No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Series 1, General Correspondence, 1919-1970 [bulk dates 1935-1969], contains correspondence, arranged alphabetically by last name of correspondent, with publishers, politicians, writers, ambassadors, political activists, and friends around the world. Correspondence with his wife and children can be found among the family papers (Series 9). Topics include World War II and early Cold War issues, American politics and international relations, with a special emphasis on the Soviet Union, India, and Spain during its civil war. Much of the correspondence is personal, some reflecting longstanding friendships with people whom Fischer met in the various countries that he visited, including ambassadors and their wives, journalists and politicians. Where the correspondence was not strictly personal, Fischer kept carbon copies of the letters he wrote, which can sometimes be found on the back of the letters to which he replied. Reports on his conversations with politicians or his journeys may be found here too.

The series contains correspondence with numerous people whom Fischer knew through his work, including Josip Tito, President Sukarno of Indonesia, Robert Oppenheimer, Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert Kennedy, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. Of particular note is the correspondence with George Chicherin, Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, 1918-1929, which contains carbon copies of transcripts of Chicherin's detailed comments and corrections (in English) on Fischer's manuscript The Soviets in World Affairs (1930). (The original correspondence was donated to the Yale University Library.) Other correspondence reflects Fischer's attempts to influence politicians such as Franklin Roosevelt (about World War II strategy and India), John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, United Nations Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld, Belgian prime minister Paul-Henri Spaak (about the need of a gesture towards Italy in 1948 to curb Communist influence), and Anthony Eden (discussing the casualties in Spain, 1938). In these letters, Fischer spoke his mind. He corrected Eleanor Roosevelt on a point about the Soviet Union's foreign policy, and he chided Dean Acheson for wanting to resign his post because of the low salary. Correspondence with other notable people, often perfunctory, can also be found in the general A-Z files.

Much of the correspondence pertains to India. Fischer corresponded with many Indian politicians and activists, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Yusuf Meherally, Pyarelal, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, and Jayaprakash Narayan. These letters shed light on the political developments and differences in India during the period before and after independence. Some of the correspondence, such as letters from Chester Bowles, American ambassador to India, 1963-1969, contains personal and off-the-record remarks. There is original correspondence from Mohandas K. Gandhi, as well as correspondence with Gandhi's disciples and family members. The correspondence with Motilal Kothari details the early attempts to turn Fischer's biography of Gandhi into a motion picture film. (Fischer gave away the film rights.) Russian film director Sergei Mikhaylovitch Eisenstein is the subject of other correspondence. Fischer communicated with Upton Sinclair on behalf of Eisenstein concerning a conflict over payments for the Moscow-Hollywood production Thunder over Mexico (1933), for which Sinclair and his friends had furnished money.

To understand Fischer's early life, the correspondence with Eiga Shapiro (1918-1921) is important. Shapiro worked for the Zionist Commission in Palestine, and the original letters Fischer sent to her when he served as a volunteer in the Jewish Legion for Palestine are rich in details. Of general biographical interest is the correspondence between Fischer and his publishers and editors, as it contains copies of his own letters, and sheds light on his personal life. The correspondence with Freda Kirchway, editor of The Nation, is of particular importance, as it includes many details of Fischer's life before 1938. This file contains Fischer's outgoing letters, probably returned to him for reference. (Fischer's letters to Markoosha from this period were destroyed before the family left the Soviet Union.) Correspondence with Harper & Brothers in 1956 includes Fischer's views on foreign policy that he wrote at editor Cass Canfield's request for use in Adlai Stevenson's electoral campaign.

Some of the correspondence discusses Fischer's projects and ideas. In 1945, when he publicly left The Nation, he corresponded with various people (including Eleanor Roosevelt) about a magazine devoted to international affairs he wanted to start with the help of Sumner Welles. (Welles later withdrew his support.) During the Second World War, because of his charisma and outspoken views on the horrors of fascism and dictatorships, the Office of War Information and the War Finance Committee asked Fischer to speak at various occasions and make radio broadcasts. Later, Fischer communicated with CIA director Walter Bedell Smith, detailing his views on how best to undermine Stalin's position in Soviet public opinion. Fischer was an active member of the Congress of Cultural Freedom, which sponsored international cultural exchanges. He was among the majority of members who voted against accepting director Michael Josselson's resignation in 1967, after it became known that the Congress's activities and sponsorships were funded by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Much of the later correspondence documents Fischer's life in Princeton, including the correspondence with his research assistant and close friend Deirdre Randall, and correspondence with academics, including former ambassador to the Soviet Union, George Kennan, who brought Fischer to work at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in 1958. The two exchanged views on both scholarly and political matters: in a 1959 exchange Fischer commented on Kennan's proposals on disarmament and asked Kennan to pass on certain ideas to people "with the ear of Eisenhower" in Washington. Other Princeton correspondents include Don Wolfe, Elias Lowe, Robert Oppenheimer, and Princeton University president Robert Goheen, who consulted Fischer about the student riot of 1963. In 1967, Fischer wrote Michael Josselson about his visit to see Oppenheimer on his death bed. Fischer had a brief relationship with Svetlana Allilueva, Stalin's youngest daughter, who defected from the Soviet Union in 1967 and settled in Princeton. In fact, the correspondence series reveals that Fischer was involved with many women, and love letters can also be found in the file "unknown correspondents" (alphabetically arranged by first name, if present).

Physical Description

14 boxes

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Series 2, Subject Correspondence, 1936-1969, contains correspondence alphabetically arranged by topic that Fischer kept on countries he visited, most of his publications, and other subjects. Of special interest are the country files, grouped under the heading "international," which contain accounts of his impressions of the people he met or interviewed. Fischer wrote these accounts as letters to friends and kept a copy specifically for these files. Other correspondence relating to these visits is often included as well, primarily with people from within the country itself. This is especially the case with the files about India, which Fischer visited at least four times between 1942 and 1952. They contain correspondence from people in India not present in the General Correspondence series commenting on the domestic situation. Correspondence with people or organizations sympathizing with the cause of Indian independence, including Fischer's own project to raise money among friends for a tractor, will be found in separate subject files.

The file on Spain documents Fischer's involvement with the Spanish Civil War and his role as an intermediary with the American Section of the International Brigades in the repatriation of American volunteers. The file includes some drafts for speeches and announcements that Fischer may have ghostwritten for others and confidential correspondence with Ambassador Claude Bowes concerning the American embargo on the shipment of arms to Spain. Some correspondence in this file is in Spanish and German. The file on the Soviet Union contains correspondence concerning his 1956 visit, eighteen years after his last visit in May 1938.

The files on books and miscellaneous publications contain correspondence with both American and foreign publishers, the latter usually concerning foreign translations and copyright, especially letters to Jonathan Cape and Victor Gollancz. Correspondence with his primary publishers Duell, Sloan & Pearce, and later Harper's, and other publishers and journals can be found in the General Correspondence series. The subject files on individual book publications contain letters from readers and literary editors. The files on Men and Politics (1941), The Story of Indonesia (1959), and The Life of Lenin (1964) also contain correspondence concerning research and earlier drafts of the manuscripts. Of special interest in the Lenin file is correspondence with Radio Liberty in London, which broadcast an interview with Fischer on the book in 1964 and evoked reactions from listeners in the Soviet Union, to whom Fischer responded in Russian in a later broadcast (transcripts included).

The miscellaneous publications folders, which start in 1947, include agreements and general correspondence with publishers, journals, agents, and sometimes readers, who are not found among the names in the General Correspondence series. Of special interest is the correspondence of 1947-1949, which documents conflicts with publishers in India over payments, and includes some observations of the situation in India and the decline of public interest in Fischer's columns in Indian newspapers (1947). The correspondence of 1959 includes an exchange with the Zionist Echo editor concerning accusations by the Israeli Minister of Development Mordechai Bentov that he was misquoted by Fischer in the book This is Our World. Another subject file documents Fischer's role as one of the initiators and vice-chairmen of the Liberal Party, founded in 1944. Documentation on Fischer's appointments and courses at the Woodrow Wilson School may be found in the file on Princeton University.

Physical Description

5 boxes

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Series 3, Writings, 1921-1970, is arranged alphabetically by type, then chronologically and contains articles and reviews, lectures, speeches and discussions, manuscript drafts and research notes. The articles through 1945 were mainly written for The Nation, though early articles for Russian papers and Jewish-American journals are also found, the latter concerning the Jewish colonies in Russia and Poland. Foreign translations are included, mostly for Reader's Digest. Drafts of articles are included if they appear not to have been published. Annotations indicate that Fischer reworked some of his articles for his books. The lectures, speeches and discussions contain texts and printed discussions with others on radio broadcasts. Complementary information about Fischer's public appearances in lecture tours and broadcasts can be found among the press clippings in Series 6. The manuscript drafts concern a projected book entitled The Real Russia, or Russia, Reality and Utopia (ca. 1961), about the post-Stalin era at the time of Khrushchev in the Soviet Union. The research notes also contain some diaries and diary entries and notes on conversations. Of special interest are the typescript diaries concerning Fischer's first month in Spain (September-October, 1936), conversations with London politicians and others about World War II from July-October 1941, and a visit to India in 1942. The general notes are especially extensive for 1952 and 1958. In 1952 Fischer went on a nine-month world tour that included visits to Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey and Yugoslavia. In 1958 he visited Indonesia and the Netherlands for research for his book The Story of Indonesia (1959). Some notes in the series concern conversations with unidentified people who are referred to with code names. There are similar notes in Series 4, Interviews and Conversations.

Physical Description

11 boxes

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Series 4, Interviews and Conversations, 1928-1967, contains records of conversations with politicians ranging in length from complete interviews to brief notes. These are arranged alphabetically by last name of the interviewee, then followed by five folders for specific overseas trips. Many of the latter records refer to people using code names. For most interviewees, Fischer wrote their real identity on the paper at a later stage. Remaining unidentified people are filed at the end of the series (see also the research notes in Series 3). The most extensive interviews are with President Tito of Yugoslavia (1952), President Sukarno of Indonesia (1958, 1960), and Sumner Welles, Undersecretary of State, with whom he had several discussions in 1944-1945. The discussions with Welles eventually led to their plan to start a liberal international affairs journal. Conversations that Fischer had with groups of people (many in code names) during visits to London, Berlin and India can be found at the end of the series. Some records of conversations may also be found as letters Fischer sent to friends (Series 1).

Physical Description

2 boxes

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Series 5, Financial and Administrative Records, 1896-1970, contains tax returns, financial records, and appointment and address books arranged by document type. The tax return files include royalty statements and correspondence with accountants. Records of Fischer's professional and social appointments can be found in his annual appointment and address books (1937-1970), which he kept in addition to regular address books (circa 1948-1970).

Physical Description

3 boxes

No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.

Series 6, Clippings and Reviews, 1926-1969, contains press clippings divided into two chronologically arranged subseries: one concerning Louis Fischer's public life and one comprising book reviews. Among the former are clippings containing Fischer's statements and views in lectures, speeches, broadcasts and other public activities. These clippings also include interviews with Fischer himself and biographical notes for publicity purposes and biographical dictionaries. The book reviews concern his most well known books, and include reviews of foreign translations.

Physical Description

7 boxes