Carlton Savage papers , 1924-1983

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Savage, Carlton, 1897-1990
Title
Carlton Savage papers
Dates
1924-1983 (inclusive)
Quantity
2 linear feet, (2 containers)  :  1 record storage box, 1 clamshell box
Collection Number
Coll 216
Summary
Carlton Raymond Savage (1897-1990), a University of Oregon graduate, worked for the U.S. State Department helping to craft U.S. foreign policy for thirty-five years, and wrote a State Department publication that would become a national bestseller, Peace and War: U.S. Foreign Policy, 1931-1941. The collection contains correspondence, speeches, a personal journal, political biographical files, State Department's Policy Planning Council and United Nations subject files, reviews and publicity for State Department publications by Savage, a volume of hearings before the House Judiciary Subcommittee concerning a declaration of war, and photographs.
Repository
University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives
UO Libraries--SCUA
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR
97403-1299
Telephone: 5413463068
spcarref@uoregon.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.

Additional Reference Guides

Paper finding aid with additional information is available in Special Collections & University Archives.

See the Current Collection Guide for detailed description and requesting options.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for production of this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Carlton Raymond Savage (1897-1990) was born near Salem, Oregon on December 28, 1897. In 1916 he graduated from Salem High School, after which he served in the U.S. Army during WWI. In 1921 he graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Science degree, having served his senior year as student body president.

Upon graduation he became principal of the Glendale, Oregon high school. He left that position in 1922 to become the business manager of the Oregon State Normal School at Monmouth (now Western Oregon University). In 1927 Savage received his master's in international law and diplomacy from George Washington University.

Immediately after receiving his master's degree, Savage entered the State Department and worked there continuously until his retirement, serving under multiple secretaries of state. In 1936 he became an aide to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, assisting in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy, with particular attention to the issues of neutrality and belligerency prior to America's entrance into WWII.

Savage was the primary author of several publications issued by the State Department including Policy of the U.S. Toward Maritime Commerce in War (1934) and Peace and War: U.S. Foreign Policy, 1931-1941 (1943). The latter title became a national bestseller and was eventually translated into several languages.

In 1945 Savage served on the staff of the American delegation at the conference in San Francisco which established the United Nations. On May 5, 1947, Savage was appointed executive secretary of the newly created Policy Planning Council within the Department of State. The council was given the responsibility to articulate comprehensive proposals designed to ensure the achievement of the American foreign policy objectives during the postwar era and to present appropriate recommendations to the secretary of state and the under-secretary of state.

Savage received a Superior Service award in 1958 and retired in 1962. He continued to make his services available to the Policy Planning Council as a consultant after the date. Savage died at the age of 93 in Bethesda, Maryland on 1990.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains correspondence, speeches, a personal journal, political biographical files, State Department's Policy Planning Council and United Nations subject files, reviews and publicity for State Department publications by Savage, a volume of hearings before the House Judiciary Subcommittee concerning a declaration of war, and photographs.

Correspondence is organized by date, 1927-1983, and consists mainly of letters to and from Savage regarding his assignments in the State Department. Correspondents include Albert Gore, Sr., Wayne L. Morse, Nelson Rockefeller, and Sargent Shriver. Speeches written by Savage are also included.

Savage's personal journal, 1936-1937, details his work within the State Department. It is predominantly handwritten and includes accounts of daily conferences, meetings, and decisions concerning the Spanish Civil War and the process of making decisions pertaining to secret treaties and the U.S. stance toward neutrality.

Biographical and political information files include speeches, career information, clippings and press releases on President Franklin Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and Senators Charles McNary and Mark Hatfield.

The State Department's Policy Planning Council files contain alphabetized subject files on cold war issues, an essay on the League of Nations, the Hull-Dewey Dulles agreement, objectives, renunciation of war, letters to the editor by Savage, and the publications Policy of the U.S. Toward Maritime Commerce in War (1934) and Peace and War: U.S. Foreign Policy, 1931-1941 (1943).

Also included in the collection are files of photocopied articles organized by publisher and date (1930-1969), and volumes titled, Hearings before House Judiciary Subcommittee-Declaration of War (1935), and U.N. - The First Fifteen Years (1960).

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Personal Names

  • Gore, Albert, 1907-1998
  • Morse, Wayne L. (Wayne Lyman), 1900-1974
  • Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979
  • Savage, Carlton, 1897-1990
  • Savage, Carlton, 1897-1990
  • Savage, Carlton, 1897-1990
  • Shriver, Sargent, 1915-2011

Corporate Names

  • United States. Department of State
  • United States. Department of State
  • University of Oregon

Geographical Names

  • United States--Politics and government--20th century

Form or Genre Terms

  • Correspondence
  • Diaries