LETTER TO ARTHUR L. FUNK FROM WILLIAM J. CASEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP01-00569R000100020056-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 6, 2009
• Sequence Number: 56
• Publication Date: February 9, 1981
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
The Director
Central intelligence Agency"
EstscutlvaAyzQ4y
Professor Arthur L. Funk
Department of History
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611
Dear Arthur,
Thank you for your letter of 26January and
The CIA has indeed reestablished a historian's office and is in
the process of formulating a program and weighing the "in-house" versus
"public" question.
I hope at some point to look more closely into the situation
regarding the OSS materials, but understand that the lengthy business
of declassifying . and preparing them for public access is moving forward.
Yours,
William J. Casey
Distribution:
Orig - Adse.
1 Acting Chief, History Staff
1 -ER
Drafted by History Staff/Robe.rt Knapp
Typed in ES/cls (5 Feb 81)
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 Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
W
cutive Secretary
FROM Roberta Knapp
Acting Chief, History Staff
SUBJECT Materials Relat_i_na to OSS
1. The mandate of the CIA History Staff covers the period
from 1947--the establishment of the Agency--to the present.
OSS and other World War II activities are covered incidentally
in some of the History Staff's classified, closely held pub-
lications that deal with units having continuity from the war
period. Examples include the Foreign Broadcast Information
Service, map information, printing, and security elements,
and certain West European stations. A two-volume classified
study titled "Donovan and the CIA" is about to be published
without the imprimatur of the History Staff by the Intelligence
Institute of the Office of Training and Education. The History
Staff has no work in progress on the OSS.
2. The Agency holds 6,500 cubic feet ofOSS records, of
which approximately half were determined by the Archivist of
the National Archives and Records Center in 1978 to be of perm-
anent value. A classification review team of about 15 former
intelligence officers--some with service going back to OSS -has
been at work since January 1979 to review the classification of
these permanent records for eventual accessioning to NARS.
As of the end of 1980, this.team had reviewed 1,600 cubic feet
of the permanent OSS records, declassifying about 93 percent.
The main reasons for withholding the 7 percent were to protect
sources, foreign government information, and foreign liaison
relationships. There remain approximately 1,500-1,700 cubic
feet to be reviewed, with the exact amount to be determined
by decisions from NARS as to whether certain OSS records are
in fact of permanent value. The target date for completion
of the classification review is summer 1982.
3. Following classification review, the Information
Management Staff of the DO--the custodian of the OSS files--
arranges, in coordination with the Records Management Division
of the Office of Information Service, DA, for accessioning
to NARS. The first 198 cubic feet of OSS records was trans-
ferred to NARS in January 1980. Provisions in the accessioning
agreement relating to restrictions on the release of the names
of US persons affiliated with the OSS are still under discussion.
CIA has stated its willingness to negotiate suitable alterna-
tives to the specific restrictions cited in the agreement.
After accessioning, NARS must process the material for.presenta-
tion and release to the public.
Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
 Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100020056-9
Page 2 # -
Memo for Ben Evans
3 February 1981
4. In 1945 the Research and Analysis component of OSS,
together with its records, was merged into the Department of
State. The Research and Analysis records--mostly reports--
were turned over to NARS and, beginning in 1972, they were
screened for declassification by the CIA review team. Over
90 percent of the materials reviewed were declassified.
5. The CIA Historical Intelligence Collection includes
both the classified and the sanitized versions of the War
Report--Office of Strategic Services prepared in 1947 an
published in 1949 by the History Project of the War Department.
It also has various OSS training manuals and occasional publica-
tions, as well as a large collection of unclassified memoirs
and.other materials relating to the history of the OSS.
Roberta Knapp
Acting Chief,
CIA History Staff
203 Key Bldg.
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 Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Gainesville, Florida 32611
Department of History
4131 GPA
Tel. [phone]
The Honorable William J. Casey
Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C.
Dear Bill:
Now that you have been confirmed, Genevieve and I once more would like to
congratulate you on now having direction of an organization which, I know
from our many conversations, you will be able to revitalize and make into
the sort of intelligence operation the country needs and should have. We.
were fortunate to have been able to watch you on TV during the confirmation
hearings, which were broadcast here in their entirety. We were impressed
by your testimony.
I ,cannot help but wonder, now that your time is at a premium, how your
book will come along. I also wonder if, as DCI, you will be able to make
available more materials on OSS. As I recall, an OSS history was started
by Whitney Shepardson, but was never finished. I talked to John Bross about
.this a number of years ago, but he told me nothing was ever located.
General Collins, head of the Army's Center of Military History, has
invited me to become a member of the supervisory board which reviews his
section's work once a year. We meet next on May 1. I understand that CIA
has also established a historian's office. I wonder if the historical work
will be largely "in house," or will prepare materials for the general public.
Best wishes in your new responsibilities,
Sincerely-
Professor of History
Arthur L. Funk
Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
 Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
W W Executive b'T
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Gainesville, Florida 32611
Department of History
4131 GPA
Tel. [phone]
The Honorable William J. Casey
Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C.
179) -7-,-:2--;1--7?
Now that you have been confirmed, Genevieve and I once more would like to
congratulate you on now having direction of an organization which, I know
from our many conversations, you will be able to revitalize and make into
the sort of intelligence operation the country needs and should have. We
were fortunate to have been able to watch you on TV during the confirmation
hearings, which were broadcast here in their entirety. We were impressed
by your testimony.
I cannot help but wonder, now that your time is at a premium, how your
book will come along. I also wonder if, as DCI, you will be able to make
available more materials on OSS. As I recall, an OSS history was started
by Whitney Shepardson, but was never finished. I talked to John Bross about
this a number of years ago, but he told me nothing was ever located.
General Collins, head of the Army's Center of Military History, has
invited me to become a member of the supervisory board which reviews his
section's work once a year. We meet next on May 1. I understand that CIA
has also established a historian's office. I wonder if the historical work
will be largely "in house," or will prepare materials for the general public.
Best wishes in your new responsibilities,
Arthur L. Funk
Professor of History
Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
 } Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100020056-9
w w
3 February 1981
cutive Secretary
FROM Roberta Knapp
Acting Chief, History,Staff
SUBJECT Materials Relating to OSS_
1. The mandate of the CIA History Staff covers the period
from 1947--the establishment of the Agency--to the present.
OSS and other World War II activities are covered incidentally
in some of the History Staff's classified, closely held pub-
lications that deal with units having continuity from the war
period. Examples include the Foreign Broadcast Information
Service, map information, printing, and security elements,
and certain West European stations. A two-volume classified
study titled "Donovan and the CIA" is about to be published
without the imprimatur of the History Staff by the Intelligence
Institute of the Office of Training and Education. The History
Staff has no work in progress on the OSS.
2. The Agency holds 6,500 cubic feet of OSS records, of
which approximately half were determined by the Archivist of
the National Archives and Records Center in 1978 to be of perm-
anent value. A classification review team of about 15 former
intelligence officers--some with service going back to OSS--has
been at work since January 1979 to review the classification of
these permanent records for eventual accessioning to NARS.
As of the end of 1980, this team had reviewed 1,600 cubic feet
of the permanent OSS records, declassifying about 93 percent.
The main reasons for withholding the 7 percent were to protect
sources, foreign government information, and foreign liaison
relationships. There remain approximately 1,500-1,700 cubic
feet to be reviewed, with the exact amount to be determined
by decisions from NARS as to whether certain OSS records are
in fact of permanent value. The target date for completion
of the classification review is summer 1982.
3. Following classification review, the Information
Management Staff of the DO--the custodian of the OSS files--
arranges, in coordination with the Records Management Division
of the Office of Information Service, DA, for accessioning
to NARS. The first 198 cubic feet of OSS records was trans-
ferred to NARS in January 1980. Provisions in the accessioning
agreement relating to restrictions on the release of the names
of US persons affiliated with the OSS are still under discussion.
CIA has stated its willingness,to negotiate suitable alterna-
tives to the specific restrictions cited in the agreement.
After accessioning, NARS must process the material for presenta-
tion and release to the public.
Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100020056-9
 ? Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9
V W
Page 2
Memo for Ben Evans
3 February 1981
4. In 1945 the Research and Analysis component of OSS,
together with its records, was merged into the Department of
State. The Research and Analysis records--mostly reports--
were turned over to NARS and, beginning in 1972, they were
screened for declassification by the CIA review team. Over
90 percent of the materials reviewed were declassified.
5. The CIA Historical Intelligence Collection includes
both the classified and the sanitized versions of the War
Report--Office of Strategic Services prepared in 1947 and
published in 1949 by the History Project of the War Department.
It also has various OSS training manuals and occasional publica-
tions) as well as a large collection of unclassified memoirs
and other materials relating to the history of the OSS.
Roberta Knapp
Acting Chief,
CIA History Staff
203 Key Bldg.
Approved For Release 2009/11/20: CIA-RDPO1-00569R000100020056-9