The materials in this collection come from the national office files of the Panel of Americans, Inc. Included is correspondence, field reports, “annual” reports, articles and clippings about Panel activities, copies of student speeches, conference programs, press releases, and miscellaneous other items. Though dated from 1941 to 1962, materials are most complete for the early 1950s. The most thoroughly documented activities are those of the national office in their relationship to local panels. Also present is information on personnel, fund-raising, the organization of the National Council, and special support received from the American Jewish Committee.
The Papers are organized in four groups: (1) Descriptive Statements and Articles, 1941-1961, (2) Bylaws, Minutes, and “Annual” Reports, 1950-1961, (3) Correspondence, Memoranda, Reports, and Working Papers, 1943-1962, and (4) Local Panels, 1945-1962. The Descriptive Statements and Articles total just one folder and provide the reader with additional background information on the Panel. The Bylaws, Minutes, and “Annual” Reports give more detailed information on the Panel's development. The Bylaws, dated April 9, 1957, explain the structure of the Panel and the National Council. The minutes present are those of the Panel Advisory Board of the University Religious Conference, 1950-1952. The term “annual reports” refers to summaries of development, cumulative reports, and reports by the chairman which, though not prepared on a yearly basis, serve the same functions as annual reports.
Group three, Correspondence, Memoranda, Reports, and Working Papers, contains information on all aspects of the Panel. Correspondents for the Panel include Executive Directors Dwight W. Culver and Dorothy Baumann and Assistant Director Marian Hargrave. They write to private organizations requesting support or arranging programs, to people involved in local panel activities, to viewers of panel presentations who write “fan letters,” and others. Press releases, occasional financial reports, training conference materials, and other types of documents are included here. Arranged chronologically at the beginning are four folders containing materials of a general nature. Following this are several folders concerning specific subjects; these are listed in the container list which follows this narrative.
Materials in the final group, Local Panels, are filed geographically by state and then campus. Included are field reports, memoranda, clippings, and correspondence concerning the organization and operation of the local units. Papers in this group and in group three overlap considerably and the researcher interested in any particular panel should examine both groups.
