Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VI, Public Diplomacy, 1961–1963

81. Memorandum From the Director of the United States Information Agency (Murrow) to the Special Assistant to the President (Schlesinger)¹

Washington, May 21, 1962.

Herbert Mitgang’s suggestion about teams of Lincoln scholars looks good.²

Under our division of labor, the U.S. end of this belongs in State. Therefore, I am passing your note to Mr. Boerner of CU and recommending that the possibilities be explored immediately.³

Our people would handle the field end of it, of course, and would be prepared to give it the proper exploitation.

In regard to general exploitation of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation,⁴ I have cranked it into our planning operation which will develop the appropriate guidance and programming in cooperation with the other elements of the Agency.

Edward R. Murrow⁵

1. Source: Kennedy Library, Schlesinger Papers, White House Subject Files, Subject File 1961–1964, Box WH–9, Emancipation Proclamation 1/1/62–2/31/62. No classification marking.
2. In a May 8 note, written on The New York Times letterhead, Mitgang suggested to Schlesinger that the United States could “put our best foot forward historically” if a “team of Lincoln scholars, sponsored by one or two of the Pulitzer Prize historians in the White House” toured Asia, Africa, and the U.S. South to “tell the world about the new America” in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Schlesinger, in a May 16 memorandum to Murrow, included the text of Mitgang’s note and added: “I don’t know whether this is the best way to do it; but I hope we have some plan for the systematic exploitation abroad of the Emancipation Proclamation Centennial.” Both the note and memorandum are ibid.
3. In a June 19 memorandum to Schlesinger, sent through Bundy, Brubeck stated: “We [the Department of State] consider this idea [Mitgang’s] to be a good one and plan to implement it, with, of course, USIA’s help for the overseas aspects. As a first step, I am asking my staff to consult with specialists in the Lincoln field and to work up a panel of names of scholars whose services could be drawn upon for this project. I shall keep you informed of developments.” (Ibid.)
4. Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862; the final proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863. As part of the American commemoration of the centennial, President Kennedy asked the Civil Rights Commission to prepare a report on the history of civil rights over the past century. The President received a copy of the final report, entitled Freedom to the Free: Century of Emancipation, 1863–1963: A Report to the President by the United States Commission on Civil Rights, at a February 12, 1963, White House ceremony. For the text of the President’s remarks at the ceremony, see Public Papers: Kennedy, 1963, pp. 159–160.
5. Murrow initialed “ERM” above his typed signature.