Series III: Karl Baarslag Research Files, 1930-1968, inclusive
Scope and Contents note
This series contains research files collected by Karl Baarslag, primarily between the 1930s and the mid-1960s, on organizations and issues he was monitoring for his work as a consultant and government employee. The files include materials collected on and from a wide variety of organizations, including nongovernmental, faith-based, civil rights and foreign policy organizations, trade unions, foundations, governmental agencies, news organizations, journals, anti-communist and right-wing organizations, and far right-wing organizations.
The files include organizational newsletters, brochures, annual reports and circulars, apparently collected by Baarslag through subscriptions. There are also government publications, newspaper, magazine and journal clippings, anonymously authored confidential reports and typed profiles on organizations, and a relatively small amount of correspondence. Some files contain research materials apparently collected by Baarslag in the early 1950s during his tenure as research assistant for Senator Joseph McCarthy's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Historical/Biographical Note
Karl Herman William Baarslag was an author and professional anti-communist who served as research director under Senator Joseph McCarthy between July 1953 and 1954 for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and as a consultant for the House Committee on Un-American Activities beginning in 1956. Prior to joining McCarthy's subcommittee, Baarslag was Research Director for the National Americanism Commission of the American Legion, an anti-communist organization, and edited their newsletter, Firing Line.
During World War II, Baarslag served in the anti-subversive branch of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Beginning in 1935, Baarslag was author of several books, as well as numerous anti-communist articles and pamphlets, some of which were published in Esquire and The American Mercury. Around 1959, Baarslag began to work for the Church League of America as its Chief of Research, and the Church League also published Baarslag's anti-communist textbook, Manual for Survival: A Counter-subversive Study Course.