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Title: Louise Page Morris papers
Date (inclusive): 1950-1984
Collection Number: 95034
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes
(1.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, memoranda, speeches, notes, and financial records, relating to activities of the Free Trade Union
Committee in opposing communist influence in trade unions abroad, especially in Asia and the Middle East, and to political
conditions in those regions. Includes extensive correspondence with Jay Lovestone, executive secretary of the Free Trade Union
Committee.
Creator:
Lovestone, Jay
Creator:
Morris, Louise Page
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.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1995.
[Identification of item], Louise Page Morris papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
She was born in 1904 in Boston, to Edward and Olga Page. She married once, to John 'Koko' Morris, whom she divorced in 1932.
Morris began her espionage career as an anti-Soviet counterintelligence agent during WWII. She spoke Russian was recruited
to work in the London analyzing information lifted from the Soviets. In 1943 she became the deputy chief of the USSR Research
and Analysis Section, Office of Strategic Services (OSS). After the war, Morris worked for OSS chief "Wild" Bill Donovan,
who introduced her to Ray Murphy, Communist Expert for the State Department. Mr Murphy asked her to infiltrate the Congress
of American Women and determine if it was a communist front group. It was through Ray Murphy that she met Jay Lovestone and
began a romance with him that would last over thirty years. Lovestone was working closely with James Jesus Angleton, who would
become the CIA's counterintelligence chief. Impressed with all he had heard about Morris's successful intelligence work, he
propositioned that she be his personal agent, functioning outside the CIA, going on assignments for him to collect intelligence
around the world. Her cover was that she worked for Lovestone and the FTUC, operating the "Gompers Research Library" in New
York City. Louise Page Morris worked for Mr Angleton until 1974. She died in 2002.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Morris Papers contain correspondence from friends and colleagues received by Morris during her travels, as well as intelligence
information produced by the American Federation of Labor's Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC).
Comprised primarily of personal and professional correspondence, most notably from Jay Loveston. Lovestone was the well-known
President of the FTUC and worked closely with Morris' employer, James Jesus Angleton, the chief of the CIA's Counterintelligence
Staff from 1954 to 1975. Lovestone frequently referred to Morris's work for the CIA and passes covert information to her via
codewords.
The collection also contains reports accumulated by Morris, some of which she produced herself, and some by third parties
on free labor movements in developing states. Reports by Morris were generally handwritten drafts of weekly or monthly reports
sent back to her employer, James Angleton. Also included are notes taken during meetings with individuals of interest. These
were often written on small scraps of paper or on the backsides of other printed material. Morris collected correspondence,
reports, manuscripts, and transcripts from third parties. Such papers were often not addressed to her but copies of correspondence
between international actors and the FTUC or written to supplement her collection of intelligence.
The Reports Series is divided into two categories, Personal and Third Party. Personal reports were written by Morris herself
and were usually notes taken during meetings, drafts of weekly reports, and expense reports. Third party reports include copies
of correspondence between two other parties, collected by Morris for information purposes. This category also includes reports
on current events and transcripts of meetings and speeches. Third party reports are divided by country and subject.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Labor unions and communism
American Federation of Labor. Free Trade Union Committee