The Committee of Correspondence Newsletter

The Committee of Correspondence Newsletter was an American political newsletter published from January 1961 through autumn 1965 by the Committee of Correspondence, an informal network associated with Harvard-area intellectuals and peace activists. Although the group and publication were connected with people at Harvard University, they had no official institutional relationship with the university. The newsletter later appeared under the titles The Council of Correspondence and The Correspondent. The publication emerged from discussions among academics, writers, and social-service professionals who were increasingly concerned about the danger of thermonuclear war and the inability of conventional American politics to accommodate serious debate about disarmament. Its immediate institutional background lay in the American Friends Service Committee's peace-education work, particularly the efforts of Stewart Meacham and Robert Gilmore, and in conversations involving Harvard sociologist David Riesman, graduate student Roger Hagan, and other non-communist critics of prevailing defense policy. A March 1960 meeting at Bear Mountain, near West Point, produced the decision to create a publication that could widen the circle of people debating national security and foreign affairs. The newsletter was deliberately positioned between a mass-circulation magazine and a specialist academic journal. It published articles, letters, commentary, and replies on foreign policy, defense, civil liberties, civil rights, economic change, technological employment disruption, and nuclear disarmament. Its contributors and editorial advisers included prominent academics and public intellectuals such as Riesman, Erich Fromm, A. J. Muste, Kenneth Boulding, Seymour Martin Lipset, H. Stuart Hughes, David Cavers, David Inglis, and Marcus Raskin, alongside activists linked to the American Friends Service Committee and the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. The publication's editorial stance was critical of dominant American foreign and defense policies while remaining distinct from pro-Soviet politics; its contributors' public reputations helped shield it from the accusations commonly directed at American disarmament advocates during the early Cold War. The newsletter followed the major foreign-policy crises of the early 1960s, including the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Berlin crisis, the nuclear-test-ban debate, renewed atmospheric testing, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy assassination, the transition to the Johnson administration, and the expanding war in Vietnam. It also addressed domestic questions, including civil-rights struggles and the relationship between military policy, civil liberties, and social change. Two special issues, published in May 1961 and January 1962, focused on United States policy toward Cuba. Publication frequency changed over time from monthly to bimonthly and eventually quarterly. Circulation reached approximately 5,000 subscribers, a modest figure that nonetheless included policymakers, academics, journalists, and politically influential readers. The newsletter's importance therefore rested less on scale than on access to a specialist audience and on its role in connecting intellectual debate with emerging activist networks. LIFE magazine reportedly criticized the publication, but the newsletter was not successfully portrayed as a Soviet instrument. Nathan Glazer edited the first two issues before stepping aside because of limited time. Roger Hagan then served as principal editor from April 1961 through the end of 1964. After Hagan left to work for a broadcasting company in Seattle, former assistant editor Nancy R. Evans edited the renamed Correspondent with assistance from Barry Phillips, Nancy Edelman Phillips, Michael Brower, Richard Hathaway, and Marilyn Young. Financial support came primarily from readers and additional donors, including Erich Fromm and Seattle broadcaster Stimson Bullitt. The publication ceased after the autumn 1965 issue, as the political networks around it changed and many participants moved into government, advocacy, journalism, or the emerging New Left.

The publication grew out of American concern about the expanding danger of nuclear war at the end of the 1950s. Many academics and social-service professionals believed that public discussion of disarmament was constrained by intense fear of Soviet expansion and by the tendency to treat proposals for nuclear restraint as evidence of communist sympathy. Stewart Meacham of the American Friends Service Committee sought to bring respected academics and public intellectuals into a broader conversation. His contacts with David Riesman and Roger Hagan helped lead to an initial conference in the West Texas hills, where participants considered whether a new political vehicle might be needed to address the nuclear threat. The meeting did not create a new party, but it demonstrated that a wider network of influential non-communist critics could be assembled. Meacham and Robert Gilmore subsequently organized a March 1960 meeting at Bear Mountain, near West Point. Several participants agreed that a publication could extend the discussion beyond the original group and create a durable channel for debate about defense policy. They adopted the name Committee of Correspondence, evoking the committees that circulated political information before the American Revolution. The resulting newsletter began in January 1961. It was initially issued monthly, later became bimonthly, and eventually appeared quarterly. Nathan Glazer edited the first two issues. Roger Hagan, then based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, assumed editorial responsibility in April 1961 and remained principal editor through the end of 1964. Hagan wrote extensively for the publication and treated independent journalist I. F. Stone as an editorial model. After Hagan moved to a Seattle broadcasting position, Nancy R. Evans, previously an assistant editor, took over The Correspondent with help from several colleagues. The editorial board and contributor network combined academic expertise with organized peace activism. David Riesman, Erich Fromm, and A. J. Muste remained particularly consistent participants, while other associated figures included Kenneth Boulding, David Cavers, David Inglis, Seymour Martin Lipset, H. Stuart Hughes, Marcus Raskin, Stewart Meacham, and Robert Gilmore. Branch committees formed at different times in Berkeley, Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, and New York. Discussions also connected people in the Harvard-Brandeis area with activists and intellectuals who later became associated with Students for a Democratic Society. The content reflected the rapidly changing agenda of the early 1960s. Early pacifist and disarmament concerns were joined by analysis of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Berlin crisis, nuclear testing, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the test-ban debate, the Kennedy assassination, and the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam. The newsletter also covered civil rights, civil liberties, economic change, and the early political implications of cybernation. Its writers criticized official policy but generally operated within a broad, non-communist liberal and radical intellectual spectrum. Circulation peaked at about 5,000 subscribers. Although small compared with major magazines, the readership included policymakers, government officials, academics, journalists, and activists. Some contributors moved into official Washington positions, allowing the publication to reach policy circles while remaining outside mainstream mass-media attention. LIFE magazine criticized it, but the newsletter's prominent contributors and editorial advisers made it difficult to dismiss as a Soviet front. Reader contributions covered some operating costs, while additional assistance came from Erich Fromm and donors including Stimson Bullitt, whose support helped sustain the publication and later connected Hagan with broadcasting work. The organization and title changed during its short life. Objections from a women's social organization led the group to use Council of Correspondence, and the newsletter was ultimately renamed The Correspondent. It ended after the autumn 1965 issue, having provided a compact but influential forum during a formative period in American peace politics, Cold War criticism, and the development of the New Left.

• 1965

  Publication concludes

  [1]The Committee of Correspondence Newsletteren.wikipedia.org

  The Correspondent, the publication's final title, ceased after the autumn issue.

• 1964

  Hagan leaves the editorship

  [1]The Committee of Correspondence Newsletteren.wikipedia.org

  Hagan edited the publication through the end of 1964 before moving to broadcasting work in Seattle.

• 1962

  Second special issue on Cuba

  [1]The Committee of Correspondence Newsletteren.wikipedia.org

  The newsletter issued a second Cuba-focused special number in January.

• 1961

  First issue is published

  [1]The Committee of Correspondence Newsletteren.wikipedia.org

  The Committee of Correspondence Newsletter began publication in January, initially on a monthly schedule.

• 1961

  Roger Hagan becomes principal editor

  [1]The Committee of Correspondence Newsletteren.wikipedia.org

  After Nathan Glazer edited the first two issues, Roger Hagan assumed editorial control in April.

• 1960

  Bear Mountain meeting establishes publication project

  [1]The Committee of Correspondence Newsletteren.wikipedia.org

  Participants at a March meeting near West Point agreed to create a publication that would broaden debate about United States defense policy and nuclear disarmament.

An independent, intellectually oriented forum for dissenting discussion of United States foreign policy, defense policy, nuclear disarmament, civil liberties, and related domestic issues during the early 1960s.

• Political newsletter · 1961

  The Committee of Correspondence Newsletter

  The original publication, issued from January 1961 and focused on nuclear disarmament, foreign affairs, defense policy, civil liberties, civil rights, and economic change. It carried signed articles, commentary, letters, and responses from academics, journalists, activists, and public intellectuals. Its frequency changed from monthly to bimonthly and then quarterly.

• Political newsletter

  The Correspondent

  The later title used by the publication after the Committee of Correspondence organization shifted toward the name Council of Correspondence. The renamed period continued the newsletter's critical coverage of Cold War policy, Vietnam, nuclear strategy, civil rights, and domestic political change until publication ended in autumn 1965.

• 1965

  Adoption of the title The CorrespondentStrategy

  Background

  The organization faced objections from a women's social organization claiming prior use of the Committee of Correspondence name.

  Action taken

  The group used Council of Correspondence and the newsletter was ultimately renamed The Correspondent.

  Aftermath

  The renamed publication continued until its final issue in autumn 1965.

  Source

• 1961

  Change from monthly publication to less frequent schedulesOther

  Background

  The publication began monthly but later adjusted its schedule as its operation and funding needs developed.

  Action taken

  It subsequently appeared bimonthly and eventually quarterly.

  Aftermath

  The change allowed the publication to continue through autumn 1965, but no further circulation or financial details are documented in the supplied material.

  Source

1. 1The Committee of Correspondence Newsletteren.wikipedia.org