This collection is located on-site.
Correspondence, memoranda, financial documents, minutes, book and lecture typescripts, printed matter, reports, press releases, news clippings, posters, architectural plans, and photographs document the activities of the New York and Washington Offices of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 1910 until 1954, as well as the founding, administration, and activity of the Centre Europeen (CEIP Paris Office) and the work of the Carnegie Endowment in Europe in 1911-1940. The CEIP records are most complete for the 1940-1945 period, while some documentation from the post-war period was retained by the Endowment. The collection does not include any records on grants given by the CEIP. Grant files and post-1954 materials are still with the Endowment in Washington, DC.
The Activités series (1911-1938, boxes 1-49) comprises files on particular Centre Européen projects and initiatives, subjects, individuals (including special correspondents), and organizations. The Administration series (1912-1938, boxes 49-84) consists of financial material, clippings, invitations, press releases, lists and notes, personnel files, offers of collaboration, correspondence, and memoranda that document the founding and administration of the Centre and its Hôtel. The Associations Diverses files (1927-1937, boxes 84-102) consist of correspondence with and material issued by various organizations with which the Centre Européen had contact.
The correspondence, usage statistics and records, and subscription information in the Bibliothèque series (1920-1937, boxes 102-112) document the activity and administration of the Centre's Bibliothèque and Salle de Lecture. The meeting minutes, agendas, and transcipts and related correspondence in the Comité series (1912-1938, boxes 113-130) reflect the work of the various Centre committees in planning and administering the Centre's activities, as well as the priorities of individual committee members. The Correspondance series (1911-1938, boxes 130-171) includes administrative and internal correspondence (correspondance du bureau) and general correspondence (correspondance diverse).
The Cours et Conférences series (1924-1938, boxes 171-188) consists of correspondence, reports, lecture transcripts, invitations, schedules, posters, and printed matter that document the courses and lectures sponsored by and held at the Centre. Correspondence, speeches, internal memoranda, and printed material in the Directeurs series (1913-1940, boxes 189-225) document the work and travels on behalf of the Endowment of the Baron d'Estournelles de Constant (the Centre's President , 1913-1924), Earle Babcock and Malcolm Davis (its two American Directeur-Adjoints), and Nicholas Murrary Butler (the Director of the Division of Intercourse and Education). The series also include books and pamphlets by an about Andrew Carnegie and some correspondence with Louise Carnegie.
The Dotation Carnegie series (1912-1938, boxes 225-249) consists of the Centre's correspondence with the London, New York, and Washington offices of the Endowment, and the files of the French section of the Divison of Economics and History, which wokred out of the Centre. Correspondence, typescripts, page proofs, and pamphlets in the Publications series (1920-1940, boxes 250-293) document the editorial, production, and distribution aspects of the Centre's publications program.
The Subventions series (1912-1937, boxes 293-313)consists of requests for financial support from the Endowment, reports on grants given by the Endowment, and notes and minutes documenting the Centre's Comité's consideration of grant requests. (The Endowment used the Comité to evaluate requests for support and collaboration originating outside of the United States.)
Series I: Activités, 1911-1914, 1918-1938
The Activités series comprises files on particular Centre Européen projects and intiatives, subjects, individuals (including special correspondents), and organizations. It includes material on the Endowment's reconstruction projects in Fargniers, Reims, and Louvain, its Division of Relations with Germany (Allemagne), the Austro-American Institute of Education, conferences and inquires on the Balkans, the American Library in Paris, the British and American Students' Conference, the Fondation des États-Unis, the Dunford House Association, the Institut International de Coopération Intellectuelle, International Mind Alcoves, International Relations Clubs, Florence Wilson, and visits organized by the Endowment.
See also Series XII. Subventions for more material on various activities supported by the Endowment.
Series II. Administration, 1912-1938
This series consists of financial material, clippings, invitations, press releases, lists and notes, personnel files, offers of collaboration, correspondence, and memoranda that document the founding and administration of the Centre and its Hôtel.
Series III: Associations Diverses, 1927-1937
This series consists of correspondence with various organizations with which the Centre Européen had contact. It also contains publications and other material ("documents") issued by these organizations. For@1932 there is card index to the organzations that appear throughout the records.
Series IV: Bibliothèque, 1920-1921, 1926-1937
The correspondence, usage statistics and records, and subscription information in this series document the activity and administration of the Centre's Bibliothèque and Salle de Lecture.
The meeting minutes, agendas, and transcripts and related correspondence in this series reflect the work of various Centre committees in planning and administering the Centre's activities, as well as the priorities of individual committee members.
Series VI: Correspondence, 1911-1938
Correspondence files include administrative and internal correspondence (correspondance du bureau) and general correspondence (corresondance diverse).
Series VII: Cours et Conférences, 1924-1938
This series consists of correspondence, reports, lecture transcripts, invitations, schedules, posters, and printed matter that document the courses and lectures sponsored by and held at the Centre. This series includes material relating to Thomas Mann's lecture delivered at the Centre in January 1926 (See 178.2 and 185.4).
Series VIII: Directeurs, 1913-1940
Correspondence, speeches, internal memoranda, and printed material document the work and travels on behalf of the Endowment of the Baron d'Estournelles de Constant (the Centre's President, 1913-1924), Earle Babcock and Malcolm Davis (its two American Directeur-Adjoints), and Nicholas Murrary Butler (the Director of the Division of Intercourse and Education). Babock's and Davis's files include separate groups of correspondence with Butler and Henry Haskell, who was Butler's assistant. The series also include books and pamphlets by an about Andrew Carnegie and some correspondence with Louise Carnegie.
Series IX: Dotation Carnegie (Autres bureaux et sections), 1912-1938
This series consists the Centre's correspondence with the London, New York, and Washington offices of the Endowment, and the files of the French section of the Divison of Economics and History, which worked out of the Centre.
While most photographs in the records are filed with the corresponding material, this small group of photographs was kept separate. The series consists mostly of large matted photographs, often in multiple copies, but also includes smaller prints and some negatives. The series includes photographs of Butler, Erich von Prittwitz und Gaffron, the Hôtel du Centre, and various group shots (some posed) taken at Dunford House, the League of Nations, the Geneva Institute for International Relations, and the Second Vienna Summer School.
See also Series XIII. Oversize material.
Series XI: Publications, 1920-1940
Correspondence, typescripts, page proofs, and pamphlets document the editorial, production, and distribution aspects of the Centre's publications program.
Series XII: Subventions, 1912-1914, 1921-1937
This series consists of requests for financial support from the Endowment, reports on grants given by the Endowment, and notes and minutes documenting the Centre's Comité's consideration of grant requests. The Endowment used the Comité to evaluate requests for support and collaboration originating outside of the United States. These files often supplement material in the Activités files (Series I).
Series XIII: Oversize Material (from)
The Oversize series consists of material removed from other parts of collections. The series is organized by the series and subseries from which it was removed. The description of the item(s) is followed by the box and folder number (177.3) in which the material was stored originally. Most of the oversize material is announcements of courses, lecture offerings, and other events(affiches) made by the Centre and other associations, but the series also inlcudes more graphic posters promoting peace and disarmament, maps, photographs, and archictectural drawings.
Collection is divided into two record groups with separate finding aids: New York/Washington Offices and Centre Europeen in Paris. Files within record groups are arrranged into series by subject. Selected correspondence cataloged at item level (see finding aid for details). When requesting material from this collection please request by Series and subseries as well as box number.
Correspondence of US office in 1910-1936 has been indexed and bound into chronological volumes by CEIP. The indices are available online as part of the finding aid.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located on-site.
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Curator of Carnegie Collections.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - Centre Europeen Records. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University Libraries. [Box Number].
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. New York and Washington Offices. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University Libraries
James T. Shotwell Papers. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University Libraries
John Bates Clark Papers. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University Libraries
Nicholas Murray Butler Papers. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University Libraries
Malcolm Waters Davis Papers. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University Libraries
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Parts of collection are available on microfilm. Please consult the curator for details.
Gift of the Carnegie Endowment, 1953 and 1954.
Source of acquisition--Carnegie Endowment. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1953. Accession number--M-53.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged 04/17/89 CHF
Processed 1962 JAH, 2002 WS
Jennifer S. Comins converted and corrected content for EAD conversion of legacy finding aid, 9/6/2015
2014-11-06 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace established Le Centre Européen de la Dotation Carnegie pour la Paix Internationale in Paris as part of its Division of Intercourse and Education (Division des Relations et de L'Education) in 1912. The Centre was founded with an Advisory Council composed of representative and distinguished statesmen and public leaders of Europe and Asia. An Executive Committee was appointed from this Council with the authority to carry out the work of the Division abroad. Baron d'Estournelles de Constant was President of the Advisory Council from its formation until his death in 1924.
Four Special Correspondents were appointed, nationals of Austria, England, Germany and Japan, to keep the Director informed regarding international policies and international conduct relating to their respective countries. After World War I, the Advisory Council was reconstituted to include members from additional countries, and the number of Special Correspondents was increased to seven.
The Centre Européen was reorganized again in 1925, when it's administration was placed in charge of an American Directeur-Adjoint, with the advice of a consultative committee formed of members from various European countries. In June 1939, this committee was dissolved, while the Directeur-Adjoint remained in charge.
The activities of l'Association de la Conciliation Internationale, founded in Paris in 1905, were combined with the European work of the Endowment from 1912 on, and, following a fusion of interests in 1928, the Centre Européen maintained the title of Conciliation Internationale for the series of documents it published until 1937. At that time, the Endowment merged Conciliation Internationale with l'Esprit Internationale, the quarterly review published by the Centre Européen since 1927. This publication was suspended following the collapse of France in June 1940. Its articles, relating to contemporary problems of international life were contributed by scholars and specialists and statesmen of many nationalities. A chronicle appeared in each number, giving a summary of the political and economic events in the period under review.
In collaboration with the Institut des Hautes Études Internationales under the auspices of the Faculty of Law in the University of Paris, the Centre Européen from 1926 until 1939 conducted courses of lectures on international organization and relations. Starting in 1928 the Centre Européen also offered a considerable number of shorter. The lectures were published and distributed to numerous libraries in Europe and the United States. The Centre Européen also offered an independent course under the auspices of the Chaire Carnegie, which was delivered on a different subject each year and included addresses by invited speakers from different European countries. From 1927 until 1933, the Centre maintained a Carnegie Lehrstuhl at the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik. For four years until the outbreak of the war in 1939, the Centre Européen provided a Scandinavian traveling lectureship in international law and organization.
The Library of the Centre Européen was founded in 1913 in order to establish a collection of works on international law, politics, economics, government, and social science. A separate reading room (Salle de Lecture) for current newspapers and other periodicals opened in 1926.
The Centre Européen actively participated in the work of the International Studies Conference. The European Center also supported in part the, which subsidized the work of young scholars, carried on inquiries for the International Studies Conference, published a series of Geneva Studies, and issued a monthly Information Bulletin on developments and events as seen from Geneva and on the activities of the League of Nations and the International Labor Organization
Other organizations with which the Centre Européen cooperated were the International Studies Conference , International Consultative Group, the International Migration Service, the International Student House at Geneva, the Geneva Research Center, the Department of International Relations of the Christian Michelsen Institute at Bergen, the American University, the Amerika Institut in Berlin, the Austro-American Institute of Education in Vienna, the Italo-Ameircan Institute at Florence, and the American Institute at Prague.
The Centre's activities were almost completely suspended during the Nazi occupation of Paris. After World War II, its activities were greatly reduced. In 1954 the Centre moved to Paris.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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