Scope and Content Note
The papers of Herbert Arthur Philbrick (1915-1993) span the years 1849-1997, with the bulk of the material dating from 1940 to 1993. They relate primarily to Philbrick's interests and activities as a leading anticommunist spokesman from the 1950s through the early 1970s whose concern with the threat of communism continued until his death. Philbrick became a public figure in 1949 when he was a government witness in the trial of eleven leaders of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) indicted for violation of the Smith Act. During his testimony, Philbrick revealed that for the previous nine years he had functioned as an undercover agent, serving as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) while an active member of the CPUSA. He subsequently wrote an autobiography entitled I Led 3 Lives: Citizen, “Communist,” Counterspy, which became the basis of a television series in the 1950s. In addition to documenting Philbrick's life and activities, his papers are a source of information on the anticommunist movement in general featuring prominent individuals and organizations and containing correspondence, newsletters, and press clippings from throughout the country. The collection is organized in the following series: General Correspondence, Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), I Led 3 Lives , Subject File, Speeches and Writings, Miscellany, Addition, Oversize, and Top Secret.
The General Correspondence series consists primarily of letters received by Philbrick, with copies of some of his outgoing correspondence. Although correspondence relating to specific activities or individuals is filed by topic in other series, this series contains correspondence from friends, colleagues, and the general public filed by date. Frequent topics include communism, religion, reactions to Philbrick's lectures and writings, and comments on specific events and individuals.
The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) series focuses on Philbrick's activities in the party, particularly in the New England area. A section on the Federal Bureau of Investigation contains reports to the agency in which Philbrick, often using the pseudonym “George Lockwood,” described activities of organizations in Massachusetts which were controlled by communists and provided accounts of the events, meetings, and individuals he dealt with when he joined the Young Communist League, the Communist party, and the Education Commission of the Massachusetts Communist Party. Organizations mentioned include the Cambridge Youth Council, American Youth for Democracy, the Massachusetts Political Action Committee, and the Progressive Citizens of America. Events described include the congressional campaign of Anthony M. Roche and the presidential campaign of Henry Agard Wallace.
A party activities section in the series contains correspondence, pamphlets, fliers, and other material collected or created by Philbrick. His assignments often involved using his advertising experience and printing skills in his work for the party, and he would collect and send the FBI copies of the materials he created and printed. A testimony section relates to remarks Philbrick made to a number of investigating bodies from 1949 to 1967 regarding communists and their activities in the United States, including testimony in United States District Court in the trial of United States v. William Z. Foster and at hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Security Laws, and the Massachusetts Special Commission to Study and Investigate Communism and Subversive Activities and Related Matters in the Commonwealth.
The series related to I Led 3 Lives features Philbrick's autobiography and the various formats in which it appeared, including a book, newspaper serialization, and a television series. The largest sections relate to the book and the television series. The book section includes outlines, summaries, and sets of drafts. Documents indicate that Philbrick worked closely with Fendall Yerxa in the preparation of his autobiography. A serialized version of the book appeared first in the New York Herald Tribune. The television section contains material relating to the syndicated television series produced from 1953 to 1956 by Ziv Television Programs, Inc. in which Richard Carlson starred as Philbrick. Philbrick served as a technical consultant to the project, and the files contain plot outlines and comments he prepared as well as scripts sent to him for approval. Other material includes correspondence relating to personal appearances Philbrick made in support of the program.
The Subject File is the largest series in the collection and contains information on people, groups, and issues of interest to Philbrick, especially communism and the Cold War. Many of the most extensive files relate to his involvement with anticommunist, conservative, and religious organizations, such as America's Future, Constructive Action, the Council Against Communist Aggression, United States Anti-Communist Congress, U.S. Press Association, and Young Americans for Freedom. A major aspect of Philbrick's work with another such group, the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade and its leader, Frederick C. Schwarz, was his participation in their anticommunism schools. Additional material related to Philbrick's work with the schools is filed in a speaking engagements section of the Speeches and Writings series. A Federal Bureau of Investigation file contains correspondence and memoranda that Philbrick continued to send to the FBI in the years following his undercover work with the CPUSA. Related to this file are the folders on “Yankee,” a woman from Massachusetts who from 1952 to 1972 sent Philbrick information and documents relating to organizations spanning the political spectrum, much of which he sent on to the FBI. Significant correspondents in the Subject File include James D. Bales, J. Edgar Hoover, William Loeb, Arthur G. McDowell, Reinhold Niebuhr, Ogden R. Reid, Henry Agard Wallace, and Robert Henry Winborne Welch.
The Speeches and Writings series features Philbrick's writing projects and lectures. The largest sections relate to his newspaper columns and speeches. Philbrick wrote a newspaper column entitled “Red Underground” for the New York Herald Tribune from 1952 to 1958. A list of topics serves as an index to the columns. The Tribune files include responses from readers, attorneys, and individuals and organizations mentioned in the columns. The speeches section documents Philbrick's activities as a lecturer for over thirty years. Contracts, itineraries, and lecture requests indicate the types of groups that invited him to speak. The speaking engagements section contains correspondence, programs, and press coverage of his appearances. Titles of Philbrick's lectures include “Communism and Youth,” “The Christian Answer,” “Cybernetic Warfare,” “Red, White, and Pink,” and “Zero Hour for America.”
Another of Philbrick's writing projects was a series of newsletters sponsored by such organizations as Dollar Federal Savings and Loan of Columbus, Ohio, and the Schick Razor Company. Topics include Philbrick's concerns about the international communist conspiracy, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the Vietnam War. Articles by Philbrick were often reprinted in the various newsletters. Drafts and background material for the newsletters are filed under Dollar Hollar. Also in the Speeches and Writings series are articles, book reviews, letters to editors, childhood diaries, and unpublished and incomplete book projects on communism and religion and the assassination of President Kennedy.
The Miscellany series contains personal and family material as well as files relating to appearances by Philbrick on film, television, and radio. Press clippings in the biographical material section describe activities and events in Philbrick's life and provide clues as to which files throughout the collection have a direct connection to Philbrick. Included among the film, television, and radio material are files on Philbrick's own television projects, “Red Report” and “World War III.” Office files contain memoranda and draft correspondence that he prepared for staff while he was away on lecture tours. Card files include information on various people, many of whom Philbrick suspected of having communist connections. Legal files contain material related to a lawsuit between Philbrick and his attorney, Moses Frankel, who had worked as his agent in the 1950s and who negotiated his book and television deals. Family material includes items relating to his father, Guy Philbrick, a railroad trainman, and to Herbert Philbrick's second wife, Shirley.
The Addition consists of material received after the processing of the main portion of the Philbrick Papers was completed. It supplements each of the series and its arrangement reflects the organization of those series: general correspondence, Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), I Led 3 Lives, subject file, speeches and writings, and miscellany. Items which complement the existing material include a scrapbook of press clippings relating to Philbrick's 1949 testimony in the Smith Act trials of communist leaders and files relating to his revised edition of I Led 3 Lives: Citizen, Communist, Counterspy.