Institute for Propaganda Analysis records

1937-1968, 1947-1951 [bulk 1937-1941]

The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) was founded in New York City in 1937 by a group of scholars in the social sciences for the purpose of assisting the public to detect and analyze propaganda. The IPA conducted research into the methods by which public opinion is influenced, published analyses of current problems, and promoted the establishment of study groups in public schools for detecting propaganda. It published a monthly bulletin, Propaganda Analysis, from 1937 to 1941. The organization was dormant during World War II and in 1950 all formal operations ceased. Collection consists of correspondence, by-laws, minutes of board and executive committee meetings, financial records, and printed matter. Bulk of the collection is correspondence, including that of executive directors, Clyde R. Miller and Alfred McClung Lee, with members of the Institute's advisory committee and others. Correspondence relates in part to the preparation of Propaganda Analysis and to allegations that some of the oficers were Communists or Communist sympathizers. Other topics are the funding and operations of the IPA, board elections and research projects. Financial records include statements and audit records. Also, press releases, circular letters, ballots for board elections, certificates of copyright registration, drafts of IPA publications, and printed ephemera.