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Title: John F. Russell collection
Date (inclusive): 1930-1976
Collection Number: 85015
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
63 manuscript boxes
(26.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Reports, studies, letters, memoranda, dossiers, notes, bulletins, pamphlets, serial issues, clippings, printed ephemera, and
audiovisual material relating to communism and subversion in the United States, primarily in the post-World War II period.
Includes material generated by the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps.
Creator:
United States. Army. Counter Intelligence Corps
Creator:
Russell, John F., collector
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Box FH2 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 1985.
[Identification of item], John F. Russell collection, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
The Hoover Institution Library & Archives acquired the John F. Russell collection from Russell in 1985. Little is known of
its origin apart from what may be inferred from internal evidence. In the early 1950s, John F. Russell was a lieutenant in
the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps, stationed at Fort Holabird, Maryland, and associated with the Army's Counter
Intelligence School there. No information on his later career is available. Much of the material in the collection dates from
the 1950s, and a portion of this was clearly generated by the Counter Intelligence Corps, some of it perhaps by Russell. Later
typescript and mimeographed material derives from various and unattributed sources.
In addition to Russell, others involved in bringing the material together included Bernard J. Sweeney, W. Fairfield Peterson,
George Pfister and Nick D'Angelo. Sweeney was a major in the Counter Intelligence Corps, also stationed at Fort Holabird and
perhaps Russell's commanding officer. Peterson, some of whose correspondence appears in the collection, was a civilian anti-communist
activist living in Baltimore. There is no information on Pfister or D'Angelo. Much of the collected printed and near-print
material solicited from left-wing sources for the collection was mailed to D'Angelo at a post office box in Baltimore. It
is possible that the name was a pseudonym.
A small quantity of older material includes original 1930 documents of the American Vigilant Intelligence Federation. There
is no indication of how or why Russell came into possession of it.
Printed and near-print material from the 1960s and 1970s includes official publications of the Department of Defense and the
United States Information Agency. There is no explanation for Russell's acquisition of them.
Scope and Content of Collection
The focus of the collection is on issues of communism and subversion within the United States. The
General Subject File consists of material arranged by organization or topical area suspected of being under communist influence and the
Individual Subject File by name of suspect individual. These files show interest in communist influence in liberal organizations, labor, civil rights
movements, education, bookstores and publishers, the press, radio and television, Hollywood, religion (including the Catholic
Church, assorted Protestant denominations, Jewry, esoteric societies such as Rosicrucians and Illuminati, and the Moral Re-Armament
movement), among proponents of the United Nations and world government, within the United States government (especially the
Department of State), and as related to immigration and peace issues.
The collection is of special significance because of its documentation of active United States Army concern with communist
issues affecting the domestic civilian population of the United States. Material within the General Subject File on communist
influence within the United States Armed Forces is also of particular interest in light of the related charges by Senator
Joseph R. McCarthy that ultimately resulted in his downfall. A series of
United States Department of Defense Issuances includes instructional materials on communism generated by the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps at the Fort Holabird Counter
Intelligence School. A series of
United States Information Agency Issuances is primarily concerned with international aspects of communism. Other series of printed matter, including
United States Congressional Issuances, United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Issuances, United States Subversive Activities
Control Board Issuances, United States Court Documents, University Course Bulletins,
and
Serial Issues and
Pamphlets emanating from various sources, are all centrally concerned with communism and subversion issues. There is also a small
Audiovisual File.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Communism -- United States
Subversive activities -- United States