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Register of the Bonner Frank Fellers Papers, 1904-1997
70031
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Title: Bonner Frank Fellers papers
Date (inclusive): 1904-1997
Collection Number: 70031
Creator:
Fellers, Bonner Frank, 1896-1973
Physical Description:
59 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(24 linear feet)
Contributing Institution:
Hoover Institution Archives
Language of Material:
English
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.
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], Bonner Frank Fellers papers, [Box no.], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1970, with additional increments in 1976 and 2003.
| 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 | Member, General Douglas MacArthur's staff (Hollandia Operation) |
| Military secretary and head of psychological warfare drive against Japanese combat troops | |
| 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 |
Scope and Content of Collection
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 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.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Allied Forces. Supreme Headquarters. Psychological Warfare Division.
Citizens Foreign Aid Committee.
Taxpayers Committee to End Foreign Aid.
United States. Army--Officers.
Economic assistance, American.
Philippines--History--Japanese occupation, 1942-1945.
Philippines.
Propaganda, American.
Psychological warfare.
United States--Armed Forces.
United States--Economic conditions.
United States--Foreign relations.
World War, 1939-1945--Philippines.
World War, 1939-1945--Propaganda.
World War, 1939-1945--Psychological aspects.
World War, 1939-1945.