Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Correspondence, manuscripts, reports, research files, audiotapes, and photographs documenting Backer's research and writing on General Clay and post war German affairs; his service in the military government, as a member of the Foreign Service, and as the supervisor of the U.S. Information Agency officer in numerous German cities. In researching his three books, Backer interviewed a number of public and military figures on audiotapes. There are several letters each from W. Averell Harriman, John Kenneth Galbraith, George Kennan, and John J. McCloy. The collection includes several boxes of photocopies of documents from various sources.