Declassified Documents From Hoover Collections Newly Released And Online

By Lisa Miller

More than 1,500 U.S. government records from thirty archival collections at Hoover were declassified and released online by Hoover in 2017. The collections were created by diplomatic, military, and other government officials. Several of them, including William J. Casey, Carl F. Eifler, and Norwood F. Allman, worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. The papers of Robert D. Murphy, an American diplomat who served in Africa and Europe during World War II and as assistant secretary, deputy undersecretary, and undersecretary of state from 1953 to -1959, contain the largest number of declassified items.

From 2001 to 2008, a government team visited the Hoover Archives to scan security-classified records, which were then submitted for review and declassification by the relevant federal agencies. Some records were released in full, others in part, and some remain classified. The newly released records are the second set of declassified materials returned to Hoover. The first set was released in 2010. The content from both the 2010 and 2017 releases is online in Hoover's digital collections portal.

Hoover will continue releasing declassified materials and posting them online in 2018. At the same time, as government agencies continue their review, more declassified documents will be returned to Hoover in a process that is likely to take years.

The relevant collections are listed below, along with release years that are online.