Records of the U.S. Information Agency. 1900 - 2003. Biographic Files

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Records of the U.S. Information Agency. 1900 - 2003. Biographic Files

1940-1999

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/604587

This series documents the establishment and administration of the United States overseas informational-cultural program. Biographies of the directors and deputy directors of the United States Information Agency (USIA) provide an overview of administrative and operational changes within the USIA. Newspaper articles, memoranda, correspondence, photographs, publications, and transcripts of speeches provide an account of the policies, programs, and official statements issued and implemented by USIA officials. The documents describe the nominations, confirmations, and administration of USIA officials from the agency's establishment in 1953 through its abolishment in 1999. This series documents the activities of 13 USIA directors and six USIA deputy directors. In addition, this series includes the activities of notable officials from the U.S. State Department and officials from the Office of War Information (OWI), the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), and the Office of the International Information Administration (IIA), predecessor agencies of the USIA. During World War II, the Office of War Information served as an important U.S. government information agency. Under the guidance of Director Elmer Davis, the OWI developed campaigns to enhance public understanding of the war at home and abroad. The OWI also handled liaisons with the press, radio, and motion pictures. This series documents the administration of Elmer Davis, who served as director of the OWI from 1942-1945. In addition, this series contains press clippings of OWI officials Edward Ware Barrett and Robert E. Sherwood. The establishment of the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI) in 1941 and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1942, refined the intelligence operations of the U.S. The principal architect of U.S. foreign intelligence, William J. Donovan, served as director of the COI, and later the OSS. Press clippings and reports document Donovan's career. During the post-World War II period, the early Cold War intensified the need for a comprehensive international information program and led to the creation of the International Information Administration (IIA) in the U.S. State Department in 1948. The administration of four IIA directors, George V. Allen (1948-1950), Edward W. Barrett (1950-1952), Wilson Compton (1952-1953), and Robert L. Johnson (1953) is included in this series. In addition, this series contains records pertaining to the appointment of Arthur Kimball, who served as the first interim director of the USIA from August 1- 5, 1953. Media reactions to developments within the administration of USIA directors comprise a significant portion of this series. Press clippings delineate appointments and nominations, intra-agency problems, and the effectiveness of the USIA in accomplishing its overall mission and purpose. The records in this series contain biographies of USIA directors Theodore Striebert (1953-1956), Arthur Larson (1956-1957), George V. Allen (1957-1960), Edward R. Murrow (1961-1964), Carl T. Rowan (1964-1965), Leonard H. Marks (1965-1968), Frank J. Shakepeare (1969-1973), James Keogh (1973-1976), John E. Reinhardt (1977-1981), Charles Z. Wick (1981- 1988), Bruce S. Gelb (1989-1991), Henry E. Catto (1991-1993), and Penn Kemble (1998-1999). The administration of USIA Director Joseph D. Duffy (1993-1997) is not included in this series. The administration of select USIA deputy directors is included in this series. Deputy directors assisted agency directors in providing direction, coordination, and management of USIA programs. The administration of Abbot Washburn (1953-1961), Donald M. Wilson (1961-1965), Robert W. Akers (1965-1969), Eugene Kopp (1973-1977), Charles Bray (1977-1981) and Marvin Stone (1985-1989) are documented in this series. Records pertaining to the nomination, appointment, and administration of notable U.S. State Department officials are also represented in this series. This series contains speeches and press clippings of the administration of Howland H. Sargeant, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, 1947-1953, John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, 1952-1959, and Carl W. McCardle, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, 1956-1957. In addition, speeches by Evelyn Lieberman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, 1999-2000, are also included in this series.

16 linear feet, 1 linear inch

eng, Latn

National Archives at College Park

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6493474

National Archives at College Park

Related Entities

There are 27 Entities related to this resource.

Rowan, Carl Thomas, 1925-2000

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69x16mv (person)

Carl Thomas Rowan (born August 11, 1925, Ravenscroft, Tennessee – September 23, 2000, Washington, D.C.) was a syndicated columnist, commentator, diplomat, and author received his B.A. degree from Oberlin College in 1947, and his M.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1948. During the 1950s he rose to prominence as a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune, becoming one of the first African-Americans to report for a major daily newspaper. He won national honors for his reports which ranged from ra...

Sherwood, Robert E. (Robert Emmet), 1896-1955

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66113xr (person)

American playwright. From the description of Letter, Surrey, England, to Malcolm Wells, New York City [manuscript], 1948 August 30. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647817235 Sherwood was a noted American dramatist. He was born in New Rochelle, N.Y., graduated from Harvard in 1918, and served in World War I. He wrote for Vanity Fair and Life magazines, serving as editor of the latter from 1924 to 1928. His first play, written in 1927, was an immediate success. H...

McCardle, Carl W. (Carl Wesley), 1904-1972

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62271r2 (person)

Carl Wesley McCardle (1904-1972) was born in Cameron, West Virginia, and was a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College in 1926. He was a career journalist, who served as a diplomatic correspondent for several papers. From 1953 to 1957, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, and during 1957 and 1958, as Assistant to Chairman of the Board of Penn-Tex Corporation. From the description of McCardle, Carl W. (Carl Wesley), 1904-1972 (U.S. National Archives and R...

Kimball, Arthur Alden, 1908-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t766sr (person)

Arthur Alden Kimball (1908-1996) was born in Washington, DC. His father Arthur H. Kimball was a prominent ophthalmologist. His grandfather Ivory G. Kimball was a Civil War veteran who was appointed judge of the Washington, D.C., police court by President Cleveland in 1893. Kimball entered government service in 1928 when he went to work for the Commerce Department. Over the next several years he worked for the National Recovery Administration and the Social Security Board. At the start of World W...

Allen, George V. (George Venable), 1903-1970

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67h24ch (person)

Diplomat. From the description of Reminiscences of George Venable Allen : oral history, 1962. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309720337 From the description of Reminiscences of George Venable Allen : oral history, 1967. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122684098 ...

Wilson, Donald M.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pd5dkn (person)

Bray, Charles

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qm1n17 (person)

Dulles, John Foster, 1888-1959

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65r5k8g (person)

John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), was the fifty-third Secretary of State of the United States for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He had a long and distinguished public career with significant impact upon the formulation of United States foreign policies. He was especially involved with efforts to establish world peace after World War I, the role of the United States in world governance, and Cold War relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Dulles was born on February 25, 1888 ...

Reinhardt, John E.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pp6vjq (person)

Wick, Charles Z

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63g7fpk (person)

Shakespeare, Frank J. (Frank Joseph), 1925-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z07gbf (person)

Broadcasting executive. From the description of Reminiscences of Frank Shakespeare : oral history, 1979. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122565006 ...

Barrett, Edward W. (Edward Ware), 1910-1989

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6db8t4r (person)

Government official, educator. From the description of Reminiscences of Edward W. Barrett : panel discussion, 1963. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122481058 From the description of Reminiscences of Edward W. Barrett : oral history, 1973. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122586711 ...

Larson, Arthur

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n13849 (person)

Lewis Arthur Larson (1910-1993), legal scholar and speech writer, was born in South Dakota. He attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and received a Rhodes scholarship to Pembroke College at Oxford University. He worked as a practicing attorney for a few years in the 1930s, but eventually became a law professor and taught at various law schools from 1939 to 1954, except for a brief period of government service during World War II. His main field of interest was workmen's compen...

Lieberman, Evelyn S., 1944-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gs31ck (person)

Johnson, Robert L. (Robert Lee), 1929-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6781hqr (person)

Murrow, Edward R. (Edward Roscoe), 1908-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mt4gs9 (person)

Edward Roscoe Murrow (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965), born Egbert Roscoe Murrow, was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe for the news division of CBS. During the war he recruited and worked closely with a team of war correspondents who came to be known as the Murrow Boys. After the war, in December 1945 Murrow an offer to become a vice president of the CBS network and head o...

Stone, Marvin L.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cm4h4z (person)

Marks, Leonard H. (Leonard Harold), 1916-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67f8xz7 (person)

Leonard Harold Marks (b. 1916) was a communications lawyer and government official. In October 1962, he was one of thirteen individuals named by President Kennedy to establish and incorporate the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT), and was elected a member of the COMSAT board of directors in 1964. In July 1965, he was appointed Director of the United States Information Agency, and was sworn in as Director on September 2, 1965. From the description of Marks, Leonard H. (Leo...

Compton, Wilson Martindale, 1890-1967

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68w77d6 (person)

Wilson Martindale Compton was born in Wooster, Ohio, on October 15, 1890. He attended Wooster College, receiving the degrees of Ph.B. in 1911, M.A. in 1912, and LL.D. in 1935. He also received a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1915. Compton was a fellow at Princeton between 1913 and 1915. He was appointed assistant professor at Dartmouth between 1915 and 1916. Between 1916 and 1918, he was an economist with the Federal Trade Commission. The majority of his working career, however, was spent as secretary...

Sargeant, Howland H., 1911-1984

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ck2fr3 (person)

Government executive. From the description of Reminiscences of Howland Hill Sargeant oral history, 1970. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122619788 ...

Gelb, Bruce S. (Bruce Stuart), 1927-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64k67ht (person)

Washburn, Abbott

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rb9vq8 (person)

Catto, Henry E., 1930-2011

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6044j61 (person)

Henry Edward Catto, Jr. (1930-2011) was born in Dallas and graduated from Williams College in 1952. After a brief career in his family’s insurance business he entered politics. Though soundly defeated in bids for a seat in the Texas Legislature in 1960 and 1961, Catto used these experiences as a springboard for a three-decade career in public service in the Republican Party. He was selected by President Richard Nixon as deputy representative to the Organization of American States in 1969, and tw...

Davis, Elmer Holmes, 1890-1958

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65h7hpc (person)

Author, journalist, news analyst, and government official. From the description of Elmer Holmes Davis papers, 1865-1957 (bulk 1946-1957). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 74986273 American journalist and author. From the description of Then came war : 1939 : sound recording, 1939. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122446694 Writer. From the description of Reminiscences of Elmer Holmes Davis : oral history, 1955. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 1224...

Akers, Robert W. (Robert Wood), 1905-1998

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6d380sx (person)

Kemble, Penn

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62c1m93 (person)

Streibert, Theodore, 1899-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6n89w9p (person)

Government executive. From the description of Reminiscences of Theodore Streibert : oral history, 1970. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122620290 ...