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Title: G. William Gahagan papers
Date (bulk): 1942-1945
Collection Number: 75057
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English, German, Japanese, Russian, and other languages
Physical Description:
8 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 card file box, 1 oversize folder, 8 motion picture film reels
(4.55 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, reports, photographs, motion picture films, printed matter, and wartime propaganda relating to
G. William Gahagan's work with the Office of War Information during World War II, focusing on American propaganda operations
and analyses of Japanese propaganda. Also included are a few examples of post-war American anti-communist propaganda and information
on the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization.
Creator:
United States. Office of War Information
Creator:
Gahagan, G. William (George William), 1912-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1975, with an increment in 2010.
[Identification of item], G. William Gahagan Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
George William Gahagan was born on June 22, 1912 in Toledo, Ohio. His family briefly lived in Indianapolis, Indiana, before
moving to Goshen, New York, in 1927. He began studying at Dartmouth College in 1935, but did not complete his degree until
1949. He also briefly attended Harvard University as a graduate student, however, he received his MA from Stanford University
in 1957. He married Lorna Jane Plump in 1939, with whom he had four children.
Prior to World War II, Gahagan held a variety of different jobs. He worked as a reporter and columnist for the
Times-Herald in Middletown, New York from 1935 to 1937, was an account executive at McGann-Erickson Advertising in San Francisco from
1937 to 1939, and worked as an editor for the McGraw Hill Publishing Company from 1939 to 1941.
In 1943, Gahagan joined the San Francisco branch of the Office of War Information (OWI) as an information officer and later
as a public relations officer with the Overseas Branch. He also served as a foreign press liaison officer at the United Nations
Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), the inaugural conference of the United Nations, which was held in San Francisco
in 1945.
In 1947, Gahagan left the OWI and returned to school, receiving his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1949. Following
his graduation, Gahagan stayed at Dartmouth for another year to teach one of their Great Issues courses. While teaching there,
Gahagan met and befriended poet Robert Frost, who was serving as Dartmouth's Poet in Residence at the time. Gahagan later
founded the organization California Friends of Robert Frost in honor of him.
Throughout the 1950s, Gahagan proceeded to teach, mainly history and English, at a variety of private, public, and parochial
schools in Denver, Colorado, and in Monterey and Carmel, California. He also spent a few years in Rome teaching at the Overseas
International School and serving as the director of the US Embassy Employees Association. In the early 1960s, Gahagan moved
to Santa Barbara, California, where he served as assistant to the chancellor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
In 1978, he moved back up the coast of California to Carmel, where he volunteered and served as an active member of a variety
of community organizations until his death on December 8, 1998.
The G. William Gahagan papers consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, photographs, motion picture film, printed matter,
and wartime propaganda focusing on the analysis of Japanese propaganda and the preparation of American propaganda during World
War II. The bulk of the material relates to Gahagan's career with the Office of War Information (OWI) from 1942 to 1947, particularly
his involvement with psychological warfare operations and wartime propaganda. A few examples of post-war American anti-communist
propaganda are also included.
To preserve the original order of the papers, war propaganda leaflets, pamphlets, and newsletters are dispersed throughout
the collection. The majority of the material can be found under the Propaganda grouping in the
Office of War Information (OWI) File. Many of these items appear in other languages, some accompanied by English translations. A few examples of Japanese propaganda
are also included in this section. Reports, including analyses of Japanese propaganda, memoranda, and other documents related
to Gahagan's work at OWI are also located in this series. Additional propaganda leaflets can be found in the Miscellaneous
file in the
Personal File series and in the
Oversize Material series.
The
Photographs series contains pictures of Gahagan, as well as images used as part of the OWI's psychological warfare operations. The
Oversize Material and
Printed Matter series contain further material from the war, including overseas editions of magazines, large propaganda posters, newsmaps,
and other government publications. In addition, the
Memorabilia series contains various items, such as cigarettes, soap, and fans, created by the OWI as a way of promoting the US and the
Allies to other countries during the war. Film related to World War II can be found in the
Motion Picture Films series.
In addition, the papers include material related to the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), held
in 1945. Gahagan attended this conference as a foreign press liaison officer and helped to organize events for conference
delegates with the Bohemian Club of San Francisco. Correspondence, event announcements, publications, and footage of the conference
can be found in the
United Nations File,
Oversized Material, and
Motion Picture Films series.
The collection is organized into nine series: Personal File, Correspondence, Office of War Information (OWI) File, United
Nations File, Photographs, Motion Picture Films, Oversize Material, Memorabilia, and Printed Matter. Quotation marks denote
Gahagan's original folder titles or titles of specific items.
Poster Collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
G. William Gahagan Collection, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Motion pictures
World War, 1939-1945 -- Propaganda
Propaganda, American
Propaganda, Japanese
World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
Propaganda, Anti-communist