Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Q U A R T E R LY o f t h e N AT I O N A L A R C H I V E S a n d R E C O R D S A D M I N I S T R AT I O N
Prologue 1
from the archivist
O ver the years, the National Archives has faced many physi-
cal and environmental threats to its holdings. These include
fire, water, insects, and mold. We have been open and forthcom-
searched by both research room staff and security guards when
they exit the research room and the building, respectively. This
practice will be extended to other NARA facilities.
ing about these risks and about our efforts to combat them. Over the past decade, several individuals have stolen docu-
However, theres another risk to our collectionthe risk of ments and put them up for sale on the Internet or attempted to
theft and intentional mutilation or destruction of our holdings. sell them to trustworthy collectors. Sharp-eyed researchers who
I take these risks very seriously and have taken had used these records recognized them and
strong measures to deal with them. alerted us. Those individuals who stole from
It was recently discovered that the pardon our holdings went to prison. Sadly, one of them
of a Union soldier in the Civil War, signed by was an Archives employee.
President Abraham Lincoln, was altered. In addition to these specific actions, we have
Our Inspector Generals investigators ob- elevated holdings security among our many
tained a written confession from an amateur missions.
historian that he had changed the date on the Late last year, we formed a Holdings Pro-
pardon to read April 14, 1865, instead of April tection Team to develop policies for protect-
14, 1864. This change to 1865 made the docu- ing our holdings and to educate staff on how
ment appear to be one of Lincolns last official to do so. It has also performed site inspections
actions on the day he was assassinated. at many of our facilities nationwide to support
For more details on the case, see page 66. and foster holdings protection and to monitor
This case is unusual, but its another reminder that our holdings compliance with policy.
are at risk from unconscionable acts by researchers who seek to steal The team works closely with our Inspector Generals staff,
or mutilate the documents that belong to the American people. which has demonstrated expertise in investigating and recov-
And we have not only experienced theft and damage by those ering lost or stolen holdings. Through the IGs work, many rec-
from outside our agency, but also by those we trust the most, ords and artifacts have been recovered, and thieves have been
our very own staff.Unfortunately, some theft is perpetrated by successfully prosecuted.
employees, and that is especially disheartening. These individuals The IGs own Archival Recovery Team (ART) can assist
have lost sight of their responsibilities as caretakers. those who think they may be in possession of a lost or stolen
We are not alone in facing risks to our collections. Every insti- document or have knowledge of others who have some or are
tution charged with preserving our heritagemuseums, librar- attempting to sell them. The ART publicizes items that have
ies, archives, and othersbalances access to and protection of its been lost or stolen and asks citizens to contact them if they have
holdings every day. seen any of them; these items are listed on its web site at www.
I have moved to mitigate this real threat by instituting a new archives.gov/research/recover/ and its Facebook page at www.
policy in our Washington, D.C., and College Park, Maryland, facebook.com/archivalrecoveryteam.
buildings of searching bags being taken out by staffincluding To report a document you believe is lost or stolen from the
meas we leave the building. This policy will be extended to Archives, write to Missing Documents, Office of the Inspec-
other locations. tor General, National Archives and Records Administration,
We have installed video cameras to monitor all public research 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001; e-mail
areas in all our research rooms in Washington and College Park MissingDocuments@nara.gov. Or call 301-837-3500 or
and most research rooms nationwide. And we strictly limit what 1-800-786-2551.
researchers can take with them into these rooms. The security of our holdings is my highest priority. Please help
In Washington and College Park, researchers belongings are me and the staff protect and preserve the story of our democracy.
Features
6 My Father at 100: A Memoir
In an excerpt from his new book, Ron Reagan reminisces
about his father, the 40th President, and how his Midwest
upbringing shaped his later life and his role in history.
Prologue 3
Spring Volume 43 Issue No. 1
p.10
In every issue
2 From the Archivist
Increased Security for
Americas Records
58 Genealogy Notes
The Medical Case of Civil War
Veteran Edson D. Bemis
72 Pieces of History Front cover: Marking the 100th anniversary of President Ronald Reagans birth
this year, this issue features an excerpt from Ron Reagan, Jr.s new book, as
A tintype in a pension file leads well as a collection of National Archives images that recall important aspects
to the unwinding of A Civil War of the Presidents life, careers, and work. See pages 615.
Widows Story. Back cover: President Reagans love of jelly beans inspired numerous and
unique portraits created with that confection. This one hangs prominently at
the Ronald Reagan Library.
History on the go
The National Archives in Washington, D.C., and in
College Park, MD, now have wireless Internet access.
R onald Wilson Reagan was a familiar figure to most Americans long before he became
the nations 40th President in 1981as a movie actor, television personality,
spokesman for conservative causes, and governor of California, our most populous state.
Yet even though he spent decades before the cameras of Hollywood and Washington, a part
of him remains a mystery to many people. He has been analyzed and psychoanalyzed for many
years, but still there are many things about this most public of men that remain private.
To learn more about his father 100 years after his birth, his son, Ronald Prescott Reagan,
returned to the Midwest where his father grew up and where his values and views were shaped. He
dug into the family history and walked where his father walked.
The result is My Father at 100: A Memoir, a look at the pre-Hollywood, pre-politics
Ronald Reagan. This excerpt from the book offers some of the sons impressions after
learning more about his father.
quibble over those few years he fell shortnot least because, with his
name still on so many lips, he seems so strangely present even now.
His was a life that spanned the 20th century, stopping along the way in
venues as quintessentially American as the small-town Midwest, Golden
Age Hollywood, and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
A little boy who chased after horse-drawn ice wagons grew up to act in
movies alongside the likes of Bette Davis and Errol Flynn and grew old
as the leader of the free world, responsible for the planets most powerful
nuclear arsenal.
He lived through perhaps the most astonishing period of change
material, technological, culturalthat our nation has known. He
witnessed virtually the whole progression, finding it alternately inspiring,
horrific, and utterly baffling. His lifes journey marked him, shaped him,
as it would anyone. But the approach, perspective, and character he
Nancy
Right: After the war, Reagan was elected president of the Screen Actors
Guild and served from 1947 to 1954. His marriage to Jane Wyman ended in
1948, and in 1952 he married Nancy Davis. The couple is shown here with
his best man, actor William Holden, and his wife, Ardis.
On the Air
Opposite left: After college, Reagan got a job with WOC radio in Daven-
port, Iowa, before moving on to WHO radio in Des Moines. At WHO,
Reagan recreated play-by-play accounts of Chicago Cubs games using wire
service reports.
The Gipper
Opposite middle: In 1937, he took
a screen test while in California
and got a seven-year contract On to TV
with Warner Brothers. Perhaps his Like many motion picture
most famous role was in the 1940 actors, Reagan turned to
television in the 1950s.
film, Knute RockneAll American. In
He signed a contract as a
it, he played George (The Gipper)
spokesman for General
Gipp.
Electric, hosting its TV
show, General Electric
In Uniform Theater, and touring the
Opposite right: Reagan was called country giving speeches on
to active duty in the Army in conservative, pro-business
1942 and eventually assigned to topics from 1954 to 1962.
the First Motion Picture Unit in
Culver City, California. During his
service, he appeared in hundreds
of training films and was also
assigned to help sell war bonds.
He was promoted to captain
in 1943. After his discharge in
December 1945, he returned to
acting. In all, he made 53 motion
pictures.
The Switch
Left: Reagan changed his political
registration from Democrat to
Republican in 1962, later saying, I didnt
leave the Democratic party. The party
left me. He is shown here campaigning
in 1964 with GOP presidential nominee
Barry Goldwater at the International
Hotel in Los Angeles. His work for
Goldwater caught the attention of
political professionals in California.
Governor
Opposite, top right: In 1966, Reagan
jumped into politics as a candidate,
defeating two-term incumbent California
Gov. Edmund G. Pat Brown; he won
reelection in 1970. As governor with
a Democratic legislature, he sought
to erase the state budget deficit with
cuts and reforms in state programs and
agreeing to new taxes. He is shown
here celebrating his 1966 victory for
governor at the Biltmore Hotel in Los
Angeles.
Victory
Opposite bottom: Reagan ran for President
in 1980, defeating President Jimmy Carter. Tax Cuts
As he gave his inaugural address, Iran Above: With Republicans in control of the
released the 52 U.S. hostages they had Senate as a result of the 1980 elections,
held for 444 days during the Carter Reagan pushed for his program of tax
administration. Reagan wrote his own cuts, which he eventually got, with the
inaugural speech, which included the help of conservative Democrats in
line, In this present crisis, government the House. Here, Reagan addresses
is not the solution to our problems, the nation in July 1981 about the
government is the problem. tax cut legislation, the first of many
televised addresses that helped to
A Bullet solidify his reputation as The Great
On March 30, 1981, John W. Hinkley, Communicator.
Jr., attempted to assassinate Reagan as
A First
he emerged from a Washington hotel.
Above: When Justice Potter Stewart
A bullet barely missed his heart but
retired from the Supreme Court in 1981,
pierced his left lung. His press secretary,
Reagan turned to an Arizona judge and
a Secret Service agent, and a
former legislator, Sandra Day OConnor,
Washington, D.C., policeman were
to be his nomineethe first woman to
also wounded. Four days later, he
become a Supreme Court justice. His
is shown with his wife, Nancy, at
three appointments moved the high
George Washington Hospital; he
court further to the conservative side
had told her, Honey, I forgot
of the political spectrum.
to duck.
Gorbachev
Below: Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev
greet during the Geneva summit in November 1985. Reagan
kept pressure on the Soviets by increasing U.S. defense
budgets as the Soviet economy was falling apart. Reagan and
Gorbachev signed an arms limitation treaty, and eventually, the
Soviet regime collapsed. The Ranch
For relaxation,
Reagan retreated
to his hilltop
ranch near
Santa Barbara,
called Rancho
del Cielo, or
Ranch in the
Sky. There, he
rode horseback
and often did chores such as cutting wood or
clearing brush.
Soul Mate
Right: Reagan tries to control his dog Lucky as he walks with British
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the Rose Garden in early
1985. The two conservatives were in synch on many issues
and had great admiration for each other. Thatcher
gave a eulogy at Reagans funeral in 2004.
14 Prologue
The Wall
In June 1987, Reagan
gave a speech at the
Berlin Wall, and over
the objections of his top
advisers, uttered one of
the most famous lines
of his presidency: Mr.
Gorbachev, tear down
this wall. The wall, a
symbol of the Cold War,
fell in 1989, and a piece
of it is now an artifact at
the Reagan Presidential
Library.
Family
The Reagan family gathered at their
house in Pacific Palisades, California,
in 1976. From left to right: Patti Davis,
Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Michael
Reagan, Maureen Reagan, and Ron Reagan. The Diary
Maureen, now deceased, and Michael are Throughout his presidency, Reagan kept a diary in which he commented on events of
the children of Reagan and his first wife, the day, his personal feelings about individuals, and how he felt generally about things.
actress Jane Wyman. Patti and Ron are The diaries have been edited and published. Here, it is seen on the desk in his office
the children of Reagan and Nancy. in the White House residence.
16 Prologue
A
s we celebrate the beginning of the sesquicentennial
of the American Civil War, it is worthwhile to remember,
and contemplate, the most important figure in the struggle
against slavery immediately before the war: John Brown.
When Brown was hanged in 1859 for his raid on Harpers
Ferry, Virginia, many saw him as the harbinger of the future.
For Southerners, he was the embodiment of all their fearsa
white man willing to die to end slaveryand the most potent
symbol yet of aggressive Northern antislavery sentiment. For
many Northerners, he was a prophet of righteousness, bringing
down a terrible swift sword against the immorality of slavery
and the haughtiness of the Southern master class.
In 2000, the United States marked the bicentennial
of Browns birth. At that time, domestic terrorism was a
growing problem. Bombings, ambushes, and assassinations
had been directed at womens clinics and physicians in a
number of places; a bomb planted in Atlantas Centennial
Olympic Park during the 1996 summer Olympics had killed
one person and wounded more than a hundred people; in
1995 a pair of right-wing extremists had planted a bomb at
the Alfred A. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City,
killing 168 people and injuring more than 680 others.
During that bicentennial year, a number of historians
and others talked about whether John Brown was
Americas first terrorist. Was he a model for the cowards
who planted bombs at clinics, in public parks, or in
buildings? Significantly, at least one modern terrorist,
Paul Hill, compared himself to John Brown after he
was arrested for murdering two people who worked at a
womens clinic in Florida.
On the morning of October 18, 1859, marines stormed the engine house of the
armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, capturing Brown and a few of his raiders and
killing the rest. By the end of the raid, of the 22 who had been involved in the plot,
10, including his sons Watson and Oliver, were dead or mortally wounded; five,
including Brown, had been captured.
Prologue 17
A mural titled The Tragic Prelude (1941) depicts John Browns antislavery battles in the Kansas Territory in 1856. At the end of the year, he was one of the most
renowned figures in Bleeding Kansas. The painting takes artistic license by portraying Brown with a beard; he was cleanshaven while in Kansas.
A year after Browns bicentennial, the terrify people and strike fear in the strike at civilian targets that aided the war
United States was faced with multiple minds of those at whom their terror is effort, surely terrorized populations. The
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. directed. This, however, is not a complete trench warfare and artillery duels of World
The meaning of terrorism had changed. It definition. After all, few would consider War I terrorized millions of civilians, but
was no longer the result of random attacks soldiers in warfare terrorists, yet surely this was not essentially terrorism.
by an individual or two. Now it was tied to a they try to make their enemy fearful of So, what beyond scaring or frightening
worldwide conspiracy, coordinated overseas them. Starting with World War II, large- people constitutes terrorism? How do we
and meticulously planned. The American scale bombing has been a fact of modern define the terrorist?
response was a war on terror. In an age warfare, but bombing of military targets is For terrorists, the terror itself, the act of
of rising incidents of terrorism, numerous surely not an act of terrorism, even though violence, is the goal rather than simply the
scholars, and more important, much of the the civilian population may be harmed or means to an end. Terrorists may hope for
general public, have again asked if John terrorized. political change, but what they often want
Brown was Americas first terrorist. This aspect of warfare is hardly new. Siege is to simply strike back at and harm those
warfare of the ancient and medieval world they oppose. The act of terror becomes the
Some Definitions of Terrorism surely terrorized those inside castles or goal, with no expectation that anything else
There are no complete or certain def- towns. Similarly, the long sieges of the Civil will follow.
initions of terrorism. Terrorists seek to War, as well as decisions by both sides to This makes terrorism different from
blacks were incapable of anything worse than Brown grew up in an atmosphere in which gave birth to seven children before she died
sporadic violence. Brown, however, raised the everyone despised slavery. Both Brown and in 1832. Five of those children lived until
ominous possibility of armed black slaves, his father were early supporters of the new adulthood. In 1833 he married Mary Ann
led by whites, who together would destroy abolitionism that emerged in the 1830s. Day, an uneducated 16-year-old, half his
Southern white society. Browns father, a prominent businessman age. She would have 13 children, but only six
Who was this lunatic, this mad man, this with a large tannery, was involved in trying would survive to adulthood.
abolitionist hero, this saint, this martyr to to make Western Reserve College into an In 1825 Brown moved to western
freedom? Was he Americas first terrorist? antislavery stronghold. When that failed, Pennsylvania, where he was a successful
the elder Brown supported the creation tanner and a postmaster (under President
Who Was John Brown? of Oberlin College as a racially integrated John Quincy Adams). Despite his own poor
In many ways Brown was a typical 19th- coeducational institution of higher learning education and struggles with schooling, he
century American. He was born in Torrington, with an antislavery bent. helped start a local school. A proper burgher
Connecticut, into a family of deeply religious Despite his fathers association with of the community, he became a church
Congregationalists who were Puritan in colleges, Brown had little formal education. leader and joined the Masons. In 1834 his
their heritage and overtly antislavery in their Early in his life he considered becoming a business went bad, and he moved back to
views. When he was five, the family moved clergyman, and he returned to Connecticut Ohio, starting a tannery in Kent. There
to what was then the West. They migrated to attend a preparatory school as a prelude he speculated in land and won a contract
to Hudson, Ohio, which was in the Western to going to a seminary. But that possibility to build a canal from Kent (then called
Reserve between Akron and Cleveland. The ended when he flunked out of the school. Franklin Mills) to Akron. He formed the
region was full of New Englanders, especially By age 20 he was married and a foreman in Franklin Land Company with 700 acres for
from Connecticut. his fathers tannery. His bride, Dianthe Lusk, building houses.
John Brown
Browns grave at his family farm in North Elba, New York, became a pilgrimage site. Brown cannot be seen as a terrorist, but is viewed perhaps more accurately as a
violent revolutionary striking a blow for freedom, against slavery.
League of Gileadites, an organization of printing press there, burning buildings, most renowned (and either hated or adored)
whites, free blacks, and runaway slaves and terrorizing the residents. Three days figures in bleeding Kansas, and in the East
dedicated to protecting fugitive slaves from later, Brown and his band of free-state he became known as Osawatomie Brown
slave catchers. guerrillas killed five Southern settlers along or Old Osawatomie. For some New
In the 1840s Brown was in contact with the Pottawatomie River, decapitating some England abolitionists he was approaching
such antislavery leaders as Gerrit Smith and of them with swords. Later that summer, a the status of a cult figure. Taciturn, blunt,
Frederick Douglass. Yet as late as 1855 Brown proslavery minister, working as a scout for gruffand armedBrown had become
remained a marginal figure in the antislavery the U.S. Army, murdered Browns unarmed a symbol of the emerging holy crusade
movement and in all other ways historically son Frederick, shooting him in the heart at against slavery. Those in the East knew he
insignificant. In 1855 Brown joined his sons close range. His body, when discovered, was fought against slavery, but few were aware
and son-in-law in Kansas, settling along riddled with bullets. of the exact nature of his role in the gory
the Osawatomie River. In December 1855 Throughout the rest of 1856, Brown and events at Pottawatomie.
he helped defend Lawrence, the center of his remaining sons fought in Kansas and Within two weeks after the incident, the play
antislavery settlers, from an armed attack by Missouri. Some of these encounters were Osawatomie Brown appeared on Broadway. The
proslavery forces. pitched battles between Browns small army play accused Browns enemies of the massacre
On May 21, 1856, though, when Brown and proslavery forces, which were sometimes at Pottawatomie and suggested that the real
was elsewhere, proslavery men sacked and abetted by the U.S. Army. killers had blamed Brown in order to discredit
burned the free-soil town, destroying the By the end of 1856, Brown was one of the him. Moreover, ever since the massacre, James
majority of the settlers were from the free states, traditions, Americans recoil at the idea of Syracuse University and his Ph.D. in
history from the University of Chicago.
but the national government recognized a violent revolution and raids on government
He is the President William McKinley
minority government that was proslavery. That armories, even when, as was the case in
Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany
legislature made it a crime to publicly oppose Virginia in 1859, democracy was something Law School. He is the author or editor of more than 25
slavery. There was, at least under the formal law, of a sham, and there was neither free speech books and over 150 scholarly articles. His legal history
no free speech in Kansas for abolitionists. This nor free political institutions. scholarship has been cited by numerous courts, including
was also true in Virginia, when John Brown In the end, we properly view Brown the United States Supreme Court.
By Fred L. Borch
T
his court, upon secret written ballot, finds you of the charges and specifications:
GUILTY. During the last week of April 1945, those 14 words rang out
in the general courts-martial of two American lieutenants. Their trials took
place more than a thousand miles apart: one officer, 1st Lt. Donald R. Bridge, was
tried in southern Italy on April 23, 1945; the other pilot, 1st Lt. Myron L. King, was
tried in Moscow two days later. But both men were found guilty at trialalbeit for
different offensesfor the same reason: both had angered the Soviets. Bridge (flying
a B-24 Liberator) had taken off without permission from a Russian-operated airfield
in Poland. A month later, King (piloting a B-17 Flying Fortress) had been caught in
Ukraine with a stowaway aboard his plane.
That the Russians were furious about these two events
is an understatement. Gen. Aleksei I. Antonov, Chief of the
Red Army Staff, complained bitterly in a letter to Maj. Gen.
John R. Deane, the top American military officer in Moscow,
that the United States had rudely violated Soviet law and
regulation. He demanded that necessary measures be taken
Right: First Lt. Myron L. King (second from left) and fellow airmen in
Greenland, October 1944.
Left: A B-17 bomber similar to the ones flown by King before his court-
martial in April 1945.
Spring 2011
immediately against the two pilots and asked to be informed of the measures actually taken. Soviet dictator
Josef Stalin also complained in a meeting with U.S. Ambassador W. Averell Harriman that American
pilots were coming into Soviet controlled territory for ulterior purposes; Stalin specifically mentioned
the facts in the King case as an example of this egregious conduct. Faced with a potential rupture in Soviet-
American relations, including a possible loss of access to Soviet airfields, the Army decided to court-martial
King in Moscow. Bridge, located in southern Italy with the 15th Air Force, would be court-martialed at
that commands headquarters. The bottom line was that both men had to be triedand convictedif the
angry Russian bear was to be mollified.
Spring 2011
way to know if Shenderoff was executed, it Bridge and King are Court-Martialed take-off and, once airborne, had returned to
would not be surprising. On the morning of April 23, 1945, Donald Italy.
In any event, the Soviets connected the R. Bridge was tried in Italy at a general court- Donald Bridge elected not to testify at
three casesShenderoff, King, and Bridge martial convened by Headquarters, 15th Air his trial, probably because he had made a
as Admiral Olson confirmed at the King trial. Force. He was charged with two crimes: first, written statement, prior to trial, in which he
It follows that the Soviets probably believed wrongfully taking off from Mielec airfield admitted seeing red flares, understood their
that Shenderoffs escape on Raleighs B-24, without first obtaining proper clearance meaning, and ignored them. But Bridge did
the presence of stowaway Jack Smith on and authority and, second, wrongfully have the benefit of his chain of command at
Kings B-17, and Bridges suspicious landing disregarding the red flare signal, which he trial: his squadron commander and squadron
and disobedient departure in his B-24 were knew to prohibit takeoff, an act that might operations officer both testified that he was
not a coincidence. Was there a conspiracy prejudice the relationship existing between an excellent pilot with a good reputation.
to undermine Soviet authority? Were the United States and its Ally, the Union of Interestingly, they also testified that he had
the Americans intentionally befriending Soviet Socialist Republics. flown 35 missionsthree of which were
Russians and convincing them to escape? At Since Bridge pleaded not guilty to both subsequent to the wrongful takeoff at Mielec.
a minimum, American military leaders were charges, the government was required to prove Shortly after four oclock, on the same day
permitting their pilots to meddle in the Soviet the case against him, and the prosecutor called that his trial had begun, 22-year-old Donald
Unions internal affairs. This explains the members of Bridges crew to testify against Bridge was found guilty. He was sentenced
bitterness of Antonovs letter to Deaneand him. The evidence at trial was not disputed: to be reprimanded and to forfeit $100.00
why Soviet pressure caused Bridge and King to the Americans had not been cleared to leave pay a month for six months. Since Bridge
be court-martialed for their misconduct. Soviet airspace on March 24 but believed earned $183.00 a month as a lieutenant, this
In case General Deane did not understand that their departure was being unreasonably was not a light punishment.
the seriousness of Antonovs letter to him, delayed; Bridge had seen red flares fired by Two days later, and many miles away in
the Soviets informed the Military Mission to the Soviets but ignored them; these red flares Moscow, the general court-martial of Myron
Moscow the following day, March 31, 1945, meant either that there was danger on the King began. The trial was unique, as it was
that all flight clearances were suspended for runway or that takeoff was prohibited; Bridge the first time in history that an American had
American aircraft at Poltava until further notice. nevertheless had proceeded with a running been court-martialed in the Soviet Union.
The Army Separation Qualification Record for Donald R. Bridge. He was found guilty in a general court-martial in Italy in on April 23, 1945, and sentenced to a
reprimand and substantial forfeiture of pay.
The general court-martial order for Myron L. King, dated May 10, 1945, reflects that he was charged with transporting an alien and allowing him association with the
planes crew, thereby bringing discredit on the military service of the United States.
Myron King pursued his appeal, and in
1952 Maj. Gen. Reginald C. Harmon, Note on Sources
the Air Force Judge Advocate General, Myron King and Donald Bridges official military
vacated the findings of guilty in Kings personnel records are preserved at the Military Personnel
trial.
Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri.
Kenneth C. Royall to Goodwin, A portion of the King court-martial records is
contained in the Records of Interservice Agencies,
under which a valid sentence
Records of the Military Mission to Moscow,
of a general court-martial when 19431945 (Record Group 334), at the National
fully executed can be modified Archives at College Park. These records also contain
or set aside by administrative correspondence from the Soviets relating both Kings
and Bridges misconduct, including the letter from
action. Apparently Bridge took
General Antonov to General Deane. The Bridge
no further action in the matter; court-martial also is referenced in the these files.
perhaps he decided it was best to A folder in box 10 of the Records of the Military
move on with his life. Mission to Moscow, labeled Incidents, U.S. & Soviet,
Top Secret, contains the 15-page memorandum
As the saying goes, however, relating to Morris Shenderoff; the folder was
timing is everything, and in declassified in July 1988. Shenderoffs story is not
Kings case nothing could be truer. unique. More than a few American citizens of Russian
ancestry returned to Russia in the 1920s and 1930s
King began pursuing his appeal
and subsequently were prohibited by Soviet officials
after the establishment of the from returning to the United States. One of the best
Air Force in 1947, and this was a known involved Victor Herman, who went to Russia
critical break, as all courts-martial with his parents in 1931 and was not permitted to
leave until 1976. His memoir, Coming Out of the Ice:
conducted by the Army Air Force
An Unexpected Life (New York: Harcourt, Brace &
in World War II were now subject Jovanovich, 1979), was a bestseller. Similarly, Alexander
both Bridge and King sought to reverse to review by legal authorities in the new Air Dolguns Story: An American in the Gulag (New York:
Force. Consequently, while the Army hadas Knopf, 1975) tells the story of an American of Russian
their court-martial convictions. Bridge, who
ancestry who returned to the Soviet Union with his
immediately looked for a way to appeal his with Bridges court-martialdetermined that family when he was eight years old. He, too, was
case, was unsuccessful; King, however, who Kings court-martial had been entirely legal, prevented from leaving the Soviet Union and was later
began the appellate process a few years later, King now got a fresh look at his case from the imprisoned. Dolgun was not permitted to leave the
Soviet Union until 1971.
had his conviction set aside. Air Force.
The complete record of trial in Kings court-martial,
Correspondence attached to Bridges court- In 1951, John A. Doolan, an Air Force CM 281131, is in records maintained by the National
martial record indicate that Bridge asked attorney working in the Pentagon, learned Archives at Suitland, Maryland, for the Army Judge
about Kings case and decided that it was Advocate Generals Corps. The entire record was
Congressman Angier L. Goodwin (R.-Mass)
classified secret until its classification was cancelled
to see what could be done by the Army to a miscarriage of justice. Doolan analyzed
by order of the Judge Advocate General in March 1952.
modify his conviction. On November 9, the record of trial, wrote an 88-page The complete record of the Bridge court-martial, CM
1945, the Army replied to Goodwin that, memorandum highlighting its errors, and 283049, also is in this set of records.
con-vinced the new Air Force Judge Advocate One secondary source, The Wars of Myron King,
as Bridges court-martial was entirely legal,
by James L. McDonough (Knoxville: University of
nothing could be done. There is no provision General, Maj. Gen. Reginald C. Harmon, Tennessee Press, 2009) also provides much interesting
of law, wrote Under Secretary of War that King had been wronged. As a result, on background about the King court-martial. Although the
January 11, 1952, Harmon vacated the author had a copy of the King record of trial, he relied
mostly on interviews with King in writing his version of
findings of guilty and the sentence in Kings
the Moscow court-martial.
To learn more about trial. King got his forfeited pay restored,
Civil War court-martial and more important, his military record was
records, go to www.archives.gov/ Author
publications/prologue/1998/winter/. cleared.
Fred L. Borch is the regimental
Jackie Robinsons 1944 While forgotten today, the courts-martial historian and archivist for the
court-martial, go to www.archives.gov/ of Bridge and King remain a fascinating Armys Judge Advocate Generals
publications/prologue/2008/spring/. Corps. A lawyer (J.D., Univ. of
episode of American military legal history
Doing research in records relating to the North Carolina) and historian
Cold War, go to www.archives.gov/research/ and certainly foreshadow the Soviet Unions (M.A., Univ. of Virginia), he served 25 years active duty
foreign-policy/cold-war/. Cold Warera suspicions of American as an Army judge advocate before retiring from active
actions and attitudes. P duty in 2005. This is his fourth article for Prologue.
STREET
Bernard B. Fall and the Limits of Armed Intervention
By Robert Fahs
S
cholar and war correspondent Bernard Fall liked to forces by fighting in the same way they fought previous wars, put an end
gather information about combat in the field, near the to his own prospects for a government career. Newly opened Records
front lines, where the fighting was going onand he had of U.S. Foreign Assistance Agencies, 1942 1963 (Record Group 469)
done a lot of it in the former French colony of Indochina. at the National Archives detail the governments moves against Fall
He was there when the French were fighting a losing battle against beginning in the summer of 1958.
Vietnamese insurgents, leading up to their final defeat at Dien Bien
Phu in 1954. In 1961 he wrote a classic account of how French NARA Holdings Document
commanders had tried to cope with the Viet Minh: Street Without Joy. Bernard Falls Early Career
In the end, at Dien Bien Phu, the insurgents had more firepower Throughout his short career, Fall stressed in his writings and public
and mobility than the French. The Vietnamese victory should speeches that to win against guerrilla forces, modern armies must
serve as a lesson to the United States, he believed. combine economic and political programs with superior military
Fall was a thorn in the side of Washington policymakers in the means. He presented his ideas in a speech to the annual meeting of
1950s and 1960s, arguing that, just as the French at Dien Bien Phu, the Association of Asian Studies in New York on April 1, 1958, and
the United States could not defeat Communist insurgents in Vietnam then published them on May 31, 1958, in The Nation. Secretary of
by conventional military means. Fall argued that only new military State John Foster Dulles opposed Falls ideas about counterinsurgency
strategies combined with economic aid and local political reforms could in Vietnam, and the State Department abruptly rejected a contract
defeat successful insurgencies like he had observed against the French. to employ Fall by the ICA through the U.S. Operations Mission
Rather than heeding Falls advice, the U.S. government (USOM) at the American embassy in Cambodia.
responded by thwarting his earlier rise as a contract analyst in Until Dulless objection, Fall, a French citizen, had worked
Washington, D.C., and in 1958 terminated negotiations begun successfully for the U.S. government and various federal
by the International Cooperation Agency (ICA, a predecessor contractors throughout his career. His federal employment began
of the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID]), in 1946 with a job as a civilian research analyst and interrogator
to employ him at the Royal School of Administration in newly under Russell H. Thayer, a chief counsel for the prosecution at the
independent Cambodia. Nuremburg War Crimes Trials in U.S.-occupied Germany. Fall
On January 21, 1967, Fall was back on the Street Without Joy, worked under Thayer through November 1948, including five
the main highway between North Vietnam and South Vietnam, months as acting head of [the] research section.
as a journalist embedded with U.S. troops. On a patrol near Hu, In May 1955, after completing his doctoral dissertation on the
he was dictating into a tape recorder: Weve reached one of our Viet Minh administration of North Vietnam, Fall took a position
phase lines after the fire fight and it smells badmeaning its a as research associate for a federal contractor in Washington, D.C.
little bit suspicious . . . Could be an amb
The recording stopped when Fall stepped on a land mine that Fall Brings His Expertise
killed him and a Marine sergeant. To Washington Venues
That explosion stilled a voice that resonates yet today, with In 1956, Fall continued to apply his expertise in foreign affairs on federal
his warnings that counterinsurgency techniques are important projects as he began teaching graduate and undergraduate courses at
in modern warfare and that the old playbooks dont
work anymore. Based on costly experience, Falls
insights even achieved some influence with the revival
of counterinsurgency doctrine that has shaped recent
American initiatives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But Falls writings and public speeches, in which he
insisted that modern armies could not win against guerrilla
Right: After their victory at Dien Bien Phu, soldiers of the Peoples Army of Vietnam repaired and rebuilt many
homes destroyed during the battle with French forces.
Howard University in Washington, D.C., from the State Department, the ICA, or any other
including a course for the National Security part of the U.S. government. When, from 1961 to
Agency (NSA). From September 1956 to March 1963, he did teach in Cambodia under contract to Through his reporting and public speaking, Fall
1957, he also joined Systems Analysis Corp. in the Royal School of Administration and without sought to improve American counterinsurgency
Washington as a research associate reporting to American support, the U.S. Embassy in Phnom efforts against Communist insurgents in the
the firms director, Gene Z. Hanrahan. At Systems Penh continued to view him with suspicion. newly independent nations of South Vietnam,
Analysis Corp., under contract to the Senate Cambodia, and Laos. He stressed the limits of
Committee on Foreign Relations, Fall wrote Fall Writes Two Books armed intervention and the need to address
briefs based on interviews with officials from the On Waging Counterinsurgency broader issues of economic development and
Defense Department (DOD), State Department, Falls authority on counterinsurgency issues political corruption that plagued the region.
ICA, and the Military Assistance and Advisory stemmed largely from his dedication to However, despite Falls many years in the
Group (MAAG) to South Vietnam. gathering facts in the field, often at great field, during the American war in Vietnam
As a professor at Howard University and a personal risk. He traveled repeatedly in Vietnam (19651975), such key presidential advisers
research associate for federal contractors, Fall after his first visit there as a graduate student in as Robert McNamara and McGeorge Bundy
developed contacts at the U.S. foreign assistance 1953, and he reported on the Vietnam War in never consulted him. Falls views gained the
agencies who tried to recruit him for work in the 1960s while with American troops. most attention from lower-level Pentagon
Southeast Asia. By the middle of 1957, officials of Based on his observations in Vietnam, officials, soldiers in the field, and the growing
the International Cooperation Administration and extensive interviews with participants minority of antiwar intellectuals.
(ICA) responsible for the USOM in Cambodia in the French Indochina War (19461954), In her memoir of their marriage, Memories
initiated contract negotiations, hoping to send Falls many publications include two seminal of a Soldier-Scholar (2006), Dorothy Fall
Fall to Cambodia as an adviser to the United critiques of French counterinsurgency recounts how her husbands views on Vietnam
States embassy and professor of international strategy: Street Without Joy (1961) and Hell also drew the opprobrium of U.S. government
relations at the Royal School of Administration in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien officials, including J. Edgar Hoover and the
in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Fall Bien Phu (1966). The first of these dealt Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mrs. Fall
accepted the contract in March 1958, but the with the failure of technically superior cites documents that she received in 2000
telegram sent in May by the Department of French military forces to defeat Vietnamese from the Department of Justice under the
State put a stop to it. insurgents on the same highway outside of Freedom of Information Act to support her
After 1958, Fall continued his research in Hu where Fall himself died in 1967 while vivid descriptions of how after May 1958 the
Southeast Asia, but without financial support reporting on American military operations. FBI accelerated its scrutiny of Bernard, with
to arrive in Cambodia in July 1958 to begin the ICA in Washington that he assumed that third country technician and still probably
teaching P.A. [Public Administration] and the Cambodian government communicated on [a local currency] basis. To facilitate the
Problems of International Relations. In addition directly with Fall: USOM strategy [is] new contract, Roseman requested that the
to teaching, Fall hoped to establish a student-run to keep [the] official relationship directly ICA start the background check for Falls
Documentation Center as a source of information between [the] RKG and Fall. Do not envisage security clearance in Washington, provide
about countries other than Cambodia. ICA employment of Fall or any ICA dollar housing for the Fall family in Phnom Penh,
expenditures, but may work out small counter- and advise the USOM on Falls salary
The Terms of Falls Agreement to Teach part project to assist [the] school. requirements.
At the Royal School of Administration By early March 1958, the prospect of sending On March 30, 1958, Fall accepted and
By mid-September 1957, still waiting to hear Fall to Cambodia remained unresolved. Rose- signed the one-year renewable contract that he
from Eliot, Fall sent a 600-word proposal man reiterated to the ICA in Washington that received directly from the ICA in Washington.
explaining the content of their discussions to his office had proposed a direct contract The contract identified his position as
the Cambodian prime minister. He told Eliot between the Cambodian government and Professor of International Relations and
that he needed to inform Howard University Fall, but would wholly finance the agreement Public Administration, Royal School of
by January 1958 of his plans for the next year. through local currency if the RKG arranged Administration, Phnom-Penh, Cambodia.
At least in the beginning, Roseman and to convert an appropriate part [of] his [local Two days later, on April 1, Fall received a letter
Eliot hoped to keep the U.S. government in currency] salary into dollars. from the Royal Schools French Director (M.
the background of any arrangements to get Despite the initial efforts by ICA and Bargue) that the Cambodian government had
Fall to serve in Cambodia. On November 18, USOM to remain in the background of approved his candidacy to join the faculty,
1957, the Royal Cambodian Government any agreement, the Cambodian Ministry and his security clearance from the U.S.
(RKG) initially advised USOM of its interest of Education requested a direct USOM government came through on April 4, 1958.
in hiring the Howard University professor as contract to cover Falls position at the Royal In cablegrams on April 8 and April 25, Eliot
the new chair of international relations at School. As a result, Roseman proposed then urged Roseman to affirm the contract as
the Royal School. Roseman then informed writing [a] contract in [the] field as [a] soon as possible so that Fall could submit his
Tully Archive
How a Treasure Trove of Previously Unknown FDR
Documents Came to the Roosevelt Library
By Bob Clark
I t was only a small piece of paper from early 1936, with some presidential notes on it, but it was the
long hand of historythe past putting its stamp on the future.
It was a chit, a handwritten note from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to his secretaries. He
directs them to prepare a memorandum to the Secretary of War asking that a certain Army colonel be
put on the next list for promotion to brigadier general.
Roosevelt had received the promotion recommendation from none other than General of the Armies
John J. Pershing, who had led American troops in Europe in World War I and was considered a national
hero. Roosevelt wrote on the chit: Gen. Pershing asks very strongly. The 54-year-old colonel had worked
for Pershing as aide-de-camp and in other positions during and after the war, and the general was impressed.
President Franklin Roosevelt in his study with his three secretaries: (left to right) Marguerite A. LeHand, Marvin McIntyre, and Grace Tully, November 4,
1938.Tully maintained several thousand presidential documentsprimarily drafts of correspondence and handwritten notesuntil her death in 1984, a
collection later known as the Tully Archive.
Col. George C. Marshall was subsequently year effort by the National Archives to rescue he breakfasted in bed. She read the morning
promoted to brigadier general in October 1936. these materials from the brink of private sale and newspapers with him and prepared him
Three years later, the President named Marshall bring them home to the Roosevelt Library for the days schedule. In both Albany and
Army Chief of Staff, making him a four-star an effort that literally took an act of Congress. Washington, she served as substitute hostess at
general and jumping him over dozens of other The tale of how the Tully Archive came to the official events in Mrs. Roosevelts absence. She
multistar officers. He was one of FDRs most Roosevelt Library is full of intrigue, fraud, was a valued member of FDRs inner circle,
trusted and indispensible military advisers bankruptcy, and political maneuveringa tale and her opinion on matters of state and of
during World War II. And it was Marshall truly worthy of the mystery novels so beloved politics was sought and considered. In addition
who, in turn, spotted another promising young by Franklin Roosevelt. to her official duties, LeHand held power of
officer and quickly promoted him over more attorney for FDR and managed his bank
* * * * *
senior officers: Dwight D. Eisenhower, who accounts, including paying his bills by check.
would later lead the D-day invasion of western The story of the Grace Tully Archive really Missy LeHand was devoted to FDR. She never
Europe in 1944. begins on June 4, 1941, the day that Marguerite married and had no children.
This historic piece of history was one of the A. Missy LeHand suffered a debilitating stroke When LeHand suffered the stroke in 1941,
most interesting documents discovered among and collapsed at the end of a White House dinner. the void she left as Roosevelts personal secretary
the papers collected by Grace Tully, principal Missy LeHand had been Franklin Roosevelts was filled by Grace Tully, who for many years
secretary to Roosevelt during World War II. personal secretary, confidante, close friend, and had been second in line to LeHand. Tully held
The papers remained in Tullys possession until adviser for 21 years. a much more traditional secretarial role in the
her death in 1984, when they disappeared No one on the White House staff was closer to Roosevelt circle. Unlike LeHand, she had not
for several years. Late last year, however, they FDR than was LeHand. She had been with him been with FDR during his first nationwide
finally ended up where they should have been since he unsuccessfully ran for the vice presidency campaign in 1920 or through the strains of the
all alongin the holdings of the National in 1920. LeHand, along with Eleanor Roosevelt polio years, and therefore she did not have as
Archives, specifically the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Louis Howe, helped him through the dark close a personal connection to FDR or to the
Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde years following the devastating attack of polio Roosevelt family. But Tully was a trusted and
Park, New York. in 1921. She lived in the governors mansion in respected member of FDRs staff nonetheless.
But the journey to the National Archives Albany when FDR was governor of New York, Grace Tully was born in 1900 in Bayonne,
taken by the Grace Tully Archive, a treasure and she moved into the White House in 1933 New Jersey. Her father died when she was very
trove of Roosevelt-era documents, had many when he was elected President. young, and she and her two sisters and brother
mysterious twists and turns. The November 15, As FDRs principal personal secretary, were raised by a devout Catholic mother. Grace
2010, opening was the culmination of a five- LeHand met with him in the morning as attended parochial and convent schools before
enrolling in secretarial school. She worked for
10 years as a secretary for Cardinal Patrick
Hayes in New York before seeking employment
with the Democratic National Committee
headquarters in 1928. Tully was assigned to
assist Eleanor Roosevelt, who was organizing
support for presidential nominee Al Smith.
When Franklin Roosevelt was nominated for
the governorship later that year, Tully went to
work on Roosevelts secretarial staff assisting
LeHand. Tully served with FDR in Albany
for four years, and then moved to Washington
when Roosevelt was elected President.
In general, Tully performed routine typing
and dictation duties for the President. She
managed his mail and served as primary files
manager for the White House, particularly
the maintenance of the Presidents speech
Marguerite (Missy) A. LeHand in her White House office, ca. 1940. LeHand was the Presidents personal secretary,
confidante, close friend, and adviser for 21 years, until her stroke in 1941. Her papers form part of the Tully Archive. Spring 2011
New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt drafted a telegram in July 1932 to President Herbert Hoover urging progress in the project for developing the St. Lawrence River for naviga-
tion and power. Concerned with the delay and New Yorks share of the cost, he urged that they seek speedily to adjust this matter by a personal conference.
files but also sensitive correspondence and binding on the Archivist of the United States. Library. Tully graciously responded that while
personal files. After LeHands stroke, Tully During this time, Tully wrote and she was not as yet ready to part with the
added LeHands duties to her own. published a short memoir filled with personal documents, The Library will undoubtedly get
After FDRs death in 1945, Grace became anecdotes and observations on her time as them after my death or possibly before.
executive secretary of the Franklin D. Roosevelt FDRs secretary. In the book, F.D.R, My Boss, Grace Tully died on June 15, 1984, at
Memorial Foundation, an organization she quoted from several short notes and letters George Washington University Hospital in
dedicated to preserving the memory and FDR had written. This was an early indication Washington, D.C. Like Missy LeHand, Tully
legacy of FDR. Also reflecting her trusted that perhaps Tully was in possession of some never married and had no children. In March
status, prior to his death FDR had appointed Roosevelt documents, although given her 1985, Library Director Emerson wrote to
Tully to a three-person committee to serve as access to the Roosevelt papers and the fact that Tullys surviving sister, Paula Larrabee (who
a steward of his papers in preparation for their the papers were not open for research until the also had worked in the Roosevelt White
opening to researchers. The other members mid-1950s, the book did not appear to raise House), and again expressed an interest in
of the committee were speech writer Samuel any flags to the library staff. obtaining what was believed to be Tullys
I. Rosenman and presidential adviser Harry In 1955, Tully joined the staff of the small collection of Roosevelt materials. No
L. Hopkins. From 1945 to 1947, as the legal Senate Democratic Policy Committee, response was received from Larrabee, and
status of the papers was resolved through FDRs working with then-Senate Majority Leader at this point the trail of the Tully collection
estate, Tully had special access to those FDR Lyndon B. Johnson and establishing a goes cold and murky for 15 years.
papers still located at the National Archives in lifelong friendship with LBJ and Lady Bird It is believed that the collection passed
Washington that had not yet been transferred Johnson. She remained at the committee into the hands of two peopleperhaps
to the Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New until her retirement in 1965. Larrabees caregiverswho offered the
York. She served as the liaison to the papers On August 3, 1980, the New York Times ran collection for sale in Atlanta in 1999. In
for the estate executors, the library, and the a special feature interview of Grace Tully on the April 2000, the collection was again put up
Truman White House. occasion of her 80th birthday. In the interview, for sale through Guernseys Auction House
The papers committee was disbanded in Tully casually mentioned having in her in New York, New York.
the late 1940s after ownership of the FDR possession several dozen handwritten notes by Sometime after this date, the collection was
papers was confirmed in the United States FDR. This article was seen by then-Roosevelt acquired by Glenn Horowitz Bookseller in
government following the administration of the Library Director William R. Emerson, who on New York for approximately $3.5 millionan
Roosevelt estate. The committee was deemed August 27, 1980, wrote to Tully asking her to indication that the collection was far greater in
a nontestamentary request by Roosevelt not consider placing the materials at the Roosevelt scope than originally believed based on Tullys
FDRs handwritten first draft of his 1938 State of the Union Address, ca. January 1938. The four-page draft discusses the darkening war clouds abroad and
the continuing economic challenges at home.
Left: Ambassador William Bullitt sent Missy LeHand the menu from a horrific event. On June 3, 1940, Bullitt was attending a luncheon at the French Air Ministry
when German bombs began raining down on the City of Lights. One bomb crashed through the roof of the Air Ministry, but Bullitt was unharmed. Middle: Eleanor
Roosevelts letter to Missy LeHand suggested that Missy get a cake for Grace Tullys upcoming birthday on July 30, 1935. Right: FDRs handwritten letter to Grace Tully
sent from the Cairo Conference, November 26, 1943, where he was meeting with Winston Churchill and Chiang Kai-Shek.
determine the types of materials in the secretaries instead of being filed within FDRs Mussolini responded with the unique letter
collection, the names of correspondents, and own papers that came to the library. discovered in the Tully Archive in which he
the dates and titles of speech drafts, for example. Another example of the chit, like the one expressed his deep gratitude and admiration
The finding aid is now posted on the Roosevelt written about George Marshall, was written by to the President. Il Duce also expressed
Librarys web site (www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu). FDR on July 6, 1935, and intended for Harry his hope that he and FDR might meet
On November 15, 2010, as promised, the Hopkins, the administrator of the newly one day to discuss the outstanding world
Grace Tully Archive was officially opened created Works Progress Administration. It problems in which the United States and
to researchers at the Roosevelt Library, and reveals the interconnectedness in FDRs mind Italy are mutually interested. The letter was
the entire collection was digitized and made of all aspects of the economy. FDR instructed delivered through the State Department
available online in early 2011. Hopkins to put 280,000 unemployed people to the White House. Obviously official
to work making overalls and other clothing diplomatic correspondence, it is unclear
* * * * *
because this not only would give them gainful how the Mussolini letter ended up in Tullys
The Tully Archive is an amazingly rich and employment but also consume 750,000 bales private possession.
varied collection. Of course, most important are of cotton, which would increase cotton prices. Another important correspondence item
the new Franklin Roosevelt Papers that make An important example of the correspondence discovered in the collection is a handwritten draft
up about a fifth of the collection. The best way found in the FDR Papers is a handwritten of a lengthy telegram from New York Governor
to describe this new material is that it is a first letter written by Benito Mussolini to Roosevelt Franklin Rooseveltnewly nominated to run
draft of history. As FDRs personal secretaries, in June 1933, just a few months into the as the Democratic candidate for Presidentto
Missy LeHand and Grace Tully handled drafts new Roosevelt administration. Shortly after sitting President Herbert Hoover.
of correspondence, handwritten notes or chits his inauguration in March 1933, Roosevelt Written in July 1932, this telegram
from FDR that would have been typed into appointed Breckinridge Long to be the United challenges Hoover to conclude apace
memorandum form, and first and intermediate States ambassador to Italy. the negotiations with Canada on the St.
drafts of speeches and messages. The FDR Upon presenting his credentials to Lawrence Seaway Project. FDR also insisted
Papers within the Tully Archive contain all of this Mussolini, Long also gave Il Duce a letter that, as governor of New York, he had the
variety of material. For reasons lost to history, from FDR and the gift of an inscribed right to participate in those negotiations
these documents remained in the custody of his copy of Roosevelts first inaugural address. himself. The tone and subtext of the telegram
is a foreshadowing of the confrontational of personal correspondence files, including the United States of the wife, mother-in-law,
relationship between the two leaders that personal letters Missy received from diplomatic and daughter of Carl Norden, the designer
manifested during the interregnum after figures abroad at the outbreak of and in the of the Norden bombsight, so as to ensure
FDRs election later that year. early years of World War II. Included are Nordens return to the United States and,
Roosevelt Library archivists discovered letters from Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy in therefore, the security of the highly accurate
many handwritten drafts, edits, and fragments London and Ambassador William C. Bullitt bombsights technological advances. Astor
of Fireside Chats and other radio addresses, and his assistant Carmel Offie in Paris. The handwrote an urgent postscript on the letter
messages to Congress recommending legislation collection also contains a draft article written declaring, Please hurry this in every way
and transmitting reports, campaign addresses, by Missy about her experiences in the White that you can. If its illegal, or contrary to red
and other speeches. Of particular importance House with FDR. tape, its got to be done anyway.
is FDRs four-page handwritten first draft of Among the most interesting of the letters In addition to the many letters the
his 1938 State of the Union Address, a speech in the LeHand Papers is a 1940 letter from ambassador in Paris William Bullitt wrote to
in which the President candidly discussed millionaire Vincent Astor, a close friend of LeHand, he also sent her a unique souvenir
the darkening war clouds abroad and the FDRs and part of the Presidents shadow from the time just before the fall of France.
challenging economic times at home as the network of worldwide informants. Astor On June 3, 1940, Bullitt was attending a
nation faced the recession of 19371938. wrote to Missy that it was imperative that the luncheon at the French Air Ministry when
The LeHand Papers consists almost entirely President see to the immediate admittance to German bombs began raining down on the
I am still in the
LAND LIVING
of the
The Medical Case of Civil War Veteran Edson D. Bemis
Background: Hatchers Run,Virginia, site of a battle on February 57, 1865, in a Harpers Weekly drawing showing
Armstrongs Mills and the Rebel Works. Union forces sought to cut Gen. Robert E. Lees supply route to
Petersburg.
of the Army Medical Museum, todays National Museum of Health surgeries, and deaths. For Confederates, NARA has CMSRs and naval
and Medicine. Museum staff obtained records, collected specimens, records. Because Confederate veterans filed for pensions in their state of
and photographed injured soldiers. Artists were hired to sketch wounds residence, you should check with the appropriate state archives. If the
and specimens. The MSHWR was based on a variety of sources such MSHWR refers to specimens or photographs, the National Museum of
as hospital registers, physician reports, captured and surrendered Health and Medicine may have additional documentation.
Confederate records, and Union and Confederate pension records.
Although the MSHWR focuses on Union medicine, it also includes Veteran Edson Bemis
information about Confederate medicine. This published work contains Bemiss pension file consists of three envelopes that provide genealogical
graphs, tables, maps, sketches, and copies of photographs. Topics include information as well as details about his struggles with physical and mental
modes for transporting the wounded such as ambulances, hospital ships, health until his death in 1900. Edson Bemis, the son of Joseph Bemis
and hospital trains; descriptions of unsanitary conditions within camps and Betsey Cole Bemis, was born in North Chester, Massachusetts. On
and hospitals; and treatments of diseases and injuries. Individuals are January 6, 1869, he married Jennie A. Austin (some pension documents
mentioned throughout. A large percentage of refer to her as Jane or Jane Amelia). The couple
patients were soldiers, including prisoners of had three children: Jennie Eliza, born December
war and members of the United States Colored 25, 1869; Edson Austin, born January 10, 1875;
Troops (USCT). On occasion, nurses, local and May Bell Bemis, born April 23, 1877. 3
residents, African American contraband, servants, Bemiss pension file contains numerous
and patients treated in freedmens hospitals appear affidavits and letters that describe his
in the MSHWR. Some soldiers are mentioned deteriorating condition. Four years after
briefly, and others have detailed case studies. operating on Bemis, Dr. Vanderveer wrote:
The volumes provide an overall sense of how I saw him again in Feb 1869 at Albany
medicine advanced during the war. Whether you NY, when he appeared somewhat feeble,
are researching Civil War medicine or an ancestor said he had had a few convulsions the
who was ill or injured during military service, the previous summer and could not remain
MSHWR should be part of your research. long in the hot sun or bear bending
If the soldier survived the war, the over much. The wound was well healed
MSHWR may include an update about the that pulsating brain could be noticed in
veterans condition. The MSHWR contains standing some little distance from him. 4
this excerpt from Edson Bemiss 1870 letter
to the editor of the surgical volumes: I am Edson Bemis and his war wounds.The National Museum William L. Loomis, Bemiss former
still in the land of the living. My health is very of Health and Medicines Otis Historical Archives employer, verified that Bemis worked at
good considering what I have passed through holds the original photograph. The MSHWR includes a his coal yard for 15 years and described his
lithograph print of this photograph.
at Hatchers Run. My head aches some of condition:
the time. I am married and have one child, a little girl born last That during the time soldier worked for affiant he suffered at times
Christmas. My memory is affected, and I cannot hear as well as from [the effects of the head wound] . . . , had pain in his head and
before I was wounded.2 Although the MSHWR case study ends dizziness and sometimes would be unable to perform his labor but
in 1870, records reveal more about Edson Bemiss life during and having a wife and family to support; soldier lost no time only when
after his military service. absolutely obliged to do so: That about two years ago soldier had a
For your research to be as complete as possible, you should consult the shock of paralysis . . . he has been a wreck, unable to perform any
MSHWR as well as records held by the National Archives and Records manual labor and is at present partly demented unable to feed or
Administration and the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Al- dress himself, unfit to be left alone requiring the constant aid and
though pensions may refer to a MSHWR case study, you should still attendance of his wife or another person, and his condition is
check the MSHWR index in the absence of such a reference. For volun- gradually growing worse. 5
teer Union service, NARA holds a variety of records including compiled
military service records, carded medical files, and pensions. These rec- Dr. J. K. Mason, one of Bemiss family physicians, from Suffield,
ords may provide information about injuries, illnesses, hospitalizations, Connecticut, observed that Bemiss
In 1896, Mrs. E. D. Bemis sent a letter to the commissioner By April 1900, Edson Bemiss mental state had declined
of pensions detailing her role as his primary care taker for so much that he could no longer remain at his home. Dr.
nearly 30 years: Lewis L. Bryant and Dr. Walter E. Harvey examined Bemis
I am his attendant. My daughter is with me and assists and determined that he should be institutionalized. Dr.
some but if I were not able to care for him he would have Bryant observed that Bemis believed
to have a male attendant. . . . I have to assist him when he was thirty years old: . . . did not know the present year
he takes his bath as he cannot use the left hand but very month or day of the week: . . . has not been able to read
Authors
To learn more about
Rebecca K. Sharp is an archives specialist in
Using military records in the National Archives
the Archives I Research Support Branch of the
for family history research, go to www.archives. National Archives and Records Administration,
gov/research/military/genealogy.html. Washington, D.C. She specializes in federal records
The Civil War pension application process, go to www. of genealogical interest.
archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/spring/.
Nancy L. Wing is a librarian and genealogy
Other Genealogy Notes features in Prologue, go to www. specialist in the Archives Library Information
archives.gov/publications/prologue/genealogy-notes.html. Center of the National Archives and Records
Administration, Washington, D.C.
Before World War II, intelligence gathering was not institutionalized in the U.S. government as it is today.
But President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a keen interest in what his spies around the world could find
out for him as war clouds began to form in the late 1930s. After Pearl Harbor, FDR created an intelligence
agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of todays CIA.
To run it, he chose William J. Wild Bill Donovan, who had won a Medal of Honor for his service in
World War I and become rich as a Republican lawyer in New York. In running the OSS, Donovan directed
his agents to do things legal and not-so-legal to scoop up intelligence for FDR and his commanders. At the
same time, Donovan himself engaged in the kind of exploits that are today more commonly associated with
James Bond; he could be a loose cannon but usually got the job done.
Douglas Waller
In his new book on Donovan, veteran journalist Douglas Waller takes a close, detailed look at Donovans
career, drawing in part on documents from the National Archives never before mined. Waller, a former
correspondent for Time and Newsweek, is the author of five previous books, including best-sellers The
Commandos and BIG RED as well as a biography of Gen. Billy Mitchell, A Question of Loyalty.
Your latest book tells the story of William Wild Bill Donovan, In researching Donovans life, you went to three of the 13
who founded the national intelligence agency known as the Office presidential libraries: Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower. Had
of Strategic Services. What prompted you to focus on the life of you done any research at the presidential libraries before? Were
this unusual character? you able to access all the documents you requested, or were some
I am attracted to controversial historical figures for biographies. My still classified?
previous biography, A Question of Loyalty, was on Gen. Billy Mitchell, This was the first time I had visited the Roosevelt, Truman, and
the World War I hero and father of the Air Force, who demonstrated that Eisenhower libraries, and it was a rewarding experience. Robert Clark,
planes could sink a battleship. People either loved or hated Billy Mitchell. the archivist at the FDR Library, unearthed a lot of gems for me
No one was neutral on the guy. During the 1920s, Mitchell was court- from the Roosevelt papers, all of which are declassified. Liz Safley, as
martialed for insubordination in advocating air power. His Washington she had done for countless authors, took me under her wing in the
trial was a media spectacular in its day. Thousands of pages of his trial reading room of the Truman Library. She and archivist Randy Sowell
records are stored at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, dug up hundreds of Donovanand OSS-relatedpapers from the
where I spent many months reviewing them. Interestingly, Wild Bill Truman collections, many of them not seen by previous biographers.
Donovan, who was an assistant attorney general in the Coolidge David Haight, an archivist at the Eisenhower Library, helped me
administration at the time, attended Mitchells trial. Donovan, like track down Donovan records from Ikes presidency and his days as
Mitchell, also was someone people revered or hateda very controversial Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. A few of that librarys records
character whom I found ideal for a biography. were still classified, but I got them declassified.
The previous biographies of Donovan were almost 30 years old.
Practically all of the OSS documents have been declassified since Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower were very different men in
then and are stored at the Archives Maryland facility. A historical their experiences and background. Did the documents in the
biographer quickly learns that the archivist is his best friend libraries reveal an equally different attitude toward Donovan?
particularly with a collection as huge as OSS records, which number Were there any unexpected finds?
in the millions of pages. I spent about a year at the National Archives The presidential library documents reveal markedly different
wading through OSS records and through documents from other attitudes by their Presidents toward Donovan. Donovan had a
government agencies. Larry McDonald, an Archives expert on the complicated relationship with Roosevelt, who signed the orders setting
OSS records, along with eight other archivists for other collections, up the OSS and protected him from bureaucratic rivals who wanted
were a godsend for my research. to shut him down. The FDR Library papers reveal that Roosevelt was
Opening June 10. Exhibit: Whats Cooking, Continuing exhibit: James B. Parsons: More than
Uncle Sam? National Archives Building. 202- a Judge. National Archives at Chicago. 773-948-
357-5000. 9001.
Events Prologue 65
News & Notices
JFK Library Launches Digital Archive documents and images from the National Archives. The
Of the Kennedy Administration application allows people to learn what happened on
To help mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of their birthdays, search for a document by keyword, or
President John F. Kennedy, David S. Ferriero, Archivist of just leisurely browse though historical highlights from the
the United States, and Caroline Kennedy, president of the extensive National Archives holdings.
Kennedy Library Foundation, unveiled the nations largest Users can zoom in on the high-resolution images to get
online digitized presidential archive in January 2011. a closer look at the featured documents and photographs,
The Digital Archive (reached through www.jfklibrary.org) use the calendar feature to select a specific date, or choose
is an online archive of high-interest materials from President Surprise Me to show a document at random.
Kennedys official and personal records. It includes more The National Archives has also joined Foursquare, a
than 200,000 pages; 300 reels of audiotape containing over location-based social media network that enables users to
1,245 individual recordings of telephone conversations, share tips and other information at geographic locations
speeches, and meetings; 300 museum artifacts; 72 reels of nationwide.
moving images; and 1,500 photographs. Each tip highlights an interesting place or event related
Highlights of the contents of the digitized records include to the National Archives and the Presidential libraries
JFKs handwritten inaugural address; audio recordings of and museums. Tips can be sent to smart phones based
the inaugural address and swearing-in ceremony, State of on user locations or viewed on the web. The debut of the
the Union addresses, and radio and television addresses to National Archives on Foursquare features tips relating
the American people regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis; to its Washington, D.C., Kansas City, and Philadelphia
moving images of public appearances; iconic photos of locations. The National Archives Foursquare presence will
official and family occasions; and images of the museum expand to include regional archives facilities nationwide.
collection artifacts. The Presidential libraries on Foursquare bring the life and
times of each President alive through tips at each library
New Mobile Applications: and museum location and at landmarks across the country.
Todays Document and Foursquare In celebration of the 2011 Ronald Reagan Centennial,
The National Archives has launched its first mobile an ongoing release of tips highlight interesting places and
application, Todays Document, which is an interactive events related to President Reagan.
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International Falls, Minnesota, March 1910July 1923 the National Archives Trust Fund. VISA, MasterCard,
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Shipmaster Statements Regarding Changes in Crew of Vessels Provide the account number, expiration date, and
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Departing from Gulfport, Mississippi, May 1917November pp. 7, 8 (top), 1015, Ronald Reagan Library;
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Mortuary Records of Chinese Decedents in California, July 79-CWC-3F-10; p. 19, 127-N-521396; p. 20, FL-
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Office, 1780s1917, RG 94; p. 23, Harpers Ferry
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342-FH-3B24675-25751AC; pp. 2829, 31,
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Courtesy of Myron L. King; pp. 30, 4851, 52 (right),
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and Virginia Ports, January 1815June 1911 (M1877, RG p. 33 (left), 208-PU-47DD-2; pp. 3537, Records of
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of Mississippi, 18531860 and 1866, and Minutes of the 3839, 4446, Courtesy of Dorothy Fall; pp. 40, 66,
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, John F. Kennedy Library; pp. 4143, Records of U.S.
18661874 (P2041, RG 21, 1 roll) Foreign Assistance Agencies, 19421961, RG 469; p.
Calendar of Petitions for Decrees in Bankruptcy of the U.S. 52 (left), photo by Bill Urbin, National Park Service;
District Court for the District of South Carolina, 18421843 p. 59, Otis Historical Archives, National Museum
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Selected Correspondence and Financial Records from the 72, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs,
Engineer Offices at Fort Taylor and Key West, Florida, 1845 RG 15; p. 62, Courtesy of Simon & Shuster; p. 63,
photo by Colby Cooper; p. 64 (center), Jimmy Carter
1908 (P2059, RG 77, 4 rolls)
Library; p. 64 (bottom), Gerald R. Ford Library; p. 67
Letters Received at the Engineer Office at Fort Clinch,
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A civil War
WIDOWS STORY
I ntriguing discoveries are made all the time in the National
Archives. This tintype of a woman and child doesnt look
like the typical federal record, let alone one associated with
The file of one widow, Adelia M. Fish, holds quite a story.
Her first husband, Joseph Springer, died at Andersonville
Prison in October 1864. She had four children under the age
military records. But it was found in one of the 1.28 million of 16 when she applied for her pension in June 1865.
Civil War Widows Certificate Approved Pension Case Files. In July 1872 Adelia married Jason B. Webb, and she was
Since 2007, a team of volunteers has been working on a project dropped from the pension rolls. Webb left their home in
to digitize these records and make them available online, and the fall of 1872, and Adelia never saw him or heard from
from time to time, unexpected treasures turn up. him again. Presuming him dead, she married a third time
to Washington A. Fish in 1883, and after he died in 1915,
she applied for restoration to the pension rolls based on
Springers service.
Because Webb had disappeared, the Pension Bureau
investigated the legality of Adelias widowhood. In affidavits,
Adelia and her daughter, Mrs. Elva C. Blackett, also a
widow, claimed they had received a letter in 1874 notifying
them of Webbs death. Signed A Friend, it had enclosed a
five-dollar gold piece and stated that Webb had asked that
the coin be sent to Elva.
The examiner noted that Webbs description closely
corresponded with that of a Jason B. Webb who had served in
the 14th U.S. Infantry from 1872 to 1877 and whose widow,
Rosanna, had applied for a pension after he died in 1907.
Rosanna testified that she and Jason had married in 1876,
and she had no reason to believe he had been married before.
When the examiner showed her a daguerreotype provided by
Elva Blackett, she identified the man as her husband. She then
produced a tintype of a woman and child that her husband
had possessed and which he prized very highly. He had told
her that it was a picture of a friend of his mother. The image
was presumed to be of Adelia and Elva.
In May 1917, Adelias pension claim was rejected because
she had contracted more than one marriage since the death
of the soldier and had failed to establish that her marriage to
Webb had ended legally either by death or divorce.
P
Tintype of Adelia Springer and her daughter.
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Prologue Spring 2011