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Register of the U.S. Civil Affairs Training School, Stanford University Records, 1942-1945
XX413
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Title: U.S. Civil Affairs Training School, Stanford University records
Date (inclusive): 1942-1945
Collection number: XX413
Creator:
United States. Civil Affairs Training School, Stanford University.
Physical Description: 59 manuscript boxes, 1 card file box, 3 phonorecords
(25 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, reports, financial and personnel records, handbooks, syllabi,
and instructional materials, relating to the politics, governments, economies and
cultures of Japan, other areas in the Pacific, and various countries in Europe; and
intelligence assessments of the war in the Pacific.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Language:
English.
Microfilm use only.
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.
Also available on microfilm (65 reels).
[Identification of item], U.S. Civil Affairs Training School, Stanford University
Records, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Military government.
Universities and colleges--United States.
World War, 1939-1945.
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Ocean.
World War, 1939-1945--Europe.
World War, 1939-1945--Japan.
World War, 1939-1945--Occupied territories.
Europe.
Japan.
Oceania.
United States--Foreign relations.
United States--Armed Forces.
Education.
Phonorecords.
As United States involvement in the Second World War deepened, the American military
began to make contingency plans based on the likelihood of an eventual Allied victory and
the need for qualified personnel to administer the occupation of liberated countries in
Europe and Asia. In 1943, a training program for such personnel was established at
Stanford and other universities (including Harvard and the Universities of Chicago and
Michigan) under the authority of the Office of the Provost Marshal General of the United
States Army. This program, known as the United States Civil Affairs Training School (or
CATS) program, drew upon military personnel with experience in civil affairs or with
special language abilities. The schools' curricula involved intensive courses in the
languages, history, sociology, and culture of the various countries which were considered
likely to be occupied by Allied forces. Particular emphasis was placed on the study of
the economies of these countries, and exercises were conducted which simulated the kinds
of problems likely to be encountered by occupation authorities.
The CATS program drew extensively upon the resources of the universities with which it
was associated. At Stanford, university officials and faculty were recruited for the CATS
program, and both the staff and the research materials of the Hoover Library played an
important role in the program. Because of the need for Japanese language instructors, the
CATS program also recruited among the Nisei population in the various relocation camps
established after the American entry into the war. These Nisei instructors had to receive
special permission from the American military in order to participate in the CATS
program.
The CATS program operated at Stanford University from late 1943 until the middle of 1945.
Throughout most of this time, its director was Harold Fisher, a Hoover Library official.
The U.S. Civil Affairs Training School, Stanford University collection in the Hoover
Archives consists largely of the school's academic and adminstrative records. There is a
large amount of the course material used in classroom instruction (see ACADEMIC FILE),
extensive personnel records (see ADMINISTRATIVE FILE), as well as numerous reports and
intelligence estimates used for research by students (see RESEARCH MATERIAL). Much of
this material gives insights into the concerns of American military planners regarding
postwar occupation regimes, as well as indicating the military's perceptions of enemy
countries, both as military powers and as socio-cultural formations.
There is material in the collection which discusses the origins of the school, its role
within the administrative hierarchy of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, and its
relations with other CATS programs (see ADMINISTRATIVE FILE, CORRESPONDENCE, and SUBJECT
FILE). The question of the use of Nisei instructors is documented in the personnel
records of the school.