Seeking documents about or concerning James Webb while at State Dept

Question

I am looking for documents about or concerning James Webb, who was the Undersecretary of State (the department's second ranking officer) during the Truman era. Specifically, I'm trying to find any documents that tie Webb to Senator Clyde Hoey's subcommittee investigating the "problem of homosexuals in the federal government," a report for which was authored in 1950. I have reason to believe that there are documents detailing more meetings between Webb, Truman, and Hoey about the Lavender Scare of the early 1950s. Thanks!

History Hub Administrator · Answer

You may also find this related question relevant: Re: Seeking reasons employees were fired during the "Lavender Scare" Best of luck with your research!

Jason, National Archives · Answer

Dear Ms. Kahle, &#160; Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! &#160; We searched the National Archives Catalog and located 20 record series in the General Records of the Department of State (Record Group 59) relating to Under Secretary of State James Webb, several of which relate to his meetings. We also located Reading Files of Samuel D. Boykin, 1949 - 1953 in Record Group 59 that includes records concerning homosexuals. For more information about these records and other Department of State records from this time period, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at Archives2reference@nara.gov . &#160; Additionally, we located Subcommittee Papers, 1948 - 2011 in the Records of the U.S. Senate (Record Group 46) that contains the records of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.&#160; For more information about these records, please contact the Center for Legislative Archives (LL) via email at legislative.archives@nara.gov . &#160; Next, we located the Subject Files, 1928 - 1986 in the James E. Webb Papers (Collection HST-JEW).&#160; For more information about these records, please contact the Harry S. Truman Library (LP-HST) via email at truman.reference@nara.gov . &#160; Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2, LL, and LP-HST. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience. &#160; Additionally, you may be interested in the Prologue article &ldquo;These People Are Frightened to Death&#8221;: Congressional Investigations and the Lavender Scare by Judith Adkins. &#160; Finally, the Clyde Roark Hoey papers, 1943-1954 are in the custody of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. &#160; We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research! &#160;

Seeking documents about or concerning James Webb while at State Dept

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