The Herbert H. Lehman Suite and Papers is an essential reference source for, among other things, New York State, United States and Foreign Policy history. Potential research topics included in the collection are as follows:

Collection Strengths
Material on Art and Architecture
Material on African American History
Business
Education
International Affairs
Material on Israel/Palestine
Italy
Journalism
Law
Medicine and Science
Rare Books and Manuscripts
Material on Russia
Social Work
Material on Women's History

Our Collection is particularly strong in the following subjects:

Herbert H. Lehman
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Alfred E. Smith
New York State, 1924-1963
Democratic Party, 1924-1963
United States Senate, 1949-1957, particularly such members as:

Hubert H. Humphrey
Lyndon B. Johnson
Paul H. Douglas
Wayne Morse

McCarthyism and Senator Joseph McCarthy
Immigration, 1920-1963
Refugees, 1920-1963
Philanthropy, 1910-1963
UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration)
Allied Military Government (World War II)

1. Plans and correspondence re: Building of Children's Zoo in Central Park, New York City. (Work of Paul Manship, Edward C. and Aymar Embury)

2. Photographs and material relating to Meadow Farm, Purchase, New York. (Work of Harry Allan Jacobs)

3. Information re: Foreign pavilions at New York World's Fair, 1960-65. (Poletti Papers)

4. The Overbrook Press Collection includes work of many artists and type designers including Valenti Angelo, Jean Hugo, T.M. Cleland, Rudolf Ruziska, Bruce Rogers and Margaret Evans. (Xerox checklist available upon request)

5. Collection of framed original drawings of political cartoons of the 1930's to the 1950's, including works by Rollin Kirby and Herblock. (On permanent exhibition)

6. Portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler, Nancy Craig and S.J. Woolf.

7. Sculptured busts by Robert Berks (bronze) and Olga Albasini Spano (marble).

8. The reproduction of Herbert Lehman's study includes a pair of original Chippendale chairs and other antiques, some unusual Jewish ceremonial silver and some Steuben and Lalique glass.

9. The Lehman Papers also has material re: American Committee for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in Europe, 1943-46.

The Lehman and Poletti Papers concerning civil rights and civil liberties contain a good deal of important material on African American history.

There are files of correspondence with many African American leaders and officials, the largest being those with Walter White and Roy Wilkins.

Others include:

Mary McLeod Bethune
Earl Brown
Ralph Bunche
Benjamin O. Davis
Edward R. Dudley
William H. Hastie
Hulan Jack
Thurgood Marshall
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
A. Philip Randolph
Channing H. Tobias
Robert C. Weaver

The following archival material is representative of pertinent documentation on this subject:

1. Governor's Advisory Commission for the Cloak and Suit Industry, 1925-26.

2. Glanztoff Strike, 1929.

3. Amalgamated Housing Project, 1931-38.

4. Banking Crisis of 1933.

5. There is correspondence with many outstanding labor leaders of the country, including:

James B. Carey
David Dubinsky
William Green
Sidney Hillman
Morris Hillquit
George Meany
Philip Murray
Jacob S. Potofsky
Michael J. Quill
A. Philip Randolph
Walter P. Reuther
Alex Rose
Morris Sigman
Matthew Woll

1. The Lehman Papers have a good deal of material on legislation concerning this subject.

2. Lehman's files on his experiences as an alumnus and trustee of Williams College, as well as other educational institutions.

3. The Charles Poletti Papers contain files on his service on the Board of Overseers of Harvard University and as a trustee at Cornell University. (Xerox checklist of the Poletti Papers is available upon request)

4. The Poletti Oral History Memoir contains valuable information on Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the Board of Overseers.

5. The Paul Baerwald Papers include a number of publications by Hermann Baerwald (1828-1907), the German educator, which are the only copies available in the Columbia Libraries. (Xerox checklist of the Baerwald Papers is available upon request)

6. The Baerwald Papers have a small correspondence re: the Lincoln School of Teachers College and the projected Walter Hines Page School of International Affairs.

1. Herbert Lehman's Senatorial Papers include material on many facets of international affairs and important data on immigration and refugee problems.

2. The Lehman Papers has extensive material on UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration), which Lehman served as Director-General. The material includes:

A. Lehman's Personal Files.
B. Microfilms (104) of the Director-General's Papers.
C. The Sir Robert G.A. Jackson UNRRA Papers. (Jackson was Senior Deputy Director-General) (A xerox checklist of these papers is available upon request)
D. The Hugh Jackson UNRRA Papers. (H. Jackson was a Deputy Director-General) These papers also include Jackson's papers on OFRRO (Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Organization, U.S. Department of State)
E. The Marshall MacDuffie UNRRA Papers re: His work as chief of mission to the Ukraine.
F. The Richard B. Scandrett, Jr. UNRRA Papers re: His work as chief of mission to Byelorussia.
G. The George Woodbridge (UNRRA Historian) collection of UNRRA material. This includes publications, reports, etc., as well as a typescript of A History of UNRRA by Rosemary Miller.
H. A copy of Sir Robert Jackson's Oral History Memoir, which is devoted mainly to his experiences with UNRRA, is available at the Lehman Papers.

3. The Charles Poletti Papers include a large segment on his direction of Allied Military Government in Italy. (Xerox checklist available upon request)

4. A copy of Charles Poletti's Oral History Memoir, which has important material concerning Allied Military Government, is available at the Lehman Papers.

5. The Richard B. Scandrett, Jr. Papers concerning the Allied Reparations Commission, 1945.(Tri-partite Moscow Meeting)

1. The Lehman Papers legislative and philanthropic files contain a large quantity of material on this subject.

2. The Lehman Papers include a complete record of Lehman's chairmanship of the American Committee for the Celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Founding of Israel.

3. They also include correspondence with the following:

Ishak Ben-Zvi
Abba Eban
Eliahu Elath
Levi Eshkol
Theodore Kollek
Golda Meir
Moshe Sharett
Chaim Weizmann

4. Another part of the collection is the diaries of the Lehmans' visits to Israel in 1949 and 1959.

5. The James G. McDonald Papers include material concerning his service as U.S. Special Representative to Israel, 1948-49, as the first U.S. Ambassador to Israel, 1949-51, and as a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine in 1946. (A xerox checklist of the McDonald Papers is available upon request)

6. McDonald's papers as chairman of the Advisory Council of the Development Corporation for Israel, 1951-61, also form part of his collection.

7. The Paul Baerwald Papers include material re: Baerwald School of Social Work in Israel. (A xerox checklist of the Baerwald Papers is available upon request)

1. The Charles Poletti Papers have a complete section on the Allied Military Government of Italy.

2. The Poletti Papers also include material on his earlier studies of the Italian economy. (A xerox checklist of the Poletti Papers is available upon request)

3. The memorabilia collection includes a life-size marble bust of Poletti as Military Governor of Rome, sculpted by Olga Albasini Spano.

4. A bound complete set of Sicilia Liberata (August-December, 1943) the only copy in the Columbia Libraries, is also included in the Poletti Papers.

1. The Lehman Papers Collection includes his 200 volumes of news clippings, uniformly mounted and bound, covering his entire public career (1924-1964). The collection is completely catalogued and cross-indexed for subjects and people.

2. The Frank Altschul Press Clipping Collection consists of 218 uniform loose-leaf volumes (mid 1930's-early 1970's) divided as follows:

National affairs 94 vols.
International affairs -- subjects 43 vols.
International affairs -- geographical 66 vols.
United Nations affairs 1 5 vols.

3. The Poletti Papers has a bound and complete set of Sicilia Liberata (August-December, 1943). This appeared during the Allied Military Occupation, and this is the only copy in the Columbia Libraries.

4. The Lehman Papers has on permanent exhibition a collection of framed original drawings of editorial cartoons of the 1930's to the 1950's, including works by Rollin Kirby and Herblock.

1. Complete set of publications (books and pamphlets) of Arthur Lehman Goodhart, longtime Regius Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford and editor of the (English) Law Quarterly Review for over thirty years. (Xerox catalogue available upon request)

2. Set of publications of the late Judge J. Howard Rossbach, who served on the New York City Court of Special Sessions from 1955-62 and the New York City Criminal Court from 1962-71. (Xerox catalogue available upon request.)

3. Material relating to the late Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals Irving Lehman.

4. Set of New York Legislative Record and Index: A Complete Record of All Bills Introduced . . . , 1929-42. 14 volumes. This is the only copy available in the Columbia Libraries.

5. Set of New York State Legislative Programs, 1933-42. 10 volumes. Again, this is the only copy available in the Columbia Libraries.

6. The Charles Poletti Papers contain an important record of Allied Military Government in Italy during World War II. (Xerox checklist of the Poletti Papers is available upon request.)

1. The Lehman Papers have records concerning medical and scientific legislation.

2. The UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) collection has important reference material and publications on medical subjects.

3. There is a fair amount of correspondence with well known members of the medical profession.

1. Complete collection of publications (books, broadsides, pamphlets and ephemera) of The Overbrook Press of Stamford, Connecticut. (Xerox catalogue available upon request)

2. First edition of William Smith's The History of the Province of New York . . . , London, 1757 _the first history of New York.

3. A few other 18th century works concerning American history.

4. A large number of books inscribed by authors and statesmen such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and James T. Farrell and presented to Herbert Lehman.

5. A collection of inscribed first editions of books by Barbara Ward, together with the typescripts, editorial notes, page proofs and related material for Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet by Barbara Ward and Rene Dubos (New York, 1972).

The Lehman Papers UNRRA Collection (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) contains material relating to Russia. Special note should be taken of:

1. The Marshall MacDuffie Papers re: the Ukraine.

2. The Richard B. Scandrett, Jr. Papers re: Byelorussia.

3. The Richard B. Scandrett, Jr. Papers re: Allied Reparations Commission, 1945.

In addition to the above items, nearly all the material mentioned in the "International Affairs" memorandum of this series contain valuable information concerning Russia and/or its statesmen.

Herbert Lehman's philanthropic files concern a vast panorama of institutions and social work projects.

1. There is excellent material on Lillian Wald and the Henry Street Settlement.

2. Early material on the Joint Distribution Committee.

3. Many papers on refugee and immigration matters -- legislation, correspondence, etc.

4. The James G. McDonald Papers also include important material on refugees. (Xerox checklist available upon request)

5. The Paul Baerwald Papers contain material on this subject -- both domestic and foreign, including data on Baerwald social work schools in France and Israel. (Xerox checklist of the Paul Baerwald Papers is available upon request)

The Lehman Papers are replete with files of correspondence with women who were prominent in public life during the period 1928-1960. Some of these are:

Mary McLeod Bethune
Anna M. Kross
Carrie Chapman Catt
Golda Meir
Eve Curie
Frieda S. Miller
Mary W. Dewson
Dorothy Norman
Helen Gahagan Douglas
Caroline O'Day
Mary Dreier
Frances Perkins
India Edwards
Justine Wise Polier
Doris Fleeson
Eleanor Roosevelt
Carolin A. Flexner
Anna M. Rosenberg
Eleanor Clark French
Dorothy Schiff
Virginia C. Gildersleeve
Rose Schneiderman
Florence J. Harriman
Mary K. Simkhovitch
Fannie Hurst
Anna Lord Strauss
Edna F. Kelly
Marietta P. Tree
Dorothy Kenyon
Lillian Wald
Frieda Kirchway
Barbara Ward (Lady Jackson)

Finding aid originally prepared in HTML by Michelle Sansivero, July 2001