Scope and Contents
Col. E. M. House, at the request of President Wilson, began to assemble in New York a group of experts to collect and collate data on geographical, ethnological, historical, economic, and political problems of Europe and other areas of the world in preparation for the peace conference, which should follow World War I. This group of experts, called 'The Inquiry,' was under the direction first of Sidney E. Mezes and later of Isaiah Bowman. At the time of its greatest development it consisted of 18 divisions, 11 of which dealt with special problems of particular areas or regions. Its staff was made up largely of professors recruited from American universities and colleges. The Inquiry made a number of investigations; …and in 1918 it assembled a large quantity of material on national boundaries. In December 1918 The Inquiry ceased to be an independent body and was absorbed into the Division of Territorial, Economic, and Political Intelligence of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace.*
The Yale Inquiry Papers are an amalgamation of two separate collections: (a) a relatively small amount of material, dealing directly with The Inquiry, which Charles Seymour (the first curator of the House Collection) assembled from amongst his own papers and those of Colonel House and Clive Day and rearranged under an artificial "Inquiry" subheading; and (b) the much larger set of bona fide Inquiry "office records," left originally under the care of the American Geographical Society (The Inquiry's first "home") which were given to the Yale Library in 1961 in honor of President Seymour's 75th birthday.
The bulk of The Inquiry's records are housed in the National Archives, where they form part of Record Group 256 ("Records of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace"), whose contents are described in the Preliminary Inventory list [No. 89] mentioned above. The Yale Inquiry Papers consist to a considerable extent of duplicate material (roughly 12 cubic feet of material compared to 85 cubic feet housed in the National Archives); and even the strongest categories (Special Reports and Studies and Maps) are far from complete.
The Yale Inquiry Papers are arranged in six major series, which are described in greater detail in the pages that follow:
Series I. General Correspondence. (2 boxes) Primarily 'inter-office' correspondence from (or to) Clive Day and Charles Seymour, (1918-1919).
Series II. Records Regarding Administrative Matters. (1 box) The most significant items are Douglas Johnson's letters describing his special mission to England and France in the spring of 1918; and various "progress reports" from Sidney Mezes, Isaiah Bowman, and David Hunter Miller to Colonel House.
Series III. Reports and Studies. (23 boxes) The bulk of these reports deal with specific problems (and sub-divisions) of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires; the Balkans; Alsace-Lorraine; the Adriatic question; Poland; India, and German colonies in Africa. (An "Index of Authors" is appended.)
Series IV. Abstracts, Precis, Notes. (5 boxes) Various notes and miscellaneous research materials used primarily by Charles Seymour and Clive Day in their studies on Austria-Hungary and the Balkans.
Series V. Printed Materials. (1 box) Ten miscellaneous items.
Series VI. Maps and Photographs (4 folios and 3 boxes) Maps: [Consult Reference Archivist. The reprocessing and rearrangement of this section of the Yale Inquiry Papers has not been completed.]; Photographs: See page 73
* See also Lawrence Gelfand, The Inquiry: American Preparations for Peace, 1917-1919 [New Haven: 1963]; and Harold B. Whitemen (ed.), Charles Seymour's Letters from the Paris Peace Conference [New Haven: 1965]. Much additional information will undoubtedly emerge from Arthur Walworth's forthcoming study on American diplomacy at the peace conference; volumes VI and VII of Arthur Link's biography of Woodrow Wilson; the pertinent volumes of The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, and Charles Neu's projected full scale biography of Colonel House.
Dates
- 1915-1921
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Arrangement
Extent
18 Linear Feet (35 boxes, 4 folios)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
Appendix
Andrews, A. I. See: Caucasus, Transcaucasus
Andrews, G. F. See: France
Andrus, A. N. See: Turkey
Arctowski, H. See: Poland (11)
Armstrong, E. C. See: Alsace-Lorraine
Beam, J. N. See: Turkey
Beer, G. L. See: Africa (3), Egypt, Middle Africa
Bell, H. W. See: Turkey (2)
Birge, J. K. See: Turkey
Blakeslee, G. H. See: Germany
Blythe, S. G. See: China
Bonner, C. See: India
Bonney [A. L. ?] See: Argentina
Bonright, J. C. See: Turkey
de Booy, T. See: Colombia
Brailsford, H. N. See: Turkey
Breasted, J. A. See: Turkey
Bruere, H. See: Latin America
Butler, H. C. See: Turkey
Byrne, E. H. See: Syria, Turkey
Campbell, O. J. See: Turkey (3), Zionism
Chamberlain, J. P. See: Belgium
Chekrezi, C. A. See: Albania
Churchill, W. See: Germany
Clark, V. See: Germany
Collier, W. M. See: Spain
Cook, W. L. See: Colombia
Coolidge, A. C. See: Macedonia
Davison, E. F. See: Great Britain
Day, Clive See: Austria-Hungary (5), Balkans (2), Belgium, Bohemia, Dutch East Indies, Economic Topics, France, Germany, Poland, Russia
Dennis, A. L. P. See: Turkey
Dickerman, S. O. See: Turkey (2)
Dixon, R. B. See: Central Asia, Crimean Peninsula, Russia, Turkestan (3)
Dodd, W. E. See: Monroe Doctrine (2)
Dominian, L. See: Arab Problem, Arabia, Asia, Mohammedan World, Saloniki, Turkey
Evans, A. P. See: Austria-Hungary (2)
Fairchild, F. R. See: Public Debts (2)
Fay, S. B. See: Baltic Provinces, Lettland
Fenwick, C. G. See: States Less Than Sovereign
Flournoy, F. R. See: Lithuania
Frost, A. C. See: Algeria
Fuller, G. P. See: Great Britain
Golder, F. A. See: Baltic Provinces, Don Province, Lithuania (4), Siberia, Ukraine (2)
Goldman, H. See: Alsace-Lorraine
Gray, L. H. See: Caucasus, Dalmatia, Danube, Eastern Europe, Spitzbergen
Gulbenkian, G. See: Turkey
Hall, W. H. See: Turkey
Hannah, I. C. See: South Africa
Hardy, O. See: Colombia, Peru
Harris, N. D. See: Tibet
Haskins, C. H. See: Alsace-Lorraine, Belgium
Hitchcock, F. C. See: China
Hobbs, W. H. See: Rivers as International Boundaries, Turkey, Asiastic
Holderer, George B. See: Brazil
Hopkins, Manley O. See: Latin America
Hornbeck, S. K. See: China (3), Russia
Howe, Frederic C. See: Mediterranean
Hrdlicka, A. See: Russia
Hudson, M. O. See: Freedom of the Seas
Hunter, Campbell W. See: Argentina
Hurban, V. S. See: Czechs
Jackson, A. V. W. See: Persia (3)
Jackson, T. G. See: Dalmatia
Jacoby, J. H. See: Alsace-Lorraine
Jefferson, M. See: Bohemia, Russia
Jewell, John F. See: Mozambique
Johnson, D. See: Rumania
Jones, Mrs. Robert W. See: Nigeria
Joseph, S. See: Immigration
Kenyon, D. See: India (10)
Kerner, Robert J. See: Austria-Hungary (6), Bohemia, Czechs (2), Near Eastern Question, Yugoslavia (2)
Krehbiel, E. B. See: Alsace-Lorraine (2), Belgium
Larsen, H. A. See: Slesvig
Lavis, F. See: China
Le Plae, E. V. See: Belgian Congo
Lippmann, Walter See: Economic Penetration, International Law
Lord, R. H. See: Eastern Europe, Poland (7)
Lowell, A. L. See: League of Nations
Lunt, W. E. See: Italy
Lybyer, A. H. See: Yugoslavia
McGuire, C. E. See: Latin America
Magie, D. See: Assyrian Christians, Syria, Turkey (4)
Marsh, M. G. See: Brussels Sugar Convention, Merchant Marine
Masaryk, T. G. See: Pan-Germanism
Miller, David Hunter See: International Tariff Court, Law of the Air
Milmore, L. See: Aaland
Monroe, P. See: Albania, Austria-Hungary, Educational Reforms, Japan, Prussian School Laws, Russia, Turkey (2)
Monroe, W. S. See: Albania (2), Balkans (6), Danube (2), Macedonia (3), Petrograd Protocol, Yugoslavia
Moon, P. T. See: Africa, Germany
Morgan, W. T. See: Italy (2)
Morison, S. E. See: Finland
Morris, F. B. See: Brazil, Paraguay, the Chaco
Munro, D. C. See: Mesopotamia, Turkey (2), Turkey, Asiatic
Munro, H. F. See: Berlin Congress
Murphy, G. See: South Africa
McBride, G. M. See: Argentina
Newell, F. H. See: Turkey, Asiatic
Noli, F. S. See: Albania
Notestein, W. See: Alsace-Lorraine (6)
Oakley, H. S. See: Freedom of the Seas
Peet, W. W. See: Turkey
Pitkin, W. H. See: Far Eastern Policy, Japan (3)
Porter, H. See: Turkey
Putney, A. H. See: Austria-Hungary, Poland
Reed, W. H. See: Bessarabia, Rumania (2)
Riggs, H. H. See: Turkey (2)
Robertson, W. Henry See: Argentina
Romer, E. See: Poland
Rubinow, I. M. See: Russia (4)
Savic, V. R. See: Yugoslavia
Scudder [Miss] See: Ethnic Groups
Semple, E. C. See: Austria-Hungary, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Asiatic (2)
Seymour, Charles See: Austria-Hungary (14), Cyprus, Spitzbergen, Yugoslavia (2)
Shaw, E. W. See: Mexico
Shipman, H. R. See: Turkey
Shotwell, J. T. See: Alsace-Lorraine, Turkey, Asiatic
Slosson, P. W. See: Australasia, New Zealand, Russia, Samoa
Smith, D. E. See: International Currency
Smith, M. See: Germany
Smith, W. R. See: Opium Problem
Sonnichsen, A. See: Macedonia
Southard, A. E. See: Abyssinia
Steefel, L. D. See: Luxemburg, Slesvig
Stozek, J. See: Alsace-Lorraine
Szlupas, J. See: Lithuania
Taussig, F. W. See: Colonial Tariffs, United States International Commercial Policy
Thomas, W. I. See: Nationalism
Torrey, C. C. See: Arabia
Updegraff, R. See: Alsace-Lorraine (2)
Veblen, T. B. See: Economic Penetration
Vincent, J. M. See: Turkey (2)
Watson, A. G. See: Aden
Westermann, W. L. See: Turkey (3)
White, J. C. See: Balkans
Williams, M. O. See: Czechs
Willoughby, W. W. See: States Less Than Sovereign
Winston, A. P. See: China (5), Japan
Wood, John Q. See: Azores
Wrighley, G. M. See: Africa (4)
Znanciecki, F. See: Poland (3)
Zowski, S. J. See: Poland (5), Vistula
- Adams, James Truslow, 1878-1949
- Auchincloss, Gordon, 1886-1943
- Beer, George Louis, 1872-1920
- Bowman, Isaiah, 1878-1950
- Brailsford, Henry Noel, 1873-1958
- Breasted, James Henry, 1865-1935
- Campbell, Oscar James, 1879-1970
- Coolidge, Archibald Cary, 1866-1928
- Cross, Wilbur L. (Wilbur Lucius), 1862-1948
- Davison, Frederick Trubee, 1896-1974
- Day, Clive, 1871-1951
- Dodd, William E. (William Edward), 1869-1940
- Domeratzky, Louis, 1881-
- Dominian, Leon, 1880-1935
- Duggan, Stephen, 1870-1950
- Emigration and immigration
- Farnam, Henry W. (Henry Walcott), 1853-1933
- Fay, Sidney Bradshaw, 1876-1967
- Ferguson, William Scott, 1875-1954
- Furniss, Edgar S. (Edgar Stevenson), 1890-1972
- Hadley, Arthur Twining, 1856-1930
- Haskins, Charles Homer, 1870-1937
- Hayes, Carlton J. H. (Carlton Joseph Huntley), 1882-1964
- Hocking, William Ernest, 1873-1966
- Hornbeck, Stanley Kuhl, 1883-1966
- House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938
- Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943
- Jefferson, Mark, 1863-1949
- Jones, Frederick Scheetz, 1862-1944
- Kerner, Robert Joseph, 1887-1956
- Lansing, Robert, 1864-1928
- Latin America
- Lewis, Charlton Miner, 1866-1923
- Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974
- Lord, Robert Howard, 1885-1954
- Lybyer, Albert Howe, 1876-1949
- Maps
- Mezes, Sidney Edward, 1863-1931
- Miller, David Hunter, 1875-1961
- Monroe, W. S. (Will Seymour), 1863-1939
- Morison, Samuel Eliot, 1887-1976
- Notestein, Wallace, 1878-1969
- Paris Peace Conference. United States Territorial Section (1919-1920. United States Territorial Section) -- 1919-1920
- Photoprints
- Polk, Frank Lyon, 1871-1943
- Self-determination, National
- Seymour, Charles, 1885-1963
- Shotwell, James T., 1874-1965
- Simkhovitch, Vladimir G. (Vladimir Gregorievitch), 1874-1959
- Slosson, Preston W. (Preston William), 1892-1984
- Stokes, Anson Phelps, 1874-1958
- Taussig, F. W. (Frank William), 1859-1940
- Thorpe, M. H. (Merle Harold), 1879-1955
- Tinker, Chauncey Brewster, 1876-1963
- United States -- Foreign relations
- Veblen, Thorstein, 1857-1929
- Warburg, Paul M. (Paul Moritz), 1868-1932
- Westermann, William Linn, 1873-1954
- Wilbur, Ray L. (Ray Lyman), 1875-1949
- Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
- World War, 1914-1918
- Title
- Guide to the The Inquiry Papers
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- compiled by N. X. Rizopoulos with the assistance of Anne Willard; Revised by Nancy L. Fappiano
- Date
- March 1973
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Location
Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511