Colton (Ethan Theodore) papers

Memoir circa 1952

Scope and Contents note

Covers his origins to his professional life through 1952, with some information about his wife and children

box 1, folder 1

Memoirs of Ethan T. Colton, Sr., 1872-1952, self-published circa 1952

Working Documents 1918-1932, undated

Scope and Contents note

Consists of writings, notes for speeches, and selected documents from ESR work and the YMCA Press Russian news translations, relating to themes Colton would draw on throughout his career: analysis of the Soviet government's policies and effects related to daily life and religion, and the potential transformative effects of Christian Internationalism, especially as a potential counterpoint to Communist Internationalism. Materials for an exhibit on the Soviet Union include photos and Soviet propaganda posters, 1919-1931, reprinted with English translations and annotations. Related: Subject Files, 1918-1934 and undated, and European Student Relief reports, 1920-1925

Writings 1930s

box 1, folder 2

Drafts for The X Y Z of Communism (1931)

Exhibit on Soviet Union 1921 - early 1930s

box 10, folder 2

Soviet propaganda poster reprints with English translations and annotations early 1930s

Scope and Contents note

Dates of original posters range from 1929-1931

drawer K09

Russian poster 1921

Scope and Contents note

Mining industry

box 1, folder 3

Printed materials 1932, undated

box 1, folder 4

ESR aid work photos, Kiev and Ekaterinoslav 1924, undated

Working documents 1918-1932, undated

box 1, folder 5

1920-1932, undated, (bulk 1925-1932)

Scope and Contents note

Includes writings by Colton and typescript notes, including for speeches, mainly relating to the Soviet Union and Christianity throughout the world

box 1, folder 6-7

USSR and religion 1923-1932, undated

Scope and Contents note

Includes writings, ESR correspondence, reports, translations of Russian newspaper articles, and clippings, related to the Russian Orthodox Church, Christian student and evangelical movements in the USSR, the YMCA, and Soviet and Communist positions on these groups

box 1, folder 8

Russia and religion 1918-1922, undated

Scope and Contents note

Includes memoranda, writings, and clippings related to the Patriarch Tikhon and the Russian Orthodox church, and the withdrawal of the YMCA from Russia. Also includes typescript translations of Russian news articles, and speech by Trotsky concerning the ARA

box 1, folder 9-11

Russia and Soviet Union 1922-1932

Scope and Contents note

Includes ESR reports and correspondence, including holographic reports and testimonials from relief recipients at a Moscow university scientific organization. Clippings and printed material include map of YMCA centers in Europe and Siberia, 1920

European Student Relief Reports 1920-1925

Scope and Contents note

Contains reports and correspondence related to the deployment of aid, assessing program success, and gathering testimonials and other evidence in support of continuing aid. Includes many file copies of third-party correspondence with Edgar MacNaughton, the ASESR Director for Kiev. Also includes reports of manifestations of anti-Semitic sentiments in Europe, and other trends in ethnic relations that might impact ESR work, such as relating to Armenian refugees in Poland. Includes thank-you letters from individual and organizational recipients of ESR aid in Russia and Germany. Related: Student Friendship files, 1921-1922; Subject Files, 1917-1934, undated; Incremental materials, October 1987

box 2, folder 1-8

Europe, general 1921-1925

Scope and Contents note

Includes administrative memoranda regarding operations and relations of ESR to WSCF and the YMCA, and reports of conditions and ESR work across Europe, including from SFF conference

Includes reports related to conditions at European universities and hospitals, and fundraising strategies for YMCAs. Also includes letter from the first Indian YMCA Secretary in India regarding aid to Viennese students

Annual report

Includes report from a Federation Conference, possibly of the YMCA, held at Tsing Hua College, Peking (Beijing); and chart of contributions and distributions of the ESR and ARA, 1920-1921

Includes reports, translations of newspaper articles, and copies of correspondence, including from university organizations, largely related to aid to professors and scientific workers, and to fundraising. Also includes reports related to the Leningrad flood of 1924

Includes letters from MacNaughton to Colton, and typescript copies of MacNaughton's numbered dispatches

box 2, folder 9-10

Austria 1920-1921

box 2, folder 11

Austria 1921-1922

box 2, folder 12

Austria, Vienna 1920-1922

box 3, folder 1

Bulgaria 1922-1923

box 3, folder 2

Czechoslovakia 1920-1922

Scope and Contents note

Exhibit A - Exhibit L. Includes reports on relief work for refugee students, case study of a Russian student, and samples of application documents required for relief and for free tuition

box 3, folder 3

Czechoslovakia 1920-1922

Scope and Contents note

Exhibit G photographs. Six composed photographs depicting ESR self-help workshops in Prague. Scene include students washing and mending donated second-hand clothes, and shoemakers making repairs.

box 3, folder 4-5

Czechoslovakia 1920-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes list of ESR delegates, by country, to ESR conference in Turnov, Czechoslovakia, 1922 April 8-15

box 3, folder 6

Denmark 1921-1922

box 3, folder 7

Estonia 1922

box 3, folder 8

France 1922-1923

Scope and Contents note

In English, French, and German

box 3, folder 9-11

Germany 1921-1923

box 3, folder 12-14

Germany 1920-1922

box 3, folder 15

Holland 1921-1922

box 3, folder 16-17

Hungary 1920-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes correspondence reporting Christian persecution of Jews in Hungary, and discussing consequences for conducting European Student Relief

box 3, folder 18

Yugoslavia 1922-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on Belgrade and Zagreb, Yugoslavia

box 3, folder 19

Latvia 1921-1922

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on Riga as well as on Lithuania and Estonia

box 4, folder 1

Near East 1921-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on work in Greece, mainly Athens, Constantinople, and Smyrna; and Turkey, with one report on Turnov, Czechoslovakia

box 4, folder 2

Norway 1921 April

box 4, folder 3-4

Poland 1921-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on relief work, sample registration documents for applicants, and samples of a special fundraising certificate and stamps. Some items hand-annotated Exhibit I through Exhibit VII

box 4, folder 5

Romania 1922-1923

box 4, folder 6

Russia 1921-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on conditions and work in Bratislava, Kazan, Moscow, Odessa, and Petrograd, as well as Krakow, Poland, and the Ukraine; transcriptions of appeals for support by prominent figures including Samuel Gompers, Maksim Gorky; and annual report of the Kiev Students' Christian Association

box 4, folder 7-9

Russia 1922-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on conditions and work in Ekaterinoslav, Kazan, Kiev, Moscow, Riga, Samara, and Saratov; to Russian refugee students in Belgrade; and Czechoslovakian aid to Ukrainians and Russians. Also includes reports and memoranda regarding Communist policies on religion, and development of ESR policy regarding students posting notices in ESR dining halls

box 4, folder 10

Russia 1921-1923 (bulk 1922-1923)

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on conditions and work in Ekaterinoslav, Moscow, Odessa, Penza, Petrograd, Rostov, Saratov, Simbirsk, Tomsk; and Kharkov and Simferopol, Ukraine. Also includes Ukrainian student association statement

box 5, folder 1

Russia 1922-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports on conditions and ARA and ESR work; including regarding administration and prospects for continuance

box 5, folder 2

Russia 1923-1924

box 5, folder 3-7

Russia 1921-1925 (bulk 1923-1925)

Scope and Contents note

Includes letters from MacNaughton

box 5, folder 8

Serbia 1922-1923

box 5, folder 9

Sweden 1921 May

box 5, folder 10

Switzerland 1920-1921

box 5, folder 11

Ukraine, Kiev 1924

Scope and Contents note

Includes report from MacNaughton, and reports of Dr. S. L. Malinovskii, Chief of Medical Staff, Kiev

box 5, folder 12

ESR recipient thank-you letters, Russia and Germany 1924

Scope and Contents note

Related: Russia, 1921-1923

Student Friendship Fund Files 1921-1922

Scope and Contents note

Consists of solicitation strategies, fundraising materials distributed, and sample press releases with tracking of distribution and stories placed. Related: European Student Relief reports, 1920-1925; Subject files, Relief, Russia, 1923-1924, and Relief, 1922-1926 (bulk 1924-1925)

box 5, folder 13-14

Student Friendship Fund fundraising materials distributed 1921-1922

box 6, folder 1-2

Student Friendship Fund fundraising materials distributed 1921-1922

box 6, folder 3

Student Friendship Fund press releases 1921-1922

Scope and Contents note

Consists of samples of stories sent to newspapers, college papers, and religious papers, with recording of distribution and results

Subject Files 1917-1934, undated

Scope and Contents note

Includes many ESR reports, typescript translations of Russian news articles, newspaper clippings, and other printed materials, largely related to Russia; the Soviet government; data about the need for aid such as ESR relief; the impacts of communism and goals for communist expansion, particularly among the youth; and the current state of and prospects for religion in the Soviet Union. Includes assessments of the late phase of ESR aid, and suggestions for continuance, perhaps by successor organizations. Also includes documents relating to the YMCA's mission for and accomplishments of work in Russia and the Soviet Union

box 6, folder 4

Unidentified, "Memorandum Concerning Russia," after 1927

Scope and Contents note

Margin notes by Colton

box 6, folder 5

Chamberlin, W.H. 1925-1931, undated

Scope and Contents note

Clippings of the Moscow correspondent's reporting for the Christian Science Monitor

box 6, folder 6

Duranty, Walter 1925-1932 (bulk 1931-1932)

Scope and Contents note

Clippings of Duranty's reporting on the Soviet Union for the New York Times

box 6, folder 7

Europe 1931, undated

Scope and Contents note

Consists of ARA Association Review clippings and a 1931 League of Nations publication on armaments and the USSR

box 6, folder 8

Relief, Russia 1923-1924

Scope and Contents note

Consists mainly of ESR reports on food and clothing aid, aid to professors and scientific workers, and subsidies to create two medical journals in Ekaterinoslav. Includes program evaluation reports, and photos

box 6, folder 9-14

Relief 1922-1926 (bulk 1924-1925)

Scope and Contents note

Includes ESR reports related to libraries, textbooks, and dispensaries, and proposals for continuance of ESR aid, or aid by successor organization. Also includes SFF fundraising materials

box 6, folder 15-16

Russia 1924-1926

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports related to physical education and to Christianity. Also includes typescript translations from Izvestia, and periodical articles on Communism in English and German with English translation

box 6, folder 17

Russia - class war 1919-1931, undated (bulk 1930-1931)

box 6, folder 18

Russia - economics 1924-1932, undated (bulk 1931-1932)

Scope and Contents note

Includes holographic notes, possibly for a speech by Colton

box 7, folder 1

Russia - education 1924-1932, undated

box 7, folder 2

Russia - foreign affairs 1918-1932 (bulk 1930-1932)

Scope and Contents note

Includes typescript translations of Russian and French newspaper articles and letters

box 7, folder 3

Russia - labor 1925-1932, undated

box 7, folder 4

Russia - militarism 1923 and probably 1932

box 7, folder 5

Russia - party affairs 1925-1932

Scope and Contents note

Lenin-Stalin government

box 7, folder 6

Russia - recognition 1924-1926, undated

box 7, folder 7-10

Russia - religion 1917-1931, undated (bulk 1924-1930)

Scope and Contents note

Includes writings by Colton, and documents related to the mission and governance of the YMCA's religious services for Russians. Also includes reports and correspondence related to the status of churches, chapels, synagogues, religious practitioners, Russian religious figures, the Bibles for Russia program and the All-Russian Evangelical Christian Union

box 7, folder 11

Russia - rural 1924-1932, undated.

Scope and Contents note

Includes copy of letter from Sherwood Eddy, 1929

box 7, folder 12

Russia - social welfare 1931-1932

box 7, folder 13

Russia - youth 1927-1932

box 7, folder 14

Soviet Russia - nature and theory 1932, undated

Scope and Contents note

Consists of periodical clippings and a typescript translation of Russian newspaper item, 1932

Third International 1928-1932, undated

Scope and Contents note

Includes typescript reports assessing number of communist organizations for children internationally, and communist press for children throughout Europe. Also includes typescript translations related to the YMCA and Communism in China, 1927; and American Vigilant Intelligence Federation, "The Economic Situation of the Soviet Union," 1932, typescript report

box 7, folder 15-16

Third International 1928-1932, undated

box 10, folder 1

American Vigilant Intelligence Federation, Bolshevist Organizations in the United States of America at Present Time 1931

Scope and Contents note

Poster

box 7, folder 17-18

USSR 1928-1934, undated (bulk 1932-1934).

Scope and Contents note

Includes printed brochure on the YMCA's work to support Christian faith among Russians and provide relief aid. Related: YMCA Press translation correspondence, 1925-1932

box 8, folder 1-3

World revolution 1922-1932, undated, bulk 1925-1932

Scope and Contents note

Includes documents holographically labeled with a roman numeral, for example "Document IV." Also includes series of newspaper articles on Russia by E. Ashmead-Bartlett

box 8, folder 4

World revolution, Soviet Russia, and religion 1924-1929 (bulk 1928-1929)

Scope and Contents note

Includes translations holographically marked with edits and date circulated.

YMCA Press Russian News Files 1924-1935, undated

Scope and Contents note

Consists mainly of numbered typescript translations into English of Russian-language newspaper articles, with some translations of other periodical articles, speeches, and orders of the Soviet government. Includes correspondence, 1924-1932, related to the origin, scope, and operation of the program, and to administration of the translation work. The translations are arranged in their original order, in numerical sequence. Original batches of translations as received from translators are identified as such; otherwise, the translation number range merely represents the range as found in the files. Not all numbered translations in a sequence are present. Some additional numbered translations are found in Colton's Working documents or Subject files. Related: Incremental Materials, October 1987

YMCA Press Russian news translations typescript drafts 1933-1935, undated

box 8, folder 5

Translations numbers 2079-2121 1933

box 8, folder 6

Translations numbers 2170-2299 1933-1934

box 8, folder 7

Translations numbers 2301-2312 1934

box 8, folder 8

Translations numbers 2313-2317 1933, undated

box 8, folder 9

Translations numbers 2318-2328 1934

box 8, folder 10

Translations numbers 2329-2375 1934

Scope and Contents note

Comprises original entire batch of translations with typescript cover note

box 8, folder 11

Translations numbers 2398-2470 1934

box 8, folder 12

Translations numbers 2762-2831 1934-1935

Scope and Contents note

Comprises original entire batch of translations with typescript cover note. Includes translations of articles published 1934 October through 1935 April 29

box 8, folder 13-14

Translations numbers 2832-2937 1934-1935, undated

Scope and Contents note

Comprises original entire batch of translations with typescript cover note. Includes translations of articles published through 1935 July

YMCA Press Russian news translations typescript drafts incremental materials 1924-1935

Scope and Contents note

Includes some unnumbered translations

1924-1935 (bulk 1934-1935)

box 9, folder 1

Translations numbers 1750, 1836, 1842, 1877, and 2651-2704; unnumbered translations of news articles dated 1932; and typescript summary of results of medical examination of students 1924, 1932

box 9, folder 2

Translations numbers 2938-3000 1935

box 9, folder 3

Holographic notes on the inside front of the original folder undated

1930-1932

box 9, folder 4

Unnumbered translations of news articles dated 1930, and Translations numbers 1053-1284, 1313, 1321, 1368, 1388, and 1394 1930-1931

box 9, folder 5

Translations numbers 1406-1748 1931-1932

1934-1935

box 9, folder 6

Translations numbers 2376-2396 1934

box 9, folder 7

Translations numbers 2473-2521 1934

box 9, folder 8

Translations numbers 2523-2716 1934-1935

YMCA Press Russian news translation correspondence 1925-1932

box 9, folder 9

1925-1930 (bulk 1925-1929)

box 9, folder 10-11

1929-1932

box 9, folder 12

Incremental Materials 1987 October

Scope and Contents note

Consists of ESR reports; YMCA Press Russian News typescript translations; ESR documents Colton labeled Exhibit A, F, and G, relating to proposed continuation of ESR aid; typescript translations and printed material, 1923-1924 and undated