NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AMERICAN-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP, INC.

232 MADISON AVENUE

NEW YORK, N. Y.

MURRAY HILL 3-2082

CORLISS LAMONT
Chairman

PROF. RALPH BARTON PERRY
Vice-Chairman

GEORGE MARSHALL
Treasurer

THOMAS L. HARRIS
National Secretary

ALICE PRENTICE BARROWS
Executive Secretary

Sponsors

Hon. Joseph Clark Baldwin
Eugene E. Barnett
Hon. William L. Batt
William Rose Benet
The Metropolitan Benjamin
Prof. George D. Birkhoff
Simon Breines
Louis Bromfield
Van Wyck Brooks
Dr. Walter B. Cannon
Charles Chaplin
Hon. Oscar L. Chapman
William F. Cochran
Hon. John M. Coffee
Dr. Karl Taylor Compton
Aaron Copland
Norman Corwin
Joseph Curran
Jo Davidson
Hon. Joseph E. Davies
Dr. Herbert John Davis
Dr. A. Dykstra
Prof. Albert Einstein
Rev. Frederick May Eliot
Prof. Henry Pratt Fairchild
Prof. Mildred Fairchild
Homer Folks
Dr. Horace Gantt
Dean Christian Gauss
Dr. Mortimer Graves
Lillian Hellman
Dr. A. D. Henderson
Prof. William Ernest Hocking
Dr. Ales Hrdlicka
Langston Hughes
Hon. Harold L. Ickes
Hon. Stanley M. Isaacs
Dr. Lewis Webster Jones
Rockwell Kent
Dr. John A. Kingsbury
Serge Koussevitzky
William W. Lancaster
Prof. Emil Lengyel
John F. Lewis, Jr.
Prof. Robert S. Lynd
Maurice Maeterlinck
Fritz Mahler
Prof. William M. Malisoff
Thomas Mann
Raymond Massey
Prof. Kirtley F. Mather
Dr. George R. Minot
Charles Michael Mitzell
William Morris, Jr.
Dr. Philip C. Nash
Eugene O'Neill
Dr. Frederick Douglas Patterson
Senator Claude D. Pepper
Dr. E. C. Peters
Dr. John P. Peters
Prof. Arthur Upham Pope
Henry W. Pope
Paul Robeson
Harold J. Rome
Joseph A. Rosen
Miles Sherover
Rt. Rev. Henry K. Sherrill
Herman Shumlin
Dr. Henry E. Sigerist
Raymond P. Sloan
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Leopold Stokowski
Charles E. Stuart
Raymond Gram Swing
Milis Ten Eyck
R. J. Thomas
Dr. Max Thorek
Dr. Richard C. Tolman
Rt. Rev. Henry St. George Tucker
Bishop W. J. Walls
Prof. Leroy Waterman
Max Weber
Dr. Mary E. Woolley
Dr. J. F. Zimmerman
J. J. Zmrah
V. K. Zworykin

April 30, 1943

Mr. Langston Hughes
634 St. Nicholas Avenue
New York City

Dear Mr. Hughes:

We are launching a "Correspondence for Friendship" campaign which will provide the American people with an opportunity to express the friendship which they feel for the people of the Soviet Union.

This campaign will make it possible for any person in the United States to write a personal message and address it to a soldier in the Red Army, a nurse, a woman worker in a steel plant, a school child in Leningrad, a guerrilla fighter, etc. Arrangements have been made to have these messages sent to the Soviet Union. The correspondence thus begun will continue, we hope, and be a powerful factor in cementing the friendly relations between the United States and the USSR so essential to the winning of the war and the establishment of an enduring peace.

In initiating this campaign it would be most helpful if we could announce that among the first to send messages to our Soviet ally are such important public figures as yourself and our other sponsors.

Won't you write a brief message on the enclosed card to someone in the Soviet Union? We would also appreciate it if you would enclose a statement of your interest in the campaign as an expression of admiration and gratitude for the part the Russian people are playing in our common war.

APB: RB
uopwa/16

232 MADISON AVENUE • NEW YORK 16, N.Y. • MURRAY HILL 3-2082

Chairman
CORLISS LAMONT

Vice-Chairman
and Executive Director
EDWIN S. SMITH

Vice-Chairmen
ARTHUR UPHAM POPE
WILLIAM MORRIS, JR.

Treasurer
SAMUEL B. LEAVIN

National Secretary
THOMAS L. HARRIS

Director of Activities
ALICE PRENTICE BARROWS

555 Edgecombe Avenue
New York 32, New York
August 30, 1943

Mr. Langston Hughes
Yaddo
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

My dear Mr. Hughes:

The newly-formed Harlem Committee of the Council of American-Soviet Friendship has undertaken to arrange a series of articles on the Soviet Union, which Thyra Edwards will run in successive issues of The People's Voice. The first of these, written by Miss Edwards, on the subject of National Minorities, is planned for the issue of September 17th.

Won't you do an article for us on Cultural Opportunities or Cultural Life in the U.S.S.R., pointed up by your own experiences and first-hand information?

Other topics included in our plans are: Education, Child Care, Religion, The Constitution, Collective Farms, etc. I shall be happy to have any suggestions that you might care to make.

May I hope to receive an early - and an affirmative - reply? And would September 17th be a possible date for us to receive your article? We shall be most appreciative of your cooperation.

SPONSORS

George F. Addes
Maxwell Anderson
John Taylor Arms
Dr. Frank Aydelotte
Hon. Joseph Clark Baldwin
Zlatko Baloković
Clifford W. Barnes
Eugene E. Barnett
Hon. William L. Batt
Max Bedacht
Mrs. Alice S. Belester
William Rose Benét
The Metropolitan Benjamin
Dr. Henry Lambert Bibby
Prof. George D. Birkhoff
Mrs. Louis Bloch
Mrs. Anita Block
Dr. Sophonizba Breckenridge
Simon Breines
Louis Bromfield
Van Wyck Brooks
Prof. Harold Chapman Brown
Prof. E. W. Burgess
Dr. Hugh Cabot
Dr. Walter B. Cannon
Charles Chaplin
Hon. Oscar L. Chapman
William F. Cochran
Hon. John M. Coffee
Dr. Henry S. Coffin
Dr. Karl Taylor Compton
Aaron Copland
Norman Corwin
Joseph Curran
Jo Davidson
Hon. Joseph E. Davies
Dr. Herbert John Davis
Hugh DeLacy
Dr. Monroe E. Deutsch
Dr. C. A. Dykstra
Prof. Albert Einstein
Rev. Frederick May Eliot
Max Epstein
Prof. Henry Pratt Fairchild
Dr. Mildred Fairchild
Dr. Robert D. Feild
Lion Feuchtwanger
Rev. Joseph F. Fletcher
Homer Folks
Wanda Gág
Dr. W. Horsley Gantt
Dr. Caleb F. Gates, Jr.

Dean Christian Gauss
Dr. Mortimer Graves
Mrs. Borden Harriman
Moss Hart
Lillian Hellman
Dr. A. D. Henderson
Mrs. Thomas N. Hepburn
Dr. Leslie Pinckney Hill
Prof. William Ernest Hocking
Dr. Walter M. Horton
Dr. Ales Hrdlicka
Langston Hughes
Dr. Walter Hullihen
Hon. Harold L. Ickes
Hon. Stanley M. Isaacs
Dr. Millard H. Jencks
Prof. Howard Mumford Jones
Dr. Lewis Webster Jones
Helen Keller
Rockwell Kent
Dorothy Kenyon
Dr. John A. Kingsbury
Serge Koussevitsky
Mrs. Thomas W. Lamont
William W. Lancaster
Dr. Irving Langmuir
Dr. Emil Lengyel
Prof. Gilbert N. Lewis
John F. Lewis, Jr.
Emil Ludwig
Prof. Robert S. Lynd
Clifford T. McAvoy
Judge Lois Mary McBride
Maurice Maeterlinck
Fritz Mahler
Prof. William M. Malisoff
Dr. Thomas Mann
Paul Manship
Major Raymond Massey
Dr. Kirtley F. Mather
Dr. George R. Minot
Mrs. Lucy Sprague Mitchell
Dr. Wesley C. Mitchell
Charles Michael Mitzell
Pierre Monteux
Mme. Pierre Monteux
William Morris, Jr.
Bishop Arthur W. Moulton
Hon. James E. Murray
Dr. Philip C. Nash
Robert Hastings Nichols
Eugene O'Neill

Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam
Dr. Frederick Douglas Patterson
Bishop Malcolm E. Peabody
Hon. Claude D. Pepper
Prof. Ralph Barton Perry
Dr. E. C. Peters
Dr. John P. Peters
Dr. Emily M. Pierson
Prof. Arthur Upham Pope
Henry W. Pope
Carl Randau
Elmer Rice
Wallingford Riegger
Paul Robeson
Earl Robinson
Reid Robinson
Harold J. Rome
Joseph A. Rosen
Dr. Kurt Rosenfeld
Miles M. Sherover
Rt. Rev. Henry K. Sherrill
Herman Shumlin
Dr. Henry E. Sigerist
Raymond P. Sloan
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Maxwell S. Stewart
Leopold Stokowski
Charles E. Stuart
Raymond Gram Swing
Geneviève Tabouis
Mills Ten Eyck
Hon. Elbert D. Thomas
R. J. Thomas
Dr. Max Thorek
S. A. Trone
Rt. Rev. Henry St. George Tucker
Philip H. Van Gelder
Mary van Kleeck
Bishop W. J. Walls
Leroy Waterman
Max Weber
Franz Werfel
Dr. Henry N. Wieman
Dr. C. C. Williams
Dr. Charles F. Wishart
Dr. Mary E. Woolley
Dr. Max Yergan
Mary Yost
Art Young
Dr. J. F. Zimmerman
Prof. J. J. Zmrah
Leane Zugsmith
Dr. Vladimir Kosma Zworykin

143

CORLISS LAMONT, Chairman

EDWIN S. SMITH, Vice-Chairman and Executive Director

SAMUEL B. LEAVIN, Treasurer

ARTHUR UPHAM POPE, WILLIAM MORRIS, JR., Vice-Chairmen

THOMAS L. HARRIS, National Secretary

232 MADISON AVENUE • NEW YORK 16, N. Y. • MURRAY HILL 3-2082

July 6, 1944

The Board of Directors of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship has elected you to become a member of the "National Council." We feel sure that you will agree with us that American-Soviet cooperation in the months and years ahead will be of the greatest importance for speedy victory over the Nazis, for post-war international trade, the stable development of American economy with the rest of the world, and to insure a durable peace.

Membership in the National Council is limited to 250 persons representative of all sections of our country and of the leading fields of activity such as business, labor, the church, science, law and the arts.

The purpose and program of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship are briefly described in the enclosed brochure. The following names not included in the brochure should be added as Chairmen of committees: Education Committee, Dr. Herbert Davis, President of Smith College; Architects Committee, Harvey Wiley Corbett; Theatre Committee, Margaret Webster; Committee of Women, Muriel Draper, Chairman of the New York Committee (National Committee in formation).

The present number of Local Councils is now 35 instead of the 28 stated in the brochure.

The Council has been responsible for a number of important undertakings in the past twelve months' period including the holding of a Congress of American-Soviet Friendship in New York last November with about fifty smaller meetings occurring at the same time throughout the country. The Congress culminated in an overflow meeting at Madison Square Garden at which the principal speakers were Secretary Ickes, Donald Nelson and Senator Pepper. During the two days' period preceding the Madison Square Garden meeting, panel meetings were held on the following subjects--science, medicine, education, nationalities, women and trade unions.

The National Council has held a number of outstanding events during the past year in addition to the Congress. Notable among them was the dinner on Red Army Day at which Major General Ulio, Adjutant General of the United States Army, and Lieutenant General Rudenko, Head of the Soviet Purchasing Commission, spoke; an exhibit of "Soviet Art in Wartime" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; an American-Soviet War Exhibit which ran for several months at the Museum of Science and Industry in Rockefeller Center; an exhibit of architectural monuments and buildings destroyed by the Germans in Russia held at the Architectural League of New York.

July 6, 1944

The members of the National Council will be kept informed from
time to time concerning the activities of the Board. The members of the
National Council have the following duties and privileges under the by-
laws:

(1) To attend the annual meeting.

(2) To elect the Board of Directors.

The by-laws also provide as follows:

ARTICLE III

"Section 9. The Board may refer any matter of policy to the membership by mail ballot. Such reference shall be held whenever one-third of all the directors shall request the same.

"Section 10. The officers and Board shall render reports to the membership on the activities and business of the organization."

For your information we enclose a list of our present Board of
Directors.

By serving as a member of the National Council you will be
making an important personal contribution to an organization whose
activities during the forthcoming year will be of great assistance
in bringing closer together for a speedy victory and a lasting peace
the people and governments of the USA and the USSR.

It is provided in the by-laws that each member of the National
Council shall pay annual dues of $5.00. You would not be responsible
for any other financial obligation except any donation which you might
voluntarily wish to make to the Council's work. We hope very much you
will see your way clear to accepting this membership and would ap-
preciate it if you would sign and return the enclosed card in the en-
closed envelope.

ESS:LK

uopwa /19

P. S. This is a letter to all prospective Council members and
since you are already a sponsor of the organization we are very
anxious to add your name to the list of Council members.

by members of the Staff under the leadership of the former Executive Director to whom the report paid tribute. The Director noted the highlights of the report concluding with the presentation of the members of the Staff of the National Council and the representatives of Local Councils attending the meeting. Mr. Balokovic called for a standing vote of thanks to the Staff for the splendid job they are doing. All present responded warmly.

The floor was opened for discussion of the Report on Past Activities. It was generally affirmed that a tremendously important service is being performed with the publication of the Reporter on American-Soviet Relations which brings the truth about the Soviet Union to the people of this country. Suggestions were offered to achieve a wider circulation of this publication. Mr. Balokovic spoke in terms of a circulation of a quarter of a million copies. He said that he could supply the office with names of many organizations (fraternal) who would be interested and who might be willing to promote the Reporter among their memberships.

Mr. Abraham J. Isserman, attorney for the National Council, reported on the status of the Council re: the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He spoke of this Committee's anxiety to paralyze progressive action in America evident in their attacks on other progressive organizations, in addition to our own, whose primary object is the building of a sound internal democracy and sound international relations. One of the primary jobs of the National Council should be strong resistance to the Committee's actions with the aid of other organizations attacked by the Committee. This must necessarily continue until the Committee folds up. The Council cannot and will not submit to the imputation which this Committee is trying to force upon our organization and the public that our efforts for the promotion of friendly relations with the Soviet Union are un-American and subversive. Responding to the counsel's report Mr. Lamont spoke of the splendid job which Mr. Isserman is doing in putting the National Council in a strong legal position in connection with the actions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

The meeting then moved to the consideration of the Executive Director's report of proposals and plans of future work (copies distributed to those present).

In discussing this report, particularly in connection with the raising of funds for this organization, Mr. Vincent suggested that the trade unions are a good source for raising funds. However, that would require the intensification of our educational program in the trade unions. Money contributed by trade unions could be used for the projection of an educational program by the Council in the unions.

It was moved that the Board of Directors appoint a committee of three or four persons to contact trade unions for substantial contributions to the National Council. This motion was seconded and carried.

Dr. Card expressed pleasure at the emphasis placed upon field activities in the Report of future activities. He recalled that the Report last year stressed the setting up of special committees which are now becoming independent and self-sustaining. While the work that was done on these Special Committees is good it is evident that activity in connection with Local Councils had lapsed. Work in communities outside metropolitan New York is important as can

COMMITTEES OF THE ARTS
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AMERICAN-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP, INC.

114 east 32nd street

new york 16, n. y.

murray hill 3-2087

October 9, 1945

MUSIC COMMITTEE

Chairman
Dr. Serge Koussevitzky

Vice Chairmen
Aaron Copland
Mrs. Guy Patterson Gannett
Benny Goodman
Roy Harris
Andre Kostelanetz
Dmitri Mitropoulos
Lily Pons
Fritz Reiner

Mr. Langston Hughes
634 St. Nicholas Avenue
New York, New York

Dear Mr. Hughes:

The Committees of the Arts of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship is holding a Conference in New York on Sunday, November 18, with Panels on Writing, Music and Theatre. The purpose of the conference is to promote a greater knowledge and understanding of Soviet arts and artists among artists and others in the United States, and to discuss what can be done to promote greater knowledge of American art in its various forms in the Soviet Union.

We are confident that cultural exchange between the USA and the USSR is a major element in creating closer understanding between the two peoples. It can therefore make an important contribution to the process of political cooperation between the two nations, which is so essential to world peace.

We are eager to have you participate in the Panel on writing. We would like you to talk on the question of the Multi-national Character of Soviet Literature for which we feel you are particularly fitted. If you would like to speak on some other aspect of literature in connection with American-Soviet cultural relations we should be very glad to have your ideas. I want to emphasize that we regard it of great importance to the purposes of the Panel to have you appear in some capacity.

ART COMMITTEE

Chairman
Paul Manship

Vice Chairmen
Jo Davidson
Rockwell Kent
Leon Kroll
John Sloan
Max Weber

THEATRE COMMITTEE

Chairman
Margaret Webster

Executive Members
Howard Bay
Cheryl Crawford
Jose Ferrer
Frederick Fox
Rosamond Gilder
Theresa Helburn
William Morris, Jr.
Ruth Norman
Oscar Serlin

DANCE COMMITTEE

Chairman
Agnes deMille

Executive Secretary
Helen Tamiris

ESS;bjo
uopwa 19/91

264

114 east 32nd street

new york 16, n. y.

murray hill 3-2087

December 9, 1945

CHAIRMAN

Corliss Lamont

VICE-CHAIRMAN AND
DIRECTOR

Edwin S. Smith

TREASURER

Prof. Henry Pratt Fairchild

VICE-CHAIRMEN

Arthur Upham Pope
William Morris, Jr.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Harland Allen
Zlatko Balokovic
Cyril Beth
Theodore Bayer
Mary McLeod Bethune
Harvey Wiley Corbett
John O. Crane
Prof. Dorothy Douglas
Prof. Leslie C. Dunn
B. Z. Goldberg
Thomas L. Harris
Raymond C. Ingersoll
Philip J. Jaffe
Leon Kroll
Samuel B. Leavin
Howard McKenzie
George Marshall
William L. McFetridge
Rev. William Howard Melish
John Middleton
Emily Pierson
Rev. Adam Clayton Powell
Joseph P. Selly
M. B. Sherman
Herman Shumlin
Dr. Henry E. Sigerist
Jessica Smith
Vilhjelmur Stefansson
Hudson Walker

Dear Friend:

For your information and interest I am enclosing a copy of
my letter to Congressman John S. Wood, Chairman of the House Com-
mittee on Un-American Activities (Wood-Rankin Committee). The
letter speaks for itself. It was released to the press as of
Monday, December 10.

The rejection of the request from Mr. Wood's Committee came
as a result of the last meeting, a few days ago, of the Board of
Directors of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship,
and after an exchange of letters with the Committee lasting al-
most a month. The Board also authorized the Executive Committee
and myself to take whatever additional steps may be necessary in
reference to the Committee on Un-American Activities.

As you know, this Committee is a continuation of the notoriously anti-democratic Dies Committee. Only the other day Congressman Ellis E. Patterson of California charged on the floor of Congress that the Committee on Un-American Activities "has violated every concept of American democracy" and called it a "sham." He has initiated a move for the abolition of the Committee.

The Wood-Rankin Committee is not a real investigating committee. It is a smear committee having as its purpose the obstruction and defeat of the truly democratic elements in American life. Its attack upon the National Council is designed to injure its work in building American-Soviet friendship. It can have no other purpose.

The Committee seeks to conduct a fishing expedition through
our files, thus placing us under suspicion. Then, following its
customary undemocratic procedure, it would publicize its "investi-
gation" through a smear campaign against the Council in which
we would have no adequate opportunity to defend ourselves. The
National Council has therefore decided on a course of action
which will afford the greatest protection to its significant work
and to its supporters and associates.

In addition to the action indicated by the enclosed letter,
the National Council has engaged as special counsel to advise it
Mr. Charles A. Horsky of the firm of Covington, Burling, Rublee,
Acheson and Shorb, Washington, D. C. Mr. Horsky, a product of

C O P Y

December 9, 1945.

The Honorable John S. Wood, Chairman,
Committee on Un-American Activities,
House Office Building,
Washington, D. C.

Dear Congressman Wood:

The National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, by unanimous vote of its Board of Directors, has decided not to accede to the surprising request of the House Committee on Un-American Activities that it be permitted to send in investigators to examine the organization's books and records. We reiterate that in our opinion the National Council is not a proper subject of interest for your Committee; and we are unable to comprehend how our important work for American-Soviet cooperation and understanding could possibly be considered an un-American activity.

A brief statement on the work of our National Council may serve to clarify the matter. The Council is an educational organization in the broad sense, financed entirely by Americans and trying to present the people of the United States with reliable information about Soviet Russia and American-Soviet relations. Among our more than 200 Directors and Sponsors are some of the most eminent citizens of the U.S.A., including several members of Congress.

Since the founding of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship in 1943, we have done our best to further the ends of our government for American-Soviet cooperation in war and in peace. And in this patriotic effort we have had on numerous occasions the collaboration of the U.S. Army, the U.S. State Department and other government agencies. Both President Roosevelt and President Truman have shown sympathy with our work.

On November 14 last President Truman, General Eisenhower and Admiral King all sent messages to our great Madison Square Garden meeting, at which England's noted Dean of Canterbury was one of the chief speakers. The Dean of Canterbury, as the special guest of the National Council, likewise addressed large rallies in other cities besides New York and was later received by President Truman at the White House.

Honorable John S. Wood

- 2 -

December 9, 1945

Other speakers at our Madison Square Garden meetings have been Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., Acting Secretary of State; Donald M. Nelson, Chairman of the War Production Board; the Earl of Halifax, British Ambassador to the United States; Andrei A. Gromyko, the Soviet Ambassador; Joseph E. Davies, former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and General Joseph W. Stilwell.

The day-to-day work of our organization includes a Speakers Bureau which tries to meet the constant demand for lecturers on the Soviet Union; an Exhibits Department, which supplies photographs on various phases of Soviet life to schools and colleges, libraries and museums, throughout the United States; an Educational Committee, which initiates teachers' conferences and exchange of students between America and Soviet Russia; an Architects Committee, a Music Committee, a Religious Committee and a Science Committee, which stimulate cultural programs on Soviet Russia and cultural interchange with that country.

The activities of the National Council have been open and nation-wide and reported constantly in the public press. Our organization has nothing to con- ceal. Your Committee has failed to indicate in what manner the activities of the Council bring it within the scope of the investigation that the House of Representatives has authorized your Committee to make. Nor has your Committee given any reason for its demands upon us, though we have repeatedly asked for one.

The National Council does not, to quote the House resolution on this matter, engage in "un-American propaganda activities." It is not "subversive" in any way; and it does not attack "the principle of the form of government as guaran- teed by our Constitution."

Your Committee must be aware that inherent in its request is the inference that helping the American people to understand our Soviet ally and promoting American-Soviet amity are un-American and subversive. For us to yield to a request based on this erroneous inference would not merely cause wanton injury to the work of the National Council, but would also have a deleterious effect upon America's foreign relations and thus be of disservice to our country. In fact, the request of your Committee, if pursued, would in itself contribute to the present reckless campaign to undermine those friendly relations between America and Russia upon which the peace of the world depends.

Accordingly, we must assert our legal and constitutional rights to be free from unwarranted and improper interference by the agents of the Committee on Un-American Activities.

Because of the importance of the issues involved in this matter, I am making this letter public.

CL;rs

uopwa 19-91

C
O
P
Y

December 9, 1945

Honorable Sam Rayburn
Speaker of the House
House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Speaker:

We enclose herewith a copy of a letter this day sent by the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship to Representative John S. Wood, Chairman of the Committee on Un-American Activities. In this letter the National Council states its decision not to open its books and records to investigators of the above Committee, which has been requested by that Committee since November 12, 1945 and which has been the subject of an exchange of correspondence between the National Council and the Committee. The enclosed letter states the reasons for the refusal to allow the requested "investigation". These reasons are substantially based on the obvious fact that by no interpretation consonant with the facts does the National Council fall within the scope of the Committee's authorized powers of inquiry, either as being engaged in un-American propaganda, as being subversive or as seeking the overthrow of the principles of our form of government.

The National Council has been fully aware of the activities and conduct of the present Committee on Un-American Activities and of its predecessor, the Dies Committee. As you know this conduct has merited widespread public condemnation and sharp criticism on the floor of Congress which has led to a move to amend the House Rules to abolish the Committee as a standing committee of the House.

The National Council is aware too of the fact that the present Committee on Un-American Activities was established on the opening day of Congress without full consideration having been given thereto and under circumstances which caused Representative John McCormick, then Majority Leader, to say that the action was without precedent in the entire history of Congress and to express his hope that the House would not accept the offered amendment.

The activities and methods of the Committee on Un-American Activities have made it plain that its present move to "investigate" the Council is not a move to discover things un-American or subversive but rather is a move designed to injure American-Soviet relations upon which, as our letter to Representative Wood indicates, the peace of the world depends. The Committee's action can have no other effect.

We call this matter to your urgent attention because we believe it important to the dignity of Congress and to our national well-being that the activities of this Committee to date and its motivations should be given the closest scrutiny by Congress itself to the end that there will be no further abuse of the power of Congress through smear campaigns against the truly democratic forces in American life.

CL: BK
uopwa/19-91
enc.

Copies to all Congressmen

114 east 32nd street

new york 16, n. y.

murray hill 3-2087

October 13, 1945

MUSIC COMMITTEE

Mr. Langston Hughes
c/o William B. Feakins
500 Fifth Avenue
New York, N.Y.

Vice Chairmen

Dear Mr. Hughes:

On Sunday, November 18th, in New York City, the Committees of the Arts of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship will hold a Conference on the Literature, Theatre and Music of the Soviet Union.

The purpose of this Conference will be to bring greater knowledge and understanding of the Soviet arts to the artists and public generally of this country. In this way, we hope to carry forward the cultural and educational provisions of the United Nations Charter.

The Conference will be comprised of three panels and a general overall session. Dr. Serge Koussevitzky and Aaron Copland, respectively, will act as Honorary Chairman and Chairman of the Music Panel. Margaret Webster will be chairman of the Theatre Panel. The Chairman of the Panel on Literature has not yet been determined.

We are most eager to have you as a speaker at the Panel on Literature. It has been suggested that you might talk on the Literature of the Nationalities of the Soviet Union. This is only by way of suggestion. If there is any other subject on which you would be more interested in speaking, we would be happy to have you do so.

We hope very much that you will be able to accept this invitation extended on behalf of the Committees of the Arts of the Council. May we hear from you at your earliest convenience as we are planning to issue the Call to the Conference in the very near future.

This letter follows a communication which has already been sent to your home address. However, since we understand that you are out of town at this time, our first letter may not have reached you.

ART COMMITTEE

Chairman
Paul Manship

THEATRE COMMITTEE

Chairman
Margaret Webster

Executive Members

DANCE COMMITTEE

Chairman
Agnes deMille

uopwa
19-91

264

Washington's
Birthday

Red Army Day
Anniversary

February 8, 1946

Mr. Langston Hughes
634 St. Nicholas Ave.
New York, N.Y.

Dear Mr. Hughes:

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the National Council has arranged its first peacetime gala dinner meeting for Thursday evening, February 21st, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, on the occasion of the two great American and Soviet anniversaries.

General Walter B. Smith, Chief of Staff of General Eisenhower, will be one of the main speakers at this meeting dedicated to the furtherance of American-Soviet cooperation, welded in joint victory, for the great job of world reconstruction.

A special feature of the evening will be a tribute to Corliss Lamont, whose leadership has inspired the National Council and the whole movement of American-Soviet friendship over a period of many years.

We hope that you will join former Ambassador Joseph E. Davies and a group of other distinguished Americans in sending us a brief statement commenting on Mr. Lamont's contribution in the field of American-Soviet cooperation. These messages will be presented to Mr. Lamont during the program of the dinner.

May we look forward to your early reply?

uopwa 19/91

DINNER, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1946 • HOTEL WALDORF-ASTORIA
Auspices of NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AMERICAN-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP, INC.

114 East 32nd Street, New York 16, N.Y. • Murray Hill 3-2082

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIRMAN
Corliss Lamont

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Richard Morford,

SECRETARY and TREASURER
Prof. Henry Pratt Fairchild

VICE-CHAIRMEN
Dr. Arthur Upham Pope
William Morris, Jr.
Rev. William Howard Melish

Harland Allen
Zlatko Balokovic
Cyril Bath
Theodore Bayer
Mary McLeod Bethune
Harvey Wiley Corbett
John O. Crane
Prof. Dorothy Douglas
Prof Leslie C. Dunn
B. Z. Goldberg
Thomas L. Harris
Raymond C. Ingersoll
Philip J. Jaffe
Leon Kroll
Samuel B. Leavin

Howard McKenzie
George Marshall
William L. McFetridge
John Middleton
Dr. Emily Pierson
Rev. Adam Clayton Powell
Joseph P. Sally
M. B. Sherman
Herman Shumlin
Dr. Henry E. Sigerist
Edwin S. Smith
Jessica Smith
Dr. Vilhjelmur Stefansson
Craig Vincent
Hudson Walker

SPONSORS

Irving Abramson
Louis Adamic
George F. Addes
Maxwell Anderson
John Taylor Arms
Dr. Frank Aydelotte
Hon. Joseph Clark Baldwin
Eugene E. Barnett
Hon. William L. Batt
Max Bedacht
Mrs. Alice S. Belester
William Rose Benét
The Metropolitan Benjamin
Dr. Henry Lambert Bibby
Prof George D. Birkhoff
Mrs. Louis Bloch
Mrs. Anita Block
Dr. Sophonisba Breckenridge
Simon Breines
Van Wyck Brooks
Prof. E. W. Burgess
John P. Burke
Hon. Arthur Capper
Charles Chaplin
Hon. Oscar L. Chapman
Dr. Robert C. Clothier
William F. Cochran
Hon. John M. Coffee
Dr. Henry S. Coffin
Dr. Karl Taylor Compton
Aaron Copland
Norman Corwin
Joseph Curran
Jo Davidson
Hon. Joseph E. Davies
Dr. Herbert John Davis
Hugh DeLacy
Dr. Monroe E. Deutsch
Dr. Stephen Duggan
Dr. C. A. Dykstra
Prof. Albert Einstein
Rev. Frank May Eliot
Max Epstein
Dr. Mildred Fairchild
Dr. Robert D. Foeld
Lion Feuchtwanger
Rev. Joseph F. Fletcher
Homer Folks
Wanda Gag
Dr. W. Horsley Gantt
Dr. Caleb F. Gates, Jr.
Dr. Thomas S. Gates
Dean Christian Gauss
Ben Gold
Dr. Mortimer Graves
Dr. Harry Grundfest

Dr. Alice Hamilton
Hon. Learned Hand
Mrs. J. Borden Harriman
Moss Hart
William Hellman
Dr. A. D. Henderson
Mrs. Thomas N. Hepburn
Dr. Leslie Pinckney Hill
Prof. William Ernest Hocking
Dr. Walter M. Horton
Langston Hughes
Dr. Walter Hullihan
Hon. Harold L. Ickes
Hon. Stanley M. Isaacs
Dr. Millard H. Jencks
Prof. Howard Mumford Jones
Dr. Lewis Webster Jones
Prof. Louis C. Karpinski
Helen Keller
Rockwell Kent
Dorothy Kenyon
Dr. John A. Kingsbury
Serge Koussevitzky
Hon. Fiorello H. LaGuardia
Mrs. Thomas W. Lamont
H. Carrington Lancaster
William W. Lancaster
Dr. Irving Langmuir
Dr. Emil Lengyel
Prof. Gilbert N. Lewis
John F. Lewis, Jr.
Emil F. Ludwig
Prof. Robert S. Lynd
Clifford T. McAvoy
Judge Lois Mary McBride
Maurice Masterlinck
Fritz Mahler
Prof. William M. Melisoff
Dr. Thomas Mann
Paul Manship
Frank X. Martel
Raymond Massey
Dr. Kirtley F. Mather
Lewis Merrill
Dr. George R. Minot
Mrs. Lucy Sprague Mitchell
Dr. Wesley C. Mitchell
Charles Michael Mitzell
Pierre Montieux
Mme. Pierre Monteux
Bishop Arthur W. Moulton
Hon. James E. Murray
Dr. Philip C. Nash
Dr. Robert Hastings Nichols
Eugene O'Neill
Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam

Dr. Marion Edwards Park
Dr. Frederick Douglas Patterson
Bishop Malcolm E. Peabody
Hon. Claude Pepper
Prof. Ralph Barton Perry
Dr. E. C. Peters
Dr. John P. Peters
Henry W. Pope
Michael Quill
Anton Refragier
Elmer Rice
Wallingford Riegger
Paul Robeson
Col. Raymond Robins
Earl Robinson
Reid Robinson
Harold J. Rome
Joseph A. Rosen
Joseph A. Salerno
Hon. Leverett Saltonstall
Hon. Sumner Sewall
Miles M. Sherover
Rt. Rev. Henry K. Sherrill
Raymond P. Sloan
Dr. P. A. Sorokin
Maxwell S. Stewart
Canon Anson Phelps Stokes
Leopold Stokowski
Raymond Gram Swing
Gerard Swope
Geneviève Tabouis
Mills Ten Eyck
Hon. Elbert D. Thomas
R. J. Thomas
Dr. Max Thorek
S. A. Trone
Rt. Rev. Henry St. George Tucker
Philip H. Van Gelder
R. E. Van Horn
Mary van Kleeck
Prof. George Vernadsky
Bishop W. J. Walls
Dr. Harry F. Ward
Leroy Waterman
Max Weber
Dr. Henry N. Wieman
Dr. C. C. Williams
Dr. Charles F. Wishart
Hon. James H. Wolfe
Dr. Mary E. Woolley
Dr. Max Yergan
Dean Mary Yost
Dr. J. F. Zimmerman
Dr. J. J. Zmrah
Leane Zugsmith
Dr. Vladimir Kosma Zworykin

264

114 east 32nd street

• new york 16, n. y.

• murray hill 3-2087

April 22, 1946

Dear Member of the National Council:

We wish to record for your information the latest
events concerning the House Committee on Un-American Activ-
ities.

On April 11th the Committee announced citations of
contempt of the Congress for both the Chairman and the
Executive Director of the National Council.

Presumably this citation is based upon the fact that
neither of the officers has produced the records of the in-
ternal affairs of the National Council: its financial rec-
ords, its list of contributors, and its correspondence as
required by subpoena, although both of us have appeared be-
fore the Committee to answer pertinent questions concerning
Council activities.

We vigorously affirm that none of our actions at any
time has been in contempt of the Congress of the United
States. We have made available to the House Committee all
to which it is properly entitled in the form of the complete
printed materials and publications of the National Council.
By demanding more than that the Committee is attempting to
engage in an illegal "fishing expedition" in violation of
the 4th Amendment to the Constitution.

It is the House Committee which has shown itself
contemptuous of the constitutional rights of every citizen
guaranteeing him freedom of thought and expression, freedom
from unlawful searches and seizures and assuring personal
liberty.

The Committee's attempted investigation of the
National Council is, as we have constantly declared, beyond
its scope, improper and unconstitutional. Under no plaus-
ible interpretation of the English language or American law
can the National Council be regarded as engaging in "Un-
American propaganda activities" which is the only proper
field of investigation of the House Committee according to
the Congressional resolution under which it operates.

The House Committee's actions are not only a viola-
tion of the most basic rights of American citizens but
constitute an attempt to destroy the National Council by
trying to intimidate and penalize those who support the truly
American policy of collaboration with the Soviet Union. The

CHAIRMAN
Corliss Lamont

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Harland Allen
Zlatko Balokovic
Cyril Bath
Theodore Bayer
Mary McLeod Bethune
Harvey Wiley Corbett
John O. Crane
Prof. Dorothy Douglas
Prof Leslie C. Dunn
B. Z. Goldberg
Thomas L. Harris
Raymond C. Ingersoll
Philip J. Jaffe
Leon Kroll
Samuel B. Leavin
Howard McKenzie
George Marshall
William L. McFetridge
John Middleton
Dr. Emily Pierson
Rev. Adam Clayton Powell
Joseph P. Selly
M. B. Sherman
Herman Shumlin
Dr. Henry E. Sigerist
Edwin S. Smith
Jessica Smith
Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Craig Vincent
Hudson Walker

Committee thus contributes to the present campaign to undermine those friendly relations between America and Russia upon which world peace depends.

On April 16th the Wood-Rankin Committee asked the House of Representatives to certify contempt proceedings against 17 members of the Executive Board of the Joint- Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. The request was approved 292-56. Nevertheless, it is important to note that three weeks ago only four votes were cast against the initial request to the House for certification in the case of Dr. Edward Barsky, Chairman of the Board of this same organization. On April 16th the opposition total rose to 56.

The Committee has delayed request for certification in the case of the officers of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship. The House of Representatives, now enjoying an Easter recess, will resume its sessions on April 30th. We expect the Committee to press the case against us immediately upon reconvening.

Meantime, we have asked the help of our Local Councils and of many key persons, supporters of our program, who have national organization connections in a campaign to visit Congressmen while they are at home to secure their commitment to vote against the certification for contempt. We have urged also that thousands of letters or telegrams should be addressed to Congressmen.

We count it our responsibility to arouse the American people and, through them, the members of Congress to the full realization that this Committee's attacks are undermining democracy at home and are a threat to international cooperation and peace. We may not win a Congressional majority against certification at this time; in which case the issue will have to be carried into the courts for decision. Nevertheless, it is desperately essential that Congressional opposition to this Committee's un-American activities be increased as much as possible.

We would appreciate your support by writing your Congressman and by contacting other key individuals to do the same before April 30th.

Be assured that we are getting on with our educational program in an even more vigorous way because of these attacks. We are gearing our efforts to reach more people in more groups across the nation than ever before with the facts about the Soviet Union and the life of its people, with a fair interpretation of contemporary relations between our two nations, aimed at increased understanding which is the basis of an enduring friendship.

Excuse this long letter. It is our desire that the friends of the National Council shall have up to date information and explanation of the stand we have taken. We shall be glad to have you write us about the matter.

RM:bc
uopwa 19-91
enc.

114 east 32nd street

new york 16, n. y.

murray hill 3-2087

CHAIRMAN
Rev. William Howard Melish

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Harland Allen
Zlatko Balokovic
Cyril Bath
Theodore Bayer
Mary McLeod Bethune
Harvey Wiley Corbett
John O. Crane
Prof. Dorothy Douglas
B. Z. Goldberg
Thomas L. Harris
Raymond C. Ingersoll
Philip J. Jaffe
Leon Kroll
Corliss Lamont
Samuel B. Leavin
William L. McFetridge
Howard McKenzie
George Marshall
John Middleton
Dr. Emily Pierson
Rev. Adam Clayton Powell
Joseph P. Selly
M. B. Sherman
Herman Shumlin
Dr. Henry E. Sigerist
Edwin S. Smith
Jessica Smith
Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Craig Vincent
Hudson Walker

July 10, 1946

Dear Friend:

Corliss Lamont, whose years of devoted efforts to the cause of international understanding and peace have endeared him to millions of Americans, has been cited for contempt by the Rankin-dominated House Committee on Un-American Activities. The House has just certified these charges by a vote of 240 to 85.

There are two important documents enclosed with this letter. One gives you the facts behind the Rankin Committee's attempt to disrupt the work of the National Council and thereby contribute to the undermining of American-Soviet cooperation. It also explains the basic constitutional issues, of vital importance to you and every American, that are at stake.

The second document describes who we are, what we are doing and why we are doing it. There in picture and in word, we unequivocally answer the fantastic implication that our activities might in any way be considered "un-American"!

If necessary, we are determined to take this issue to the Supreme Court, completely confident of the outcome, as we are confident of the support of the American people.

We promise you that we will work the harder to educate the American people, to give them the facts about the Soviet Union and American-Soviet cooperation. We pledge you that to the limit of our resources we will help weld together the two greatest countries of the world in a program of peace and cooperation that will safeguard us from the horror of atomic warfare and ensure a better life for all mankind.

Our common responsibility is a grave one and we need your immediate participation in this fight. We ask you to send a generous contribution in the enclosed envelope to help uphold our constitutional rights against the Rankin Committee and to expand our program to reach ever increasing numbers of Americans.

We look forward to your prompt response.

RM:bc
uopwa #16-2

URGENT
for immediate action
MEMORANDUM

From: Richard Morford

To: Lanston Hughes

As a consistent supporter of American-Soviet friendship, you
must be deeply alarmed by the current campaign to disrupt relations be-
tween the United States and the Soviet Union, climaxed by the Churchill
speech.

Contributing to the anti-Soviet campaign is the attempted in-
vestigation of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship by the
Rankin-dominated House Committee on Un-American Activities. Two of our
officers were subpoenaed by the Committee in an attempt to secure the
private correspondence and the financial records, thus exceeding its
authority and violating our constitutional rights.

The enclosed statement will give you the full facts about the
Rankin Committee's action and what you as an American citizen can do to
terminate this unwarranted interference with the Council's work. This
attempt to undermine the work of our organization is part of the con-
certed drive to destroy American-Soviet cooperation.

If peace is to be preserved, if we are not to be robbed of the
hard won fruits of victory, we must immediately and by every method
alert the American people to the need for strengthening the bonds of co-
operation between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics.

The National Council is issuing hundreds of thousands of leaf-
lets presenting the true facts about American-Soviet relations. We are
calling regional and local conferences; we are sponsoring large mass
meetings and demonstrations; by pamphlet and radio, by forum and confer-
ence, by good-will actions of every kind, we must reach the millions.

With so much at stake your immediate participation in this
fight is a grave necessity. We ask you to send a generous contribution
in the enclosed envelope to enable us both to combat the Rankin Commit-
tee and to extend the Council's educational services, so that Americans
from across the nation will join forces to assure American-Soviet
friendship - cornerstone of lasting international peace.

We look forward to your prompt and generous response.

uopwa #1-2

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AMERICAN-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP, Inc.

114 EAST 32nd STREET . NEW YORK 16, N. Y. . MURRAY HILL 3-2080

<table><tr><td>CLASS OF SERVICE</td></tr><tr><td>This is a full-rate Telegram or Cable-gram unless its deferred character is indicated by a suitable symbol above or preceding the address.</td></tr></table>

WESTERN
UNION

A. N. WILLIAMS
PRESIDENT

1201

(42)

<table><tr><td colspan="2">SYMBOLS</td></tr><tr><td>DL</td><td>= Day Letter</td></tr><tr><td>NL</td><td>= Night Letter</td></tr><tr><td>LC</td><td>= Deferred Cable</td></tr><tr><td>NLT</td><td>= Cable Night Letter</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Ship Radiogram</td></tr></table>

The filing time shown in the date line on telegrams and day letters is STANDARD TIME at point of origin. Time of receipt is STANDARD TIME at point of destination

N269 DL PD=FG NEWYORK NY 23 330P
LANGSTON HUGHES=

1946 APR 23 PM 3 46

634 STNICHOLAS AVE=

ILYA EHRENBURG KONSTANTIN SIMONOV MAJOR GENERAL MIKHAIL GALAKTIONOV WILL BE TENDERED RECEPTION WITHIN NEXT TEN DAYS TO BE ATTENDED BY LEADING AMERICAN WRITERS AND JOURNALISTS. YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN SMALL NUMBER OF FOREMOST WRITERS AS MEMBER OF COMMITTEE SPONSORING EVENT. PLEASE WIRE REPLY COLLECT DETAILS REGARDING DATE AND PLACE FOLLOWING=

RICHARD MORFORD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AMERICAN SOVIET FRIENDSHIP
T 114 EAST 32 STREET NEW YORK 16 NY SERVICE

ALL MESSAGES TAKEN BY THIS COMPANY ARE SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS:

To guard against mistakes or delays, the sender of a message should order it repeated, that is, telegraphed back to the originating office for comparison. For this, one-half the unrepeated message rate is charged in addition. Unless otherwise indicated on its face, this is an unrepeated message and paid for as such, in consideration whereof it is agreed between the sender of the message and this Company as follows:

1. The Company shall not be liable for mistakes or delays in the transmission or delivery, or for non-delivery, of any message received for transmission at the unrepeated-message rate beyond the sum of five hundred dollars; nor for mistakes or delays in the transmission or delivery, or for non-delivery, of any message received for transmission at the repeated-message rate beyond the sum of five thousand dollars, unless specially valued; nor in any case for delays arising from unavoidable interruption in the working of its lines.

2. In any event the Company shall not be liable for damages for mistakes or delays in the transmission or delivery, or for the non-delivery, of any message, whether caused by the negligence of its servants or otherwise, beyond the actual loss, not exceeding in any event the sum of five thousand dollars, at which amount the sender of each message represents that the message is valued, unless a greater value is stated in writing by the sender thereof at the time the message is tendered for transmission, and unless the repeated-message rate is paid or agreed to be paid, and an additional charge equal to one-tenth of one per cent of the amount by which such valuation shall exceed five thousand dollars.

3. The Company is hereby made the agent of the sender, without liability, to forward this message over the lines of any other company when necessary to reach its destination.

4. Except as otherwise indicated in connection with the listing of individual places in the filed tariffs of the Company, the amount paid for the transmission of a domestic telegram or an incoming cable or radio message covers its delivery within the following limits: In cities or towns of 5,000 or more inhabitants where the Company has an office which, as shown by the filed tariffs of the Company, is not operated through the agency of a railroad company, within two miles of any open main or branch office of the Company; in cities or towns of 5,000 or more inhabitants where, as shown by the filed tariffs of the Company, the telegraph service is performed through the agency of a railroad company, within one mile of the telegraph office; in cities or towns of less than 5,000 inhabitants in which an office of the Company is located, within one-half mile of the telegraph office. Beyond the limits above specified the Company does not undertake to make delivery, but will endeavor to arrange for delivery as the agent of the sender, with the understanding that the sender authorizes the collection of any additional charge from the addressee and agrees to pay such additional charge if it is not collected from the addressee. There will be no additional charge for deliveries made by telephone within the corporate limits of any city or town in which an office of the Company is located.

5. No responsibility attaches to this Company concerning messages until the same are accepted at one of its transmitting offices; and if a message is sent to such office by one of the Company's messengers, he acts for that purpose as the agent of the sender.

6. The Company will not be liable for damages or statutory penalties in the case of any message except an intrastate message in Texas where the claim is not presented in writing to the Company within sixty days after the message is filed with the Company for transmission, and in the case of an intrastate message in Texas the Company will not be liable for damages or statutory penalties where the claim is not presented in writing to the Company within ninety-five days after the cause of action, if any, shall have accrued; provided, however, that neither of these conditions shall apply to claims for damages or overcharges within the purview of Section 415 of the Communications Act of 1934.

7. It is agreed that in any action by the Company to recover the tolls for any message or messages the prompt and correct transmission and delivery thereof shall be presumed, subject to rebuttal by competent evidence.

8. Special terms governing the transmission of messages according to their classes, as enumerated below, shall apply to messages in each of such respective classes in addition to all the foregoing terms.

9. No employee of the Company is authorized to vary the foregoing.

10-42

CLASSES OF SERVICE

DOMESTIC SERVICES

TELEGRAMS

A full-rate expedited service.

DAY LETTERS

A deferred service at lower than the standard telegram rates.

SERIALS

Messages sent in sections during the same day.

NIGHT LETTERS

Accepted up to 2 A.M. for delivery not earlier than the following morning at rates substantially lower than the standard telegram or day letter rates.

CABLE SERVICES

ORDINARIES

The standard service, at full rates. Code messages, consisting of 5-letter groups only, at a lower rate.

DEFERREDS

Plain-language messages, subject to being deferred in favor of full-rate messages.

NIGHT LETTERS

Overnight plain-language messages.

URGENTS

Messages taking precedence over all other messages except government messages.

<table><tr><td>CLASS OF SERVICE</td></tr><tr><td>This is a full-rate Telegram or Cable-gram unless its de-ferred character is in-dicated by a suitable symbol above or pre-ceding the address.</td></tr></table>

WESTERN
UNION

JOSEPH L. EGAN
PRESIDENT

1201

(02)

<table><tr><td>SYMBOLS</td></tr><tr><td>DL=Day Letter</td></tr><tr><td>NL=Night Letter</td></tr><tr><td>LC=Deferred Cable</td></tr><tr><td>NLT=Cable Night Letter</td></tr><tr><td>Ship Radiogram</td></tr></table>

N86 PD 8 EXTRA=FG NEWYORK NY 16 941A I
LANGSTON HUGHES=
634 STNICHOLAS AVE=

1948 MAR 16 AM 10 12

WILL YOU PLEASE ACCEPT OUR INVITATION TO BE GUEST OF HONOR
DINNER WELCOME TO SOVIET AMBASSADOR ALEXANDER S PANYUSHKIN.
SENATOR GLEN TAYLOR SPEAKER HOTEL COMMODORE, TUESDAY, MARCH
23, 7 PM=

REV WILLIAM HOWARD MELISH CHAIRMAN NATIONAL COUNCIL
OF AMERICAN SOVIET FRIENDSHIP 114 EAST 32 ST NEW YORK NY

23 7 PM 114 32

NY WILL APPRECIATE SUGGESTIONS FROM ITS PATRONS CONCERNING ITS SERVICE

March 16, 1948

Rev. William Howard Melish
National Council of American
Soviet Friendship
114 East 32nd Street
New York, New York

Rev. Melish:

This is to acknowledge your telegram of March 16th inviting Mr. Langston Hughes to a dinner honoring Soviet Ambassador Panyushkin.

Unfortunately Mr. Hughes is out of the city on his annual cross-country lecture tour which takes him all the way to Washington on the West Coast, and we don't expect him back in the city before the end of June.

However, I take the liberty of thanking you for the invitation which you, as chairman of the National Council of American Soviet Friendship, were kind enough to extend to Mr. Hughes.

I am more than sure that had he been in town, Mr. Hughes would have been delighted to attend the Ambassador's dinner.

Here's a hope that the affair will be an unqualified success.

May 27, 1952

Mr. Richard Morford,
Executive Director,
National Council of
American-Soviet Friendship, Inc.,
114 East 32nd Street,
New York 16, New York.

Dear Mr. Morford,

To
Regretfully I must resign from membership in the National
Council of American-Soviet Friendship. I was under the im-
pression that my membership had long since lapsed, but I
note on the April 23 Report that my name is still carried on
the Membership List.

A major portion of my income is derived from lecturing in the
Negro schools and colleges of the South. As you know, doubt
know, many of these institutions are now being forced by state
boards or local politicians to screen their speakers according
to the highly controversial Attorney General's list. As I am
sure you know, too, Negro speakers do not have the vast area
of white women's clubs (with their teas and other social aspects)
from which to secure engagements. So our fees must come almost
entirely from Negro institutions. Most Negro college heads are
certainly not in sympathy with censorship or blacklisting, but
seemingly must at this period submit to it in order to maintain
their already decreasing grants. And some colleges now ask
speakers to indicate on sigging of contracts that they do not
belong to "listed" organizations.

I would, therefore, appreciate your removing my name from the
membership list of the National Council.

May 27, 1952

Dear Mr. Morford,

Regretfully I must resign from membership in the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship. I was under the impression that my membership had long since lapsed, but I note on the April 23 Report that my name is still carried on the Membership List.

A major portion of my income is derived from lecturing in the Negro schools and colleges of the South. As you know, doubt, many of these institutions are now being forced by state boards or local politicians to screen their speakers according to the highly controversial Attorney General's list. As I am sure you know, too, Negro speakers do not have the vast area of white women's clubs (with their teas and other social aspects) from which to secure engagements. So our fees must come almost entirely from Negro institutions. Most Negro college heads are certainly not in sympathy with censorship or blacklisting, but seemingly must at this period submit to it in order to maintain their already decreasing grants. And some colleges now ask speakers to indicate on signing of contracts that they do not belong to "listed" organizations.

114 east 32nd street

• new york 16, n. y.

• murray hill 3-2080

CHAIRMAN
Dr. John A. Kingsbury

SECRETARY
Prof. Henry Pratt Fairchild

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Theodore Bayer
Hon. Elmer A. Benson
Charles A. Collins
Rev. John W. Darr, Jr.
Muriel Draper
B. Z. Goldberg
Shirley Graham
Dr. Harry Grundfest
Dr. W. A. Hunton
Albert E. Kahn
Leo Krzycki
George Marshall
Rev. Wm. Howard Melish
Lt. Rev. Arthur W. Moulton
Berenice Noar
Dr. Henry Noyes
Dr. Emily Pierson
R. A. Resika
Curtis Ritter
Dr. Holland Roberts
Joseph P. Selly
Jessica Smith
Rev. Wm. B. Spofford
Prof. Dirk J. Struik
Pauline Taylor
Max Weber

June 24, 1952

Mr. Langston Hughes
20 East 127th Street
New York, New York

Dear Mr. Hughes:

Regretfully the Board of Directors at its June meeting
accepted your resignation as a member of the official
family of the National Council.

We have removed your name from the list.

It is our desire to respect the extraordinary conditions
which place such strictures upon men and women who believe
their concern for world peace and international reconcili-
ation to be a measure of their true patroitism.

We know that without an affiliation you will continue your
efforts for peace.

I covet personally the opportunity of meeting you. In all
these years with your traveling about we have not come to-
gether. You have done noble things.

RM: MJ

264

JOHN A. KINGSBURY

"LAVORIKA"
SHADY, N.Y.

New Year's Day - 1955.

Mr. Langston Hughes
20 East 127th Street
New York City

Dear Mr. Hughes:

I venture to make a personal appeal to you to read the enclosed
thoughtfully, with old associations in mind. During, and for some time after
the War, you were a Sponsor of the National Council of American-Soviet Friend-
ship.

Even if you cannot stand with me today before the Subversive Activi-
ties Control Board; even though you may differ from present policies of the
National Council:

I am sure you sympathize with us in our fight to defeat Attorney
General Brownell's petition to require the Council (and its officers) to regis-
ter as a "Communist-front organization".

I am sure you would like to see us carry our case to the United
States Supreme Court, if necessary.

As for me, I have no desire to be a martyr to any cause - _but_ I will
never stultify myself by registering _falsely_ as an "agent of a foreign power".

The penalty for failure to register (5 years in prison and a fine of
$10,000) does not terrify me, but _it does give me grave concern_!

"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consol-
lation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph."

I am not proposing that you agree with the Council or with me, except
as to our right to defense. Every man is entitled to act in accordance with
his convictions. "Men are beside themselves", said William Penn, "when they
transgress against their convictions".

I have no doubt that every one who has withdrawn from our organiza-
tion has done so for reasons of conviction. I am certain you and others like-
wise respect my conviction to continue as Chairman of the National Council. It
is my hope that you will wish to support my position privately, even if you
cannot see your way clear to do so publicly.

The enclosed appeal brought many heartening responses: many small and
some substantial contributions, both anonymous and signed.

We hope it will yet bring more responses and more contributions.

Wishing you the happiest possible New Year.

Sincerely yours,

JAK:bc

<table><tr><td colspan="2">STANDARD TIME INDICATED</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">RECEIVED AT</td></tr><tr><td>287 W. 181ST ST., N.Y. 01</td><td>WA. 8-9541</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">TELEPHONE YOUR TELEGRAMS<br/>TO POSTAL TELEGRAPH</td></tr></table>

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<table><tr><td>THIS IS A FULL RATE TELEGRAM, CABLE-GRAM OR RADIOGRAM UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED BY SYMBOL IN THE PREAMBLE OR IN THE ADDRESS OF THE MESSAGE. SYMBOLS DESIGNATING SERVICE SELECTED ARE OUTLINED IN THE COMPANY'S TARIFFS ON HAND AT EACH OFFICE AND ON FILE WITH REGULATORY AUTHORITIES.</td></tr></table>

From: MF96N (FIVE) 89=MF NEWYORK NY 10 438P=
LANGSTON HUGHES
634 ST NICHOLAS AVE (NEWYORK NY)
SEP 10 PM 5 57

WILL YOU JOIN WITH OUTSTANDING AMERICAN WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS ON COMMITTEE TO RESTORE BOOKS TO LIBRARIES DESTROYED BY NAZIS IN THE SOVIET UNION. COMMITTEE TO BE ANNOUNCED AT WRITERS RECEIPTION TO PROF MICHOELS AND LT COL FEFFER MONDAY SEPTEMBER 13. YOUR ACCEPTANCE ON COMMITTEE WILL BE VITAL CONTRIBUTION TO SUCCESS OF THIS CAMPAIGN AS A GESTURE OF OUR APPRECIATION OF WHAT THE SOVIET PEOPLE ARE DOING TO CRUSH OUR COMMON ENEMY. PLEASE WIRE YOUR ACCEPTANCE COLLECT TO ME AT NATIONAL COUNCIL OF AMERICAN SOVIET

CLASS OF SERVICE

This is a fast message
unless its deferred char-
acter is indicated by the
proper symbol.

WESTERN UNION
TELEGRAM

W. P. MARSHALL, PRESIDENT

1201 (4-60)

SYMBOLS

DL= Day Letter

NL= Night Letter

LT= International
Letter Telegram

The filing time shown in the date line on domestic telegrams is LOCAL TIME at point of origin. Time of receipt is LOCAL TIME at point of destination

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      <td>THE OCCASION IS ON THURSDAY EVENING MAY TEN AT ST.</td>
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      <td>NICHOLAS ARENA NEW YORK CITY. W WOULD CERTAINLY BE</td>
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      <td>HONORED AND WE FEEL THE TITOVS WOULD BE DEEPLY</td>
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      <td>APPRECIATIVE IF YOU COULD BE PRESENT TO SHARE THE</td>
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      <td>PLATFORM WITH OTHER PROMINENT AMERICANS AND TO =</td>
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      <td>EXTEND GREETINGS. WE URGE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF OUR WARM</td>
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      <td>INVITATION. WE WOULD APPRECIATE AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE BY</td>
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      <td>TELEPHONE OR TELEGRAM COLLECT TO MR. MORFORD 114 EAST</td>
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      <td>32ND STREET NEW YORK CITY MU =3-2080 =</td>
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      <td>ROCKWELL KENT NATIONAL CHAIRMAN RICHARD MORFORD</td>
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THE COMPANY WILL APPRECIATE SUGGESTIONS FROM ITS PATRONS CONCERNING ITS SERVICE