Inventory of the National Rosenberg Defence Committee records
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2012
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Stanford University
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Title: National Rosenberg Defence Committee records
Date (inclusive): 1952-1954
Collection Number: 2007C10
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2 manuscript boxes
(0.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Minutes, correspondence, press releases, circulated material, pamphlets, clippings, and a photograph relating to the espionage
trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Creator:
National Rosenberg Defence Committee (Great Britain)
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 2007.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], National Rosenberg Defence Committee records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution
Library & Archives.
Historical Note
The National Rosenberg Defence Committee was an organization created in England, most likely during 1952, as a result of the
publicity surrounding the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Maintaining contact with the New York based Committee to Secure
Justice in the Rosenberg Case, this organization sought to enlist the support of the British public in the drive to obtain
clemency for the Rosenbergs. Members of the committee included Felicity Whittaker, Percy Belcher, Rev. Stanley Evans, and
D.N. Pritt, QC. In addition to writing letters to the editors of various leftist, union, and Jewish publications around Britain,
they sought public support through sponsoring rallies in London, letter writing campaigns targeted at U.S. leaders, and other
forms of protest. In one such letter writing campaign, they enlisted the support of many well-known British authors, including
Graham Greene, Dylan Thomas, Sean O'Casey, and a host of others.
Following the execution of the Rosenbergs, the National Rosenberg Defence Committee sponsored a new fund to benefit their
two sons. The group organized a meeting the following month to serve as a fundraiser for this new undertaking, and the following
year, on the one-year anniversary of the execution of the Rosenbergs, they held another commemorative meeting in London.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains minutes, correspondence, press releases, circulated material, pamphlets, clippings, and a photograph,
relating to the espionage trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Espionage, Russian -- United States
Civil rights -- Great Britain
Rosenberg, Julius, 1918-1953
Rosenberg, Ethel, 1915-1953
box 1, folder 1-2
Committee meeting minutes and reports
1953-1954
box 1, folder 3
Members (Percy Belcher and Felicity Whittaker)
1952-1953
box 1, folder 5
Cultural material
1952-1953
Scope and Contents note
Poems, plays, essays, and songs on the Rosenberg case by Rewi Alley, Edward Eliscu, John Hutton, Ethel Rosenberg, Jean-Paul
Sartre, and Edith Segal
box 1, folder 6
International counter-trial materials
1953 April-July
box 1, folder 7-8
Letters of protest
1952 November-1953 June
box 1, folder 9
Michael and Robert Rosenberg Fund correspondence
1953 June-August
box 1, folder 10
Press releases
1952 November-1953 June
Printed material
1952-1953
box 1, folder 11
Circular letters and leaflets
box 1, folder 12
Julius Rosenberg will and Ethel Rosenberg letter
box 1, folder 13
Pamphlet typescript, notes, and design
Scope and Contents note
Includes small painting of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
box 1, folder 14
Writings by Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Public meetings
1952-1954
Scope and Contents note
In chronological order
box 1, folder 15
General
1952-1953
Scope and Contents note
Includes leaflets and meeting minutes
box 1, folder 16
St. Pancras Town Hall meeting correspondence and minutes
1953 July
Commemoration meeting
1954 May-June
box 1, folder 20
Platform representatives correspondence
Reference material
1952-1954
box 2, folder 1
General
1952-1954
Scope and Contents note
Includes photograph of the Rosenbergs' graves
box 2, folder 2
Notes on the case
1952-1954
box 2, folder 3
National Guardian clippings and pamphlets
1953
box 2, folder 4
National Labor Committee for Clemency for the Rosenbergs
1953
box 2, folder 6
Toronto Committee to Secure Clemency
1953
United States Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case
1952-1953
box 2, folder 8-12
Press releases
1952 June-1953 October
box 2, folder 13
Printed material
1952-1953