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Whiting Willauer Papers
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Overview and metadata sections
Whiting Willauer (1906-1962, Class of 1928), was born in New York, New York, received his A.B. from Princeton University and his law degree from Harvard University. Willauer married Louise Russell in June of 1930. They had three children, Sally, Whiting, Jr. and Thomas.
Following law school Willauer worked for the law firm of Bingham, Dana & Gould for seven years practicing admiralty law. In 1939 he accepted a position as Special Attorney with the United States Civil Aeronautics Board where he was put in charge of the conduct of air mail rate hearings and the other matters involving the Washington National Airport. From 1939 through 1940 Willauer worked as an attorney in the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice investigating judicial corruption. While in this position, Willauer also served as a special assistant to the United States Attorney General and conducted the first grand jury investigation into Nazi propaganda. In 1941 Willauer served as Special Counsel for the Federal Power Commission. In this capacity Willauer worked on the proposed St. Lawrence Seaway legislation.
In July 1941 Willauer took a position with China Defense Supplies, Inc. (CDS, Inc.), the official representative of the Chinese government in lend-lease matters. Willauer worked as assistant to T.V. Soong, President of CDS, Inc. It was this job that launched Willauer's career in Asia. While in China Willauer met Claire L. Chennault with whom he founded the American Volunteer Group, also known as the "Flying Tigers", and advised Chennault on matters related to this organization.
In 1944 Willauer was assigned a new position as Director, Far East and Special Territories Branch of the Foreign Economic Administration. In 1946 Willauer was an advisor to the director on reconstruction problems in China for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA).
During this time, beginning in 1946, Willauer and Chennault formed the Civil Air Transport (CAT) company. Willauer served as executive vice-president, and later as president and vice-chair of the board. CAT was a civilian airline which transported supplies and individuals throughout China and Asia, often taking risks that other airlines refused to take. During the war in China between the Communists and the Nationalists, CAT aided the Nationalists in transporting supplies to both the army and to civilians. CAT, Inc. was eventually bought by the U.S. government (the C.I.A.) in the late 40s/early 50s. Following a lawsuit between CAT, Inc. and another Chinese airline, Central Air Transport, Corp. (CATC) Willauer left China and returned to the United States.
From 1954 to 1958 Willauer served as United States Ambassador to Honduras, and from 1958 to 1961 he served as United States Ambassador to Costa Rica. During his ambassadorship to Costa Rica, Willauer served as a delegate to the meeting of foreign ministers for the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1960 and as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in October 1960. In July 1961 Willauer gave testimony to the United States Senate Internal Security Subcommittee Investigation on the Bay of Pigs incident in Cuba.
Whiting Willauer died at age 56 in 1962. He was survived by his wife, Louise, and his daughter Sally and son Whiting, Jr.
1931-1938 Admiralty lawyer, Bingham, Dana and Gould law firm (New York, NY) 1939 Special Attorney, United States Civil Aeronautics Board 1939-1940 Attorney, Criminal Division, Department of Justice, and Special Assistant to the United States Attorney General 1941 Special Counsel, Federal Power Commission 1941-1944 Co-founder and Advisor to General Claire L. Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG), a.k.a., "Flying Tigers" Executive Secretary, China Defense Supplies, Inc. 1944-1945 Director, Far East and Special Territories Branch, Foreign Economic Administration 1946-1947 Advisor to Director on reconstruction problems in China, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) 1946-1954 Executive Vice-President, President, and Vice-Chair of the Board, Civil Air Transport (CAT) 1954-1958 United States Ambassador to Honduras 1958-1961 United States Ambassador to Costa Rica 1960 Delegate to the Organization of American States (OAS) Meetings of Foreign Ministers (August 1960) 1961 Testimony on Bay of Pigs incident in Cuba, Senate Internal Security Subcommittee Investigation, (27 July 1961)
Consists of papers of Willauer (Princeton Class of 1928) relating mainly to his official, semi-official, and private concerns in China during and after World War II when he was executive secretary (1941-1944) for China Defense Supplies, Inc., which purchased airplanes for Claire Lee Chennault's American Volunteer Group known as the "Flying Tigers;" director (1944-1945) of the Far East branch of the Foreign Economic Administration; and president and vice-chairman of the board of the Civil Air Transport (CAT) company in China, co-founded with Chennault. Included are Willauer's annotations to his papers and autobiographical notes, correspondence, articles, speeches, and interviews by and about him, photographs, CAT manuals, and a flight logbook for 1943-1944. Major correspondents include Joseph Alsop, Marshall Bannell, Claire L. Chennault, Thomas Corcoran, T. V. Soong, Charles L. Stillman, L. K. Taylor, Edward Warner, Erik Watts, Louise Willauer (wife), and William S. Youngman.
Also present are some limited materials pertaining to his earlier career as an admiralty lawyer (1931-1938) with a New York City law firm, attorney for the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Dept. of Justice, and, later, as ambassador to Honduras (1954-1958) and to Costa Rica (1958-1961).
The Whiting Willauer Papers were donated to the Princeton Library by Louise Russell Willauer in several accessions.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Melissa A. Johnson in July 1992. Finding aid written by Melissa A. Johnson in July 1992.
Eight maps were separated from this collection when it was processed in 1992. These maps were transferred to the Geology Library. No other information about appraisal is available for this collection.
People
Organization
- 14th Air Force Association (U.S.). Flying Tigers.
- China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group
- Civil Air Transport
- Flying Tigers (AVG), Inc.
- United Nations, Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
- United States. Army Air Forces. China Air Task Force
- United States. Civil Aeronautics Board
- United States. Foreign Economic Administration
Subject
- Aeronautics -- Relief service -- China
- Aeronautics, Commercial -- China
- Aeronautics, Military -- China
- Air pilots -- China
- Economic assistance, American -- China. -- 20th century
- Fighter pilots -- China. -- 20th century
- Reconstruction (1939-1951) -- China
- Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1937-1945 -- China -- Aerial operations
- Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1937-1945 -- China -- Civilian relief
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations, Chinese
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief -- China
Place
- Honduras -- Foreign relations -- United States -- 20th century
- China -- Commerce. -- 20th century
- China -- Foreign relations -- United States -- 20th century
- Costa Rica -- Foreign relations -- United States -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign relations -- China. -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign relations -- Costa Rica. -- 20th century
- United States -- Foreign Relations -- Honduras. -- 20th century
Occupation
- Publisher
- Public Policy Papers
- Finding Aid Author
- Melissa A. Johnson
- Finding Aid Date
- 2001
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
Series I: Biographical Materials includes a folder of notes written by Whiting Willauer about himself, as well as a folder of general biographical material about Willauer. Also included is a subseries of educational material, which contains correspondence and grade cards from Willauer's school days at Saint Albans, Stone School, and Princeton University.
The material in this series is arranged into three subseries: Autobiographical Notes, General, and Education. The Education material is further divided into correspondence and grade cards.
Physical Description1 box
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Series II: Annotations and Notes (1960-1962) contains transcripts and notes made by Whiting Willauer on his papers between the years 1960 and 1962. During the course of describing the items Willauer often related the context of the items, telling stories, anecdotes, and relating events as he remembered them. At times Willauer repeats himself, and he is not always consistent in his recounting of events. Yet, the annotations and notes provide a valuable descriptive element to the collection. There are tapes for all of these notes except for one set. These notes no longer serve the purpose for which they were created, which was to describe specific items in the collection according to a numbering and coding system set up by Willauer (usually by folder and numbered with a red or blue pencil). The annotations and notes should not be used to locate items.
The materials in this series are arranged as two general groupings: transcriptions of tapes and annotations.
Physical Description1 box
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(transcriptions of tapes, tapes not included)
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Series III: Correspondence (1939-1962) includes both professional and personal letters. Of special interest should be Whiting Willauer's correspondence to his wife, Louise Russell Willauer. Willauer regularly wrote to his wife and shared many details of his work in China. Included in this correspondence are Louise Willauer's letters written home during the time in which she was with Whiting. The correspondence files contain most of the material held in the collection that documents Willauer's positions as United Sates Ambassador to Honduras and Costa Rica from 1954 through 1961, although there are subject files folders for both Honduras and Costa Rica.
The correspondence in this series is arranged alphabetically by writer and chronologically within. Where there is a considerable amount of correspondence with a single individual a separate folder has been made.
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Series IV: Diaries consists of what Willauer termed as his diaries, but are actually a catchall for Willauer's notes to himself, journal entries, rough drafts of letters and memoranda of meetings and subjects. Also included are copies of reports sent to various people in the United States such as William S. [Bill] Youngman, Thomas G. Corcoran, and Louise Willauer.
The materials in this series are arranged chronologically.
Physical Description1 box
1 box
Series V: Subject Files includes files for each of Willauer's jobs, with the exception of his position as an Admiralty Lawyer at Bingham, Dana and Gould law firm in New York City (1931-1938).
The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically and chronologically within.
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Series VI: Notebooks (1942-1953) contains bound or spiral bound notebooks that have been disbound in which Willauer took notes during his day to day work. Presumably he used these notes to type up his reports, diaries and memoranda, as well as letters. Some contain lists of personal supplies and supplies that China Defense Supplies, Inc. and Civil Air Transport moved.
The notebooks in this series are arranged chronologically.
Physical Description1 box
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Series VII: Speeches (1958-1961) contain speeches that Willauer gave as United States Ambassador to Honduras and Costa Rica, his speech given at the World Affairs Council on communism (1960), and as a delegate at the Organization of American States meeting of foreign ministers (1960).
The speeches in this series are arranged chronologically.
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Series VIII: Publications (1923-1962) contains newspaper clippings; Civil Air Transport CAT Bulletins; the book A Description of Equipment and Operations, a general pictorial history with some descriptive text describing the outfit of Civil Air Transport, Inc.; a CAT maintenance manual; and the published and bound court proceedings for the lawsuit between Civil Air Transport, Inc. and Central Air Transport Corporation. There is also a folder containing pamphlets published by Willauer while he was Ambassador to Costa Rica.
The materials in this series are arranged into three subseries: newspaper clippings, bound volumes, and pamphlets about Costa Rica.
Physical Description3 boxes
1 box
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1 folder
Physical Locationcabinet 1 drawer 1
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Series IX: Appointment Books (1954-1961) contains six bound, volumes which list daily appointments during the time Willauer was United States Ambassador to Honduras and Costa Rice.
The appointment books in this series are in chronological order.
Physical Description1 box
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Series X: Photographs includes a series of numbered photographs with a descriptive listing, as well as some miscellaneous photographs of Whiting Willauer, Louise Willauer, and one of Claire L. Chennault. The descriptive listing is in the box with the photographs. Also in this series are a collection of audiotapes containing recordings of annotations and notes.
The materials in this series are arranged into two subseries: Photographs and Recordings of Annotations and Notes.
Physical Description3 boxes
2 boxes
Annotations of materials and Autobiographical remarks on the life and career of Whiting Willauer. (4 tapes) all have transcripts.
Physical Description1 box
Series XI: Oversize Material includes a Civil Air Transport, Inc. poster, and three maps with annotations and notes in Willauer's hand.
The materials in this series are organized by type.
Physical Description1 folder
2 folders
1 folder
1 box
Negative microfilm.
Physical Description1 box