Inventory of the Margaret E. Hill papers
Finding aid prepared by Jill Golden
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2012
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Margaret E. Hill papers
Date (inclusive): 1940-1949
Collection Number: 79071
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5 manuscript boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 9 envelopes, 4 motion picture film reels, 3 phonorecords
(5.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Press releases, bulletins, correspondence, pamphlets, clippings, brochures, photographs, motion picture film, and phonorecords,
relating to fundraising in southern California for World War II relief activities. Sound use copies of sound recordings available.
Creator:
Hill, Margaret E.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1979.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Margaret E. Hill papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Margaret E. Hill graduated from Mills College in 1922 and received advanced degrees from Western Reserve University and the
University of Grenoble. In 1935 she moved to Los Angeles to teach French at the Marlborough School. From 1942 to 1947 she
held positions in relief organizations in the Los Angeles area, serving as the southern California chairman of American Relief
for France, executive secretary of the United Nations War Relief Council for Southern California, and vice-chairman of the
Los Angeles County War Chest. To commemorate her relief work, Hill was decorated by the French government with the Legion
of Honor in 1947. After the United Nations War Relief Council was dissolved in December 1947, Hill resumed her teaching career
at the Anoakia School for Girls in Arcadia, California. She retired in 1967.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Margaret E. Hill papers document her years working for World War II relief organizations in southern California. The papers
consist of press releases, bulletins, correspondence, pamphlets, clippings, brochures, photographs, motion picture film, and
phonorecords.
As chair of American Relief for France in Southern California, Hill was primarily responsible for fundraising. Her projects
for the organization, including the city of Los Angeles's adoption of Calais and Argentan, are documented in the
American Relief for France file. She also led a program to send packages to French orphans after the war; files about this initiative include dossiers, lists,
and photographs of the children served. In gratitude, the city of Calais sent Hill albums of photographs and children's drawings,
all of which can be found in the
Oversize material file.
In July 1942 Hill represented French relief at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations War Relief Council (UNWRC). The
Council was incorporated in California to coordinate the activities of relief agencies for China, Czechoslovakia, France,
Greece, Holland, Norway, the Philippines, and Poland. After being appointed executive secretary in 1943, Hill ran a fundraising
campaign that included radio programs publicizing relief efforts, transcripts and recordings of which are included in the
United Nations War Relief Council and
Sound recordings files.
As a coordinator of relief efforts throughout southern California, Hill collected and received
Photographs,
Films, and
Printed Matter produced by other World War II relief agencies.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sound recordings
Motion pictures
International relief
World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief
World War, 1939-1945 -- California
United Nations War Relief Council for Southern California
American Relief for France File
1943-1949
Scope and Contents note
Contains correspondence, clippings, photographs, reports, lists, exhibit materials, and printed matter. Around 1946, the organization
changed its name to American Aid to France, which may be found on some of the later documents. In alphabetical order by project
or form and thereunder chronologically.
box 1, folder 3
Le siège de Calais et le dévouement des six bourgeois, by Maurice Martin, Calais city archivist
circa 1946
box 1, folder 4
Report by American Aid to France transport driver J.A. Manley
circa 1946
box 1, folder 5
Aperçu de l'histoire de Calais
1947 January 3
box 1, folder 6
Florence Gilliam letter on conditions in Calais
1947 March 31
Package adoption program files
1944-1949
box 1, folder 7
Red Cross Prisoner of War package guidelines
1944
box 1, folder 8
Package adoption program proposal
1945 November
box 1, folder 9
Index cards
1945-1946
Scope and Contents note
Cards include names of children, age, status of parents, and photographs
box 1, folder 10
List of children
1946 March
box 1, folder 11
Los Angeles Times clipping
1946 May 26
Scope and Contents note
Article includes a photograph of Hill
box 1, folder 12
Thank you letters from France
1946-1948
Public relations bureau file
1944-1948
Promotional materials
1946-1947
box 1, folder 14
1,200,000 Thanks for 1,200,000 Chocolate Bars
1946
box 1, folder 15
Le Théatre de la mode: A Creation by French Artists and Designers Organised by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne;
Presented to New York by American Relief for France under the Auspices of l'Association Française d'Action Artistique in Aid
of l'Entr'Aide française
1946
box 1, folder 16-17
Reports
1944-1948
Scope and Contents note
Includes reports on Grand-Synthe and joint activities between American Relief for France and the American Friends Service
Committee
box 2, folder 1-5
Exhibit material on the war in France, produced by the Coordinating Council of French Relief Societies
1943
Scope and Contents note
Includes reprints of photographs by Thérèse Bonney
United Nations War Relief Council File
1943-1947
Scope and Contents note
Contains bulletins, clippings, correspondence, flyers, minutes, radio transcripts, and reports. In alphabetical order by form
or title and thereunder chronologically.
box 3, folder 1
California War Chest
1944-1945
box 3, folder 3
Coordinating Council of French Relief Societies
1944
box 3, folder 4
Royal Norwegian Information Service
1944, 1947
box 3, folder 6
United Yugoslav Relief Fund of America
1944
box 3, folder 7
Wooster, John B.
circa 1945
Scope and Contents note
On the Philippines
box 3, folder 8-10
Clippings on fundraising events
1943-1947
box 3, folder 12
Flyers and clippings advertising poster exhibit
1944 April
box 3, folder 13
"History of the United Nations War Relief Council"
1947
box 3, folder 14
Letterhead, War Relief Councils
1945-1947
box 3, folder 15
Meeting minutes
1947 December 3
Radio broadcast transcripts
1944-1947
box 3, folder 16
Françoise Dony interview on the German occupation of Belgium
1944
box 3, folder 17
Irena Grodzka interview
1944 July 19
Scope and Contents note
Grodzka was a captain of the Women's Auxiliary Service (WAS) in Poland (Pomocnicza Służba Kobiet or PSK)
box 3, folder 18
One minute radio spots to raise money for relief efforts in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Holland, and France
circa 1946
box 3, folder 19
Claude Angles interview on the French underground
circa 1946
box 3, folder 20
Jean-Pierre Aumont and Stanley Maw interview on French relief
circa 1946
box 3, folder 21
Radio program by Ralph Rose featuring Basil Rathbone, Jean Hersholt, and Anna Mae Wong
circa 1946
box 3, folder 22
"Your World Tomorrow," program with Donald M. Nelson, President of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers and
Chairman of the United Nations War Relief Council, Warren A. Wilson, and Manchester Boddy, publisher of the
Los Angeles Daily News
circa 1946
box 3, folder 23
"Down in Flames, Out by Underground," by Bierne Lay, adapted by Leona Wilson
1947 June 6
box 3, folder 24
"This Day Remembered"
1947 June 6
Scope and Contents note
See also Sound recordings
box 3, folder 25
Charles Boyer, Jean Sablon, Louis Jourdan, and Alexandre de Manziarly interviews
1947 June 18
box 3, folder 26
Reports on Great Britain and Holland Relief
1943-1947
Printed Matter
1941-1946
Scope and Contents note
Contains pamphlets, brochures, and flyers. In alphabetical order by issuing organization.
box 3, item 27
America Denmark Relief
1943
box 3, item 28
American Aid to France
1942-1946
box 3, folder 29
American Committee for Luxembourg Relief
1943
box 3, item 30
American Friends Service Committee
1942-1944
box 3, item 31-32
American Red Cross
1943-1944
Scope and Contents note
Includes
Prisoners of War Bulletin
box 3, item 33
American Relief for Czechoslovakia
1946
box 3, item 34
American Relief for Holland
1946
box 3, item 35
American Relief for Norway
1942-1944
box 3, item 36
American Relief for Poland
1946
box 3, item 37
American Society for Russian Relief
1946
box 3, item 38
Belgian Information Center
1941-1943
box 3, item 39
Belgian War Relief Society
1941-1943
box 4, item 1
British War Relief Society
1943-1945
box 4, item 2
California War Chest
1945
box 4, item 3
Czechoslovak National Council of America
1942-1943
box 4, item 4
Fighting French Relief Committee
1942-1944
box 4, item 5
French Press and Information Service
1944, 1946
box 4, item 6
Greek Office of Information
circa 1943
box 4, item 7
Greek War Relief Association
1943
box 4, item 8
Help the Children Committee
1943
box 4, item 9
Los Angeles Area War Chest
1943
box 4, item 10
Los Angeles Committee for Christian Refugee Relief
1942
box 4, item 11
National Congress of Industrial Organizations War Relief Committee
1944
box 4, item 12
National Committee on Food
1943
box 4, item 14
Netherlands Information Bureau
1943
box 4, item 15
Polish Government Information Center
1945-1946
box 4, item 16
Polish War Relief
1943-1945
box 4, item 17
Queen Wilhemina Fund
1942-1943
box 4, item 18
Refugee Relief Trustees
1943
box 4, item 21
Unitarian Service Committee
1943
box 4, item 22-23
United China Relief
1943-1946
box 4, item 24
United Czechoslovak Relief
1943
box 4, item 25
United Jewish Appeal
1943
box 4, item 26
United Seaman's Service
1943
box 4, item 27
United Service Organizations
1942-1944
box 4, item 28
United Service to Holland
1946
box 4, item 29
United States Committee for the Care of European Children
1943
box 4, item 30
United Yugoslav Relief Fund
1943
box 4, item 31
War Prisoners Aid of the Young Men's Christian Associations
1943-1944
box 4, item 32
Yiddish Scientific Institute
1944
Oversize Material
1944-1947
Scope and Contents note
Contains a poster and albums of photographs and drawings. Arranged chronologically.
box 6
City of Calais album dedicated to American Aid to France
1946
Scope and Contents note
Contains watercolor and crayon drawings by children
box 7
City of Calais album dedicated to Los Angeles
1946
Scope and Contents note
Contains photographs of buildings in Calais after the war
box 7
Federation of Religious Vacation Camps album presented to American Aid to France
1946 December
Scope and Contents note
Contains photographs of children in Calais
box 5
Christmas poster dedicated to American Aid to France from the city of Calais
1947 December
box 6
Artworks and postcards of France
undated
Photographs
1940-1947
Scope and Contents note
Contains prints and negatives from press services and relief agencies
envelope A
Calais, France, after World War II
1946-1947
Scope and Contents note
Large format negatives
envelope B
"Le Théatre de la mode" exhibit
1946
Scope and Contents note
Photographs from an exhibit featuring the work of French artists and designers organized by American Relief for France. See
Box 1 for exhibit catalog
envelope C
Calais, France, after World War II
1946-1947
Scope and Contents note
Includes index of photographs
envelope D
United Nations War Relief Council fundraising events in Los Angeles
1945-1947
Scope and Contents note
Includes photograph of Pearl S. Buck
envelope E
American Relief for France in Calais
1942-1947
envelope F
Norwegian Official Photo Service
1940-1943
Scope and Contents note
Depicts bombing in Narvik, Norway and conditions during the German occupation
envelope G
American Relief for Czechoslovakia photo service
1944-1947
Scope and Contents note
Includes the Czechoslovak army training in England and Edvard Beneš with soldiers
envelope H
Polish Government Information Center photo service
1943-1944
Scope and Contents note
Depicts victims in Warsaw, Polish refugees in Iran, and the concentration camp Majdanek
envelope I
Miscellaneous relief agencies
1942-1946
Scope and Contents note
Contains photographs from British War Relief, Russian War Relief, United China Relief, United Yugoslav Relief, and War Prisoners
Aid
box 5
"Let's Look at China," United China Relief
1944
Scope and Contents note
150 still pictures of China on 25mm film strip
Motion Picture Film
1940s
Scope and Contents note
Except for one 25mm film strip, all are 16mm acetate film reels. In alphabetical order by canister title.
Sound Recordings
1944, 1947
Scope and Contents note
Contains broadcast recordings produced by United China Relief and the UNWRC. In alphabetical order by disc title.
record cabinet
"Let's Look at China," United China Relief
1944
Scope and Contents note
16" vinyl disc
record cabinet
"A Message from France," with Jean-Pierre Aumont
circa 1946
Scope and Contents note
12" vinyl disc
record cabinet
"This Day Remembered"
1947 June 6
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 79071_a_0002897
Scope and Contents note
Radio dramatization commemorating the third anniversary of D-Day. Describes American pilots shot down, rescued by a French
farmer, and aided by the French underground. Use copy available on computer workstation
record cabinet
"United Nations War Relief Council"
1947 June
Scope and Contents note
Side A: "Sale of America." Side B: One minute cuts on the UN, Holland, Norway, Poland, Philippines, France. 16" vinyl disc