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David A. Morse Papers
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The legacy of David Abner Morse, who died on December 1, 1990 at the age of 83, was global. As Director-General of the ILO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, for an unprecedented 22 years, he dedicated himself to improving the lot of workers throughout the world. A man of high ideals and exceptional acumen, he upheld the universality of workers' socioeconomic rights amid the conflicting claims of communist and noncommunist systems and have and have-not nations. In 1969 he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the ILO, a recognition of the organization's contribution to international harmony and prosperity under his leadership.
For Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991, "Flair for leadership and diplomacy, dynamism, charm, dignity -- these were among his many radiant qualities. But above them all was the compassion and the care for the vulnerable of the earth, and the love of social justice which inspired all his endeavours." For George Shultz, Secretary of Labor in the Nixon administration and Secretary of State in the Reagan administration, Morse possessed an innate, instinctive understanding of the need for standards of behavior. "He saw the human side of enterprise.... He stood, it seemed to me, always for a blend of power and principle, not simply interest and power, but principle and power."
Morse, the son of immigrants Morris Moscovitz and Sara Werblin, was born in New York on May 31, 1907. He grew up in Somerville, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University, graduating in 1929. Deciding on a legal career, he studied law at Harvard University and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1933. In 1937 he married Mildred E. Hockstader, daughter of Leonard Hockstader and Aline Straus and granddaughter of Oscar Straus, Secretary of Commerce and Labor in Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet. The union, which spanned 53 years, could not have been happier.
Morse's interest in and commitment to the public welfare in general and labor concerns in particular were evidenced by his involvement in the New Deal of the Roosevelt administration. Between 1933 and 1939 he held a number of governmental posts, including Chief Counsel for the Petroleum Labor Policy Board of the Department of Interior, Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, and Regional Attorney for the Second Region of the National Labor Relations Board. The objectivity he would be called on to exhibit as head of the ILO was apparent in his appointment in 1941 as Impartial Chairman of the milk industry of metropolitan New York. On leaving the public service, Morse became a named partner in the law firm of Coult, Satz, Tomlinson, and Morse. He also found time to lecture on labor relations, labor law, and administrative law at various educational institutions.
Shortly after the United States entered the Second World War, Morse joined the Army. From 1943 to 1944 he served as head of the Labor Division of the Allied Military Government in Sicily and Italy, where he formulated and implemented labor policies and programs for the American and British liberators. He filled a similar role from 1944 to 1945 as head of the Manpower Division of the United States Group Control Council for Germany. One of his tasks was to work with representatives of Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States to harmonize their approach to labor matters in occupied Germany, an involvement which undoubtedly helped to prepare him for his work at the ILO. At the war's end, he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel and, in 1946, was awarded the Legion of Merit.
On his return to the United States, Morse re-entered civilian life as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, a post he held from 1945 to 1946 when President Harry Truman named him Assistant Secretary of Labor. In this capacity, he focused his attention on the creation of the Department's Program of International Affairs. Named Under Secretary of Labor in 1947, he briefly filled the position of Acting Secretary on the death of Lewis Schwellenbach in 1948.
It was in this year, too, that Morse embarked on the most significant phase of his career, that of Director-General of the ILO. He was no stranger to this organization, having represented the government of the United States as a member of its Governing Body and as a delegate to its annual International Labor Conference. His election to the post of Director-General, which entailed a move to Geneva, brought with it many challenges. It is a measure of his success in facing them that the ILO changed the regulations which would have limited his tenure to a single ten-year term, renewable for three years, to allow for his re-election, which occurred in 1957, 1962, and 1967. (In 1961, he resigned but was persuaded to reconsider.)
Morse brought to his new position a broad and vigorous vision of the potentiality of his office and the ILO as a whole. He exercised a leadership which was at once impartial and engaged and which incorporated three fundamental principles: the need for socioeconomic reform, the importance of the rule of law, and integrity. Integrity was a quality he demanded of everyone who worked with him, and he was equally protective of the integrity of the ILO, deftly resisting political pressure, whether it stemmed from the rivalries of the superpowers or the process of decolonization. As an American, he was particularly vulnerable to the animus of McCarthyism, but he weathered this storm with firmness and dignity.
According to Gullmar Bergenstrom, Vice Chairman of the Governing Body from 1969 to 1979, "Morse was both Director and General. As Director [he was] a most skillful administrator. He appointed the right people to the various top posts in the Office, which was, of course, a policy decision of highest importance. As General he aggressively defended the ILO's sphere of competence against various young mushrooming and sometimes self-propelling agencies with ambitions to encroach on the ILO field." There was a manifest need for each of these functions. The organization Morse inherited was a product of the Treaty of Versailles, and, amid the burgeoning international bodies of the time, its relevance was under threat. He immediately set out to revitalize the ILO along three lines.
First, Morse believed that the ILO could not be a static entity but, rather, would have to adapt to new circumstances if it was to be an effective force for good in the world. He therefore expanded its sights and its reach beyond its traditional role as a setter of international labor standards. Under his leadership, sweeping organizational changes took place. The membership of the ILO grew from 52 to 121 nations, giving it a universal character. Its staff increased fivefold, from some 600 to some 3000 men and women of diverse nationality. Its annual budget rose from about $4,000,000 to about $60,000,000. Morse laid the foundation for a new headquarters and established an extensive network of field offices. The educational activities of the ILO were given a new impetus with the establishment of the International Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva and the International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training in Turin.
Second, Morse believed that the ILO had a global commitment to build peace, and that orderly socioeconomic change within countries was a prerequisite for peace between countries. Whether the issue was a labor dispute in the ILO itself, the credibility of the labor movement in the Soviet Union, or apartheid in South Africa, Morse maintained that the best way to achieve change was to effect it through existing socioeconomic institutions within the rule of law. He insisted, too, that the ILO's contribution to peace building be truly tripartite, involving workers, governments, and employers in a common quest for a more just world. Morse's commitment to this principle was nowhere more evident than in his position on the 1969 Nobel Peace Prize, a personal tribute as much as an organizational one. Francis Wolf, Legal Advisor of the ILO from 1963 to 1987, was instructed to contact the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament to request that the award be given solely to the ILO lest individual accomplishments overshadow tripartite ones. Accordingly, on December 10, 1969, Morse accepted the Nobel Peace Prize "On behalf of all our constituents, governments as well as employers and workers of our 121 member States, on behalf of all my staff, and in tribute to all those who in the past have faithfully served our Organisation."
Third, Morse believed that symbolism, however potent, was no substitute for action. He won a reputation as a "practical idealist" as he initiated new forms of technical assistance to enable countries to meet the standards and abide by the principles espoused by the ILO. Underdevelopment and the poverty which betokened it became a major preoccupation for him, though in focusing on the myriad needs of the developing world, he did not neglect the problems confronting industrialized societies. Among the issues Morse addressed through new programs and emphases were labor-management relations, workers' education, management development, supervisory training, manpower planning and employment creation, rural development, and promotion of small-scale industries. The World Employment Programme, launched in 1969, was one of Morse's principal legacies. It sought to raise the employment level and, thus, the quality of life of millions of marginalized men and women through such measures as stemming the migration of populations from rural to urban areas. When Morse relinquished his post as Director-General in 1970, the ILO, once a frail survivor of the discredited League of Nations, could take satisfaction in a new vitality and a new prominence.
Morse did not rest on his laurels upon his return to the United States. He took up the practice of international law in New York and Washington, D. C., assuming a leading role in his firm, which grew considerably in the years which followed. His concern for the welfare of the global community did not abate. He served as an advisor to the United Nations Development Programme, chairing its Advisory Panel on Programme Policy, and was active in such organizations as the World Rehabilitation Fund, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and the Council on Foreign Relations. His contribution to these and other bodies was highly valued. As David Rockefeller, Honorary Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted in 1994, "He was a man of extraordinary quality and distinction who devoted the major part of his life to public service.... David was an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations for some 30 years, and to many here and around the world, he was a staunch and trusted friend."
Morse's life was crowned with many achievements, and the list of honors he acquired is long. In addition to holding a number of honorary doctorates, he was decorated by countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. France made him a Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor, the highest decoration a foreign national can receive. He also received the Meritorious Public Service Award of the Sidney Hillman Foundation and the Human Rights Award of the International League for the Rights of Man.
What Morse did in life was very much a reflection of whom he was, and it is perhaps in the realm of intangibles that he left his most enduring mark. According to Francis Blanchard, Director-General of the ILO from 1974 to 1989, "David Morse was such a remarkably successful leader because he was such a remarkable human being. His warm personality and great personal charm had an almost magic effect on all with whom he came into contact.... Those of us who worked with him in the International Labour Office remember with admiration, respect and affection how deeply he influenced our work and our lives."
Morse, David A. (David Abner), 1907-1990The legacy of David Abner Morse, who died on December 1, 1990 at the age of 83, was global. As Director-General of the ILO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, for an unprecedented 22 years, he dedicated himself to improving the lot of workers throughout the world. A man of high ideals and exceptional acumen, he upheld the universality of workers' socioeconomic rights amid the conflicting claims of communist and noncommunist systems and have and have-not nations. In 1969 he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the ILO, a recognition of the organization's contribution to international harmony and prosperity under his leadership.
For Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991, "Flair for leadership and diplomacy, dynamism, charm, dignity -- these were among his many radiant qualities. But above them all was the compassion and the care for the vulnerable of the earth, and the love of social justice which inspired all his endeavours." For George Shultz, Secretary of Labor in the Nixon administration and Secretary of State in the Reagan administration, Morse possessed an innate, instinctive understanding of the need for standards of behavior. "He saw the human side of enterprise.... He stood, it seemed to me, always for a blend of power and principle, not simply interest and power, but principle and power."
Morse, the son of immigrants Morris Moscovitz and Sara Werblin, was born in New York on May 31, 1907. He grew up in Somerville, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University, graduating in 1929. Deciding on a legal career, he studied law at Harvard University and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1933. In 1937 he married Mildred E. Hockstader, daughter of Leonard Hockstader and Aline Straus and granddaughter of Oscar Straus, Secretary of Commerce and Labor in Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet. The union, which spanned 53 years, could not have been happier.
Morse's interest in and commitment to the public welfare in general and labor concerns in particular were evidenced by his involvement in the New Deal of the Roosevelt administration. Between 1933 and 1939 he held a number of governmental posts, including Chief Counsel for the Petroleum Labor Policy Board of the Department of Interior, Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, and Regional Attorney for the Second Region of the National Labor Relations Board. The objectivity he would be called on to exhibit as head of the ILO was apparent in his appointment in 1941 as Impartial Chairman of the milk industry of metropolitan New York. On leaving the public service, Morse became a named partner in the law firm of Coult, Satz, Tomlinson, and Morse. He also found time to lecture on labor relations, labor law, and administrative law at various educational institutions.
Shortly after the United States entered the Second World War, Morse joined the Army. From 1943 to 1944 he served as head of the Labor Division of the Allied Military Government in Sicily and Italy, where he formulated and implemented labor policies and programs for the American and British liberators. He filled a similar role from 1944 to 1945 as head of the Manpower Division of the United States Group Control Council for Germany. One of his tasks was to work with representatives of Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States to harmonize their approach to labor matters in occupied Germany, an involvement which undoubtedly helped to prepare him for his work at the ILO. At the war's end, he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel and, in 1946, was awarded the Legion of Merit.
On his return to the United States, Morse re-entered civilian life as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, a post he held from 1945 to 1946 when President Harry Truman named him Assistant Secretary of Labor. In this capacity, he focused his attention on the creation of the Department's Program of International Affairs. Named Under Secretary of Labor in 1947, he briefly filled the position of Acting Secretary on the death of Lewis Schwellenbach in 1948.
It was in this year, too, that Morse embarked on the most significant phase of his career, that of Director-General of the ILO. He was no stranger to this organization, having represented the government of the United States as a member of its Governing Body and as a delegate to its annual International Labor Conference. His election to the post of Director-General, which entailed a move to Geneva, brought with it many challenges. It is a measure of his success in facing them that the ILO changed the regulations which would have limited his tenure to a single ten-year term, renewable for three years, to allow for his re-election, which occurred in 1957, 1962, and 1967. (In 1961, he resigned but was persuaded to reconsider.)
Morse brought to his new position a broad and vigorous vision of the potentiality of his office and the ILO as a whole. He exercised a leadership which was at once impartial and engaged and which incorporated three fundamental principles: the need for socioeconomic reform, the importance of the rule of law, and integrity. Integrity was a quality he demanded of everyone who worked with him, and he was equally protective of the integrity of the ILO, deftly resisting political pressure, whether it stemmed from the rivalries of the superpowers or the process of decolonization. As an American, he was particularly vulnerable to the animus of McCarthyism, but he weathered this storm with firmness and dignity.
According to Gullmar Bergenstrom, Vice Chairman of the Governing Body from 1969 to 1979, "Morse was both Director and General. As Director [he was] a most skillful administrator. He appointed the right people to the various top posts in the Office, which was, of course, a policy decision of highest importance. As General he aggressively defended the ILO's sphere of competence against various young mushrooming and sometimes self-propelling agencies with ambitions to encroach on the ILO field." There was a manifest need for each of these functions. The organization Morse inherited was a product of the Treaty of Versailles, and, amid the burgeoning international bodies of the time, its relevance was under threat. He immediately set out to revitalize the ILO along three lines.
First, Morse believed that the ILO could not be a static entity but, rather, would have to adapt to new circumstances if it was to be an effective force for good in the world. He therefore expanded its sights and its reach beyond its traditional role as a setter of international labor standards. Under his leadership, sweeping organizational changes took place. The membership of the ILO grew from 52 to 121 nations, giving it a universal character. Its staff increased fivefold, from some 600 to some 3000 men and women of diverse nationality. Its annual budget rose from about $4,000,000 to about $60,000,000. Morse laid the foundation for a new headquarters and established an extensive network of field offices. The educational activities of the ILO were given a new impetus with the establishment of the International Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva and the International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training in Turin.
Second, Morse believed that the ILO had a global commitment to build peace, and that orderly socioeconomic change within countries was a prerequisite for peace between countries. Whether the issue was a labor dispute in the ILO itself, the credibility of the labor movement in the Soviet Union, or apartheid in South Africa, Morse maintained that the best way to achieve change was to effect it through existing socioeconomic institutions within the rule of law. He insisted, too, that the ILO's contribution to peace building be truly tripartite, involving workers, governments, and employers in a common quest for a more just world. Morse's commitment to this principle was nowhere more evident than in his position on the 1969 Nobel Peace Prize, a personal tribute as much as an organizational one. Francis Wolf, Legal Advisor of the ILO from 1963 to 1987, was instructed to contact the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament to request that the award be given solely to the ILO lest individual accomplishments overshadow tripartite ones. Accordingly, on December 10, 1969, Morse accepted the Nobel Peace Prize "On behalf of all our constituents, governments as well as employers and workers of our 121 member States, on behalf of all my staff, and in tribute to all those who in the past have faithfully served our Organisation."
Third, Morse believed that symbolism, however potent, was no substitute for action. He won a reputation as a "practical idealist" as he initiated new forms of technical assistance to enable countries to meet the standards and abide by the principles espoused by the ILO. Underdevelopment and the poverty which betokened it became a major preoccupation for him, though in focusing on the myriad needs of the developing world, he did not neglect the problems confronting industrialized societies. Among the issues Morse addressed through new programs and emphases were labor-management relations, workers' education, management development, supervisory training, manpower planning and employment creation, rural development, and promotion of small-scale industries. The World Employment Programme, launched in 1969, was one of Morse's principal legacies. It sought to raise the employment level and, thus, the quality of life of millions of marginalized men and women through such measures as stemming the migration of populations from rural to urban areas. When Morse relinquished his post as Director-General in 1970, the ILO, once a frail survivor of the discredited League of Nations, could take satisfaction in a new vitality and a new prominence.
Morse did not rest on his laurels upon his return to the United States. He took up the practice of international law in New York and Washington, D. C., assuming a leading role in his firm, which grew considerably in the years which followed. His concern for the welfare of the global community did not abate. He served as an advisor to the United Nations Development Programme, chairing its Advisory Panel on Programme Policy, and was active in such organizations as the World Rehabilitation Fund, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and the Council on Foreign Relations. His contribution to these and other bodies was highly valued. As David Rockefeller, Honorary Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted in 1994, "He was a man of extraordinary quality and distinction who devoted the major part of his life to public service.... David was an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations for some 30 years, and to many here and around the world, he was a staunch and trusted friend."
Morse's life was crowned with many achievements, and the list of honors he acquired is long. In addition to holding a number of honorary doctorates, he was decorated by countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. France made him a Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor, the highest decoration a foreign national can receive. He also received the Meritorious Public Service Award of the Sidney Hillman Foundation and the Human Rights Award of the International League for the Rights of Man.
What Morse did in life was very much a reflection of whom he was, and it is perhaps in the realm of intangibles that he left his most enduring mark. According to Francis Blanchard, Director-General of the ILO from 1974 to 1989, "David Morse was such a remarkably successful leader because he was such a remarkable human being. His warm personality and great personal charm had an almost magic effect on all with whom he came into contact.... Those of us who worked with him in the International Labour Office remember with admiration, respect and affection how deeply he influenced our work and our lives."
Morse, David A. (David Abner), 1907-1990The legacy of David Abner Morse, who died on December 1, 1990 at the age of 83, was global. As Director-General of the ILO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, for an unprecedented 22 years, he dedicated himself to improving the lot of workers throughout the world. A man of high ideals and exceptional acumen, he upheld the universality of workers' socioeconomic rights amid the conflicting claims of communist and noncommunist systems and have and have-not nations. In 1969 he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the ILO, a recognition of the organization's contribution to international harmony and prosperity under his leadership.
For Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991, "Flair for leadership and diplomacy, dynamism, charm, dignity -- these were among his many radiant qualities. But above them all was the compassion and the care for the vulnerable of the earth, and the love of social justice which inspired all his endeavours." For George Shultz, Secretary of Labor in the Nixon administration and Secretary of State in the Reagan administration, Morse possessed an innate, instinctive understanding of the need for standards of behavior. "He saw the human side of enterprise.... He stood, it seemed to me, always for a blend of power and principle, not simply interest and power, but principle and power."
Morse, the son of immigrants Morris Moscovitz and Sara Werblin, was born in New York on May 31, 1907. He grew up in Somerville, New Jersey and attended Rutgers University, graduating in 1929. Deciding on a legal career, he studied law at Harvard University and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1933. In 1937 he married Mildred E. Hockstader, daughter of Leonard Hockstader and Aline Straus and granddaughter of Oscar Straus, Secretary of Commerce and Labor in Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet. The union, which spanned 53 years, could not have been happier.
Morse's interest in and commitment to the public welfare in general and labor concerns in particular were evidenced by his involvement in the New Deal of the Roosevelt administration. Between 1933 and 1939 he held a number of governmental posts, including Chief Counsel for the Petroleum Labor Policy Board of the Department of Interior, Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, and Regional Attorney for the Second Region of the National Labor Relations Board. The objectivity he would be called on to exhibit as head of the ILO was apparent in his appointment in 1941 as Impartial Chairman of the milk industry of metropolitan New York. On leaving the public service, Morse became a named partner in the law firm of Coult, Satz, Tomlinson, and Morse. He also found time to lecture on labor relations, labor law, and administrative law at various educational institutions.
Shortly after the United States entered the Second World War, Morse joined the Army. From 1943 to 1944 he served as head of the Labor Division of the Allied Military Government in Sicily and Italy, where he formulated and implemented labor policies and programs for the American and British liberators. He filled a similar role from 1944 to 1945 as head of the Manpower Division of the United States Group Control Council for Germany. One of his tasks was to work with representatives of Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States to harmonize their approach to labor matters in occupied Germany, an involvement which undoubtedly helped to prepare him for his work at the ILO. At the war's end, he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel and, in 1946, was awarded the Legion of Merit.
On his return to the United States, Morse re-entered civilian life as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, a post he held from 1945 to 1946 when President Harry Truman named him Assistant Secretary of Labor. In this capacity, he focused his attention on the creation of the Department's Program of International Affairs. Named Under Secretary of Labor in 1947, he briefly filled the position of Acting Secretary on the death of Lewis Schwellenbach in 1948.
It was in this year, too, that Morse embarked on the most significant phase of his career, that of Director-General of the ILO. He was no stranger to this organization, having represented the government of the United States as a member of its Governing Body and as a delegate to its annual International Labor Conference. His election to the post of Director-General, which entailed a move to Geneva, brought with it many challenges. It is a measure of his success in facing them that the ILO changed the regulations which would have limited his tenure to a single ten-year term, renewable for three years, to allow for his re-election, which occurred in 1957, 1962, and 1967. (In 1961, he resigned but was persuaded to reconsider.)
Morse brought to his new position a broad and vigorous vision of the potentiality of his office and the ILO as a whole. He exercised a leadership which was at once impartial and engaged and which incorporated three fundamental principles: the need for socioeconomic reform, the importance of the rule of law, and integrity. Integrity was a quality he demanded of everyone who worked with him, and he was equally protective of the integrity of the ILO, deftly resisting political pressure, whether it stemmed from the rivalries of the superpowers or the process of decolonization. As an American, he was particularly vulnerable to the animus of McCarthyism, but he weathered this storm with firmness and dignity.
According to Gullmar Bergenstrom, Vice Chairman of the Governing Body from 1969 to 1979, "Morse was both Director and General. As Director [he was] a most skillful administrator. He appointed the right people to the various top posts in the Office, which was, of course, a policy decision of highest importance. As General he aggressively defended the ILO's sphere of competence against various young mushrooming and sometimes self-propelling agencies with ambitions to encroach on the ILO field." There was a manifest need for each of these functions. The organization Morse inherited was a product of the Treaty of Versailles, and, amid the burgeoning international bodies of the time, its relevance was under threat. He immediately set out to revitalize the ILO along three lines.
First, Morse believed that the ILO could not be a static entity but, rather, would have to adapt to new circumstances if it was to be an effective force for good in the world. He therefore expanded its sights and its reach beyond its traditional role as a setter of international labor standards. Under his leadership, sweeping organizational changes took place. The membership of the ILO grew from 52 to 121 nations, giving it a universal character. Its staff increased fivefold, from some 600 to some 3000 men and women of diverse nationality. Its annual budget rose from about $4,000,000 to about $60,000,000. Morse laid the foundation for a new headquarters and established an extensive network of field offices. The educational activities of the ILO were given a new impetus with the establishment of the International Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva and the International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training in Turin.
Second, Morse believed that the ILO had a global commitment to build peace, and that orderly socioeconomic change within countries was a prerequisite for peace between countries. Whether the issue was a labor dispute in the ILO itself, the credibility of the labor movement in the Soviet Union, or apartheid in South Africa, Morse maintained that the best way to achieve change was to effect it through existing socioeconomic institutions within the rule of law. He insisted, too, that the ILO's contribution to peace building be truly tripartite, involving workers, governments, and employers in a common quest for a more just world. Morse's commitment to this principle was nowhere more evident than in his position on the 1969 Nobel Peace Prize, a personal tribute as much as an organizational one. Francis Wolf, Legal Advisor of the ILO from 1963 to 1987, was instructed to contact the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament to request that the award be given solely to the ILO lest individual accomplishments overshadow tripartite ones. Accordingly, on December 10, 1969, Morse accepted the Nobel Peace Prize "On behalf of all our constituents, governments as well as employers and workers of our 121 member States, on behalf of all my staff, and in tribute to all those who in the past have faithfully served our Organisation."
Third, Morse believed that symbolism, however potent, was no substitute for action. He won a reputation as a "practical idealist" as he initiated new forms of technical assistance to enable countries to meet the standards and abide by the principles espoused by the ILO. Underdevelopment and the poverty which betokened it became a major preoccupation for him, though in focusing on the myriad needs of the developing world, he did not neglect the problems confronting industrialized societies. Among the issues Morse addressed through new programs and emphases were labor-management relations, workers' education, management development, supervisory training, manpower planning and employment creation, rural development, and promotion of small-scale industries. The World Employment Programme, launched in 1969, was one of Morse's principal legacies. It sought to raise the employment level and, thus, the quality of life of millions of marginalized men and women through such measures as stemming the migration of populations from rural to urban areas. When Morse relinquished his post as Director-General in 1970, the ILO, once a frail survivor of the discredited League of Nations, could take satisfaction in a new vitality and a new prominence.
Morse did not rest on his laurels upon his return to the United States. He took up the practice of international law in New York and Washington, D. C., assuming a leading role in his firm, which grew considerably in the years which followed. His concern for the welfare of the global community did not abate. He served as an advisor to the United Nations Development Programme, chairing its Advisory Panel on Programme Policy, and was active in such organizations as the World Rehabilitation Fund, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and the Council on Foreign Relations. His contribution to these and other bodies was highly valued. As David Rockefeller, Honorary Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted in 1994, "He was a man of extraordinary quality and distinction who devoted the major part of his life to public service.... David was an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations for some 30 years, and to many here and around the world, he was a staunch and trusted friend."
Morse's life was crowned with many achievements, and the list of honors he acquired is long. In addition to holding a number of honorary doctorates, he was decorated by countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. France made him a Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor, the highest decoration a foreign national can receive. He also received the Meritorious Public Service Award of the Sidney Hillman Foundation and the Human Rights Award of the International League for the Rights of Man.
What Morse did in life was very much a reflection of whom he was, and it is perhaps in the realm of intangibles that he left his most enduring mark. According to Francis Blanchard, Director-General of the ILO from 1974 to 1989, "David Morse was such a remarkably successful leader because he was such a remarkable human being. His warm personality and great personal charm had an almost magic effect on all with whom he came into contact.... Those of us who worked with him in the International Labour Office remember with admiration, respect and affection how deeply he influenced our work and our lives."
The Morse Papers consists of textual, microform, audiovisual, and photographic material. The preponderance, though by no means all, of this material relates to the ILO. While its focus is inevitably more personal than organizational, it reveals the varied facets of Morse's work and that of his staff, the delegates to the International Labour Conference, and the members of the Governing Body. Other phases of Morse's life are well-represented, too, including his years in the Army (1942-1945), the Department of Labor (1946-1948), and the United Nations Development Programme (1970-1972). Material of a private nature is also present, the most notable elements being a collection of wartime correspondence between Morse and his wife, Mildred, and a variety of mementos, such as photographs, newspaper clippings, and documents, from the couple's youth and family. While the Morse Papers are not without lacunae, particularly with regard to Morse's prewar career, they shed ample light on his activities, the concerns which animated them, and the relationships in which they were centered. Researchers can expect to encounter both the large and the small in Morse's life -- from his views on internationalism to his views on small-town New Jersey -- and, in the process, construct a rounded picture of an influential public figure in the last half of the twentieth century.
Throughout his life, Morse met and corresponded with many individuals of national and international significance concerning labor issues. This collection contains correspondence or records of discussion with Dean Acheson, Leonid Brezhnev, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Dag Hammarskjold, Averell Harriman, Paul G. Hoffman, C. Wilfred Jenks, David Lilienthal, George Marshall, Leopold Senghor, and U Thant.
The David A. Morse Papers are divided into nine series (two of which have been further divided into five subseries) and are arranged as follows:
Portions of the Morse Papers are available on microfilm. These are Series 1 (Subseries 1), Series 2 (Subseries 1 to 5), and Series 3. Search for "Selections from the David A. Morse papers [microform]" in library catalog.
The Morse Papers were donated to Princeton University in multiple installments, beginning in 1972, by David Morse and, following his death, by his wife, Mildred. Included in this material are eight reels of microfilm donated to Princeton University in 1976 by Leon Gordenker, a member of its faculty. Designed to supplement Morse's donations, this microfilm consists for the most part of records generated or acquired by the Office of the Director-General of the ILO during Morse's tenure. Another accrual in 2011 from Jean Straus documents the end of David Morse's life and his memorial.
Access to audiovisual material follows the Mudd Manuscript Library policy for preservation and access to audiovisual materials.
This collection was arranged and described by John S. Weeren with the able assistance of Fifi Chan and Tina Wang in 1995. Mildred Morse provided invaluable help in identifying photographs and contextualizing portions of this material. Additions received since 1995 were integrated into the collection by Adriane Hanson in 2008. Finding aid written by John S. Weeren in 1995. A subsequent accession in March 2011 was added to the collection as its own series, and the finding aid was updated at this time.
Duplicates were separated from the April 2008 accession. No information about appraisal is available for the other accessions associated with this collection.
People
- Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971.
- Blanchard, Francis
- Brezhnev, Leonid Ilʹich, 1906-1982
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
- Hammarskjøld, Dag 1905-1961
- Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1986
- Hoffman, Paul G. (Paul Gray), 1891-1974
- Jenks, C. Wilfred (Clarence Wilfred), 1900-1973
- Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
- Krushchev, Nikita
- Lilienthal, David Eli, 1899-1981
- Marshall, George C. (George Catlett), 1880-1959
- Meaney, George, 1894-1980
- Morse, David A. (David Abner), 1907-1990
- Paul VI, Pope, 1897-1978
- Senghor, Léopold Sédar, 1906-2001
- Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965
- Thant, U, 1909-1974.
- Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
Organization
- United States. Freedom of Information Act.
- Council on foreign relations
- World Rehabilitation Fund.
- United Nations association of the United States of America
- United Nations. Development Programme.
- United States. Army
- United States. Department of Labor
- United States. National Labor Relations Board
- Rutgers University
- International Labour Organisation
- United Nations
Subject
- Anti-Communist movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- International labor activities -- 20th century
- International officials and employees -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Lawyers -- United States -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Labor laws and legislation, International -- 20th century
- Labor movement -- United States -- 20th century
- Labor policy -- United States -- 20th century
- Nobel prizes
- Public officers -- United States -- United States -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Soldiers -- United States -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Labor policy
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives
- Publisher
- Public Policy Papers
- Finding Aid Author
- John S. Weeren
- Finding Aid Date
- 1998
- Sponsor
- These papers were processed with the generous support of Mildred H. Morse, wife of the late David A. Morse, and the John Foster and Janet Avery Dulles Fund.
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. For quotations that are fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For those few instances beyond fair use, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold the copyright and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from the Mudd Library to move forward with their use.
Collection Inventory
Series 1: International Labour Organization Files (1934-1991) documents Morse's involvement with the ILO, predominantly concerned with his tenure as Director-General and also including material that both predates and postdates that period. Included are materials on the conferences, reports, travels, and issues faced by Morse and the organization. Please see the subseries descriptions in the contents list for additional information about individual subseries.
Divided into five subseries: Director-General's Papers, Microfilm, Reports of Director-General, Missions of Director-General, and Proceedings of International Labor Conference.
Physical Description46 boxes
Series 1: International Labour Organisation Files, Subseries 1: Director-General's Papers (1934-1991) consists of a variety of material, including letters, memoranda, articles, booklets, and reports, relating to the ILO. Though this material both predates and postdates Morse's tenure as Director-General, illustrating his long association with the ILO, it is primarily concerned with his years in office. The material in this subseries represents only a fraction of the documentation which passed through Morse's hands in the course of his long sojourn in Geneva, but its selectiveness imbues it with a distinctly personal quality. Much of this material consists of items which were highly important to Morse, though in many cases, matters of policy were not involved. There are numerous messages of congratulation on the occasions of his multiple elections to the post of Director-General. Also Pope Paul VI's visit to the headquarters of the ILO and the conferral on the ILO of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969 are well-documented, for both were of great symbolic significance to Morse.
Also preserved, though not for celebratory purposes, are a number of revealing memoranda of meetings between Morse and prominent figures of his day. These include a discussion with Vincent Auriol in 1948 in which the President of France took exception to the American media's calls for "a strong man" in the Elysee Palace, a heated discussion with George Meany in 1963 in which the head of the AFL-CIO accused Morse of being soft on communism, and a discussion with Adlai Stevenson within a week of his death in 1965 in which the two-time Democratic presidential candidate voiced his dissatisfaction with the Johnson administration's policies in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic. Of particular interest, too, are a pair of memoranda recording Morse's discussions with representatives of the Soviet Union and the United States in 1970 on the contentious matter of the appointment of a Soviet Assistant Director-General. Morse's diplomatic skills are evident and, in particular, his ability to prolong a process whose resolution could (and ultimately did) have negative consequences for the ILO. Other insights offered by these documents relate to the international "jockeying and politicking" (to use Morse's words), which can precede the election of the head of an organization such as the ILO; the implications of domestic politics and, specifically, McCarthyism, for international civil servants of American nationality; and Morse's relationship with his staff as manifested in his correspondence with two pivotal subordinates: Jef Rens, his second in command in Geneva, and Thacher Winslow, head of the ILO's office in Washington, D.C.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent or topic.
Physical Description14 boxes
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Series 1: International Labour Organisation Files, Subseries 2: Microfilm (1938-1973) consists of material contained in the "cabinet files," that is, in the files of the Office of the Director-General of the ILO. The lion's share of this material was created during Morse's tenure, while the rest dates from the time of his predecessors, John Winant and Edward Phelan, and his successor, Wilfred Jenks. There are two sets of microfilm in this subseries, reflecting its twofold provenance. Set One, which Morse supplied, comprises eleven 16mm reels of microfilm spanning the period between 1938 and 1961. Set Two, which Professor Gordenker supplied, comprises eight 35mm reels of microfilm spanning the period between 1948 and 1973. Both sets consist for the most part of correspondence, official and personal; records of meetings; and reports by Morse and his staff.
The official correspondence is chiefly composed of letters or memoranda between Morse, officials of the ILO, and representatives of various countries and business and trade union organizations. The personal correspondence generally takes the form of thank you notes of various kinds, congratulatory messages, and letters concerning travel plans. The records of meetings, for their part, detail who attended, what issues were raised, and what conclusions or decisions were reached. A wide range of reports are represented, including reports on missions carried out by Morse or his staff, documents which frequently include a schedule and abbreviated summary of the trip; reports submitted to Morse on various subjects, providing him with the background, analysis, and projections essential to informed decision-making; and reports presented by Morse at various meetings and assemblies. Interspersed throughout this subseries are newspaper clippings on various issues of interest to the ILO; excerpts from or copies of publications, including serials such as the Congressional Record and booklets such as "Labor's Role in Newly Developing Countries;" and mementos from Morse's travels, among which can be found the business cards of individuals with whom he met and the programs of events at which he spoke.
Neither set of microfilm possesses a discernible structure, but an index is available which lists the subjects, together with their respective date spans, on a reel by reel basis. A number has been assigned to each subject, denoting its incorporation in a formal filing system. What this subseries lacks in orderliness, it more than makes up for in diversity. Topics covered in Set One range from the re-entry of Paraguay into the ILO to the use of the Swiss diplomatic pouch and cipher to the appointment of an Assistant Director-General from the Near and Middle East. Topics covered in Set Two range from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees to the ILO's relations with Bulgaria to the Nobel Peace Prize. Set Two is less sweeping than Set One, but the quality of its reproductions is much higher. Much of the fourth reel in Set One, for instance, is illegible, and other reels impose a heavy burden on the eyes. A further challenge stems from the multinational character of the ILO. English-speaking scholars can expect to encounter a variety of foreign languages. While French predominates, there is also a smattering of Spanish, German, Arabic, and Chinese.
Arranged chronologically by year.
Physical Description2 boxes
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Series 1: International Labour Organisation Files, Subseries 3: Reports of Director-General (1949-1970) consists of lengthy reports on a variety of matters which Morse placed before the annual International Labour Conference, typically held in Geneva, and periodic regional conferences held in cities as far afield as Montevideo and New Delhi. The latter include the Conference of American States Members, the Asian Regional Conference, the European Regional Conference, and the African Regional Conference. Throughout Morse's tenure, the report of the Director-General, who serves as Secretary-General of the International Labour Conference and, frequently, of the regional conferences, played a central role in the deliberations of these assemblies. Heading, as they did, the agenda of each conference, Morse's reports were designed both to inform and animate debate, and to transcend a simple recitation of the ILO's activities by broaching issues of organizational, regional, and global importance. As Morse noted in his report to the International Labour Conference in 1951, "If these pages stimulate thought and discussion, if they help some to see more clearly than before the spirit which must inspire our work, if they encourage others to intensify their efforts to promote understanding between peoples and to improve the lot of their fellow men, they will have served their purpose."
Morse's reports to the regional conferences focused on phenomena of regional concern. Thus, in his report to the First African Regional Conference in 1960, "the year of Africa," he examined Africa's economic background, its patterns of employment, the education of its workers, and the field of action it presented to the ILO, both in terms of problems and solutions. Similarly, in his report to the Fifth Asian Regional Conference in 1962, he explored Asia's economic achievements and shortcomings as well as ways of surmounting the challenges posed by its developmental course, touching on everything from entrepreneurship and balance of payments to manpower planning and agrarian reform. In his reports to the International Labour Conference, Morse employed a larger canvas, offering broad socioeconomic overviews as well as discrete themes for discussion. He also provided an account of the ILO's activities in the preceding year. Among the topics he covered were productivity and welfare, workers' housing, automation and other technological developments, youth and work, labor relations, and the program and structure of the ILO. Morse's later reports are more voluminous, reflecting the introduction of a two-part format, one focusing on a particular issue and the other documenting the activities of the ILO.
Arranged chronologically by year.
Physical Description6 boxes
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Series 1: International Labour Organisation Files, Subseries 4: Missions of Director-General (1948-1969) consists of material, in the form of discrete volumes, documenting Morse's official visits, as Director-General, to ILO member countries throughout the world. His missions range from his visit to Italy in connection with the then newly established Manpower Programme of the ILO in 1948 to his attendance at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Norway in 1969. In 1967, one of his busiest years, he travelled to Cameroon, the two Congos, Cyprus, Gabon, Ireland, Morocco, the Vatican, and Venezuela. The volumes in this subseries usually contain a detailed report on his mission and a background briefing on the host country. However, for some missions, only the background briefing is present, attributable in certain cases to the fact that the trip was merely a proposal.
The report component of these volumes contains detailed information on Morse's visits in the form of schedules, speeches, records of conversations, brochures, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The records of conversations are especially interesting. For example, during Morse's visit to the Vatican in 1967, Pope Paul VI made three direct and precise requests of the ILO: continue its mission; place an emphasis on education; and pay particular attention to Latin America, a field of obvious importance to the Church. In another conversation, this time with Leonid Brezhnev during Morse's mission to the Soviet Union in 1963, Brezhnev proudly described the various changes which had occurred in Moscow, the industrial sector, energy consumption, transportation, and the agricultural sector since his guest's last visit, noting, however, that the "Bolsheviks" were not content to be earthbound and, indeed, had already travelled millions of kilometers in space. He made it clear that the Soviet Union, though powerful, was pacific and that if the United States grasped this, the storm in which the superpowers found themselves would pass. As to the background briefings in these volumes, they consist of information on various aspects of the host country such as its geographical, social, financial, and political situation, and biographies of its leaders.
Arranged chronologically by year.
Physical Description17 boxes
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Series 1: International Labour Organisation Files, Subseries 5: Proceedings of International Labour Conference (1946-1970) consists of the Record of Proceedings of the 30th through the 54th session of the International Labour Conference, the ILO's supreme legislative body, as well as its 28th maritime session. These annual assemblies serve as an international meeting place for the representatives of the three constituents of the ILO: workers, governments, and employers. Each member country is entitled to send four delegates to the International Labour Conference, two representing government and one each from the ranks of workers and employers, as well as a finite number of advisors. A principal object of the International Labour Conference is to set forth tentative international standards in the form of recommendations and conventions governing everything from ships' medicine chests to workmen's compensation. These are subsequently submitted to member countries for consideration and ratification. Other functions of the International Labour Conference include the triennial election of members of the Governing Body and the annual adoption of the budget. The International Labour Conference is also a forum for debate, which over the years has encompassed issues ranging from maternity protection to the protection of workers' health in their places of employment to the employment of young persons in underground coal mines.
Each Record of Proceedings has an identical format and consists of three parts: a list of participants, including members of the International Labour Conference's delegations, committees, and secretariat; a verbatim report of its plenary proceedings, with English interpretations where appropriate; and appendices, including the documents and reports of its committees and the conventions, recommendations, and resolutions adopted by its delegates. A significant part of the verbatim report consists of discussions of the report of the Director-General (copies of which can be found in Series 1, Subseries 3). The work of the International Labour Conference is recorded in great detail, offering insights into the dynamics and structures of the ILO as a whole. Morse's hand may be detected behind the scenes and, overtly, in his reply to the discussion of his report, but for the most part the stage belongs to others. While this subseries presents the public rather than the private face of the ILO, it represents an important reference point in any treatment of the internal workings of this organization.
Arranged chronologically by year.
Physical Description9 boxes
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Series 2: Subject Files (1895-1998) is composed of material related to the career of Morse outside of the ILO, as well as his personal life and family. Periods of his career covered by the series include his Army service, positions within the Department of Labor, and his work with the United Nations Development Programme. Please see the subseries descriptions in the contents list for additional information about individual subseries.
Divided into five subseries: General, Allied Military Government, Department of Labor, Mildred H. Morse, and United Nations Development Programme.
Physical Description37 boxes
Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 1: General (1895-1998) is the most diverse component of the Morse Papers, ranging from highly personal matters to relatively inconsequential ones and touching on innumerable aspects of Morse's life. The material in this subseries is also the broadest of any in terms of time span, for while most of it postdates the Second World War, it includes documents held by Morse's family prior to his birth. The bulk of its folders are identified by the name of the individual or organization to whom or to which their contents relate, but a number are constituted on a broader basis, as in Morse's Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts requests or in the obituaries and tributes which followed his death. Much of the material in this subseries, be it personal correspondence or organizational documents, is routine, though at various junctures an issue of particular moment manifests itself. Considered collectively, this material provides a multidimensional picture of Morse's interests and involvements. For a fuller treatment of the different phases of his life, the subseries which precede and follow this one should be consulted.
That Morse was seldom idle, even after his departure from the ILO, is readily apparent on the basis of this material. His close association with institutions and organizations such as Rutgers University, the World Rehabilitation Fund, and the Council on Foreign Relations is well-documented. So, too, are his relationships with individuals the world over. Millard Cass' folder attests to the sometimes troubled nature of Morse's ties with George Meany, the pugnacious head of the AFL-CIO, and to the broader issue underlying this tension, namely, "whether," in Morse's words, "the U. S. Government and other governments want to continue to maintain the I.L.O. as a universal organization within the framework of the United Nations family, or to reduce it to a small, tightly knit group of countries which have the objective of carrying on political warfare with the Communists."
The prevailing sentiment in this subseries, however, reflecting the tenor of Morse's life, is one of mutual respect and, frequently, affection. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's folder, for instance, contains a note in her hand to Morse which can only be described as heartfelt. Morse's relationship with Francis Blanchard, the second man to succeed him as Director-General, is another case in point. Blanchard's folder demonstrates that Morse fulfilled the role of an eminence grise, ever ready with words of counsel and comfort. Perhaps the most arresting example of Morse's concern for others, even at one step's remove, can be found in Alain Rens's folder. Rens, the son of Morse's deputy, Jef Rens, joined the French Foreign Legion, an entanglement which he soon came to regret and which Morse went to great lengths to undo. That all was not irenic in Morse's life is evidenced by such folders as Herman Cooper's, Westbrook Pegler's, and George Shaw Wheeler's. They relate in one way or another to the anticommunist fears, sometimes justifiable and sometimes not, which gripped the United States at the height of the Cold War. Also, this subseries contains the censored photocopies of the Morse files collected by such government organizations as the FBI and CIA.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent or topic.
Physical Description22 boxes
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(Includes the transcript of an interview with Cordenker about his research and thoughts on Morse's career at I.L.O.)
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Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 2: Allied Military Government (1940-1947) documents Morse's military career during the Second World War in considerable detail. The material in this subseries includes general army records as well as records specifically related to Morse's tenure as head of the Labor Division of the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory in Sicily and Italy and head of the Manpower Division of the United States Group Control Council for Germany. Material concerning Japan is also present in the form of the final report of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers' Advisory Committee on Labor, entitled "Labor Policies and Programs in Japan." A revealing account of Morse's wartime experiences, particularly with regards to Sicily and Italy, can be found in a journal recording his activities in various places, including North Africa, Sicily and Italy, England, France, Germany, and Austria. A haunting memento of his military career, which brought him face to face with Hitler's liberated concentration camps, is a yellow Star of David bearing the French word, "Juif."
Morse's general army records span the period from his request for an interview with the United States Army in March 1942 (subsequently he was accepted as a first lieutenant), to his receipt of the Legion of Merit in June 1946, nine months after his voluntary discharge. This material also includes selective service cards from 1940 and 1941 and the somewhat belated transmittal letter which accompanied his commission as lieutenant colonel in 1947. The general army records are mainly composed of "extracts," that is, orders and station assignments given to officers. Information issued to officers briefing them on certain codes of conduct, such as confidentiality, and detailing military activities, such as the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory manual on "plan, proclamations and instructions" are present as well. The last folder in the general army records sequence also contains documents relating to Morse's promotion to lieutenant colonel, his receipt of the Legion of Merit for his conspicuous services, and original copies of the May 8, 1945 editions of the New York Herald Tribune and The Stars and Stripes celebrating the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. Material relating to Morse's German involvements consists mainly of reports on labor such as "Tentative Labor Plan for Germany" and "Annex XVIII (Manpower) of Basic Preliminary Plan Allied Control and Occupation of Germany (Control Council Period)." Material relating to Morse's work in Sicily and Italy is much more diverse and plentiful. It includes general orders and extracts, minutes, background documentation on Sicily and Italy's labor situations, newspaper clippings, and reports concerning various labor-related issues. The drafts of Morse's labor policy, which dealt with the abolition of the fascist labor system and the establishment free trade unions and labor offices, illustrate the evolution of civil reconstruction amid conditions which were at best unstable.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent or topic.
Physical Description3 boxes
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Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 3: Department of Labor (1945-1954) consists of material relating to Morse's tenure as Assistant, Under, and Acting Secretary of Labor in the Truman administration between July 1946 and August 1948. For the most part, the contents of this subseries can be divided into three broad categories: intra-departmental material, inter-departmental material, and extra-departmental material. It is important to note that most of this material takes the form of copies of records held in the National Archives rather than papers held in Morse's files. Their character tends to be impersonal, not that the human dimension is entirely absent. Morse's dealings with Secretary Lewis Schwellenbach and the upper echelons of the department convey a clear sense of the style and substance of his administrative role. The topics covered in this subseries are varied, ranging from the contentious Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, to the family budget of urban workers to the equitable participation of minorities in the programs and services of the department.
The bulk of the material in this subseries is intra-departmental, including budget reports, general orders establishing policies and procedures for various activities, draft legislation, statutes describing the purpose of departmental units, and plans for the department's 35th anniversary. This category also contains material relating to programs and services within the jurisdiction of the department such as the United States Employment Service, the Women's Bureau, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the Veterans Employment Service. The activities of the department itself are documented in large part through reports on the progress of various domestic and international programs and through memoranda between officials suggesting changes within or alternatives to such programs.
The inter-departmental material in this subseries consists of documents exchanged between the department and other governmental offices and officials, including reports on joint programs and issues of departmental concern. For example, the Department of Labor, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Agriculture were all involved in the Food Conservation Program established by President Truman. The White House, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Atomic Energy Commission were also among the department's correspondents.
For its part, the extra-departmental material consists of correspondence and associated documents exchanged between Morse or his colleagues and external bodies such as the International Labour Organisation, the Merrill-Stevens Dry Dock and Repair Company, United States Steel, and the University of California's Institute of Industrial Relations. A number of congratulatory letters and telegrams from Morse's friends and relations on the occasion of his appointment as Assistant and Under Secretary of Labor inject an element of personal warmth into this subseries.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent or topic.
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Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 4, Mildred H. Morse (1900-1974) consists chiefly of letters written to or from Mildred Morse, Morse's wife of 53 years, between 1919 and 1969. The broad time span of this subseries, which includes correspondence between members of Mrs. Morse's family prior to her birth as well as childhood notes, offers a rich and evolving portrait of Mrs. Morse and her world. Of particular interest in this regard is the folder relating to Mrs. Morse's presentation at the Court of St. James in 1931. She was one of a privileged circle of debutantes to appear before the British King and Queen. Among the items contained in this folder are an exchange of letters between her mother and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nicholas Longworth, who put forward her name, and a number of effusive newspaper clippings.
The majority of the correspondence in this subseries, which is the most intimate of any in the Morse Papers, dates from the time of Morse's overseas service in the Second World War. The couple exchanged hundreds of letters during this period, often using affectionate names such as "angel duck" and "angel pie," and unique to Mrs. Morse, "Pedie" or "Peter." As Morse put it in a letter written in England in May 1944, "I've seen lots of things these last months, but never anything or anyone that even starts to resemble the beauty and quality of my adorable sweet wife. And I'm not just saying this to hear myself talk, it comes from awful way down deep." The Morses' diary-like correspondence took various forms, including postcards, densely written V-Mail, and letters, and, thanks to fairly consistent dating and, in many cases, sequential numbering, scholars can follow the couple's lines of thought and, within the limits imposed by military secrecy, lines of action on both the home and foreign fronts. This correspondence sheds light not only on the mentality of the Morses but on that of American citizens in wartime. In addition to mutual devotion, the emotions which manifest themselves include frustration -- "let's get the damned war over with" (October 1944) -- revulsion at Nazi barbarism -- "one can't afford to be too homesick when such monsters are loose in the world" (October 1944) -- and sorrow over the death of Franklin Roosevelt -- "yesterday was the saddest day that I have known since my father died" (April 1945).
Arranged chronologically.
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Series 2: Subject Files, Subseries 5: United Nations Development Programme (1961-1973) consists for the most part of material Morse acquired or generated as Chairman of the United Nations Development Programme's Advisory Panel on Programme Policy, a position he held from 1970 to 1972. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is devoted to providing multilateral pre-investment aid to the world's low-income nations in an attempt to alleviate and, ultimately, eradicate global poverty. The scope of its work in Morse's time can be gauged by the number of experts serving under its auspices (8200 in 1968) and the cumulative value of its major completed and uncompleted projects ($2.8 billion by 1970). Under Morse's leadership, the Advisory Panel on Programme Policy was responsible for recommending what the position of the United Nations Development Programme should be on various issues and what policies it should pursue in the fulfillment of its mission. A fair amount of the material in this subseries relates to the internal workings of the Panel and the United Nations Development Programme as a whole. This includes such items as interoffice memoranda concerning meetings and various matters in need of discussion and resolution, reports by Panel members, such as "The Role of UNDP in Education and Training," monthly management reports, and plans for headquarters restructuring.
Present as well are preparatory documents for each of the Panel's "Sessions" consisting of various reports on "Advisory Panel Questions" to be discussed at these meetings. Topics include "The Role of the UNDP in Promoting Investment Follow-Up," "The Role of the UNDP in the Development and Adaptation of Science and Technology in Developing Countries," and "The Time-Lag Between the Identification of UNDP Projects and Their Implementation Under Project and Country Programming." Other material in this subseries includes information gathered from various seminars that Morse attended and correspondence with a number of United Nations organizations, among them the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. A variety of nongovernmental organizations outside the United Nations system are also represented, including the AFL-CIO, the Institut Francais du Petrole, and the Society for International Development.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent or topic.
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Series 3, Addresses, Writings, and Interviews (1930-1990), most neatly bound on a chronological basis, offers a remarkably comprehensive record of Morse's perspective on a wide array of subjects, as well as the views of the entities on whose behalf he wrote and spoke, over the course of 60 years. Indeed, if the transcripts of the oral history interviews in which he participated are taken into account, this series can be said to encompass within itself an entire lifetime. Most of the thousands of words recorded here were intended for public consumption, but there are also items of a personal nature, the most notable of which is a volume of intimate reflections which spans the decade between 1956 and 1966 and which touches on such matters as global peace, education, poverty, and international personalities.
The category of addresses consists of Morse's utterances between 1936 and 1990, the majority of which were made in his capacity as Director-General of the ILO. They range from his message to the Scottish Trades Union Congress in 1949 to his speech at a luncheon in honor of the Vice President of Brazil in 1956 to his talk for the Voice of America in 1962 to his lecture on the occasion of the ILO's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969. Morse's visibility after his departure from the ILO is borne out by a substantial number of public utterances, the last of which, appropriately, took the form of a contribution to a panel on the organization he had once directed. Presented shortly before his death, his thoughts on the ILO are a revealing encapsulation of the story to which so large a proportion of the Morse Papers is dedicated.
The category of writings, which spans the years between 1930 and 1989, consists primarily of articles and the introductions and conclusions to the reports contained in Series 1: Subseries 3. Morse's articles range from "Industrial Peace -- At What Price?" in 1946 to "The World Situation and the I.L.O." in 1956 to "World Tragedy: More Workers than Jobs" in 1962 to "Labor in the Public Sector: An International Perspective" in 1978. His words appeared in a variety of publications, both in the United States and overseas, including the International Social Science Bulletin, The Indian Worker, the Ecumenical Review, and the Political Science Quarterly. A partial bibliography is available. In common with other public figures, Morse's writings, like his addresses, were, in many cases, drafted for him, but, as his surviving marginalia attest, he made them his own. Very much his own are the transcripts of two oral history projects to which he was a contributor after his departure from the ILO. One was conducted by Columbia University and the other by the Harry S. Truman Library, and, together, they constitute an autobiography of sorts, notable for its breadth and periodic depth and for its discursive spontaneity. The interviews commissioned by Columbia University were conducted in two stages. The first documents Morse's background, his childhood, student days, and first governmental appointments. The second carries Morse from his work as Chief Counsel for the Petroleum Labor Policy Board of the Department of Interior to his work as Director-General of the ILO, concluding with a discussion of his activities upon his return to the United States. Morse's association with the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor is passed over lightly, in virtue of the extensive treatment it receives in the interviews commissioned by the Harry S. Truman Library, the focus of which, of course, is the Truman administration. Both sets of interviews commissioned by Columbia University are indexed.
Arranged chronologically.
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Series 4, Appointment Books (1949-1970) consists of 22 small, bound, yearly planners in which Morse periodically jotted down his daily schedule as Director-General. Although a large percentage of days are blank slates, the pages on which Morse noted his appointments are informative and provide an insight, albeit skeletal, into what his life as head of the ILO was like. On March 2, 1953, for instance, his day began with a meeting followed by five appointments, including one with Egypt's Under Secretary of Labor, followed by another meeting followed by a dinner. On May 14, 1959, seven appointments are recorded, as well as a meeting, a lunch, a reception, and a dinner. During the annual International Labour Conference his schedule could be more crowded still.
Arranged chronologically.
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Series 5, Scrapbooks (1922-1962) is largely composed of newspaper clippings, some collected by Morse and other gathered by his staff. There are a number of gaps, and the years which are represented suffer from uneven coverage. In certain cases a large and often repetitive collection of clippings was assembled, while in others there is almost nothing to document Morse's myriad activities. Of particular interest are the first two scrapbooks in this series, for, between them, they cover Morse's youth and prewar adulthood, a period poorly represented elsewhere. Morse's love of football is much in evidence, but so, too, are his oratorical gifts. In 1927 he won a place or, rather, a rostrum at the National Intercollegiate Oratorical Contest in Los Angeles. He finished sixth, and it is interesting to note that, in his address, he argued that "reverence of the law should rightly become the political religion of the nation," a theme he would return to in the future when far greater issues than collegiate pride would be at stake. The newspaper clippings which document Morse's prewar governmental work range from the "local boy makes good" variety of news to substantial articles, most of which relate to Morse's work as Regional Attorney for the Second Region of the National Labor Relations Board. The highly-charged atmosphere of many of the hearings at which Morse, acting under the aegis of the controversial Wagner-Connery Act, appeared is almost palpable. Later scrapbooks chart Morse's postwar career, often in multilingual form, touching on both the pivotal moments, such as his appointment as Assistant Secretary of Labor and his election as Director-General of the ILO, and the multitude of small events which, together, formed the fabric of his public life: his membership in President Truman's "brain trust," which met each Monday at the Wardman Park Hotel; his tour of South America, which he found to be in the grip of an "industrialization fever," in 1949; his plan to facilitate the movement of hundreds of thousands of Europeans to countries in need of manpower; and his inauguration of the United Nations pavilion in Brussels in 1958, to mention a few such moments.
Arranged chronologically.
Physical Description10 boxes
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Series 6, Memorabilia (1946-1993) consists of medals, certificates, plaques, keys to cities, pins, ribbons, coins, and eight oversized documents. The material in this series was given to Morse in commemoration of various significant events in his career from governments and organizations throughout the world. The materials honor Morse for his work with ILO, as well as other aspects of his career, and commemorate his visits to other countries and important anniversaries of organizations. The oversize documents include certificates testifying to Morse's appointment as Assistant and Under Secretary of Labor and his designation as the representative of the government of the United States on the Governing Body of the ILO. Also to be found are welcoming addresses presented to him on a visit to India and Pakistan as well as attractively illuminated messages of appreciation on the occasion of his departure from the ILO. Please note that the oversized documents are housed in the oversized cabinets.
Arranged by form.
Physical Description4 boxes
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Series 7, Audiovisual Material (1958-1991) consists of phonograph records, audiotapes, including three cassette tapes, and a 16mm film featuring Morse and events of which he was a part or in which he took an interest. While a number of speakers are represented in this material, among them Pope Paul VI in conjunction with his visits to New York and Geneva, Morse's voice is predominant. His words were recorded in a variety of settings and addressed to a variety of audiences, including the International Labour Conference, the Governing Body, and the staff of the International Labour Office. For the most part, the recordings in this series can be found in textual form elsewhere, notably in the proceedings of the International Labour Conference, but, however clear, the printed word lacks the emotional value of the spoken. Herein lies the principal strength of this series. Morse's speech to the International Labour Conference in 1963 in the midst of a furor over South Africa's participation is a case in point. His advocacy of constitutional over arbitrary methods, important though the issue at stake may be, is compelling, as is his declaration that "I need no lessons on racial discrimination. Revealing too, is his speech to the Governing Body in 1961 in which he announced his short-lived resignation as Director-General. The internal struggle which this decision entailed is apparent.
Arranged chronologically.
Physical Description3 boxes
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Series 8, Photographs (1920-1990, undated) consists of hundreds of predominantly black and white photographs of varying size which chronicle both private and public aspects of the lives of David and Mildred Morse. The former category includes many photographs of the couple's families and is weighted towards the period of their youth. Mrs. Morse's early years are far better documented than her husband's, though Morse's passion for football in school and in university is captured in several photographs. The gracious life of a debutante is illustrated in a number of Mrs. Morse's photographs, the most notable of which are those which were taken on the occasion of her presentation at the Court of St. James in 1931. The harsh realities of war intrude as well, however. In a particularly evocative photograph, Mrs. Morse can be seen pointing to a map of Europe, her husband's theater of operations. This category also includes a number of photographs taken in the Morses' mature years, which underscore their enduring attachment to one another.
The great majority of photographs in this series relate to the Morses' public activities, of which there were many. In this instance, Morse is a more ubiquitous presence than his wife, though her active interest in his work, to say nothing of the demands of protocol, are evidenced by her recurring appearance. This category encompasses each phase of Morse's career with the exception of his prewar activities, which are virtually unrepresented. Morse's stint at the South Plains Army Flying School in Lubbock, Texas accounts for most of his wartime photographs; there is a sizeable sampling of photographs dating from his years in the Department of Labor, including an autographed portrait of Secretary of Labor Lewis Schwellenbach; and the active life he led on leaving the ILO is well-documented. Among the latter photographs are a number featuring Morse and various statesmen, including Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Presidents Jimmy Carter and George Bush, President Carlos Menem of Argentina, President Mario Soares of Portugal, and Prime Minister Turgut Ozal of Turkey.
Not unexpectedly, Morse's years at the ILO yielded a large body of photographs. They offer glimpses into the multifaceted duties of a Director-General, including the endless round of meetings, receptions, assemblies, and ceremonies in which the incumbent is expected to take part. Two events of an uncommon nature are abundantly represented: Pope Paul VI's visit to the headquarters of the ILO and the conferral on the ILO of the Nobel Peace Prize. International travel is another duty of Directors-General, and, as the photographs relating to the ILO attest, Morse logged countless miles. Photographs taken in the course of his numerous missions are subdivided on the basis of country and, in the case of the superpowers, on the basis of leader as well. Indeed, these photographs constitute something of a visual who's who of the world's politicians between 1948 and 1970. While there are many gaps, the gallery includes Presidents Truman through Johnson as well as such men as Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, Arturo Frondizi of Argentina, Antonin Novotny of Czechoslovakia, Gamal Nasser of Egypt, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, and Josip Tito of Yugoslavia. It should be noted in closing that a significant number of the photographs in this series are undated and, in many instances, are at least partly unidentified.
Arranged alphabetically by topic.
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This series consists of the records received in the March 2011 accession and includes CVs, memorial tributes, services, and programs, obituary notices, and Labor Hall of Fame program materials.
The materials in this series are maintained in the order in which they were received at Princeton.
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