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.)