"Unfinished Business": Segregation and U.S. Diplomacy at the 1958 World's Fair

Diplomatic History

Volumn 20, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 591-612

  Krenn, Michael L ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0007220271     PISSN: 01452096     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7709.1996.tb00288.x     Document Type: Review

References (63)

1. "Treatment of Minorities in the United States-Impact on Our Foreign Relations," enclosed in John A. Calhoun to Gerald D. Morgan, 31 December 1958, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, file 811.411/12-458, National Archives, Washington, DC (hereafter RG 59, with file number).
2. Two books by Robert W. Rydell are the required starting points for studies into U.S. participation in world's fairs: All the World's a Fair (Chicago, 1984) covers the period from 1876 to 1916; World of Fairs: The Century-of-Progress Expositions (Chicago, 1993) focuses on the fairs of the 1920s and 1930s. This volume also has a chapter dealing with the Brussels Exposition. "The Unfinished Business" exhibit is dealt with only briefly, but the chapter contains an excellent discussion of the history of U.S. involvement in the fair and some intriguing questions about U.S. espionage efforts during the fair.
3. Two books by Robert W. Rydell are the required starting points for studies into U.S. participation in world's fairs: All the World's a Fair (Chicago, 1984) covers the period from 1876 to 1916; World of Fairs: The Century-of-Progress Expositions (Chicago, 1993) focuses on the fairs of the 1920s and 1930s. This volume also has a chapter dealing with the Brussels Exposition. "The Unfinished Business" exhibit is dealt with only briefly, but the chapter contains an excellent discussion of the history of U.S. involvement in the fair and some intriguing questions about U.S. espionage efforts during the fair.
4. The best introduction to the civil rights policies of the Eisenhower administration is Robert F. Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights (Knoxville, 1984). Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1980 (New York, 1981), chaps. 1-3, focuses more on the efforts of black citizens and groups for civil rights. Richard Polenberg, One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United State since 1938 (New York, 1981), 153-63, has some interesting information on the civil rights struggle in the suburbs during the Eisenhower years. For more specific studies see J. W. Anderson, Eisenhower, Brownell and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957 (Birmingham, 1964); James C. Duram, A Moderate among Extremists: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the School Desegregation Crisis (Chicago, 1981); Daniel M. Berman, A Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (New York, 1962); and Foster Rhea Dulles, The Civil Rights Commission, 1957-1965 (East Lansing, 1968).
5. The best introduction to the civil rights policies of the Eisenhower administration is Robert F. Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights (Knoxville, 1984). Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1980 (New York, 1981), chaps. 1-3, focuses more on the efforts of black citizens and groups for civil rights. Richard Polenberg, One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United State since 1938 (New York, 1981), 153-63, has some interesting information on the civil rights struggle in the suburbs during the Eisenhower years. For more specific studies see J. W. Anderson, Eisenhower, Brownell and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957 (Birmingham, 1964); James C. Duram, A Moderate among Extremists: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the School Desegregation Crisis (Chicago, 1981); Daniel M. Berman, A Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (New York, 1962); and Foster Rhea Dulles, The Civil Rights Commission, 1957-1965 (East Lansing, 1968).
6. The best introduction to the civil rights policies of the Eisenhower administration is Robert F. Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights (Knoxville, 1984). Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1980 (New York, 1981), chaps. 1-3, focuses more on the efforts of black citizens and groups for civil rights. Richard Polenberg, One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United State since 1938 (New York, 1981), 153-63, has some interesting information on the civil rights struggle in the suburbs during the Eisenhower years. For more specific studies see J. W. Anderson, Eisenhower, Brownell and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957 (Birmingham, 1964); James C. Duram, A Moderate among Extremists: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the School Desegregation Crisis (Chicago, 1981); Daniel M. Berman, A Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (New York, 1962); and Foster Rhea Dulles, The Civil Rights Commission, 1957-1965 (East Lansing, 1968).
7. The best introduction to the civil rights policies of the Eisenhower administration is Robert F. Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights (Knoxville, 1984). Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1980 (New York, 1981), chaps. 1-3, focuses more on the efforts of black citizens and groups for civil rights. Richard Polenberg, One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United State since 1938 (New York, 1981), 153-63, has some interesting information on the civil rights struggle in the suburbs during the Eisenhower years. For more specific studies see J. W. Anderson, Eisenhower, Brownell and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957 (Birmingham, 1964); James C. Duram, A Moderate among Extremists: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the School Desegregation Crisis (Chicago, 1981); Daniel M. Berman, A Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (New York, 1962); and Foster Rhea Dulles, The Civil Rights Commission, 1957-1965 (East Lansing, 1968).
8. The best introduction to the civil rights policies of the Eisenhower administration is Robert F. Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights (Knoxville, 1984). Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1980 (New York, 1981), chaps. 1-3, focuses more on the efforts of black citizens and groups for civil rights. Richard Polenberg, One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United State since 1938 (New York, 1981), 153-63, has some interesting information on the civil rights struggle in the suburbs during the Eisenhower years. For more specific studies see J. W. Anderson, Eisenhower, Brownell and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957 (Birmingham, 1964); James C. Duram, A Moderate among Extremists: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the School Desegregation Crisis (Chicago, 1981); Daniel M. Berman, A Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (New York, 1962); and Foster Rhea Dulles, The Civil Rights Commission, 1957-1965 (East Lansing, 1968).
9. The best introduction to the civil rights policies of the Eisenhower administration is Robert F. Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights (Knoxville, 1984). Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1980 (New York, 1981), chaps. 1-3, focuses more on the efforts of black citizens and groups for civil rights. Richard Polenberg, One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United State since 1938 (New York, 1981), 153-63, has some interesting information on the civil rights struggle in the suburbs during the Eisenhower years. For more specific studies see J. W. Anderson, Eisenhower, Brownell and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957 (Birmingham, 1964); James C. Duram, A Moderate among Extremists: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the School Desegregation Crisis (Chicago, 1981); Daniel M. Berman, A Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (New York, 1962); and Foster Rhea Dulles, The Civil Rights Commission, 1957-1965 (East Lansing, 1968).
10. The best introduction to the civil rights policies of the Eisenhower administration is Robert F. Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights (Knoxville, 1984). Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1980 (New York, 1981), chaps. 1-3, focuses more on the efforts of black citizens and groups for civil rights. Richard Polenberg, One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United State since 1938 (New York, 1981), 153-63, has some interesting information on the civil rights struggle in the suburbs during the Eisenhower years. For more specific studies see J. W. Anderson, Eisenhower, Brownell and the Congress: The Tangled Origins of the Civil Rights Bill of 1956-1957 (Birmingham, 1964); James C. Duram, A Moderate among Extremists: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the School Desegregation Crisis (Chicago, 1981); Daniel M. Berman, A Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (New York, 1962); and Foster Rhea Dulles, The Civil Rights Commission, 1957-1965 (East Lansing, 1968).
11. USIA, "Public Reactions to Little Rock in Major World Capitals," 29 October 1957, Files of E. F. Morrow-Administrative Office-Special Projects, box 11, file: Little Rock Clippings and Data, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas. USIA, "Post-Little Rock Opinion on the Treatment of Negroes in the U.S.," January 1958, White House Central Files (WHCF), Confidential File (CF), Subject Series, box 99, file: USIA (3), Eisenhower Library, A good piece on the foreign impact of Little Rock, which appeared shortly after the crisis, is Harold R. Isaacs, "World Affairs and U.S. Race Relations: A Note on Little Rock," Public Opinion Quarterly 22 (Fall 1958): 364-70.
12. USIA, "Public Reactions to Little Rock in Major World Capitals," 29 October 1957, Files of E. F. Morrow-Administrative Office-Special Projects, box 11, file: Little Rock Clippings and Data, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas. USIA, "Post-Little Rock Opinion on the Treatment of Negroes in the U.S.," January 1958, White House Central Files (WHCF), Confidential File (CF), Subject Series, box 99, file: USIA (3), Eisenhower Library, A good piece on the foreign impact of Little Rock, which appeared shortly after the crisis, is Harold R. Isaacs, "World Affairs and U.S. Race Relations: A Note on Little Rock," Public Opinion Quarterly 22 (Fall 1958): 364-70.
13. USIA, "Public Reactions to Little Rock in Major World Capitals," 29 October 1957, Files of E. F. Morrow-Administrative Office-Special Projects, box 11, file: Little Rock Clippings and Data, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas. USIA, "Post-Little Rock Opinion on the Treatment of Negroes in the U.S.," January 1958, White House Central Files (WHCF), Confidential File (CF), Subject Series, box 99, file: USIA (3), Eisenhower Library, A good piece on the foreign impact of Little Rock, which appeared shortly after the crisis, is Harold R. Isaacs, "World Affairs and U.S. Race Relations: A Note on Little Rock," Public Opinion Quarterly 22 (Fall 1958): 364-70.
14. Staff Notes No. 199, 24 September 1957, Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President, Ann Whitman File, DDF, Diary Series, box 27, file: Sept. 1957 Toner Notes, Eisenhower Library; "Reaction to US Integration Incidents Increases," 13 September 1957, Eisenhower Papers, Whitman File, DDE Diary Series, box 27, file: Sept. 1957 Toner Notes; Foreign Broadcast Information Service, "Daily Report: Foreign Radio Broadcasts Supplement," World Reaction Series, No. 10-1957, "World Radio and Press Reaction to Events in Little Rock, Arkansas," 27 September 1957, Papers of Bryce Harlow, box 11, file: Integration, Eisenhower Library.
15. See Burk, Black Civil Rights, esp. chap. 8, which deals with the president's "sympathies" with Southern whites concerning the desegregation crisis. A somewhat more positive portrayal appears in Michael S. Mayer, "With Much Deliberation and Some Speed: Eisenhower and the Brown Decision," Journal of Southern History 52 (February 1986): 43-76. For summaries of Eisenhower's views of civil rights and segregation see Polenberg, One Nation Divisible, 159-61; Alonzo L. Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: F.D.R. to Reagan (New York, 1985), 126-27; and Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 23-26, 31-38.
16. See Burk, Black Civil Rights, esp. chap. 8, which deals with the president's "sympathies" with Southern whites concerning the desegregation crisis. A somewhat more positive portrayal appears in Michael S. Mayer, "With Much Deliberation and Some Speed: Eisenhower and the Brown Decision," Journal of Southern History 52 (February 1986): 43-76. For summaries of Eisenhower's views of civil rights and segregation see Polenberg, One Nation Divisible, 159-61; Alonzo L. Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: F.D.R. to Reagan (New York, 1985), 126-27; and Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 23-26, 31-38.
17. See Burk, Black Civil Rights, esp. chap. 8, which deals with the president's "sympathies" with Southern whites concerning the desegregation crisis. A somewhat more positive portrayal appears in Michael S. Mayer, "With Much Deliberation and Some Speed: Eisenhower and the Brown Decision," Journal of Southern History 52 (February 1986): 43-76. For summaries of Eisenhower's views of civil rights and segregation see Polenberg, One Nation Divisible, 159-61; Alonzo L. Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: F.D.R. to Reagan (New York, 1985), 126-27; and Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 23-26, 31-38.
18. See Burk, Black Civil Rights, esp. chap. 8, which deals with the president's "sympathies" with Southern whites concerning the desegregation crisis. A somewhat more positive portrayal appears in Michael S. Mayer, "With Much Deliberation and Some Speed: Eisenhower and the Brown Decision," Journal of Southern History 52 (February 1986): 43-76. For summaries of Eisenhower's views of civil rights and segregation see Polenberg, One Nation Divisible, 159-61; Alonzo L. Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: F.D.R. to Reagan (New York, 1985), 126-27; and Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 23-26, 31-38.
19. See Burk, Black Civil Rights, esp. chap. 8, which deals with the president's "sympathies" with Southern whites concerning the desegregation crisis. A somewhat more positive portrayal appears in Michael S. Mayer, "With Much Deliberation and Some Speed: Eisenhower and the Brown Decision," Journal of Southern History 52 (February 1986): 43-76. For summaries of Eisenhower's views of civil rights and segregation see Polenberg, One Nation Divisible, 159-61; Alonzo L. Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: F.D.R. to Reagan (New York, 1985), 126-27; and Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality, 23-26, 31-38.
20. Jackie Robinson to Eisenhower, 10 June 1958, WHCF, Official File (OF) 142-A, box 731, file: no. (3), Eisenhower Library.
21. William Tyler to Charles Elbrick, 3 October 1956, RG 59, 855.191-BR/10-356.
22. "United States Participation in the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, 1958," 15 July 1957, WHCF, OF 139-B-3, box 720, file: Brussels (2).
23. Brussels Fair Theme Committee, interview with Walter Rostow, 10 January 1957, Max Franklin Millikan Papers, box 4, folder 119, Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge, Massachusetts. For a list of participants in the Study Group's conference see "Elting E., Morison to Members of the Study Group for the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, 1958," 8 April 1957, in the same folder.
24. "Some Unfinished Business of the American Community," n.d., School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Office of the Dean (AC 20), box 1, folder 27, MIT.
25. "Subcommittee Reports Presented at the Final Meeting of the Cambridge Study Group for the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, 1958," 28 April 1957, Millikan Papers, box 4, folder 120. Noticeable by their absence were the voices of any black American leaders in the planning and preparation of "The Unfinished Business" exhibit. Nothing in the papers of groups such as the NAACP or individuals such as Ralph Bunche indicates that they were ever consulted concerning this matter. Even after the controversy over the exhibit broke out, nothing was done to contact black leaders. George Allen of the USIA, asked years later whether "it might have been a good idea to have brought in the NAACP," was adamant in arguing against that course of action: "I think that would have just brought more emotionalism into the situation. We weren't trying to carry on a crusade." George V. Allen, Oral History, p. 100, Eisenhower Library.
26. "Subcommittee Reports Presented at the Final Meeting of the Cambridge Study Group for the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, 1958," 28 April 1957, Millikan Papers, box 4, folder 120. Noticeable by their absence were the voices of any black American leaders in the planning and preparation of "The Unfinished Business" exhibit. Nothing in the papers of groups such as the NAACP or individuals such as Ralph Bunche indicates that they were ever consulted concerning this matter. Even after the controversy over the exhibit broke out, nothing was done to contact black leaders. George Allen of the USIA, asked years later whether "it might have been a good idea to have brought in the NAACP," was adamant in arguing against that course of action: "I think that would have just brought more emotionalism into the situation. We weren't trying to carry on a crusade." George V. Allen, Oral History, p. 100, Eisenhower Library.
27. C. D. Jackson had long been interested in the connection between U.S. race problems and international relations, as attested to by his work with the United Negro College Fund. In 1952 he had chaired a UNCF program entitled "Color in Democracy: A Symposium," which featured talks by author and reporter Carl Rowan and U.S. representative to the United Nations Edith Sampson. In a 1955 letter to John Foster Dulles, he asked the secretary of state to consider speaking before a UNCF luncheon honoring the presidents of over thirty black colleges. Included among the reasons Jackson cited for Dulles's appearance before the group was that "There is . . . a tie-in between America's diplomatic work with the non-white nations of the world and the higher education of American Negroes, and the ammunition that our Negro problem has furnished the Soviets." Jackson to Dulles, 14 January 1955, Papers of John Foster Dulles, box 99, file: Re United Negro College Fund, 1955, Seeley Mudd Library, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.
28. Judith Murphy, "Fortune's Pavilion at Brussels: What It Is, How It Came About, and Why," 10 February 1958, Records of United States Participation in International Conferences, Commissions, and Expositions, Record Group 43, Records Relating to United States Participation in the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition of 1958, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business, National Archives. It is interesting to note that Rostow was not the only one thinking along these lines. A State Department memorandum of January 1957 recounted a conversation with Victor Reuther of the AFL-CIO. Commenting on the U.S. plans for the 1958 fair, Reuther indicated that he also felt that the United States should squarely face its domestic problems. In words echoing Rostow's ideas, Reuther concluded that "the frank admission of unfinished business, of an imperfect but progressive civilization, will make our positive case of accomplishments all the more eloquent." Memorandum of conversation, 12 January 1957, RG 59, 855.191-BR/1-1257. It would be interesting to find out more about Fortune's participation in this episode; a request for more information from that publication, however, was met with the reply that its archives contained no material-beyond a few articles-on the magazine's efforts in 1957-58.
29. The following description of the exhibit is taken from two BRE reports and a New York Times article from March 1958. "Operations Memorandum," John J. Slocum (coordinator, Public Affairs Program) to Gerson Lush (director of BRE in Washington), 2 June 1958, and "Captions for 'The Unfinished Work,'" n.d., both in RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business; "Fair Gets Exhibit on United States Problems-Private Display at Brussels Deals with Segregation, Slums, and Resources," New York Times, 11 March 1958.
30. The following description of the exhibit is taken from two BRE reports and a New York Times article from March 1958. "Operations Memorandum," John J. Slocum (coordinator, Public Affairs Program) to Gerson Lush (director of BRE in Washington), 2 June 1958, and "Captions for 'The Unfinished Work,'" n.d., both in RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business; "Fair Gets Exhibit on United States Problems-Private Display at Brussels Deals with Segregation, Slums, and Resources," New York Times, 11 March 1958.
31. The following description of the exhibit is taken from two BRE reports and a New York Times article from March 1958. "Operations Memorandum," John J. Slocum (coordinator, Public Affairs Program) to Gerson Lush (director of BRE in Washington), 2 June 1958, and "Captions for 'The Unfinished Work,'" n.d., both in RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business; "Fair Gets Exhibit on United States Problems-Private Display at Brussels Deals with Segregation, Slums, and Resources," New York Times, 11 March 1958.
32. Howard to Leverett Saltonstall, 21 October 1957, and Howard to Cullman, 30 May 1958, Papers of Katherine Howard, box 25, file: Confidential-Mrs. Howard, Eisenhower Library.
33. Copy of the Daily News story, 16 September 1957, is found in RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business. "We'll Go on Trial at the Fair," Saturday Evening Post, 25 January 1958.
34. Congressional Record, 85th Cong., 2d sess., 104, pt. 5: 5541-42; Talmadge to Dulles, 26 March 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/3-2658.
35. Rivers to Lush, 25 April 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business; Thurmond to Dulles, 25 April 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/4-2558.
36. Berding to Herter, 7 April 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 15, file: Brussels Fair-1957 General.
37. Davies to Lush, n.d., attached to Berding to Herter, 7 April 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 15, file: Brussels Fair-1957 General.
38. The provenance of the photos used in the exhibit is not entirely clear. A January 1958 report by the Department of Public Relations for the NAACP stated that one of the photos from its files dealing with integrated urban housing had been selected by Fortune for the exhibit. It also claimed that a department research assistant was aiding the magazine "in connection with the exhibit." Nothing in the NAACP records for the Department of Public Relations substantiates these claims, although there are dozens of requests by that office for pictures from local, state, and national housing authorities in January and February 1958. In fact, there is only one other mention of the fair found in NAACP records. In March 1958 one of the members of the organization's board of directors noted during a meeting that 20 percent of the "U.S. representation at the Brussels World Fair is supposed to be non-white"; he wanted this checked into. There is no evidence of follow-up on this. NAACP, "Report of the Secretary for the Month of January, 1958," 10 February 1958, Papers of Arthur Spingarn, Minutes and Reports, Secretary to the Board of Directors, 1957-1958 File, box 43, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; "Meeting of the Board of Directors," 10 March 1958, Spingarn Papers, Minutes and Reports, Board of Directors, 1958-1959 File, box 43.
39. Wilkinson to Krebs, 3 April 1958; "Unfinished Business Exhibit-Description as of April 21," enclosed in Wilkinson to Berding, 28 April 1958, RG 43, box 15, file: Brussels, Brussels Fair-1957 General.
40. Fisher Howe memorandum, "Brussels Fair," 2 May 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/5-258.
41. Dulles to Davies, 2 May 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/5-258; Davies to Lush, 6 May 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 6, file: BRE-51, Letters from BRE-BR.
42. Herter to Cullman, 5 May 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BRA-5-858.
43. Sprouse to Dulles, 9 May 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/5-958; translation of article from Le Peuple, 8 May 1958; untitled report, n.d. (but indications that it is from early May 1958), RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business.
44. Sprouse to Dulles, 9 May 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/5-958; translation of article from Le Peuple, 8 May 1958; untitled report, n.d. (but indications that it is from early May 1958), RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business.
45. Sprouse to Dulles, 9 May 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/5-958; translation of article from Le Peuple, 8 May 1958; untitled report, n.d. (but indications that it is from early May 1958), RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business.
46. Herter (for Dulles) to Cullman, 9 May 1958, and Folger (for Cullman) to Herter, 14 May 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/5-958, /5-1458.
47. Folger (for Plaut) to Herter, 29 May 1958, and John J. Slocum (coordinator of public affairs for BRE in Brussels) to Gerson Lush, 30 May 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business.
48. Howard to Cullman, 30 May 1958, Howard Papers, box 25, file: Confidential - Mrs. Howard; Washburn to Allen, 17 June 1958, RG 59, 855.191-BR/6-1758.
49. "Preston Raps U.S. Exhibit at Fair," Washington Post, 24 June 1958; "Brussels Exhibit on Bias is Decried," New York Times, 23 June 1958. These, and many other press clippings, can be found in the "Exhibits and Fairs (Brussels, 1958)" file in the Historical Collection, USIA, Washington, DC.
50. "Preston Raps U.S. Exhibit at Fair," Washington Post, 24 June 1958; "Brussels Exhibit on Bias is Decried," New York Times, 23 June 1958. These, and many other press clippings, can be found in the "Exhibits and Fairs (Brussels, 1958)" file in the Historical Collection, USIA, Washington, DC.
51. "Memorandum of Conference with the President, 24 June 1958," 25 June 1958, Eisenhower Papers, DDE Diary Series, box 33, file: June 1958 - Staff Notes (2). One should contrast this description with Allen's recollections for an oral history done years later. According to Allen, his visit to Brussels had caused consternation among the BRE people, but he had reassured them that he "was not heading an inquisition and the President seemed quite relaxed." His visit convinced him that more "representative" art was needed and that "The Unfinished Business" exhibit should be "rotated in due course." In his meeting with Eisenhower, he recalled that the president took the matter "casually," and then went into a long discussion of the art problem. Astoundingly, Allen comments that the thing that really caused the furor about "The Unfinished Business" exhibit was one picture - and not the one with the children playing. Instead, he mentioned a picture where a policeman seemed to be stepping on a black man who had been knocked down during a riot: "If that one photograph hadn't been included, I don't think we'd have heard much about it." (No other document from the period even mentions such a picture.) Allen continued, "It's rather interesting that the people who objected were the whites. I never heard any objection from the Negro side at all. You would have imagined that we might have. But all the objections were from the white racists of the Mendel Rivers type. I suppose Cassius Clay and Stokely Carmichael would also object, today. They'd rather see a Negro standing over a white man." George Y. Allen, Oral History, pp. 89-101, Eisenhower Library.
52. "News Conference with James C. Hagerty and George Y. Allen," 24 June 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 6, file: BEG-70 VIP Visits to the Fair-Allen.
53. Eisenhower to Cullman, 26 June 1958, White House Office Files (WHOF), Office of Staff Secretary, Subject Series, Alpha Subseries, box 24, file: USIA (3) June-Dec. 1958, Eisenhower Library. For Allen's report see Allen to Eisenhower, 26 June 1958, Eisenhower Papers, Administrative Series, box 2, file: George V. Allen-USIA, Eisenhower Library.
54. Allen to Goodpaster, 10 July 1958, WHOF, Office of the Staff Secretary, Subject Series, Alpha Subseries, box 24, file: USIA (3) June-Dec. 1958; "Memorandum of Conversation with Mr. James S. Plaut from Washington, D.C., Thursday, July 10, 4 pm (Brussels Time)," Howard Papers, box 25, file: Confidential - Mrs. Howard.
55. Val Washington to Dulles, 13 August 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business. In point of fact, the black press in the United States remained quiet on the issue. As for the Soviet reaction, none is noted in the U.S. records.
56. "Rips Move to Drop U.S. Race Exhibit," Chicago News, 15 August 1958; "Proposed Retreat at Brussels," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2 September 1958. Both articles, along with others, are found in the Historical Collection at USIA.
57. "Rips Move to Drop U.S. Race Exhibit," Chicago News, 15 August 1958; "Proposed Retreat at Brussels," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2 September 1958. Both articles, along with others, are found in the Historical Collection at USIA.
58. U.S. guides to Eisenhower, 16 August 1958, WHCF, OF 139-B-3, box 721, file: (8).
59. Lush to Thomas E. Morgan, 22 August 1958, and Lush to Davies, 25 August 1958, RG 43, Brussels, box 12, file: EXH-414 Unfinished Business.
60. Hugh Sutherland to USIA in Washington, 24 November 1958, file: Exhibits and Fairs (Brussels 1958), Historical Collection, USIA; "The United States at the Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, 1958," 30 May 1959, WHCF, OF 139-B-3, box 721, file: (9). In Katherine Howard's oral history in the Eisenhower Library collection (which is well over five hundred pages), the former deputy commissioner gives a detailed description of the pavilion, the parties, and the luminaries who visited the exhibit. In over sixty pages of discussion of her role in the Brussels fair, however, there is not one word about "The Unfinished Business."
61. About a month after the original exhibit had been closed down, the only quantifiable information about its impact came to light in the form of a public opinion survey done by a Brussels firm, Doxometric S.P.R.L., for the USIS. A special section of the survey was devoted to "The Unfinished Business" exhibit. As a USIA summary indicated, the results were far from the best that might have been achieved. Two earlier attempts to gauge the impact of the exhibit had gone for naught, having occurred at the exact times that the exhibit was either being redesigned or closed for complete renovation. However, since some people attended the fair more than once, the Belgian survey, conducted in September, might give "at least some information" about visitor reaction to "The Unfinished Business." Over twelve hundred people were surveyed. Out of that number, only forty-nine remembered seeing the original exhibit with the segregation display. These few people were asked whether seeing the exhibit tended to "raise or lower your opinion of the United States" and whether the exhibit led them to believe that the United States was making "more progress or less progress than you had thought toward solving the problems of racial minorities." In the first case, eighteen said it raised their opinion, eight said it lowered their opinion, eighteen said it made no difference, and five had no opinion. The responses to the second questions were "less encouraging." Eleven felt that more progress was being made, thirteen felt that less progress was being made, twelve thought it was about as they imagined, and thirteen had no opinion. There was no attempt to find out what they thought about the elimination of the segregation exhibit. USIA, "Follow-Up Study of Visitor Reaction to the U.S. Versus Major Competing Exhibits at the Brussels International Fair," June 1959, file: Exhibits and Fairs (Brussels 1958), Historical Collection, USIA. A copy of the Belgian survey, "Survey on Visitors of the Brussels 1958 World's Fair to know their opinion about the U.S. and U.S.S.R. and Czech Pavilions," September 1958, is also found in this file. The Czech Pavilion was of particular interest because of the great public reception it garnered; it eventually won first place for best exhibit.
62. Blanche Wiesen Cook, The Declassified Eisenhowev: A Divided Legacy (New York, 1984), 173-74.
63. Wilkins to Morrow, 4 September 1958, Morrow Files, box 10, file: Inter-Racial Affairs - Correspondence and Materials, 1957-58.