Series II: National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, 1943-1986, inclusive

This series contains materials created and collected by Richard Morford as Executive Director of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship (NCASF) during 1946-1981 and as Executive Director Emeritus and member of the Executive Council during 1981-1986. Many of these materials document events and cultural programming organized by the Council, including exhibits, lists of films and books about the USSR for distribution to local councils, trade unions and schools, publications about the USSR, youth tours to the USSR and delegations from the US and from the USSR. Speeches, press releases, and other materials document the Council's Annual Rally for Peace and Friendship held every in year in November in New York City. The Council's response to current events, such as the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the Vietnam War are also documented in this collection. These responses can be seen in internal documents such as memoranda and in official statements, fact sheets, reports, articles in The New World Review, and press releases. Also included in this series are general administrative files, including financial documents, board materials, and correspondence, memoranda, and other materials related to other members of the NCASF, including William Howard Melish, Corliss Lamont, Alan Thomson, and Rockwell Kent. There are materials related to issues such as civil liberties and the McCarran Act, but the legal troubles of Morford and the NCASF in the 1940s and 1950s are not well documented.