Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Allen Weinstein papers
Date (inclusive): 1948-2004
Collection Number: 2004C61
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
168 manuscript boxes, 1 card file box, 4 oversize boxes
(73.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, writings, conference proceedings, printed matter, photocopies of government documents, and sound recordings
relating to promotion of democratic institutions outside the United States; to Soviet espionage in the United States, especially
the cases of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Alger Hiss; and to the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. Includes
research material used for the books by Allen Weinstein,
Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case (New York, 1978) and
The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America (New York, 1999).
Creator:
Weinstein, Allen
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Boxes 121-148 closed. Box 158 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of 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 2004, with increments received in subsequent years.
[Identification of item], Allen Weinstein papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1937 September 1 | Born, New York City |
| 1967 | PhD, Yale University |
| 1966-1981 | Professor of history, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts |
| 1970 | Author, Prelude to Populism |
| 1978 | Author, Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case |
| 1981-1983 | Professor of history, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. |
| 1982-1983 | Executive editor, The Washington Quarterly |
| Executive director, The Democracy Program, Washington, D.C. | |
| 1984 | President, Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions |
| 1985-1989 | Professor of history, Boston University |
| 1985-2003 | Founder and president, Center for Democracy, Washington, D.C. |
| 1999 | Co-author, The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—The Stalin Era |
| 2002 | Author, The Story of America: Freedom and Crisis from Settlement to Superpower |
| 2005-2008 | Archivist of the United States, Washington, D.C. |
| 2015 June 18 | Died, Gaithersburg, Maryland |
Scope and Content of Collection
Acquired in 2004, the Allen Weinstein papers in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives span much of the career of an important
American historian who had also long been involved in the arena of public policy. Consisting of correspondence, writings,
conference proceedings, printed matter, and some sound recordings, the papers largely relate to American domestic and foreign
policy, with additional significant materials relating to Soviet espionage in the United States before and during World War
II.
Of particular interest to historians are the extensive research materials in the papers pertaining to the books
Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case and
The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—The Stalin Era. These include a large number of photocopies of FBI and other files which were obtained by Weinstein under the Freedom of
Information Act. The research materials also include a large number of clippings and other printed matter, as well as interviews
conducted by Weinstein of numerous individuals associated with the Hiss case, including Alger Hiss himself. There are also
microfilm reels containing documents relating to the purported involvement of Bulgarian security forces in the attempted assassination
of Pope John Paul II in 1981.
The papers also include materials relating to Weinstein's editorship of
The Washington Quarterly in the 1980s and his tenure as executive director of The Democracy Program and its successor organization, the National Endowment
for Democracy, from 1982 to 1984. In addition, the papers contain conference proceedings stemming from Weinstein's service
as vice-chairman of the American delegation to a major UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization)
conference in Mexico City in 1982.
Center for Democracy records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Democracy
Espionage, Russian -- United States
Assassination attempt, 1981
Hiss, Alger
Chambers, Whittaker
John Paul, Pope, II, 1920-2005
Rosenberg, Julius, 1918-1953
Rosenberg, Ethel, 1915-1953