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Henry Stuart Hughes papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1446

Scope and Contents

The papers consist of correspondence, writings, campaign records, personal papers, and photographs documenting the life and career of Henry Stuart Hughes. The collection documents Hughes' military career during and after World War II, his 1962 senatorial campaign, his tenure as co-chair and chair of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE), his academic career and writings, and his personal life.

Dates

  • 1916-2000

Creator

Language of Materials

Portions of the collection are in Italian and French.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by Judith M. Hughes for materials authored or otherwise produced by H. Stuart Hughes. After the lifetime of Judith M. Hughes, copyright for materials authored or other produced by H. Stuart Hughes is transferred to Yale University. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of H. Stuart Hughes, 1986, 1989. Gift of Judith M. Hughes, 1999, 2000, 2005.

Arrangement

Arranged in four series and two additions: I. Correspondence, 1945-1989. II. Senate Campaign Records, 1962-1964. III. Writings and Teaching Matrials, 1948-1990. IV. Personal Papers and Photographs, 1916-1989.

Extent

10.75 Linear Feet

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1446

Abstract

The papers consist of correspondence, writings, campaign records, personal papers, and photographs documenting the life and career of Henry Stuart Hughes. The collection documents Hughes' military career during and after World War II, his 1962 senatorial campaign, his tenure as co-chair and chair of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE), his academic career and writings, and his personal life.

Biographical / Historical

Henry Stuart Hughes was born May 7, 1916 in New York City, the son of Charles Evans Hughes, Jr. and Marjory Stuart Hughes. His grandfather was Charles Evans Hughes, former Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. H. Stuart Hughes attended Amherst College (B.A. 1937) and Harvard University (Ph.D., History 1940). Before enlisting in the armed services, Hughes taught briefly at Brown University in 1940 1941.

In 1941, Hughes enlisted as a private in the Rhode Island National Guard. Later that year, he joined the Office of the Coordinator of Information within the Office of Strategic Services in Washington D.C. Hughes served in a variety of administrative and research capacities in the O.S.S. during the war, in a number of different venues, including Algeria, France, Italy, England and Germany. He was promoted several times, and was eventually elevated to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. With the end of the war in 1945, Hughes returned to Washington and took a position in the Department of State.

In 1947, Hughes left the Department of State and returned to Harvard to teach half time in the Department of History and to be associate director of the Russian Research Center. Hughes was denied tenure at Harvard in 1952. He taught at Stanford University from 1952 to 1956 when he returned to the Harvard history department as an Associate Professor. Hughes remained at Harvard until 1975, when both he and his second wife, Judith, accepted positions in the history department at the University of California at San Diego. Throughout his distinguished academic career, Hughes published many books and articles on European history, and was acknowledged as one of the foremost voices in the field of European intellectual history.

In 1962, Hughes ran for the United States Senate as an independent candidate from the state of Massachusetts. Although Hughes finished third in a race won by Edward Kennedy, his candidacy was one of the first to emphasize peace and nuclear disarmament at the center of a campaign platform. In 1963, he became co chairman, with Benjamin Spock, of the board of directors of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, known more commonly as SANE. Hughes stayed on as chairman of SANE, after Spock stepped down from the position in 1967, until 1970. He also was an active and outspoken critic of the Vietnam war who published articles, gave speeches and attended protests in opposition to the conflict.

Hughes' leftist leanings resulted in his being suspected as a subversive on at least two occasions. In the early 1950s, he was forced to resign his military commission due to allegations that he was a communist sympathizer, although he was given an honorable discharge. In 1966, he was temporarily refused a visa to travel abroad by the State Department on charges he was a communist conspirator, which were later dropped.

Hughes married twice and had three children, Sandra and Kenneth with his first wife Suzanne, and David, with his second wife Judith. He retired from the University of California at San Diego in 1986. In 1990, he published his autobiography, Gentleman Rebel: The Memoirs of H. Stuart Hughes. Henry Stuart Hughes died October 21, 1999.

Audio Tape Appendix

IDDescriptionFormat
1"Approaches to European Intellectual History" [Symposium honoring HSH], tape 190 minute cassette, TDK D90
2"Approaches to European Intellectual History" [Symposium honoring HSH], tape 290 minute cassette, TDK D90
3"Approaches to European Intellectual History" [Symposium honoring HSH], tape 390 minute cassette, TDK D90
4"Approaches to European Intellectual History" [Symposium honoring HSH], tape 490 minute cassette, TDK D90
5"Approaches to European Intellectual History" [Symposium honoring HSH], tape 590 minute cassette, TDK D90

Title
Guide to the Henry Stuart Hughes Papers
Status
Under Revision
Date
July 2008
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours