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Title: Allen Weinstein papers
Dates: 1948-2004
Collection number: 2004C61
Creator:
Weinstein, Allen.
Collection Size:
170 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
71.4 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: The papers span much of the career of an important American historian who has also long been involved in the arena of public
policy. Consisting of correspondence, writings, conference proceedings, printed matter, and some sound recordings, the papers
largely relate to promotion of democratic institutions outside the United States; to Soviet espionage in the United States,
especially the cases of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Alger Hiss; and to the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II.
Includes research material used for the books by Allen Weinstein, Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case (New York, 1978) and The
Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America (New York, 1999). Sound use copies of sound recordings available.
Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Boxes 121-148 are closed.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives
[Identification of item], Allen Weinstein papers, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 2004
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
| 1937 | Born, New York City |
| 1967 | PhD, Yale University |
| 1966-1981 | Professor of history, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts |
| 1970 | Author, Prelude to Populism |
| 1978 | Author, Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case |
| 1981-1983 | Professor of history, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. |
| 1982-1983 | Executive director, The Democracy Program, Washington, D.C. |
| Executive editor, The Washington Quarterly | |
| 1984 | President, Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions |
| 1985-1989 | Professor of history, Boston University |
| 1985-2003 | Founder and president, Center for Democracy, Washington, D.C. |
| 1999 | Co-author, The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in the America—The Stalin Era |
| 2002 | Author, The Story of America: Freedom and Crisis from Settlement to Superpower |
| 2005-present | Archivist of the United States, Washington, D.C. |
Scope and Content of Collection
Acquired in 2004, the Allen Weinstein papers in the Hoover Institution Archives span much of the career of an important American
historian who has also long been involved in the arena of public policy. Consisting of correspondence, writings, conference
proceedings, printed matter, and some sound recordings, the papers largely relate to American domestic and foreign policy,
with additional significant materials relating to Soviet espionage in the United States before and during World War II.
Of particular interest to historians are the extensive research materials in the papers pertaining to the books
Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case and The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—The Stalin Era. These include a large number of photocopies of FBI and other files which were obtained by Weinstein under the Freedom of
Information Act. The research materials also include a large number of clippings and other printed matter, as well as interviews
conducted by Weinstein of numerous individuals associated with the Hiss case, including Alger Hiss himself. There are also
microfilm reels containing documents relating to the purported involvement of Bulgarian security forces in the attempted assassination
of Pope John Paul II in 1981.
The papers include materials relating to his editorship of
The Washington Quarterly in the 1980s and his tenure as executive director of The Democracy Program and its successor organization, the National Endowment
for Democracy, in 1982-1984. The papers also contain conference proceedings stemming from Weinstein's service as vice-chairman
of the American delegation to a major UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) conference
in Mexico City in 1982.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Hiss, Alger.
Chambers, Whittaker.
Rosenberg, Julius, 1918-1953.
Rosenberg, Ethel, 1915-1953.
John Paul II, Pope, 1920-2005--Assassination attempt, 1981.
Democracy.
Espionage, Russian--United States.
The Hoover Institution Archives has a separate, related collection comprising the records of the Center for Democracy, an
organization of which Weinstein was both founder and president.