Notice to the Press
June 23, 1999
Princeton University To Mark the Opening of the Microfilmed Collection of
Official Papers of John Foster Dulles in the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
On Friday, June 25,1999 Princeton University will mark the opening to the public of the microfilmed copies of official papers from the Department of State from the period when John Foster Dulles served as Secretary.
This collection, consisting of copies of important Department of State records, was created under the terms of a 1959 agreement between the Department of State and Princeton University. Secretary Dulles also donated his private papers to Princeton University. It was his hope that together they not only would constitute a full record of his service as Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959 but also be available to the public in a manner that would facilitate understanding of key issues from this important era in foreign affairs. Princeton University not only selected the documents for microfilming but also created indices and finding aids to assist the researcher. These and access to the microfilmed documents are available to the general public upon request.
In March of this year the Department of State completed the Systematic Review for declassification under President Clinton's Executive Order 12958 on classification and declassification. This has resulted in the release in full of just under 99 percent of the documents. The Department is consulting with other governments and other federal agencies on the remaining documents, just over six hundred in number, in an effort to release as much as possible of the information still withheld.
This project is a valuable example of cooperation between a federal agency and the academic community to promote an understanding of important past foreign policy issues and an awareness of how such issues are faced by a government that must be responsive to the democratic roots of our society.
Further information concerning the John Foster Dulles papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library can be obtained from Dr. Ben Primer, University Archivist, who can be reached at telephone number (609) 258-3242.
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FAS Note: see also a related press release from Princeton University.