Manuscript Materials

Bain News Service. *Naval aviator Lieutenant Theodore Gordon Ellyson (1885- 1928)* [between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915]. George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The materials of Croatian interest in the Manuscript Reading Room of the Library of Congress are limited to those of American provenance such as the papers of U.S. diplomats and political figures. A pertinent example is the collection of correspondence of Theodore Gordon "Spuds" Ellyson (1885-1928), a U.S. naval officer, who commanded the destroyer J. Fred Talbot in the area of the Adriatic Sea from 1919 through 1920. His letters to his wife describe the Dalmatian boundary dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia and the seizure of Fiume (Rijeka) by seven thousand Italians under Gabriele D'Annunzio. His interactions with the populace and local officials highlight the tensions in the region. For example, from a letter dated December 1, 1919, from Spalato (Split), Dalmatia, he wrote: "...there is to be a big Jugo-Slav demonstration tonight...there have been many demonstrations today in which the crowds shouted, 'Down with Italy...'". His letters also impart the opposing side of the situation. For instance, in an earlier letter dated November 7, 1919, from Spalato, Ellyson mentioned how he inspected local prisons and jails and discovered several Italian sympathizers imprisoned without cause.

Also of potential interest to researchers on Croatia are the papers of Peter Constan, (1888-1985) the American diplomat who served as the vice-consul at Zagreb in 1946 during the trial of Alojzije Stepinac, the Archbishop of Zagreb. Constan attended the trial and filed official reports with the Department of State on the matter. His papers contain English translations of the indictment and defense statement. Also in the collection is a folder with several pieces of election ephemera from November 1945 and some propaganda pamphlets from the 1940s.

A number of the collections described below are related to Yugoslavia or the 1990s war in Bosnia, but when you dig deeper into them, Croatian-related content is findable. For example, the Manuscript Division holds the papers of Anthony Lewis (1927-2013), a U.S. journalist who covered the war in Yugoslavia for the New York Times, and the papers of the U.S. Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, who was very active in the areas of foreign relations and human rights. Some larger historical collections such as the Woodrow Wilson Papers and the United States. American Commission to Negotiate Peace records, 1898-1919 (bulk 1918-1919) also have content elucidating the complex political situation and boundaries affecting the Croats of the time.

Below are descriptions of selected collections with content relevant to the study of Croatia and former Yugoslavia. Titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. For all collections researchers should contact the Manuscript Reading Room in advance of a research trip, because some collections below have access restrictions and others are stored off-site.

Anthony Lake papers, 1916-2003 (bulk 1963-1997) by Anthony Lake, 1939-
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
Anthony Lake was the United States National Security Advisor from 1993 to 1997. He also served as a foreign policy advisor for the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign. His papers contain notes, briefings, and memoranda on the situations in Bosnia and former Yugoslavia in general. A pertinent example are briefings and campaign strategy documents on Bosnia for then Governor Clinton.
Anthony Lewis papers, 1941-2007 (bulk 1963-2001) by Anthony Lewis (1927-2013)
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
As a prominent New York Times columnist during the 1990s, Anthony Lewis produced influential reporting on the disintegration of Yugoslavia and resulting war in Bosnia. His papers include many clippings of stories from multiple sources, both background and contemporary, as well as correspondence from various people or organizations advocating on the side of one of the antagonists.
Daniel P. Moynihan papers, 1765-2003 (bulk 1955-2000) by Daniel P. Moynihan, Daniel P. (1927-2003).
The paper of Senator Daniel P. Moynihan are of interest for researchers on Bosnia and former Yugoslavia. Moynihan served on the Committee on Foreign Relations and was active in matters related to human rights and international relations. HIs files contain clippings and correspondence on the situation in former Yugoslavia, as well as other documents such as a memorandum he prepared for President-elect Clinton after visiting Sarajevo in November 1992. The collection also contains information on the recognition of Macedonia, lifting the arms embargo against Bosnia, and the War Crimes Tribunal.
Francesco Favi papers, 1783-1799 by Francesco Favi, approximately 1730-?
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
Francesco Favi was a diplomat stationed in Paris on behalf of the city-state of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His papers are of particular interest to those studying the American Revolution since he reported on the situation to his government. Comprised of 5 microfilm reels, this collection is a copy of documents held in the Historijski Archiv, Dubrovnik, Croatia. The materials are in Italian, not Croatian. The documents date from 1774 through 1799.
Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room and Library of Congress website
Frontline Diplomacy is a collection of interviews and transcripts of U.S. diplomats active in the post World War II era. In the search box at the top for "This Collection" enter terms such as Yugoslavia or Croatia to find relevant interviews. Examples include interviews with Marshall Freeman Harris, a State Department official during the Clinton Administration who disagreed with Clinton's Bosnian policy or Ronald J. Neitzke, Deputy Chief of Mission in the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb from 1992 to 1996. The search terms search the full-text of the transcripts, not just the bibliographic records.
John Adams Kingsbury papers, 1841-1966 (bulk 1906-1939) by John Adams Kingsbury, 1876-1956
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
The papers of Kingsbury, a social reformer, include materials on organizations with which Kingsbury was affiliated such as the America-Yugoslav Society of New York. Topics include American-Yugoslav relations and Eastern European relief efforts after both world wars. The collection is more weighted toward Serbian content, but there are materials of interest for the other peoples of former Yugoslavia.
Petar II Karađorđević, King of Yugoslavia, papers, 1945 by Petar II Karađorđević, King of Yugoslavia, 1923-1970
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
The collection contains eight communiques or statements by King Petar in 1945, several of which are signed by the King, about the establishment of the communist regime in Yugoslavia.
Peter Constan papers, 1941-1947 by Peter Constan (1888-1985)
Call Number: MMC-3483
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
Reports of two important Yugoslav trials (Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac and General Draža Mihailović) and a small amount of ephemera. Constan was the US vice-consul in Zagreb in 1946. A small collection of photographs from the Peter Constan papers is available in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. They contain a handful of grisly photographs of victims of the Ustaša.
Theodore Gordon Ellyson papers, 1912-1951 (bulk 1913-1920). by Theodore Gordon Ellyson (1885-1928)
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
Ellyson was a US naval commander posted to the Adriatic. His letters to his wife comment on interactions with local Yugoslav officials 1919-1920.
United States. American Commission to Negotiate Peace records, 1898-1919 (bulk 1918-1919)
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room
The American Commission to Negotiate Peace was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to represent U.S. concerns during the peace negotiations in 1919 at the end of World War I. Included in this collection are numerous reports or memoranda related to areas that became part of Yugoslavia. Reports represent numerous Balkan perspectives - Greek, Yugoslav, Albanian, Bulgarian, etc. An example pertaining to Croatia is a report on the status of Dalmatia from the Italian perspective. Information about Croatia, and in particular Dalmatia, is scattered throughout the materials concerning areas that comprised former Yugoslavia.
Woodrow Wilson Papers
LC Location: Manuscript Reading Room and Library of Congress website.
The papers of President Woodrow Wilson contain many documents related to the nations of the Balkans, including letters from American diaspora groups, letters from King Alexander of Serbia, documents about World War I and the peace process. Examples include a confidential Serbian report from 1917 on the Serbian war mission and letters from 1919 to President Wilson from Croatian Americans asking him to support the Yugoslav position during the peace negotiations such as from the National Croatian Society in Philadelphia and the Croatian Society in Chicago. The 1917 "Memorandum by the Serbian Socialist Party upon the situation in occupied Serbia" is of interest for many of the countries of former Yugoslavia, not just Serbia. In general, that is true of other materials in this collection related to Yugoslavs, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Series 4: Executive Office File, 1912-1921, section 2855, has much of this content. Use of the finding aids and digitized 3-volume index is essential to identifying materials in this collection, both in print and online.

About the Manuscript Division

The Manuscript Division seeks to preserve personal papers and organizational records that document the course of America's national experience. Its more than twelve thousand collections and more than seventy million items touch upon every aspect of American history and culture. The Manuscript Division's holdings are strongest, however, in the areas of American national government, the federal judiciary, diplomacy, military history, women's history, and black history.

Manuscript Reading Room
Submit a question through our Ask a Librarian service, call the Research Center at 202-707-5387, or visit us in person in Room LM-101 of the James Madison building in Washington, D.C. Learn more about using the collections in this reading room.

Croatia and the Croatian Collections in the Library of Congress

Manuscript Materials

About the Manuscript Division