Phillies, George E. Papers

Dates: 1944-1971

Leader in the Greek-American community; member of the Order of Ahepa; organizer and member, Justice for Greece Committee, 1945-1950; member, Justice for Cyprus Committee, 1954-1960

The papers of George E. Phillies relate primarily to the activities of the Justice for Greece Committee from 1946 through 1971, and the Justice for Cyprus Committee from 1954 through 1968. Phillies was a member of both committees, which were apparently organized from and in some way affilated with the Order of Ahepa, a Greek-American fraternal organization. The two committees were private lobbying organizations whose purpose was to influence American foreign policy. The Justice for Greece Committee sought American aid to help Greece resist Communist insurgency. The Justice for Cyprus Committee argued for self-determination for the then British controlled island. The collection also contains a small amount of material relating to the Order of Ahepa.

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

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 3.5 linear feet (about 6500 pages)
Access: Open
Copyright: Copyright in the unpublished writings of George E. Phillies in these papers has been donated to the people of the United States. In addition, documents prepared by United States government employees in the course of their official duties are also in the public domain. Copyright interest in documents which do not fall into these two categories is presumed to remain with the authors of the documents.
Processed by: Dennis Bilger and Erwin J. Mueller

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1886, May 15

 

Born, Stimanga, Corinthia, Greece

1903

 

Emigrated to the United States

1907

 

Emigrated to the United States

1915

 

Graduated from the University of Buffalo law school

1916

 

Organizer and first President of the Greek-American Republican Club

1926-31

 

Supreme Governor, Supreme Vice President and Supreme President of the Greek-American fraternity, Ahepa

1940-50

 

Member of the National Executive Board, Greek War Relief Association, Inc.

1945-50

 

Organizer and Chairman of the Public Relations Committee of the Justice for Greece Committee

1953

 

Organizer and Chairman of the Public Relations Committee of the Justice for Greece Committee

1954-60

 

Chairman of the Public Relations Committee, Justice for Cyprus Committee

1971, November 27

 

Died, Buffalo, New York

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of George E. Phillies relate primarily to the activities of the Justice for Greece Committee from 1946 through 1971, and the Justice for Cyprus Committee from 1954 through 1968. Phillies was a member of both committees, which were apparently organized from and in some way affilated with the Order of Ahepa, a Greek-American fraternal organization. The two committees were private lobbying organizations whose purpose was to influence American foreign policy. The Justice for Greece Committee sought American aid to help Greece resist Communist insurgency. The Justice for Cyprus Committee argued for self-determination for the then British controlled island. The collection also contains a small amount of material relating to the Order of Ahepa.

The collection is divided into two series. The Subject File contains correspondence and related materials with the President and members of his administration, members of Congress, officials of State governments, businessmen, newspaper editors and representatives of the Greek government concerning aid for Greece and self-determination for Cyprus. The materials relating to the Justice for Greece Committee include a folder of correspondence with Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg. A biographical sketch of Phillies is filed at the beginning of the Subject File. The Publications File includes American and Greek magazines, reports and other publications relating to the problems of Greece and the concerns of the Greek-American community.

Related files and collections in the Truman Library's holdings include the Official File, the President's Personal File, the President's Secretary's File, the President's Post Presidential File, and the papers of Dean Acheson, George Elsey, Paul A. Porter, Paul R. Porter, and Francis F. Lincoln. The archives staff has added information, in brackets, to some of the folder titles listed in this finding aid.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-6

  SUBJECT FILE, 1946-71
Correspondence, reports, speeches, press releases and newspaper clippings relating to Phillies's work as Chairman of the Public Relations Committees of both the Justice for Greece Committee and the Justice for Cyprus Committee. The series also contains a small amount of material relating to the Order of Ahepa. Arranged alphabetically under the three headings Justice for Cyprus Committee, Justice for Greece Committee, and Order of Ahepa, thereunder by type of document or, in the one instance of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg, by correspondent, and thereunder chronologically.

7-8

  PUBLICATIONS FILE, 1944-64
American and Greek magazines, reports and other publications relating to the problems of Greece and the concerns of the Greek-American community. Arranged in an approximate alphabetical order.
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1946-71

Box 1

  • Biographical sketch of George E. Phillies
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee [correspondence] [1 of 7, 1954]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee [correspondence] [2 of 7, 1956]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee [correspondence] [3 of 7, 1958-1959]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee [correspondence] [4 of 7, 1963]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee [correspondence] [5 of 7, 1964]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee [correspondence] [6 of 7, 1965]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee [correspondence] [7 of 7, 1967-1968]

Box 2

  • Justice for Cyprus Committee--Newspaper Clippings [1 of 5]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee--Newspaper Clippings [2 of 5]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee--Newspaper Clippings [3 of 5]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee--Newspaper Clippings [4 of 5]
  • Justice for Cyprus Committee--Newspaper Clippings [5 of 5]

Box 3

  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [1 of 12, 1946-1947]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [2 of 12, May 1948]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [3 of 12, June 1948]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [4 of 12, July-August 1948]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [5 of 12, September-December 1948]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [6 of 12, January-February 1949]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [7 of 12, March 1949]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [8 of 12, April 1949]

Box 4

  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [9 of 12, May-June 1949]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [10 of 12, July 1949-1950]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [11 of 12, 195l-1959]
  • Justice for Greece Committee [correspondence] [12 of 12, 1962-1971]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Senator [Arthur H.] Vandenberg, Correspondence [1946-1950]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Exhibits l-5 [biographical sketch of George E. Phillies, Facts on Greece by Anne O'Hare McCormick and C.L. Sulzberger]

Box 5

  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [1 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [2 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [3 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [4 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [5 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [6 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [7 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [8 of 11]

Box 6

  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [9 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [10 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Newspaper Clippings [11 of 11]
  • Justice for Greece Committee--Reports
  • Order of Ahepa [correspondence, 1946-1947]
  • Order of Ahepa [microfilm prints of newspaper articles on Phillies (19l2), the Friends of Albania Committee (April 9, 1946), and the Greek-Italian War of 1940-4l (1947)]

PUBLICATIONS FILE, 1944-64

Box 7

  • Greece of Tomorrow (American Friends of Greece)
  • Greek Government Office of Information [Cartiff Bulgaria by M.P. Pipinelis, "Facts About Greece," "The Question of Northern Epirus," speech by Constantine Tsaldaris, August 3, 1946]
  • Greek Under-Secretariat for Press and Information--"The Conspiracy Against Greece," June 1947
  • Greek Language Publication, Decte Par Les Evenements
  • Justice for Greece Committee Publications [The American Press and the United States Senate Seek Justice for Greece, December 1946; The Facts About Greece as reported by Anne O'Hare McCormick and C.L. Sulzberger; Justice for Greece, March 1946; Greece and the Peace Conference]
  • National Union of Northern Greeks--Appeal to the Peoples of the Allied Nations, 1945
  • From the Album of the Golden Jubilee of the Hellenic Community of Buffalo, New York--"The Justice for Greece Committee," by Thomas Cook Brown, and "Heritage of Orthodoxy and History of the Federated Orthodox Greek Catholic Primary Jurisdictions in America" by George E. Phillies

Box 8

  • New Europe--"Bulgaria and the Menace of Macedonia's Independence," by Joseph S. Roucek, November 1944
  • Newsweek, June 15, 1964
  • Report of the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] Mission for Greece, March 1947
  • Report by George E. Phillies, The Justice for Greece Committee, to the 22nd Annual Convention of the Order of the Ahepa, August 15-2l, 1948
  • [Cross reference sheet for two photographs transferred to the audiovisual unit]
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