Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Rusk, Dean (1909-1994) and Rockefeller Foundation
- Extent:
- 2.73 Cubic Feet
- Language:
- English .
Background
- Scope and Content:
The Dean Rusk Papers document the non-official professional activities of Dean Rusk (1909-1994), carried out during his tenure as president of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1952 to 1961. There are no personal papers in this small collection.
- Biographical / Historical:
David Dean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909, in Cherokee County, Georgia, the fourth of five children of Robert Hugh Rusk and Francis Clotfelter Rusk. In 1931 he graduated from Davidson College. In 1934, as a Rhodes Scholar at St. John's College at Oxford University, Mr. Rusk earned a master's degree in politics, economics, and philosophy.
Mr. Rusk then worked at Mills College in Oakland, California, from 1934 to 1940, teaching government and international relations and serving as dean of faculty while also studying law at the University of California at Berkeley. During the Second World War Mr. Rusk, an Army Reserve officer, served on active duty from 1940 until 1946, rising to the rank of colonel.
Mr. Rusk joined the State Department in 1946 as assistant chief of the division of international security affairs and was later appointed Special Assistant to the Secretary of War. From 1947 to 1949, he was head of the State Department's United Nations desk. From 1949 to 1951, in succession, Mr. Rusk became an Assistant Secretary of State, a Deputy Under Secretary of State, and Assistant Secretary for Far Eastern Affairs.
In March 1952 Mr. Rusk left the State Department to succeed Chester I. Barnard as president of The Rockefeller Foundation. During his eight years with the Foundation, Mr. Rusk oversaw the distribution of about $250,000,000 for various projects, including aid to underdeveloped nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Mr. Rusk also gave numerous speeches to various organizations and institutions and published several articles on U. S. foreign policy, diplomacy, and the role of philanthropy in American society.
On December 12, 1960, President-elect John F. Kennedy designated Mr. Rusk to be Secretary of State. On January 21, 1961, Mr. Rusk was sworn in to head the State Department. He served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations until 1969. In 1970 Mr. Rusk returned to Georgia and taught international law at the University of Georgia at Athens until his retirement in 1984.
Mr. Rusk married Virginia Foisie in 1937. They had three children, David, Richard, and Peggy Smith.
Mr. Rusk died December 20, 1994, at his home in Athens, Georgia.
- Acquisition information:
- The Dean Rusk papers were donated to the RAC via correspondence from Virgina F. Rusk tp RAC Director Darwin H. Stapleton in 1995.
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized in four series:
Series 1 - Subject Files
Series 2 - Published Articles
Series 3 - Speeches
Series 1066 - Photographs
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
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Open for research ith select materials restricted as noted. Brittle or damaged items are available at the discretion of RAC. Researchers interested in accessing digital media (floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, etc.) or audiovisual material (audio cassettes, VHS, etc.) in this collection must use an access surrogate. The original items may not be accessed because of preservation concerns. To request an access surrogate be made, or if you are unsure if there is an access surrogate, please contact an archivist.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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Rockefeller Archive Center has title and literary rights in the collection, in so far as it holds them, and has authority to grant permission to cite and publish archival material from the collection.
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
- CONTACT:
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