Forster (Cliff) papers, 1941-2008

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Cliff Forster papers
Dates:
1941-2008
Creators:
Forster, Cliff, 1924-2006
Abstract:
Interview transcripts, memoirs, other writings, correspondence, printed matter, and photographs relating to internment of American civilians in the Japanese-occupied Philippines during World War II, the war crime trial and execution of Japanese General Masaharu Homma, and the American diplomatic service.
Extent:
5 manuscript boxes (1.8 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Cliff Forster papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Background

Scope and content:

Interview transcripts, memoirs, other writings, correspondence, printed matter, and photographs, relating to internment of American civilians in the Japanese-occupied Philippines during World War II, the war crime trial and execution of Japanese General Masaharu Homma, and the American diplomatic service.

Biographical / historical:

Clifton Forster (1923-2006), a graduate of Stanford University, was a career diplomat who grew up in the Philippines as the son of an American Red Cross employee. Mr. Forster was born in Manila, where his father was director of the Red Cross and field director for the Far East. He traveled with his parents and sister throughout Asia, including Shanghai, Tokyo and Beijing, and saw much of the turmoil in that region in the pre-war years. Following the Japanese invasion of Manila in December 1941, Forster was interned as an American civilian internee both at Santo Tomas Internment Camp and at Los Baños Internment Camp in the Philippines.

Through this father's Red Cross connections, Forster secured repatriation aboard the Gripsholm in 1942 and later worked for Naval Intelligence before joining the Foreign Service. He lived in Japan from 1953 to 1981 and was instrumental in developing various "sister city" programs, including those of San Francisco and Osaka, and San Jose and Okayama. Mr. Forster served in Burma and Israel and also worked with the U.S. delegation to the United Nations during Adlai Stevenson's tenure as U.N. ambassador. He retired in 1983 as director for East Asia and the Pacific for the U.S. Information Agency.

Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2013.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Cliff Forster papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website