the collection are Ernest W. Gibson, national director until the spring of 1941; Hugh Moore, chairman of the executive committee; Frederick C. McKee, treasurer; and Robert F. Duncan, assistant to the national director.

Collection Creator Biography:

Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies

The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies was a propaganda organization formed in May, 1940 by William Allen White of the Kansas City Emporia Gazette and Clark M. Eichelberger of the League of Nations Association. White and Eichelberger envisioned the Committee as a means of determining and molding public opinion throughout the country regarding the United States' position on aid to the Allied cause. Upon formation the Committee's concern was only to "Aid the Allies." However, throughout its tenure the Committee adopted several concrete goals: the sale of destroyers to Great Britain; the release by the U.S. government of Flying Fortresses, pursuit planes, and mosquito boats to Great Britain; the passage of the Lend-Lease Bill in Congress; the use of convoys to safely escort Allied supplies; and the revision of the 1935 Neutrality Act to arm U.S. ships for defense against Axis attacks. At no time did the Committee ever ask for a declaration of war, although by October 1941, with the sinking of the destroyer "Reuben James", committee policy did recognize that active participation in the war was quickly becoming inevitable.

White and Eichelberger organized the Committee through a telegram sent out under White's name asking a group of people for their support of the Committee. The response was quick and positive, and during the next few days support from across the country poured in forming the basis of the National Committee of the organization with William Allen White as the chair and Clark Eichelberger as the executive director. White served as the National Committee Chair from May 1940 to January 1941 when he resigned due to ill-health and age, as well as disagreements within the Committee on policy matters. After White's resignation Ernest W. Gibson became the Committee Chair until called to active duty in the spring of 1941. At this time Clark Eichelberger took over the position until the dissolution of the Committee in January 1942. The Executive Committee of the Committee to Defend America was formed with Hugh Moore as the chair and Frederick C. McKee as the treasurer. Other members of the Executive Committee were Thomas K. Finletter, Frank G. Boudreau, Lewis W. Douglas, all of New York City; and Mrs. Emmons Blaine of Chicago, Illinois. With the resignation of White the Committee made an effort to restructure itself and enlarge both the Executive Committee and the National Policy Committee in an effort to democratize the policy-making procedures of the Committee.

The National Committee headquarters operated out of the New York City office. Robert F. Duncan (Assistant to Clark Eichelberger, National Director) was in charge of running this office. Other regional headquarters were established in San Francisco, CA, Boston, MA, Chapel Hill, NC, and eventually in Chicago, IL in order to more easily facilitate the organization and maintenance of the state and local chapters. In addition to a small paid staff in New York City, 4,350 people worked as volunteers at the National Headquarters. The National Headquarters Office was divided into the following divisions: Administrative Management; Executive Committee; National Committee; Fund Raising; State and Local Committees; Publicity; Radio and Speakers Bureau; Women's Division; College Division; Youth Division; and Labor Division.

Although the National Committee eventually grew to number approximately 600 members, the State and Local Chapters formed the backbone of the Committee to Defend America. State and Local Chapters were formed in every state, as well as in the U.S. Territories of Alaska, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands and in Canada. In addition to the State and Local Chapters other divisions and committees were formed for various sectors of the membership. These included the Historians Committee, Scientists Committee, Artists Committee, Writers Committee, Women's Division, Labor Division, College Division, and Youth Division. Most of the members of these various committees and divisions were members of their local chapters, but also participated in the more specialized committees. An "Americans in Britain" chapter was formed in England, and the Committee garnered support from people all over the world. The smaller, specialized committees which did not have their own division in the National Committee Office were supervised by the State and Local Committee Division or the Administrative Management as appropriate.

The Committee to Defend America supported itself through fund-raising activities and voluntary contributions from its membership. Contributions averaged $25.00 per individual, although one contribution was as large as $10,000.00, and the smallest was $.12 in food stamps. The Committee kept in touch with its membership through printed newsletters, flyers, pamphlets and newspaper advertisements, as well as through radio spots and rallies. The Women's Division sponsored song and poster contests in an effort to raise the visibility of the Committee to an even higher level. Buttons, stickers, matchbooks, and car plates were also made available to the general public to raise funds. In addition to Field Representatives sponsored by the State and Local Chapter Division, the Committee also sponsored well-known individuals to speak on behalf of the Committee's aims.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese the Committee to Defend America acknowledged that its work had come to an end, at least in its present incarnation. Committee members agreed, though, that there was still work to be accomplished, specifically to prepare the United States for the peace to come after the war. The Committee to Defend America joined with the Council for Democracy to form Citizens for Victory: To Win the War, To Win the Peace. This organization was not as active nor as well known as the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. By this time people were caught up with actual war work and could not be as easily persuaded to think about the future. Though the Committee to Defend America dissolved itself for all practicable purposes in January 1941, the official cessation did not occur until October 1942.

Acquisition:

Hugh Moore, owner of the Dixie Cup, Co. and Executive Chair of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies donated the records to the Princeton in 1968 . Other materials added to the collection include New York City Chapter materials found in the Fight for Freedom Committee, Inc. collection, also at the Mudd Library.

A booklet published by the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, titled "The Token of Freedom," was donated by Charlotte Lewis in 2016. The accession number associated with this donation is ML-2016-021.

Appraisal

An attempt has been made to organize the records of the Committee in a way that reflects as closely as possible the original order and the way in which the Committee used the records, or when this was not possible, arranging the records in as usable an order as possible. Due to the short-term life of the Committee combined with the extremely large amount of paper work produced within this time a great deal of duplication occurred, and the files were not always kept in a consistently ordered fashion. All divisions of the Committee to Defend America worked closely with each other, and the intermingling of materials reflects this. This is especially true of the Administrative Management, which oversaw all of the divisions of the Committee and this series contains material from all divisions.

Processors discarded almost all of the financial files including all bank deposits, ledgers, checks, vouchers, and receipts. Related financial material can be found in the following series: Series 1: Administrative Management, Daily Reports; Series 2: Executive Committee minutes; and in Series 6: Fund Raising. Other discarded materials include 25 card file drawers containing membership cards and contribution receipts, duplicate materials, materials published by organizations other than the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies and organizations with which the Committee merged.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Melissa A. Johnson in May 1992. Finding aid written by Melissa A. Johnson in May 1992.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

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:

Committee to Defend America By Aiding the Allies Records; Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/vt150j254
Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Box 1-41