Guide to the John Hazard letters and reports, 1934-1939

Historical Note

John Newbold Hazard (1909-1995) was the founder of the field of Soviet legal studies in the United States and the author of many widely used textbooks and studies on this topic. He taught at Columbia University for nearly half a century and helped to found the Russian Institute (now the Harriman Institute), the first academic center in America dedicated to Russian and Soviet studies. During World War II, he helped to negotiate the Lend-Lease agreement with the Soviet Union through which the United States provided amenities, such as food and artillery, to its allies and he later prepared the prosecution of many important Nazi war criminals.

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Scope and Content Note

The collection is comprised largely of letters from 1934 to 1939 which Hazard wrote to Walter S. Rogers, Director of the Institute of Current World Affairs, and to John French, a lawyer and family friend. French's grandson, a 1986 graduate of Bates, gave the letters to the College in 1990.

Hazard worked for the Institute of Current World Affairs following his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1934 and was the first American to study Soviet law at the Moscow Judicial Institute which granted him a certificate in 1937. He then moved to Chicago. His letters particularly to Rogers, but also to French, provide important first-hand information about Soviet politics, culture, economics, law, relations with the United States, and religion. The collection also includes some of his unpublished reports on topics such as voting procedures in the Soviet Union, legal education, and the interpretation of Soviet law.

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Organization and Arrangement

The collection is in chronological order.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

The collection is the physical property of Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library. Bates College holds literary rights only for material created by College personnel working on official behalf of the College, or for material which was given to the College with such rights specifically assigned. For all other material, literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for obtaining permission from rights holders for publication or other purposes that exceed fair use.

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Related Material

John N. Hazard Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, Butler Library, 6th Floor, 535 West 114th Street, New York New York 10027

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Index Terms

These records are indexed under the following headings in the Bates College Library catalog. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog under these index terms.

Corporate Names:

Topical Subjects:

Geographic Subjects:

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Administrative Information

Acquisition and Custody Information

Gift of Barry French, 1990. Accession No.: 99-012.

Preferred Citation

John Hazard letters and reports, Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Bates College.

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