Address:
American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born Records, 1926-1980s
Using These Materials
- Restrictions:
- The collection is open for research.
Summary
- Creator:
- American Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born
- Abstract:
- Group founded in 1933 on the initiative or Roger Baldwin of the ACLU to defend constitutional rights of foreign-born persons in the United States. It assisted individuals facing deportation, aided persons seeking to become naturalized citizens, attempted to combat harasmment and official persecution of the foreign-born, and opposed discriminatory legislation. Records include correspondence, administrative files, clippings and publicity files, subject files and case files.
- Extent:
- 51.00 linear feet and 2 oversized volumes
- Language:
- English
- Authors:
- K. Mason/K.Stallard, E. Uhl, 1983-1984
Background
- Scope and Content:
-
The records of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born date from 1926 to 1980 and measure 51 linear feet and 2 oversized volumes. The papers are arranged in eight series: Administration (1935-1980s), Correspondence (1934-1980s), Publicity/Activities (1934-1977), Legal Proceedings (1950-1974), Legislation (1930-1972), Area/Ethnic Committees (1936-1969), Subject File (1933-ca. 1970s), and Cases (1926-1980s).
The main work of the Committee, in addition to its providing information and legal assistance to individuals, lay in publicizing legislation, events, and national policies affecting the foreign-born. The Committee also sponsored conferences, rallies, and other events to educate the public to the problems of discrimination and harassment that faced many of the foreign-born, and to then mobilize that public opinion to pressure public officials to deal with these problems. The files of publications and news releases within the collection help to document the publicity work of the Committee, while its activities as a lobby for the foreign-born is most evident in the correspondence files, conference proceedings and reports, legislative lobbying material, and subject files.
Unfortunately, the structure and administrative workings of the Committee are poorly documented. Board of directors minutes are spotty and the administrative files generally thin as evidence of policy-making within the organization. Area Committee materials in the main reflect the varied problems faced by the foreign-born in different parts of the country, while the subject file contains information on a wide variety of organizations established to assist the foreign-born in the mid-twentieth century.
The case files, which make up the bulk of the records, relate largely to individual cases; each file usually only contains a few routine items, such as requests for information or assistance in securing naturalization papers or obtaining entry to the United States for a friend or relative. There are a few larger case files, however, and the multiple cases pertaining to groups of individuals being prosecuted reflect the vulnerability of the foreign-born in periods of concern about the nation's internal security. Many of these persons had lived in the United States for many years, and seemed to have been charged with deportation only after becoming active in labor unions or other allegedly radical activities. The case files have little value except as evidence for the specific cases. They do not provide systematic documentation of the cases handled, and thus do not lend themselves to quantitative study.
- Biographical / Historical:
-
The American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (ACPFB) was founded in 1933 on the initiative of Roger Baldwin of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Concerned about the upsurge in the number of arrests and deportations of foreign-born then occurring in the United States and convinced that the ACLU alone would be unable to meet the demands of these people for assistance, Baldwin urged men and women of liberal mind to join with him in forming an organization to assist the foreign-born in coping with the problems that confronted them.
The purpose of the Committee was to defend the constitutional rights of foreign-born persons in the United States. In practice, the Committee assisted individuals facing deportation, both by helping to prepare their legal defenses and also by publicizing their cases. The Committee, furthermore, assisted individuals wishing to become naturalized citizens; it attempted to combat harassment and official persecution of the foreignborn; and it worked for the repeal or revision of legislation considered discriminatory.
The Committee was closely associated with the American Civil Liberties Union and International Labor Defense, as well as trade unions, fraternal and cultural societies, and foreign-language organizations, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s. Many of the cases handled by the Committee in its early years were of a political nature, involving individuals who faced deportation because of their labor union activities or their association with radical political parties or organizations. During this time also, the Committee assisted many European war refugees and other persons fleeing from fascist and totalitarian regimes. The Committee, for example, supported the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade--Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War.
In the 1950s the Committee assisted individuals charged with having Communist affiliations under the Internal Security Act of 1950 (also known as the McCarran Act) or who faced denaturalization or deportation for such activities under the Walter-McCarran Immigration Act. Much of the energy of the Committee in the 1950s and 1960s, however, was directed against a 1953 order by the Attorney General of the United States that the Committee register with the Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB) as a Communist-front organization. The case was in litigation for thirteen years. In April 1965, the Supreme Court, unable to settle the constitutional issues involved in the case without fresh evidence, sent the case back to the SACB. In April 1966, the SACB decided to vacate the registration order against the Committee, thus bringing the litigation to an end.
In the 1960s and 1970s the Committee paid less attention to case work, and instead sought to influence legislation. The Committee, in particular, lobbied for the repeal of the McCarran Internal Security Act and the Walter-McCarran Immigration Act, and for enactment of a statute of limitations on denaturalization and deportation proceedings. The Committee in this period also helped publicize the cause of various refugee and immigrant groups, notably the Haitians, Mexican-Americans, and various Asian peoples.
Throughout its history, the Committee was run by a small staff, with considerable assistance from those sponsors who served as honorary chairpersons. Dwight Morgan, the executive secretary from 1933 until his death in 1939, was the guiding force of the Committee in its early years. A few other individuals also provided extended leadership and continuity to the organization: Abner Green, who was executive secretary from 1941 to 1959; Carol King, the Committee's general counsel in the 1940s and early 1950s; and Louise Pettibone Smith, a former professor of Biblical history at Wellesley College, who served as honorary chairperson of the Committee from 1950 until its dissolution in the late 1970s.
In addition to these staff members, the Committee also recruited sponsors among prominent Americans, including writers, actors and actresses, and civil libertarians. Sponsors allowed their names to be used on Committee letterheads and offered their support to various programs, conferences, and events initiated by the Committee. Among the sponsors of the Committee were Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Mann, and Edward G. Robinson. Occasional letters by these individuals and others who lent support to the Committee--among them Albert Einstein, Louis Adamic, Emily Balch, Bela Lugosi, and Rex Stout--can be found in the Correspondence series and the Administration series (sponsors file).
The American Committee was created in response to a set of circumstances and attitudes that equated the foreign-born with European radicalism. In the 1950s and 1960s, this blatant and widespread harassment of foreign-born individuals for thir political beliefs subsided. There were fewer cases to be investigated and the need to lobby for corrective legislation less vital. By the late 1970s, the American Committee had ceased to function as an independent organization. An executive subunit of the American Committee continued its work, becoming a subcommittee of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee.
- Acquisition Information:
- This record group was purchased from the American Committee in two accessions, 1970 and 1982. Includes later donations.
- Processing information:
-
Karen Mason, Kathryn E. Stallard, and Eric Uhl, 1983-1984; Labadie Collection staff, 2011. Reboxed by Nora Dolliver, Lorraine Eaton, and Hilary Severyn, 2018.
- Arrangement:
-
The records are arranged in eight series:
- Administration
- Correspondence
- Publicity/Activities
- Legal Proceedings
- Legislation
- Area/Ethnic Committees
- Subject Files
- Cases
Contents
Using These Materials
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
The collection is open for research.
- USE & PERMISSIONS:
-
Copyright has not been transferred to the Regents of the University of Michigan. Permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s).
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born Records, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Research Center)