Scope and Content Note
The papers of Raymond Leslie Buell (1896-1946) span the years 1915-1981, with the majority of the items concentrated in 1920-1946. The bulk of the papers document Buell's activities as a lecturer, advisor, and writer on domestic and international issues. The papers consist of five series: General Correspondence ; Time, Inc. File ; Subject File ; Speeches, Statements, and Writings File ; and Miscellany . Many of the papers carry notes and notations by Buell's wife, Frances Dwight Buell.
The General Correspondence series (1920-1946) includes incoming and outgoing correspondence relating to Buell's work and writings on international and national affairs. Much of the correspondence is between Buell and prominent leaders of the period, consisting of requests by Buell for information, invitations to people to join the Foreign Policy Association or Buell's roundtables, and discussions of domestic and foreign policy issues. Subjects include the League of Nations, world politics after World War II, political campaigns, and New Deal policies.
The Time, Inc., File (1938-1946) consists chiefly of memoranda documenting Buell's work as foreign policy advisor and roundtable editor for Time, Inc. Most of the memoranda pertain to postwar reconstruction of Europe and the role of the United States as a world leader. Some foreign policy memoranda also appear in the Speeches, Statements, and Writings series. Papers in the Subject File (1917-1947) also document Buell's interests in international matters, as well as his concern for economic issues affecting the United States.
The Speeches, Statements, and Writings File (1915-1975) documents Buell's prolific work as a speaker and writer. Buell not only wrote his own addresses and lectures but sometimes those of other prominent people as well. For example, he wrote a 1944 speech entitled "American Policy Toward China" for Clare Boothe Luce. Three of Buell's most notable books were The Native American Problem in Africa, Isolated America, and Poland: Key to Europe. The latter, published in 1939, forecasts the partition of Poland by Germany. Papers relating to Buell's books are fragmentary with the exception of Poland: Key to Europe. Also included in this series are numerous articles, book reviews, and letters to editors, all in various stages from drafts to final printed copies. Some speeches and statements also appear in the Miscellany series.
The final series in the papers, Miscellany (1916-1981), relates chiefly to Buell's travels and his activities with the Foreign Policy Association and Republican politics. The Foreign Policy Association, located in New York, was a national organization of research and education in the field of foreign affairs. One of the highlights of Buell's twelve-year tenure with this organization was his service on the Commission of Cuban Affairs which published "Problems of the New Cuba." In addition, he wrote a foreign policy speech for Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Other files document Buell's unsuccessful campaign for the United States Congress (first district of Massachusetts) in 1942 and his active role in Wendell L. Willkie's presidential campaigns of 1940 and 1944. Buell served as Willkie's advisor on foreign affairs and wrote several speeches for him. The travel files in this series pertain to Buell's trips both abroad and in the United States. The majority of these papers relate to his study of the political, economic, and social conditions of Africa, conducted while on a grant from the Bureau of International Research of Harvard University and Radcliffe College. Also included in this series are letters of Frances Buell pertaining mainly to her research about her husband's career and writings.
The most significant and frequent of Buell's correspondents are Louis Adamic, Frederick E. Baker, Roger N. Baldwin, Dantès Bellegarde, Edward L. Bernays, Karl Brandt, Joseph P. Chamberlain, Brooke Claxton, Russell W. Davenport, Ventura F. Dellunde, Thomas E. Dewey, John Foster Dulles, Albert Einstein, Brooks Emery, Harvey S. Firestone, Henry Francis Grady, Brooks Hays, Oszkár Jászi, Philip C. Jessup, Alfred M. Landon, Clare Boothe Luce, Henry Robinson Luce, George Fort Milton, Reinhold Niebuhr, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sumner H. Slichter, H. Alexander Smith, W. W. Waymack, Wendell L. Willkie, and W. Walter Williams.