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Allen W. Dulles Papers: Digital Files Series

The Allen W. Dulles Digital Files contain scanned images of professional correspondence, reports, lectures, and administrative papers. The Agency culled these documents from Dulles's home office immediately after his death in 1969 and they continue to maintain the originals. The Agency redacted the documents and provided PDF scans to Princeton University in Spring 2007. The collection spans Dulles's time as Chief of the Office of Strategic Services office in Bern, Switzerland during World War II, his work at the Central Intelligence Agency, and his retirement.While the collection is comprised of more than 7,800 digital objects, most areas are not covered in depth as the files are scattered over more than 30 years. The collection does provide a fair amount of correspondence and narrative statements documenting Dulles's activities during World War II, especially relating to the work of individuals involved in the war effort in Europe. The files also include more than 1,000 war telegrams from the OSS office to Washington. Documents from the 1950s and 1960s deal almost exclusively with the Cold War. While there are documents occasionally dealing with Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Communist threat in the United States, most materials focus outwards on intelligence and the Soviet Union.Items relating to Dulles' time with the CIA have been heavily redacted, obscuring the names of correspondents as well as individuals and events mentioned in reports and letters, greatly reducing the research potential of these materials.Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about individual series.