Bonner Frank Fellers papers, 1904-1997

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Fellers, Bonner Frank, 1896-1973
Abstract:
Speeches and writings, studies, reports, correspondence, memoranda, orders, printed matter, and photographs, relating to American propaganda and military activities in the Pacific Theater during World War II, the occupation of Japan, and postwar conservative political organizations in the United States, especially the Citizens Foreign Aid Committee. Described in two groups, first the original accession, then for an addition to the collection in 2003.
Extent:
62 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 3 oversize folders, sound recordings (25.4 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Bonner Frank Fellers papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

Acquired in 1970, the Bonner Fellers papers relate to American propaganda and military operations in the Pacific Theater during World War II, the occupation of Japan, and postwar conservative political organizations in the United States, especially the Citizens Foreign Aid Committee. The papers consist of speeches and writings, studies, reports, correspondence, memoranda, military orders, and printed matter (boxes 1-16).

Acquired in 2003, the increment to the Bonner Frank Fellers papers in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives (boxes 17-60) substantially increases the volume of the collection. The incremental materials span the lifetime of Fellers, ranging from his numerous military postings to his subsequent civilian career as a political lobbyist and opinion maker.

The Military Career File in the increment contains correspondence and reports pertaining to various assignments carried out by Fellers before and during World War II, including his experiences in the Philippines and Egypt, and later as military secretary to General Douglas MacArthur. This series also contains studies done by Fellers in the field of psychological warfare, especially in relation to the American war effort against the Japanese. There are also records concerning the postwar American occupation of Japan, during which Fellers served in an administrative role.

The extensive Speeches and Writings series includes numerous articles and speeches from the late 1940s through the 1960s, when Fellers wrote and spoke as a conservative and strongly anti-communist critic of American foreign policy during the Cold War. This series also records the public views of Fellers on military strategy, especially the role of air power in modern warfare, and in favor of a dramatic reduction in American foreign aid programs. The manuscript of Fellers' only published book, Wings for Peace, is part of the series. Several of his recorded speeches can be found in the Sound Recordings series of the increment.

There is a substantial Correspondence series in the increment, including exchanges of letters between Fellers and Robert A. Taft, for whom Fellers served as an unofficial adviser and speechwriter. The speeches that Fellers wrote for Taft are also part of the increment. In addition to a significant Subject File, there is a separate Psychological Warfare File that consists of correspondence, writings, and other materials relating to a proposed campaign of propaganda directed at the population of the Soviet Union, a project advocated by Fellers in the 1950s.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1896 February 7
Born, Ridge Farm, Illinois
1918
B.S., United States Military Academy, West Point
1918 November 1
United States Army (advanced through the grades to Brigadier General, December 1942)
1920
Graduated, Coast and Artillery School
1935
Graduated, Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
1935-1938
Member, General Douglas MacArthur's staff in the Philippines (liaison between MacArthur and Philippine President Quezon)
1940-1942
Military observer with British forces in Africa
1943-1946
Military secretary and head of psychological warfare drive against Japanese combat troops
Member, General Douglas MacArthur's staff (Hollandia Operation)
1946 January-August
Secretary General, Allied Council for Japan
1946 November 30
Retired from active duty
1947-1952
Assistant to the Chairman of the Republican National Committee
1952
Author, Wings for Peace: A Primer for a New Defense
1959-1969
Chairman, Citizens Foreign Aid Committee
1973 October 7
Died
Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1970, with additional increments in 1976 and 2003.
Arrangement:

The original collection and 1976 increment (boxes 1-16) are arranged into nine series: Writings, Military Files, United States Army Psychological Warfare Branch Files, Miscellany, Correspondence I, Subject File I, Speeches and Writings I, Printed Matter, and an additional incremental series accessioned in 1976.

The Incremental Materials of 2003 (boxes 17-60) are arranged into fifteen series: Biographical File, Correspondence II, Speeches and Writings II, Reports, Speeches and Statements Written for Others, Notebooks, Military Career File, Civilian Career File, Psychological Warfare File, Fellers Family File, Albums, Subject File II, Speeches and Writings by Others, Photographs, Sound Recordings, and Oversize Materials.

A Declassified records series, added in 2011, is arranged chronologically by the date the records were released by Hoover.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Boxes 3, 15, 20, 22, 38, and 53 closed to researchers while undergoing digitization. Estimated end date: August 29, 2025. Boxes FH13 and FH21 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], Bonner Frank Fellers 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