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Edwards (Lee) papers
2010C14  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Related Materials

  • Title: Lee Edwards papers
    Date (inclusive): 1878-2021
    Collection Number: 2010C14
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 440 manuscript boxes, 12 card file boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 5 film reels, 1 oversize folder (164.03 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: The Lee Edwards papers (1878-2021) contains correspondence and clippings, writings and research material, speeches, memoranda, reports, studies, financial records, printed matter, material related to the Victims of Communism Museum, sound recordings of interviews, video recordings and digital media. The material relates to conservatism in the United States, the mass media, Grove City College, the Heritage Foundation, the Republican Party, Walter Judd, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan and includes material related to his work with various centers and institutions. The collection includes extensive research material used in books and other writing projects by Edwards. Additionally, the collection includes material from his wife Anne, who assisted him with his writing; clippings of articles by his father, Willard Edwards; and records from the consulting firm Lee Edwards Associates.
    Creator: Edwards, Lee, 1932-
    Creator: Edwards, Willard, 1902-1990
    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 2010.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Lee Edwards papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Biographical Note

    Lee Edwards (1932- ), a historian of American conservatism is the author or editor of over 25 books, including biographies of Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, and Edwin Meese III, as well as histories of the Heritage Foundation and the conservative movement. Edwards was influenced by his parents who were anti-communist; his father, Willard Edwards, was a journalist for the "Chicago Tribune." Edwards received his bachelor's degree from Duke University and doctorate in world politics from Catholic University. He also completed graduate work at The Sorbonne, Paris and received an honorary doctoral degree in humane letters from Grove City College.
    In 1960 he helped found the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) and was editor for their magazine "New Guard." In 1963 he became the news director of the Draft Goldwater Committee and, in 1964, he served as director of information for the Barry Goldwater presidential campaign. Edwards has been a consultant to the Nixon administration, Senator Strom Thurmond and Bob Dole, the Republican National Committee, YAF, the American Conservative Union, the Committee for a Free China, and the American Council for World Freedom.
    He has been a senior editor for "The World & I" and, in 1975, editor of the "Conservative Digest." Edwards has been published in the "Wall Street Journal," "Los Angeles Times," "Boston Globe," "National Review," "Human Events," and "American Spectator." He is also a frequent guest on cable and broadcast outlets such as Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, NBC, PBS, C-SPAN, NPR, and has given lectures across the nations.
    As of 2011, Edwards was an adjunct professor of politics at the Catholic University of America and at the Institute of World Politics. Edwards was also the founding director of the Institute of Political Journalism at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In addition, he was the president of the Philadelphia Society and a media fellow at the Hoover Institution. Furthermore, he is a co-found of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C., which opened the Victims of Communism Museum in June 2022.
    Edwards is a distinguished fellow in conservative thought at the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Among his awards and honors are the Millennium Star of Lithuania, the Cross of Terra Mariana of Estonia, the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy from the Republic of China (Taiwan), the John Ashbrook Award, the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award and the Walter Judd Freedom Award.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The collection contains a wide variety of materials documenting the life and work of Lee Edwards. Extensive research material used in books and other writing projects is included, relating to conservatism in the United States, the mass media, Grove City College, the Heritage Foundation, the Republican Party, Walter Judd, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan. The collection also includes materials about the consulting firm Lee Edwards Associates, as well as documentation on Edwards' involvement in the Center for International Relations and Intercollegiate Studies Institute. In addition, the personal papers of Lee Edwards; materials from his wife, Anne Edwards; and papers of Willard Edwards, journalist and father of Lee Edwards, are included. The collection includes material related to the establishment of the Victims of Communism Museum and material from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation including, administrative documents, board meetings, building design, and correspondence. The papers include a variety of physical forms including correspondence, speeches, writings, memoranda, reports, studies, financial records, printed matter, sound recordings of interviews, video recordings, and digital media.

    Related Materials

    Walter H. Judd papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
    Ronald Reagan subject collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Audiotapes
    United States -- Politics and government -- 1989-
    Conservatism -- United States
    United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989
    Mass media -- United States
    Videotapes
    Reagan, Ronald
    Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
    Judd, Walter H., 1898-1994
    Goldwater, Barry M. (Barry Morris), 1909-1998
    Feulner, Edwin J.
    Grove City College
    Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)