Asher, Robert E. Papers

Dates: 1944-1948, 1980

Official, Displaced Persons Branch, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, 1945; Director, Division of Procedural Coordination, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1945-1946

The Papers of Robert E. Asher consist of correspondence, printed materials, reports, tables, and other documents relating to Asher’s work as a government official with the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA).

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 10 linear inches (about 1000 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: No donation of copyright was received with this collection. Documents created by U.S. Government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1976).
Updated by: Catherine Cooney (2008) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1910 (October 18)

 

Born, Chicago, Illinois

1927-1931

 

Student, Dartmouth College and University of Berlin

1932

 

Ph.B., University of Chicago

1934

 

M.A., University of Chicago

1934-1942

 

Researcher and official with the American Public Welfare Association, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Works Progress Administration, and National Youth Administration

1942-1944

 

Official with the War Production Board, Lend-Lease Administration, and Foreign Economic Administration

1945

 

Official with the Displaced Persons Branch, SHAEF, serving in France and Germany

1945-1946

 

Director, Division of Procedural Coordination, UNRRA, Washington D.C.

1946-1954

 

Official, Department of State

1954-1972

 

Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Staff, Brookings Institution

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Robert E. Asher mainly consist of correspondence, reports, tables, manuals, and other printed materials related to his work with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and the Displaced Persons Branch of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), with particular emphasis on the policies of UNRRA and the condition of displaced persons in Europe.

Included among the materials in this collection are reports from SHAEF detailing living conditions and supply allotments for displaced persons as well as the operations of UNRRA, camps where displaced persons were being held, and plans to move displaced persons.

In addition to the above materials, other items in the collection include manuals regarding the operations of UNRRA in the field, at headquarters, and in the office. There is also a report from the Director General that details the operations of UNRRA during Mr. Asher’s time with that organization.

Other collections at the Truman Library relating to displaced persons and UNRRA include the papers of Harry S. Truman, Harry N. Rosenfield, Luther T. Hoffman, Anne Laughlin, and John O. Coppock.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-2

  SUBJECT FILE 1944-1948, 1980
Correspondence, graphs, tables, reports, and other printed materials related to displaced persons in Europe and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Arranged alphabetically.
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1944-1948, 1980

Box 1

  • Correspondence Relating to the Acquisition of the Robert E. Asher Papers
  • Report of the Director General to the Council (UNRRA) Washington, D.C., 1948
  • SHAEF-Survey and Documents-Displaced Persons Operations, 1945 [1 of 2]
  • SHAEF-Survey and Documents-Displaced Persons Operations, 1945 [2 of 2]
  • UNRRA Basic Field Manual [1 of 2]
  • UNRRA Basic Field Manual [2 of 2]
  • UNRRA Basic Headquarters Manual [1 of 2]

Box 2

  • UNRRA Basic Headquarters Manual [2 of 2]
  • UNRRA Office Practices Manual, 1946
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