Louis J. Halle, Jr. Papers 1915-1985

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968

Summary

Creator:
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

This collection of ca. 8,000 items (25 Hollinger boxes; 8 shelf feet), 1915-1985, consisting of the correspondence, articles, book reviews, lecture notes, and miscellanea of Louis J. Halle, Jr., of Geneva, Switzerland, reflects the versatility and depth of his career and personal interests as a writer, teacher, naturalist, and expert on international relations.

Louis J. Halle, Jr. maintained two types of correspondence files, alphabetical by last name of correspondent and topical (or subject) files. Both contain a wide variety of subjects and correspondents, and will be cited in an index at the end of this guide according to the box and folder number where they can be found. Subjects of a folder are distinguished from correspondents by use of an asterisk attached to all subject entries, such as nuclear war* 2.6 which would be found in folder 6 of box 2. Correspondents with their own files include: Dean Acheson, Bill Bundy, Kenneth Ford, George Kennan, Charlton Ogburn, Urs Schwarz, and Kenneth Thompson.

Several of the topical files deal with the magazines that frequently published Louis J. Halle, Jr. 's articles, such as the Virginia Quarterly Review, The New Republic, Audubon Magazine, National Geographic, British Birds, and The New York Times, and two of his publishers, Houghton Mifflin and Princeton University Press. He also has files concerning individual books: The Nature of Ideology(published as The Ideological Imagination), The Cold War as History, Out of Chaos, The Sea and the Ice, Elements of International Strategy, The Society of Man, Sedge, Spring in Washington, and Hamlet/ Odysseus/ The Passing of Arthur/ Anthony and Cleopatra (published as The Search For the Eternal Norm).

The collection also contains two nature diaries; The Sea and the IceAntarctic diary and his notes on his visits to the Shetlands in 1968, 1970, and 1972.

Other general topics in the subject files include: discussions concerning all aspects of ornithology, United States foreign policy, American history, science, philosophy, the writer's relationship with his publisher, outer space colonization, wildlife conservation, nuclear weapons, and politics.

The lecture and article series include: ad-hoc lectures, lectures concerning " America and the World Since 1945" given at the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University, "A Layman's Guide to Nuclear Power," a lecture concerning the "Role of Concepts in International Relations," miscellaneous book reviews, lectures, and talks, newspaper articles, notes, ideas, fragments, miscellaneous printed articles, a seminar on strategic studies regarding the concept of a limited war in the nuclear age, and "Truth, Freedom and the Academic Vocation."

Biographical / historical:

(see attached entries from Who's Who in America, 1986-1987, 44th edition, Vol. I, p. 1161, and Contemporary AuthorsNew Revision Series, Vol. 2, p. 291.)

Acquisition information:
These papers were given to the Library by Mr. Louis J. Halle, Jr. of Geneva, Switzerland on December 30, 1985 .
Arrangement:

This collection arrived in good order at the Library in European classeurs and manila envelopes, with the contents of each clearly labeled by the donor. Those files pertaining to a single subject are in reverse chronological order and those containing alphabetical correspondence are arranged by the last name of the correspondent, thus preserving the original order imposed by Mr. Louis J. Halle, Jr. .

The three series established for these papers are: 1) Alphabetical Correspondence, 2) Topical Correspondence, and 3) Lectures and Articles, although some lectures and articles are scattered throughout the collection.

Physical location:
Physical description:
ca. 8,000 items