{"value"=>"<p>Initially called the Committee for a Democratic Policy Toward China, the Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy (CDFEP) was founded in 1945. Its stated goals were to inform Americans about Far Eastern issues, to oppose American intervention in East Asian countries, and to seek peaceful solutions to political conflicts through such international organizations as the United Nations. The CDFEP's diverse membership included journalists, former missionaries, and East Asian scholars. (Ronald Reagan's name also appears on early CDFEP stationery as a sponsor.).</p> <p>Through frequent conferences and a wide variety of publications, the CDFEP sought to provide politicians and the general public with an alternative perspective to that of the pro-Chiang Kai-shek China Lobby. After 1949, the Committee vigorously promoted American diplomatic recognition of the newly created People's Republic of China. In the Cold War climate of the early 1950s, however, organizations such as the CDFEP were increasingly regarded as subversive, Communist Party-controlled agencies that had conspired to bring about the \"loss\" of China to Communism. In 1952, as support and membership dwindled in the face of continuing FBI harassment, the CDFEP disbanded.</p> <p>A more detailed overview of the history of the CDFEP is available in a series of articles from the <em>U. S. - China Review</em> (1982) by Karen Kerpen, based on her doctoral dissertation, in Box 28.</p> <p>Evidently, many CDFEP records have been lost over time. Karen Kerpen notes in her dissertation and in Part III of her article that the McCarthy era was for the CDFEP \"a time to protect supporters and sponsors from allegations or subpoena; files were hidden or destroyed and financial records were burned\". (There is no citation for the source of this information.) In a June 30, 1961 letter to former CDFEP colleagues Israel Epstein and Elsie Fairfax-Cholmeley, Russell wrote about the housecleaning she was doing in preparation for moving to her Riverside Drive apartment, adding: \"How I hated to throw away much valuable historical material collected during your days, but I just do not have place or use for them at present and there was no where to put them. \".</p> <p>An early member of the CDFEP, Russell succeeded Harold Fletcher as its executive director in June 1946, serving in that capacity until the organization's demise. The materials in this series are evidently a combination of her own files and those of the CDFEP's. Roughly one-third is mimeographed and printed matter: press releases, pamphlets, and newsletters; there are also four boxes of subject files. Box 18 includes an apparently complete set of minutes of meetings, the CDFEP's constitution and by-laws, and a small amount of correspondence.</p>"}