Series Part III I: U.S. and International Correspondence, 1951-1953

Series

Call Number: MS 628, Series Part III I

Scope and Contents

This series contains correspondence with, individuals and organizations in the U.S. and in foreign countries other than India and Nepal. It is divided into two subseries:

l) General Correspondence

2) U.S. 'Government Correspondence

1) General Correspondence: Bowles' correspondence, filed alphabetically by correspondent, with individuals and organizations in the U.S. and in countries other than India and Nepal, except for U.S. Government officials. Included is the considerable correspondence he conducted with members of Congress to enlarge their understanding of India's needs and importance as he saw them. He wrote frequently to such Senators as Hubert Humphrey, Brien McMahon, William Benton, Owen Brewster, Paul Douglas, Jacob Javits, A.S Mike Monroney, H. Alexander Smith, John Sparkman and Alexander Wiley; in the House, to Congressmen Emanuel Celler, Thurmond Chatham, Christian Herter, Walter Judd, John McCormack, John McGuire, and Abraham Ribicoff.

Bowles similarly sought support from members of the American press, and the General Correspondence contains his correspondence with editors and journalists such as Hamilton Fish Armstrong, Marquis Childs, Norman Cousins, Fleur Cowles, Gardner Cowles, John Cowles, James, Derieux, Herbert Elliston, John Fischer, Ben Hibbs, Robert C. Hartnett, Marguerite Higgins, Walter Lippmann, Henry Luce, Max Lerner, Lester Markel, Elmo Roper, Arthur Hays Sulzberger and James Wechsler. Labor leaders with whom Bowles corresponded included Philip Murray, William Green, Mitchell Sviridoff, James Patton, Jacob Potofsky, Victor Reuther, Walter Reuther, and Joseph Rourke.

Bowles kept abreast of Connecticut politics through his correspondence with John Bailey, Richard Lee, John Golden, Winifred McDonald, and William Renton, Brien McMahon and Abraham Ribicoff.

The files of William Benton and of Philip Coombs (who until mid - 1952 was in the U.S, Government and acted as an informal liason between Bowles and U.S. Government officials and members of Congress) are especially rich on many aspects of national and state politics and foreign policy. Other notable correspondents include Adlai Stevenson, Nelson Rockefeller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Walter White, Eliot Janeway, Yehudi Menuhin and Paul Hoffman.

Correspondence with some individuals (such as Paul Appleby, Philip Coombs, Leigh Danenberg, and Albert Mayer) who visited India as consultants under the auspices of the U.S. or Indian governments or of private foundations, is filed in this series. Also included is correspondence with Indian officials and students in the U.S. In addition, there is correspondence with political groups such as the Americans for Democratic Action, with charitable and religious groups, and with foundations. Some of these U.S. based organizations, notably the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, were closely involved in Indian development programs and had branches in India. Correspondence with these branch offices is filed in Part III, Series II., Subseries 1.

A number of Bowles' personal reports and memoranda are filed at the end of this subseries.

2) "U.S. Government Correspondence: Bowles' correspondence with U.S. government officials, in the U.S. and in U.S. missions abroad other than India and Nepal. The largest amount of correspondence is with State Department officials in Washington, and U.S. ambassadors and other U.S. personnel abroad. There is also correspondence with Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, as well as with members of their staffs, and with, officials, of other executive agencies. Bowles' personal reports and memoranda, are filed at the end of General Correspondence.

Much of Bowles' correspondence is with officials in the State Department who were directly concerned with Indian and Asian affairs. His correspondence with Donald D, Kennedy, Director of the Office of South Asian Affairs, is probably the most extensive single file on policies, technical assistance programs, personnel and budgets. Bowles did not limit himself to matters of official business in his correspondence with Kennedy, and sometimes confided to Kennedy his views on politics in the U.S.

For correspondence with officials in the Technical Cooperation Administration (TCA} in Washington, see for example, the files of Stanley Andrews, Jonathan Bingham, Haldore Hanson, and Eric Johnstone, among others. Some of the officials in the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in Washington with whom Bowles corresponded are: Edward Barrett, G. Edward Clark, Wilson Compton, Ernest Fisk, S. Shepard. Jones, Howland Sargeant and Egbert White, In addition, there is correspondence with some officials in the Mutual Security Agency, including W. Averell Harriman, Ray Johnson, Amicus Most, Roland Renne, Russell Smith and Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Also of interest is the correspondence of John D. Hickerson on Kashmir and that of Donald Heath in Saigon. The file of Philip Coombs in Part III, Series I., Subseries 1 (General Correspondence) contains many significant reports on the development and staffing of the Indian aid program.

Dates

1951-1953

Physical Description

(16 boxes)

Conditions Governing Access

From the Collection: Boxes 220-223, which contain constituent correspondence, are restricted until 2035 Jan 1.

The transcript of the oral history interview with Douglas Bennet, Jr. in Box 399b is closed until the deed of gift is secured from Bennet.

Box 408, which contains restricted personal and financial papers is closed until 2025 Jan 1.

Box 409, which contains audio tapes of oral history interviews with Bowles's associates, is not open to researchers.

Original audiotapes, videotapes, and motion picture films, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or pay for the creation of a use copy, retained by the repository, if none exist.