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

 

Correspondence 1952-1953

box 1, folder 3

Members (Percy Belcher and Felicity Whittaker) 1952-1953

box 1, folder 4

Press 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 17

Fundraising

box 1, folder 18

Messages

box 1, folder 19

Musical program

box 1, folder 20

Platform representatives correspondence

box 1, folder 21

Program and tickets

box 1, folder 22

Publicity

box 1, folder 23

Speakers

box 1, folder 24

Venue

 

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 5

News clippings 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 7

Correspondence 1952-1953

box 2, folder 8-12

Press releases 1952 June-1953 October

box 2, folder 13

Printed material 1952-1953