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Fred S. Rosenau Papers, 1944-1945
- Notes
- Rosenau was a student at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, when he joined the Overseas Branch of the Office of War Information, May 1944. After training, he traveled to Calcutta, served as Assistant Representative. The Calcutta office was part of the China-Burma-India theater and its psychological warfare activities were directed towards Burma and Thailand. Initially Rosenau was responsible for leaflet production, including supervising printing and delivery to air crews
- By spring 1945, he became more directly involved in the development and editing of "strategic" literature. In Calcutta, devoted spare time to writing letters home, sightseeing in the city and neighboring Bengal, and attending cultural events. Heat and poor sanitation frustrated Rosenau as he attempted to adjust to an Asian lifestyle. Once the war had offically ended, he was offered a position by the Director of Psychological Warfare in India--William Carter--to join a new O.W.I. news operation in Bangkok
- Its intent was to fulfill the "need for American news" in Asia, but he declined the offer and left for U.S., late Sept. 1945. B.A., University of Chicago, 1947. Subsequent career unknown
- Summary
- Personal papers of Fred Rosenau and examples of air-dropped psychological warfare literature created by the O.W.I
- Personal papers: Information guidebooks and language aids for India and Burma, many Indian newspaper articles, and photographs taken by Rosenau in Calcutta; letters to his family in New York City compose the bulk of the personal series. Along with detailing the experience of a young American living in India and his reactions to a distinctly different culture, the letters document the organization of his O.W.I. office and the duties of its workers. Also letters from the O.W.I. headquarters in New Delhi to Rosenau
- Series 2: General information about the O.W.I. and its aims; mainly documents and photographs relating to Rosenau's office; includes many examples of propaganda leaflets directed towards the Burmese and Thai peoples (translations attached), produced by the Calcutta team. Includes news bulletins on the war's progress; warnings about future Allied bombings; a variety of anti-Japanese and morale-boosting literature; examples of leaflets dropped over Japan, which were directed at soldiers rather than civilians in an attempt to undermine their faith in the military leaders
- Cite as
- Fred S. Rosenau Papers, 1944-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1944
- 1944-1945
- 1940-1950
- 1901-1946
- author
- Rosenau, Fred Simon
- collector
- Armed Forces History, Division of (NMAH, SI)
- Subject
- United States Office of War Information
- Local number
- 1986.3115 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH