Walter LaFeber papers
Scope and Contents
The Walter LaFeber Papers document the research, teaching, and administrative activities and publications of the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor of History, Cornell University, Walter LaFeber (1933-2021), dating from 1942-2020.
The collection includes primarily extensive correspondence, ranging from 1968 to 2020, related to several historical documentaries the professor contributed to, his research, publications, collaborations, and interactions with other institutions and professors. The collection also contains research files, including subject files, handwritten and typed index cards divided by theme; Teaching material; Articles, reviews, and notes by Walter LaFeber; several articles and drafts by others, student thesis and books; Administrative and personal files, such as Cornell university-related files, photographs, several personal interest ephemera, including a newspaper comic by Herblock in 1981, titled “200 years since Yorktown” and a printed portrait of James Madison; Memorabilia, containing an Authentic Red Twill Tape from the Original Civil War records on a plate, a Berlin Wall historic artifact and more; Tributes, certifications, and awards; Audiovisual material pertained to documentaries Walter LaFeber contributed, lectures, Cornell-related events, and several other historic documentaries in VHS and DVD form; A list of audio cassettes, pertaining primarily to lectures in history. Finally, there are digital files, some of which are non-commercially produced copies of existing audio-visual material, such as CD-Rs or other born-digital materials.
Dates
- 1961-2008.
Creator
- LaFeber, Walter. (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
Access Restrictions:
Access restricted for boxes 1 to 22 until five years after the death of the donor and his spouse.
Biographical Note
Walter LaFeber (1933, 30 August- 2021, March 9), the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor emeritus at Cornell University was born in Walkerton, Indiana. In 1955, he earned his B.S. from Hanover College and, a year later, his MA from Stanford University. In 1959 he completed his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin, focusing on the revision of US diplomatic history. His dissertation was titled "The Latin American Policy of the Second Cleveland Administration." LaFeber joined Cornell University in 1959, remaining until his retirement. He specialized in American foreign policy.
He was a leading member of the Wisconsin School of American diplomatic history, inspired by William Appleman Williams, suggesting that United States foreign policy was also motivated by imperialism. He is also known for providing widely read revisionist histories of the Cold War.
He is the author and co-author of 20 books. His book, “The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860–1898” (Cornell Univ. Press, 1963), a Beveridge Prize of the American Historical Association Winner, traces the phenomenon of American empire building from 1860 to 1898. Other books include “America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945–1966” (Wiley, 1967); “The Panama Canal: The Crisis in Historical Perspective” (Oxford Univ. Press, 1978), “The Creation of American Empire” (as co-author; Rand McNally College Pub), which is an analysis of American diplomacy from 1970 to present; “Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America” (W. W. Norton & Company, 1984, revised 1992; Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award); “The Clash: US–Japanese Relations throughout History” (W. W. Norton, 1997; Bancroft Prize, Ellis W. Hawley Prize of the Organization of American Historians); “Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism” (W. W. Norton, 1999), in which basketball is viewed as a metaphor for globalization, and more.
LaFeber participated in historical documentaries, among others, in episodes of The American Experience series from PBS, and broadcasts for television and radio, including the ABC-TV special on the 1984 Winter Olympics, NBC-TV’s “White Paper” on the Middle East, CBS-TV’s Community College Series on U.S. Foreign Policy and National Public Radio’s “Book Corner”.
LaFeber was the first recipient of the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award for junior faculty members teaching undergraduates at Cornell in 1966, and a year later, he gained the Marie Underhill Noll Professorship. In 1976, Professor LaFeber was the first faculty member invited to deliver Cornell’s commencement address, and in 2002 he was named the first Andrew H. and James S. Tisch distinguished professor. He taught long-lasting, reputable courses, such as American Foreign Relations, History of American Foreign Relations, and more. In 2006, almost 3000 Cornellians filled the Beacon Theater in Manhattan in his farewell lecture, titled “A Half-Century of Friends, Foreign Policy and Great Losers”. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (President 1999), and a Guggenheim Fellow (1989). He received the American Historical Association Award for Scholarly Distinction and, in 1971, was named to the American Historical Association's seat on the Department of State Historical Advisory Committee. He also served as editor of several journals, such as the Political Science Quarterly and more.
He got married to Sandra Gould in 1955. He had two children, Scott and Suzanne.
Extent
29.7 cubic feet. (29.7 cubic feet.)
Abstract
Biographical and administrative files, extensive correspondence, research subject files, typed and handwritten research index cards, notes, teaching material, books, articles, reviews and drafts, a few photographs, memorabilia, ephemera and tributes of the professor and others, audio cassettes of history lectures and talks, CDs, DVDs and VHS of historical documentaries and Cornell related events, and digital material of the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor of History, Cornell University, Walter LaFeber (1933-2021), document his research, teaching, and administrative activities, dating from 1942-2020.
Separated Materials
Audiovisual: Peter Katzenstein. (1993). "A World of Regions Trilateral or Tripolar". Tape 3. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19936 Peter Katzenstein. (1993) "Europe and America. An Atlantic Community". Tape 2. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19937 Peter Katzenstein. (1993) "A New Europe: West and East". Tape 1. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19938 Isaac Kramnick. (1993). "Capitalism: Pure or Mixed?". Tape 3. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19939 Isaac Kramnick. (1993)."Democracy and its Limits". Tape 2. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19940 Isaac Kramnick. (1993)."Individualism and Community". Tape 1. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19941 Isaac Kramnick. (1993)."Individualism and Community". Tape 1. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19942 Isaac Kramnick. (1993). "Individualism and Community". Tape 1. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19943 Isaac Kramnick. (1993). "Individualism and Community". Tape 1. Cornell University. School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. [Cassette] tr-19944 DVD. Cornell University. A half-century of friends, foreign policy, and great losers. New York: Cornell University. DVD- 4560 Books: Becker, C. L., & Snyder, P. L. (1967). Detachment and the writing of history: essays and letters of Carl L. Becker. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Brown R. M. Fehrenbacher D. E. & Stanford University. (1977). Tradition conflict and modernization : perspectives on the american revolution. Academic Press. Inscribed by the author. Evani︠a︡n Ė. A. (1997). Belyĭ dom protiv kremli︠a︡ = kremlin vs white house. publisher not identified. Inscribed by the author. Gerlach, L. R. (Ed.) (1978) Legacies of the American Revolution. Inscribed by Michael Kammen to Walter LaFeber. Groneman C. Norton M. B. & Berkshire Conference on the History of Women. (1987). "To toil the livelong day" : america's women at work 1780-1980. Cornell University Press. Inscription for LeFeber from Norton, M. B. Jellison R. M. Greene J. P. Bushman R. L. & Kammen M. G. (1976). Society freedom and conscience : the american revolution in virginia massachusetts and new york (1st ed.). Norton. Inscribed by Kammen, M. G. With dust jacket. Notes by LeFeber. Kammen M. G. (1967). Politics and society in colonial america: democracy or deference? (1st ed.). Dryden Press Peter Smith. Inscribed by the author. Kammen M. G. (1985). The problem of Constitutionalism in American culture: Bicentennial lecture on Constitutionalism, presented at the University of Dallas on April 24, 1985. University Of Dallas." Essay in pamphlet form. Inscription to LaFeber by Michael Kammen. Kammen M. G. (1991). Mystic chords of memory: the transformation of tradition in American culture (1st Vintage books). Vintage Books. Inscribed by the author to Walter LaFeber and his wife in October 1991. Kammen M. G. (1992). Meadows of memory : images of time and tradition in american art and culture (1st ed.). University of Texas Press. Inscription to LaFeber by Michael Kammen. Kammen, M. G. (1996). The lively arts: Gilbert Seldes and the transformation of cultural criticism in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. Inscribed by Kammen, M. G. Kammen, M. G. (Ed.). (1986). The Origins of the American Constitution: a documentary history. New York, NY: Penguin. Inscribed by Kammen, M. G. Notes by LeFeber. Kammen M. (2009). Digging up the dead: a history of notable American reburials. University of Chicago Press. Inscribed by the author Kramnick, I., & Sheerman, B. (1993). Harold Laski: a life on the left. (1st American ed.). New York: Allen Lane, Penguin Press. With dust jacket. Inscribed to Walter LaFeber. LaFeber, W. (1984). Inevitable revolutions: the United States in Central America. New York: W.W. Norton. "LaFeber, W. (1989). Revoluciones inevitables: La política de Estados Unidos en Centroamérica. UCA Editores. Langbart D. A. (1983). The road to riga: the state department and the american search for information about russia 1917-1922 (dissertation) Lane H. Blumenfeld (1989). The great turn in American Russian diplomatic relations: Changes in the U.S. public and official perspective of tsarist Russia, 1867-1881 (Cornell dissertation) Lehman, J. S. (2008). An optimistic heart: what great universities give their students ... and the world. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University. With dust jacket. Inscribed to Walter LaFeber by the author. Lorrain P., Corson D. R. (1970). Electromagnetic fields and waves: including electric circuits (2nd ed.). Freeman. Inscription to LaFeber from Dale Corson Norton, M. B. (1972). The British-Americans: the Loyalist exiles in England, 1774-1789. ([1st ed.]). Boston: Little, Brown. Inscription for LeFeber from Norton, M. B. Norton, M. B. (1980). Liberty's daughters: the Revolutionary experience of American women, 1750-1800. Boston: Little, Brown. There is also an attached note to the editor Norton, M. B. (2011). Separated by their sex: women in public and private in the colonial Atlantic world. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Inscription for LeFeber from Norton, M. B. Norton, M. B. (1996). Founding mothers & fathers: gendered power and the forming of American society. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Inscribed by Norton, M. B. With dust jacket. Ovodenko, A. (n.d.). Interpreting threats American intelligence in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. (Cornell dissertation). Polenberg, R. (1966). Reorganizing Roosevelt's government: the controversy over executive reorganization 1936-1939. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674436114" Inscribed by the author. Polenberg, R. (1972). Radicalism and reform in the new deal. Addison-Wesley Pub. Inscribed by the author to Walter LaFeber and his wife. Polenberg, R. (1997). The world of Benjamin Cardozo: personal values and the judicial process. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Inscribed by the author. Polenberg, R. (2000). The era of Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933-1945: a brief history with documents. Bedford/St. Martin's. Inscribed by the author. Polenberg, R. (1987). Fighting faiths: the Abrams case, the Supreme Court, and free speech. New York, N.Y.: Viking. Inscribed by the author. With dust jacket. Rhodes, F. H. T. (2001). The creation of the future: the role of the American university. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Inscribed by Rhodes, F. H. T. With dust jacket. Seldes G. (2001). The 7 lively arts [the classic appraisal of the popular arts] (Unabridged republ). Dover. Introduction and inscription by Michael Kammen. Sibley, J. H.; Bogues, A.G.; Flanigan, W.H. (1978). The History of American electoral behavior. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Inscribed by the author, Sibley, Joel to Walter LaFeber and his wife. Shultz, G. P. (2010). Ideas & action: featuring the 10 commandments of negotiations. Free to Choose Press.
General
- Contact Information:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
- Compiled by:
- Bing Mei
- Date completed:
- February 1998
- EAD encoding:
- Martin Heggestad, March 2003; Serge Agbre, September 2008
- Date modified:
- Ben Wrubel, October 2018
- Date modified:
- Eirva Diamessis, April 2023
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Compiled by Bing Mei; Eirva Diamessis
- Date
- March 2003; April 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Revision Statements
- 12/07/2018: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)
- 2007-05-29: converted from EAD 1.0 to EAD 2002
- 4/17/2023: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor), including a new addition.
Repository Details
Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)
rareref@cornell.edu