The records are the files of George Pepper, executive secretary of the committee. Coverage begins in 1942 with his involvement with Musicians for Victory and continues through 1950, although documentation is best for the period 1943 to 1947. For this period there are minutes of executive board and membership meetings and extensive files of correspondence concerning national and California elections and a host of issues ranging from control of atomic weapons to the Los Angeles Zoot Suit riots of 1943. In addition, there are files for the period in 1946 when Pepper worked in the Seattle ICCASP office and collected materials about national ICCASP activities and administration. The HDC records reflect the background of the membership in the entertainment business and there are scripts of numerous radio broadcasts (and some recordings) of productions staged by the committee in behalf of Franklin D. Roosevelt and liberal political candidates. The concern for peace in the post-war world, which brought the committee into close association with scientists such as Albert Einstein, Linus Pauling, and Harlow Shapley, is also well documented. A few photographs received with the papers document HDC's support of OPA and a 1944 dinner at which Harold Ickes was the guest speaker. There are also five tape recordings of this dinner, which included an appearance by Judy Garland. Other tapes include speeches, promotional radio spots and meetings.
The BACKGROUND AND ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS include a typed history of the organization that is of unknown authorship, constitutions which governed the organization during affiliations with various national groups, correspondence concerning the involvement of the Hollywood members in the reorganization of these national groups, miscellaneous papers concerning political philosophy, lists of officers and committee members, and extensive minutes of the executive board and the general membership. Both of the files of minutes cease in 1947.
The alphabetically-arranged SUBJECT FILES variously include correspondence, telegrams, scripts, financial records, clippings, scripts, newsletters and printed material issued by the committee, and recordings. The files on national organizations with which the committee was affiliated such as ICCASP and the National Citizens Political Action Committee and the Progressive Party consist of incomplete files of mimeographed minutes and informational distributions.
Many of the issues which concerned the committee were complex. As a result, for many topics researchers will find related material in several files.complex. As a result, for many topics researchers will find related material in several files. For example, the majority of the interest in electoral politics can be found documented under the heading “Elections,” although financial information (including detailed lists of contributors) was filed as “Financial reports,” “Campaign Expenditure Committee,” and “Special Committee to Investigate Presidential Expenditures.” There is also important election material filed directly under the name of the meeting or the candidate.
