Sub-Series V: Cambodia Mail,, 1970.
Dates
- 1970.
Scope and Contents
Cambodia Mail is comprised of constituent correspondence written to HAW from late April to early June 1970 concerning the Vietnam War, especially President Richard Nixon's decision to extend military operations into Cambodia. Although Nixon's action provided the spark for, and is the focus of, much of the correspondence, the documents also provide insight into the thoughts and activities of Americans on a number of related themes. College students, which are represented extensively in the series, wrote about their experiences with campus protests, the canceling of classes, their sense of injustice over lacking a vote in elections, and their vivid awareness that they would be draft-eligible upon leaving college. Some letters discuss reactions to television broadcasts regarding Nixon's decision, proposed legislation and constitutional amendments aimed at ending the war offered by Senators George McGovern, Mark Hatfield, and others, and other matters covered by the media. Much of the correspondence employs the rhetoric of the "silent majority," a category of Americans claimed by Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew to be standing behind the president. Additionally, many letters discuss the May 4 killing of students at Kent State University and HAW's upcoming re-election campaign. The majority of the letters express opinions against the war and Nixon administration policies. Nevertheless, a substantial number also express support for the president and anger over campus and other civil disturbances. The correspondence reveals the broad range of fears, concerns and unrest felt by Americans at the time.
The bulk of the correspondence is from a broad range of citizens from New Jersey, including many from New Jersey-resident college students attending school outside the state. A small portion of the letters were from parts of the country outside New Jersey.
Language of Materials
Undetermined .
Physical Description
(4.5 cubic feet)
Arrangement
There was no order to the original 23 cubic feet of correspondence. All of the documents, regardless of the form or the opinions expressed, were enveloped and boxed together by HAW's staff. During processing, obvious forms were separated from unique correspondence. Cambodia Mail was arranged with these forms (i.e., form letters, form clippings, post cards, and petitions) preceding the unique correspondence.
Within the original boxes of material were found approximately 2 cubic feet of primarily unique correspondence in envelopes (many still sealed) mailed to HAW's Washington office. This correspondence appears to have been forwarded by HAW's office to one John Redpath in New Jersey for an unknown purpose. The material as found by the processing archivist appears to be the correspondence returned to Washington by Redpath. There appeared to be no difference in the form and content of this correspondence from that found elsewhere in the original boxes. Nevertheless, this material was sampled and arranged separately from the other material; although not designated separately in the container list, the Redpath-related correspondence is noted as such on the actual folder label.
Some material dating primarily from June was found by the archivist enveloped apart from the rest of the material. With the exception of some form letters, all this later-dated material was retained and was placed at the end of the series, after the earlier-dated correspondence.
Appraisal and Discard Information
Cambodia Mail, the term applied to the correspondence by HAW's office, originally amounted to approximately 23 cubic feet of material, consisting of unique correspondence, form letters, petitions, post cards and form clippings. Approximately 9.5 cubic feet of unique correspondence (including postcards) were discarded by the archivist and 9 cubic feet of form letters and petitions were discarded. The bulk of the retained material consists of a sample of unique correspondence selected to reflect themes, tones, and correspondents representative of the discarded material. Much of the unique correspondence in the original collection stated merely whether the writer was for or against the invasion of Cambodia, for or against the Hatfield-McGovern amendment, and so forth; a sample of these types of letters was kept, but the bulk was discarded. A representative sample of form letters, petitions, post cards, and form clippings were retained; the forms originated from various parts of New Jersey and the retained sample reflects this variety. Generally, correspondence from out of state was discarded (except that from New Jersey students attending out of state schools), though some representative and noteworthy items were retained.
Part of the New Brunswick Special Collections Repository