Scope and Content Note
The papers of Robert Helyer Thayer (1901-1984) span the period 1920-1980, with the bulk of the material concentrated between 1930 and 1964. The collection covers the breadth of Thayer's professional life, including his legal career, political activities in the Republican party, service in naval intelligence during World War II, and work for the State Department. His career brought him into close contact with many prominent figures in mid-twentieth century American politics and culture. The collection is composed of correspondence, memoranda, legal briefs, case files, reports, financial records, photographs, and printed matter arranged in the following series: General Correspondence, Legal File, Subject File, Miscellany, Classified, and Oversize.
The General Correspondence series chiefly reflects Thayer's intelligence service in the Naval Reserves, his diplomatic assignments as assistant ambassador to France and minister to Romania, and his work for the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Relations. Correspondents include McGeorge Bundy, William R. Castle, Thomas E. Dewey, C. Douglas Dillon, William J. Donovan, Allen Welsh Dulles, John Foster Dulles, Sol Hurok, Dean Rusk, and Sinclair Weeks.
Highlights of Thayer's early legal career in New York include his study of American and Canadian bankruptcy laws, his service as assistant counsel to Charles A. Lindbergh after the kidnapping of Lindbergh's son, and his appointment in 1938 as assistant district attorney for New York County by Thomas E. Dewey. The Legal File contains material relating to each of these topics as well as other legal cases from the immediate post-World War II period.
The Subject File documents Thayer's service in naval intelligence during World War II, his political activities in the Republican party in New York state, and his work as assistant secretary for cultural and educational affairs for the State Department. During the late 1930s, he was active in Republican party fund-raising and assisted Thomas E. Dewey in his successful bid for the office of district attorney of New York County and later campaigns for higher political offices. The file includes material relating to Republican party finances, Dewey's presidential campaigns of 1940 and 1948, and Thayer's own unsuccessful run for Congress in 1946. The largest portion of the Subject File pertains to his work with the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Relations and includes material related to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), international conferences, and art in American embassies.
The Miscellany series includes financial papers, printed matter, invitations, maps, memorabilia, and a scrapbook of clippings pertaining primarily to Thayer's political activities.