Collections

Papers of the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, committee files, membership records, financial records, fund raising records, motion pictures, audio tapes, phonograph records, photographs, posters, publications of ABMAC and other printed materials. Also included are the files of related Chinese relief organizations: Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals, 1954-1969; American Emergency Relief, 1941-1946; United Services to China, 1941-1977. Of particular interest are approximately 6,000 photographs of Chinese medical colleges, hospitals, laboratories and personnel and 45 phonograph records including speeches by such ABMAC supporters as Mme. Chiang Kai-Shek, Pearl S. Buck, Wendell Willkie, Fiorello LaGuardia and a number of movie stars

Correspondence, manuscripts, memorabilia, photographs, phonograph and tape recordings, and printed files. Included are Cerf's personal correspondence files, 1929-1945, and the diaries and scrapbooks which he maintained from his school days throughout his active career. The diaries, in date-book format, contain terse notes on Cerf's meetings with authors and friends, on his travels and publishing activities; the scrapbooks contain correspondence and photographs, as well as memorabilia and printed items, and were annotated by Cerf and his wife, Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner. Also in the collection are manuscripts and proofs for Cerf's books including "The Laugh's on Me""Treasury of Atrocious Puns""The Sound of Laughter""Stories to Make You Feel Better", and "At Random: the Reminiscences of Bennett Cerf", which was edited by Phyllis Cerf Wagner and Albert Erskine, 1977. The papers also include condolence letters written at the time of Cerf's death, photographs and photo albums,certificates and awards, and miscellaneous printed material, including Random House and Modern Library catalogues. Among the major correspondents are: Truman Capote, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Edna Ferber, Moss Hart, J. Edgar Hoover, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, John Lindsay, Joshua Logan, John O'Hara, Jacqueline Onassis, Richard Rodgers, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gertrude Stein, Adlai Stevenson, Harry Truman, and Robert Penn Warren

Office files consisting of correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other documents relating to the operation of the Museum. Included are numerous biographical and topical folders on the theatrical subjects such as David Belasco, Costumes, French stage models, Helen Hayes, etc. Masks and Puppets account for 29 folders.

Correspondence, minutes of meetings, financial records, publications, notes, subject files, awards, speeches, reports and audiovisual materials document work by the Church Peace Union, its successors Council on Religion in International Affairs and Council on Ethics and International Affairs, and related organizations such as the World Alliance for International Friendship Through the Churches. The first installment of the CCEIA archival materials came to the RBML in 1974, with numerous additions over the years. A major addition in 1982 contained primarily the records of the Board of Directors and their semi-annual meetings, as well as the various programs and institutes of the Council, for the years 1972-1982, along with selected 1930s materials. 1986 addition contains presidential correspondence files, minutes of the Board of Trustees and committees, special projects, programs and conferences files, and the business and editorial files of "Worldview". Correspondents include John Foster Dulles, Jane Addams, Fiorello La Guardia, and Paul Tillich. 1990 and 2000 additions includes files of CCEIA presidents and vice presidents, paper and audiovisual materials on Merrill House Conversation Programs; Educational programs; International Monetary Fund/Lecture series; The Annals Of The Academy Of Political & Social Science; Washington Consultations; Colloquia for the Clergy; Church State Project; Asian Development & The Carribean Initiative; Korea: Year 2000 Project; fundraising files, printed materials and files of the Department of Publications.