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This collection contains the records from the Office of the Bicentennial, which was led by Richard B. Powell, David Loth and James L. Malfetti. This collection includes the correspondence originating in or received by the Office of the Bicentennial, the office files, and the subject files. In addition to the Office of the Bicentennial records, this collection includes the materials collected by and/or transferred to the Columbiana Collection, under the curation of Milton Halsey Thomas. This includes the conference transcripts, papers, convocation records, and an extensive collection of printed materials.

The American Academic Freedom Project at Columbia conducted a historical survey of the rise, development and changes in academic freedom in the history of the United States, and an analysis of the contemporary situation, including a study of the respective roles of governing boards, administrative officers, faculties and students. The 1955 volume, Academic Freedom in Our Time: A Study prepared for the American Academic Freedom Project at Columbia University, was undertaken by the Director Robert. M. MacIver. This collection includes the Project's research and administrative files as well as the book's editorial and publication files. The material is arranged under such headings as Censorship, Pressure Groups, Communism, Student Rights, etc. and includes pamphlets, newspaper clippings, reports, and correspondence. The general theme of the book was the same as that of the Columbia University Bicentennial in 1954, "Man's right to knowledge and the free use thereof."

This collection contains materials related to Chermayeff's personal, professional, and academic lives, the bulk originating during his residency in the United States, beginning in the late 1930s. Project records document the full range of his work, including many records from his British period. The collection also contains extensive correspondence with personal friends, clients, and professional and academic colleagues.

Manuscripts comprising notes, speeches, and articles, covering a wide range of social and political subjects and giving an extensive history of the Communist Party. Many of the manuscripts relate to his work as a theoretical writer for the Communist Party and the DAILY WORKER (New York). Subjects covered include the Garvey movement in 1924 and the League of Struggle for Negro Rights in the early 1930s; the re-orientation of the Communist Party in 1945-1947 with respect to the South and the Negro question generally (Minor became the Party's Southern representative in that period); the Party's general policies in the early 1930s and 1941-1942 when Minor was acting secretary in the absence of Earl Browder, and relating to the Party's policy toward the war following the German attack on the Soviet Union; postwar changes in the Party; the "Agrarian Movement;" and the Communist trials of 1949-1953. The extensive clipping file covers the entire domestic political scene and reflects the whole of Minor's career. These date from 1907 to his death, and contain considerable material on the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War. Also, numerous pamphlets and ephemera relating to the Communist Party.

The Institute of Current World Affairs records document the history of the ICWA, its sister organization, the American Universities Field Staff, and its founders, Charles and John Crane. Documents include first-hand reports authored by Fellows and field staff, correspondence, minutes, planning documents, subject files, financial records, publications, and photographs.