Payson Dennis Carter papers, 1902-1996

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Carter, Payson Dennis, 1902-1990
Abstract:
The papers of the American civil engineer in the Soviet Union include a diary, letters, printed matter, personal documents, and photographs relating to telephone and telegraph line construction in the Soviet Union.
Extent:
1 manuscript, 1 oversize box, memorabilia (2 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Payson Dennis Carter papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains one audio tape, presumably of reminiscences by Carter; clippings, including an interview with him, identity papers; numerous photographs and postcards; and an address book and notebook kept while Carter was in the USSR relating to his experience in telephone and telegraph line construction in the Soviet Union.

Biographical / historical:

Payson Dennis Carter was an American engineer who worked in the USSR as a communications engineer between 1933 and 1937, helping lay telegraph and telephone lines between Moscow and Leningrad. As a member of the Friends of the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s, "Comrade Carter" was active in speaking to church groups in the United States, which caused him some difficulties during the McCarthy era.

Carter was married while in the Soviet Union and divorced after leaving in 1939. After returning to the United States, he continued to work as an engineer, spending several years with the FCC and a Washington, D.C. area firm. Carter served in World War II, was a member of the President's Soviet Protocol Committee, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2015.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Box OCM4 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Payson Dennis Carter papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website