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Summary
- Abstract:
- This very small collection consists of Saul Padover's writings, course materials, and research materials. Padover was an Austrian-American political scientist, scholar of Soviet propaganda and American foreign policy, and professor at the New School for Social Research.
- Extent:
- 0.2 cubic ft.
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Saul K. Padover Papers, 1946-1972. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Padover Papers).
Background
- Scope and Content:
The materials in this collection were originally housed in a folder labeled "Foreign Affairs" that was inadvertently inserted into the files of the American Council for Emigres in the Professions (ACEP), which were sent to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives in 1974. Saul Kussiel Padover, who kept the ACEP files in his office at the New School for Social Research, apparently created and misfiled this folder. The ACEP files were sent to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, which photocopied them for preservation purposes. The M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, which sent the ACEP files to the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota after photocopying, retained possession of Padover's "Foreign Affairs" folder.
Owing to its origins, this collection is limited in scope. Scholars seeking information about Padover's early life, his work as a journalist, or his writings on Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx, and other political figures will find little of interest in it. However, those searching for materials that illuminate his attitude toward the Soviet Union and the Cold War and that document his work as a faculty member of the New School for Social Research will find it useful.
The collection contains seven typescript scholarly articles and two typescript fragments of longer articles. Eight were written in the fifteen years following the end of the Second World War. The ninth may have been written circa 1970; however, it may have been written in the 1950s and revised in 1964, 1970, and 1972. These articles document Padover's staunch anti-communist views and his interest in the relationship between American public opinion and American foreign policy. Several articles also discuss some of his work as an intelligence officer during the Second World War.
The collection also contains syllabi, student-written presentation outlines, and lecture notes that were generated between 1955 and 1970 and shed light upon Padover's work in the classroom. Materials that Padover prepared while leading the General Seminar, the New School's ongoing interdisciplinary seminar for faculty members, help to document his own activities and the workings of the General Seminar itself.
Other materials in the collection consist of assorted documents that Padover found relevant to his academic work. Of particular note is a May 3, 1972 circular letter from New School President John R. Everett concerning student protests against the Vietnam War.
Whenever possible, the original order of the papers was preserved. However, many of the documents were in substantial disarray (e.g., portions of a single typescript were scattered throughout the folder). As a result, much of the material was rearranged to facilitate its use. Several newspaper clippings were photocopied for preservation purposes.
- Biographical / Historical:
Saul Kussiel Padover was born in Vienna, Austria, on April 13, 1905. At the age of fifteen, he came to the United States with his father Keva Padover, an American citizen, and mother Frumet Goldmann Padover. He received an A.B. from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1928. He took graduate courses at Yale University in 1928-1929 and went on to receive an A.M. (1930) and Ph.D. (1932) in history from the University of Chicago. After taking research positions at the University of Chicago (1932) and the University of California (1933-36), he worked at a number of posts in the U.S. Department of the Interior (1938-1944). He then served as a London-based political analyst for the Federal Communications Commission (1944) and as an intelligence officer for the Office of Strategic Services (1944) and the U.S. Army (1944-1946). After working as an editorial writer (1946-1948) for PM, a left-leaning and short-lived New York City newspaper, he joined the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research (1949) and taught political science. He remained an active member of the faculty until his death in 1981.
Padover wrote or edited books about many eminent American and European political figures, among them Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Joseph II of Austria, Louis XVI of France, James Madison, and Karl Marx. He also wrote several books about twentieth-century American and European politics, a memoir of his experiences as an intelligence officer, and several works on foreign policy. A liberal anti-communist, he asserted in the 1950s that the Soviet Union was a serious threat and should be treated as such.
Toward the end of his life, Padover contemplated writing a book about the American Council for Emigres in the Professions (ACEP), an organization established to help refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and Austria. To that end, Padover secured physical possession of the ACEP files and housed them in his New School office. Padover passed away on February 22, 1981, in New York City, before he could complete this project.
- Acquisition information:
- The documents in this collection were originally housed in a folder inserted into the files of the American Council for Emigres in the Professions (ACEP), which the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives photocopied for preservation purposes in 1974. This folder was evidently the creation and personal property of Saul K. Padover and was thus separated from the ACEP collection.
- Processing information:
Processed in 1999 October by Bonita L. Weddle.
- Arrangement:
The collection has three series, arranged chronologically.
- Series 1 - Scholarly Writings, 1947-1970
- Series 2 - Course Materials, 1955-1970
- Series 3 - Research Materials, 1947-1972
- Physical location:
- The materials are located onsite in the department.
Contents
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- ACCESS:
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- RESTRICTIONS:
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Access to this record group is unrestricted.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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This page may contain links to digital objects. Access to these images and the technical capacity to download them does not imply permission for re-use. Digital objects may be used freely for personal reference use, referred to, or linked to from other web sites.
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- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Saul K. Padover Papers, 1946-1972. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Padover Papers).