{"value"=>"<p><span class=\"emph\">GENERAL SUBJECT FILES,</span>1926-1945, are divided into three subseries. The first subseries contains correspondence and other material primarily relating to Pickens' early travels abroad to attend conferences, his trip to Cuba with Mary Mcleod Bethune in 1930, his service on draft and appeal boards during World War II, and the damaging effect on his career of charges brought against him by the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities. Correspondents of note in this subseries are Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker and Thyra Edwards. Subjects files in this subseries are arranged chronologically according to topic or organization.</p> <p><span class=\"emph\">Speaking Engagements,</span>1926-1944, are covered in the second subseries. Pickens was an extremely popular speaker and was in constant demand to fulfill speaking engagements for organizations throughout the country from 1926 until 1950, when he retired from the Treasury Department. Full documentation for the speaking engagements after he joined the Treasury Department is scant. Within the Treasury Department series, however, there is a file entitled “U.S. Treasury Department Travel Receipts, 1946-1947,” from which it can be ascertained that Pickens traversed the United States twice, during the latter portion of 1946 and 1947, making speeches for sales of U.S. savings bonds.</p> <p>While many of Pickens' speaking engagements related to his work with the NAACP and the Treasury Department, he was also popular as an individual speaker with such organizations as the Y.M. and Y.W.C.A., churches, colleges, charities, and political organizations. There was a considerable drop in demand for his services after his confrontation with the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee in 1942-1943. The correspondence in this sub-series is filed chronologically (commencing when correspondence was first generated by an organization to secure Pickens' services) and arranged by organization.</p> <p>The third subseries, <span class=\"emph\">Forums,</span>has been treated as a separate category from Speaking Engagements because of the nature of the sponsoring organizations for the Forums. Included in this subseries are the Federal Forums Project which was government sponsored and funded, and two private forum bureaus, the Adult Education Council of Chicago and the Open Forum Speakers Bureau, which were both non-profit organizations that acted as agents for organizations requiring speakers. The Federal Forums Project material has been arranged according to administrative files concerning the entire forum format throughout the country, and then by individual cities and states in which Pickens was directly involved. Forums are filed by state, in chronological order.</p>"}