This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
A 46-box undescribed addition that is not processed exists. Please email rbml@columbia.edy for more information.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John N. Hazard. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1956.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John N. Hazard. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1961.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John N. Hazard. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1973.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John N. Hazard. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1975.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John N. Hazard. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1978.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John Hazard. Method of acquisition--gift; Date of acquisition--1980.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John Hazard. Method of acquisition--gift; Date of acquisition--1981.
Papers: Source of acquisition--John Hazard. Method of acquisition--gift; Date of acquisition--1986.
bonds, ballots: Source of acquisition--John Hazard. Method of acquisition--gift; Date of acquisition--1988.
John Newbold Hazard (1909–1995), leading American scholar of Soviet law and professor at Columbia University, one of the pioneers in the field of Sovietology, particularly in Soviet law, administration and politics.
Upon his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1934, he was sent by the Institute of Current World Affairs as the first American to study Soviet law at the Moscow Juridical Institute, later the Institute of State and Law.
Whith the beginning of the World War II, Hazard was assigned to the Soviet desk in the Division of Defense Aid Reports. He helped negotiate the conditions under which the Soviet Union joined the Lend-Lease program as its major recipient. He became deputy director of the Soviet branch of the Lend-Lease Administration, through which the United States furnished food, machinery and services to its allies. As an expert on the USSR, Hazard accompanied Vice President Henry Wallace on his secret mission to China in May, 1944. The following year he was chosen as an expert on Soviet law to assist Justice Robert Jackson in preparing the prosecution of Nazi leaders to be brought before an international tribunal for war crimes. Hazard also served in the USSR branch of the Foreign Economic Administration, eventually becoming deputy director of this branch, and then director of the USSR branch of the Office of Foreign Liquidation.
With his return to civilian life in 1946, he joined the Columbia faculty. Hazard was one of the founders of the Russian Institute at Columbia University, now the Harriman Institute. He also was a founder of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the first American professional organization in the field. He was appointed professor of public law at the same time.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John N. Hazard papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Papers Processed sc 1979.
Papers Processed sc 1980.
Papers Processed sc 1981.
Papers Processed ejs 1986.
bonds, ballots Processed ejs 1989.
In 2022 boxes 1-11 of the not processed set were reviewed and rehoused; container list for these boxes was developed and linked to the record as External Document.
In Feb. 2023 new addition to the collection was brought. It includes Hazard's letters to Walter S. Rogers and to John French, some of his unpublished reports, and some publications of his works. This addition was added as box 12 to the sequence of the processed boxes 1-11, and kept onsite.
John Hazard Collection of World War I posters; University Archive
The John N. Hazard papers consist of a processed set of 11 boxes, numbered 1-11, and an unprocessed set of 46 boxes, numbered 1-46.
The finding aid reflects a content of 11 processed boxes, which is divided into several parts.
The first part of the processed materials consists of Hazard's class notes from when he was a student at Moscow Juridical Institute in the 1930s.
The second part consists of materials relating to the lend-lease program to the USSR during World War II. These materials include carbon copies of outgoing correspondence (1943-1946), and of office day journals (1941-1946); reports on the progress of aid to the USSR (1941-1944); and an FEA report entitled "German Administration in the Baltic Area" (1943). The collection also includes correspondence, manuscripts, documents and printed materials dealing with Vice-President Henry Wallace's trip to the USSR in 1944; manuscripts of translations done for "A Source Book for Russian History from Early Times to 1917" (New Haven, 1972), George Vernadsky, senior editor; and a pamphlet from the series "Biblioteka narodnogo sud'i i narodnogo zasedatellia" (Moscow, 1939). There are also Imperial Russian government bonds from 1914 and 1916, and election ballots with instructions to voters for November 1917 elections for the Constituent Assembly in Petrograd.
In addition to the RBML boxes, the original typed description (available as a
There is also a container list for boxes 1-11 of the unprocessed set available in the repository.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Item is missing as per 06.08.2022
The Series contains Hazard's letters from 1934 to 1939 when he was studying at the Moscow Judicial Institute and employed by the Institute of Current Affairs and are written to Walter S. Rogers, his supervisor, and to John French, a lawyer and family friend. They provide important first-hand information about Soviet politics, culture, economics, law, relations with the US and religion. Also included are some of his unpublished reports on topics such as voting procedures in the Soviet Union, legal education, and the interpretation of Soviet law.
(in chronological order)