LETTER TO DR. HARRY J. CARMAN FROM ALLEN W. DULLES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01731R000200070010-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 10, 2003
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: November 16, 1959
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000200070010-6
ER-11- 5/A
(U 59) ftt"a to correct S&Lvess
0
0/Da r Mm
(10 No 59)
a6
1 - IR v/bma c:
STAT
Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000200070010-6
DOCU IXT NO. _,._._
 MEMORANAWmved For Relg;_ ,2RQXNP ~RAADtP> OR?1riowRb00020000700 ed6
en eing
Marian Anderson
Thomas K. Finletter
David M. Heyman
Senator John Kennedy
Roy E. Larsen
Branch Rickey
Howard A. Rusk, M. D.
We cordially invite you to help launch a new Committee to Salvage Talent.
It means taking on a clearly limited responsibility for interesting others in your
field and/or your community.
Educated intelligence is our most valuable resource for assuring national
growth and survival. Not enough underprivileged boys and girls take advantage
of our theoretically equal opportunity for higher education. Over 100, 000 of our
ablest young people every year, all capable of profiting from college, do not go
beyond high school. Thousands of bright pupils drop out before finishing high
school.
The largest known loss occurs among racial minorities whose economic
and cultural handicaps - compounded by poor schools - lessen ambition. The
largest of these are Negroes.
The Present Waste
Dael Wolfle, Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, wrote: "we must make better use of the potential resources of
those segments of the population that do not contribute their share to the college
population ... the children of Negro, Mexican and Puerto Rican families are less
likely to enter college and less likely to, be motivated educationally ... If
Only one per cent of the students in interracial colleges are Negroes.
Authorities attest that this segment of 17 million Negro Americans composing
10% of the total population - contains the same range of native ability as the rest
of our entire national community.
But talent in Negroes, according to the Rockefeller Brothers Special Study
Report, The Pursuit of Excellence, in its section on the use and misuse of human
abilities, "withers under the cumulative impact of poverty and ignorance at home,
degraded neighborhoods, poor educational facilities, limited job opportunities
and the ever-present fear of rebuff. "
Our failure "to develop and to make effective an important source of na-
tional talent too long neglected, If President Grayson Kirk of Columbia University
says, "represents a wastefulness which we cannot afford. "
What Is Being Done
A few years ago a Harvard admissions officer, unhappy with the scarcity
of qualified Negro applicants, made numerous visits to high schools in a large
mid-West city. Three years' effort located one boy capable of meeting Harvard
requirements.
Then he discovered a project, begun by educators who were in touch with
hundreds of schools and colleges, seeking answers to the same problem. He
began working with them.
Among those helped to qualify themselves at Harvard in the last six years
have been some outstanding students. One was graduated with highest honors,
won a fellowship to study at Cambridge University in England, had two stories
published in the Atlantic Monthly and sold his first novel to Little, Brown & Co.
One girl aided by this same program was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Radcliffe,
was First Marshal of her class, and president of Student Gover e
Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000n'WO /010-6
 Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R0l731 R000200070010-6
A major steel company noticed that, although in over a decade it had
granted above $2, 000, 000 in scholarships and fellowships, none of its awards
had gone to a Negro. Upon investigation it learned that the problem is complex,
requiring organized effort which no single college is equipped to undertake.
The firm also found the same educators' project - the National Scholarship
Service and Fund for Negro Students that the Harvard dean had found.
In ten years that work has helped over 6,.000 Negro students enter over
350 interracial colleges. More than half were assisted to win more than
$2, 300, 000 in scholarships from colleges and other sources. Their average
family income was $3, 000. Inseparable from financial aid have been the year-
around jobs of finding the students, working with their school systems and fam-
ilies, and guiding each youngster toward the colleges best suited to his aptitudes,
needs and interests.
This organization also began a talent search among junior high school
students, enabling gifted pupils to attend leading preparatory schools on scholar-
ships. Another achievement has been to intensify guidance and remedial work
in two New York City schools, where the rate of juvenile disciplinary problems
sharply declined among students reached and the proportion of college candidates
multiplied five-fold. This program has already spread to 33 New York schools.
It has stirred new programs in Washington, Philadelphia and beginnings else-
where.
Why This Is Not Enough
The Fund is a modest operation. Its total budget has never exceeded
$150, 000. Its roughest work has been refusing supplementary financial aid to
promising students because there has not been enough money.
The national testing programs, administered by the College Entrance Ex-
amination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, work closely
with the Fund. Because these programs now reach over a million students a
year, the number of applicants for NSSFNS assistance is rapidly rising.
The National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students has grown
beyond its demonstration phase, supported by Foundations, college campus
chests and a relatively few individuals. Dollar needs are not large - $250, 000
per year - considering the results. It is now time to get a base of interested
leaders in each major city to see to it that attainable goals are met.
One group is seeking $50, 000 from firms and persons in Chicago. Another
has set sights at $25, 000 from Connecticut. More hands will make lighter work.
It should not be difficult to assemble strong enough leadership for continuing
support of this vital work.
Our Request
Join our group. As the Committee to Salvage Talent, we plan no large,
laborious or formidable activity. Nor can our purpose permit mere facade or
"window dressing. " Each member will be expected to make a personal gift,
tax-deductible to the Fund, and to take a reasonable part in limited efforts within
his field or community for gaining the interest of others.
Please let us know on the enclosed form, required by New York State law,
that you will work with us. The burdens will be neither onerous nor expensive.
We can assure you that the satisfactions will be specific and enduring.
Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R0l731 R000200070010-6
 Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000200070010-6
From America's Leading Educators
"The efforts of National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students
to identify academically talented young people and find for them educational
opportunities for the development of this talent does service not only to the
Negro but to the country at large. I hope these efforts will gain increasing
support."
A. WHITNEY GRISWOLD, President
YALE UNIVERSITY
"More than ever before in its history, our country should have today at its
disposal in the greatest measure possible the intellectual, cultural, and tech-
nical resources which properly are ours. Only the development of these re-
sources in the fields of education, technology, the professions, the arts, in-
dustry, and other areas of human endeavor will bring to our society the rich
fulfillment which is its potential.
"The National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students strives to
develop and to make effective an important source of national talent too long
neglected. It is imperative that there be provided as quickly as possible the
advantages of higher education for the able individual who through circum-
stances not of his making has lacked the opportunity to achieve in accord-
ance with his abilities."
GRAYSON KIRK, President
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
"The aims and services of the Na-
tional Scholarship Service and Fund
for Negro Students deserve a warm
commendation and spirited support
of all friends of liberal education.
The careful search for superior stu-
dents conducted by this agency at
various educational levels is an in-
valuable service to many schools and
colleges and has helped to stimulate
growing opportunities for Negro stu-
dents in interracial colleges.
"This is so good a cause that the
appeal for added financial support
for the continuance and extension of
the program deserves widespread at-
tention and participation."
OTTO F.-KRAUSHAAR, President
GOUCHER COLLEGE
"For many years we at New York
University have had the pleasure of
working with the National Scholar-
ship Service and Fund for Negro Stu-
dents to our mutual advantage. Your
organization has accomplished splen-
did results in providing educational
opportunities for qualified Negro stu-
dents, and it is my hope that your
development program will meet with
the success it deserves."
CARROLL V. NEWSOM, President
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
"The Fund has demonstrated that it has the organization and the personnel
to effectively assist in the education of Negro children who only a few years
ago were not being afforded educational opportunities in keeping with their
abilities, but it is obvious that without financial support every dimension of
the Fund's program must necessarily be limited.
"Although financial aid for the needy student is critical, we often overlook
the equally critical task of identifying talented students and placing these
students in institutions best suited to their needs and skills. The Fund has
done an excellent job in both of these fields."
JOHN W. MACY, JR., Executive Vice President
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
"In recent years American education has recognized the need to discover
hidden talents early in the educational careers of our children. Not only must
we discover ability, but pupils must be encouraged to develop that ability
under favorable conditions in order to make these educational potentialities
available through advanced training to the benefit of our society and culture.
"The National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students not only
has directed its efforts to the task of early recognition of potential ability
but, equally important, it has made available services and financial aid to
help make it possible for these students to complete formal college educa-
tions. As a pioneer in the search for and aid to deserving and potentially
gifted children, the National Scholarship Service is rendering one of the
finest programs of aid to American education."
LAWRENCE A. KIMPTON, Chancellor
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
"The Fund is doing a much needed service in seeking out, encouraging,
and finding financial assistance for talented Negro boys and girls who can
benefit from a challenging educational experience in the leading secondary
schools and colleges of this country. Much of this talent would be wasted
if it were not for the time, money and effort which the National Scholarship
Service and Fund for Negro Students expends in their work with schools and
colleges throughout the United States. Negro students, and the interracial
colleges which they attend, benefit from the imaginative program which
NSSFNS has developed."
ROBERT F. GOHEEN, President
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
"If it were not for the counseling and referral services of the National
Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students, a number of talented and
able Negro students would not have aimed their sights at Vassar College.
"Two graduates of the Class of 1958 entered Vassar because of the
groundwork laid by the National Scholarship Service. Recipients of substantial
scholarship aid from Vassar College, these students made academic records
of impressive quality and made an excellent contribution to the campus
community. One student, whose central field was English, is working as a
reporter for the Washington Post; the other is teaching French in the public
schools in Cleveland."
SARAH GIBSON BLANDING, President
VASSAR COLLEGE
A REALISTIC START ...
During its first eleven years the National
Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro
Students has helped almost 6,200 qualified
Negro students to enroll in inter-racial col-
leges. Last year it assisted 715 freshmen who
entered 314 different colleges in the Fall of
1958.
The value of scholarships obtained or
awarded in these eleven years totals about
$2,300,000, with awards to last year's students
of $325,775.
Many more, virtually indistinguishable from
these on the grounds of merit and need,
would have been helped had the funds been
available.
"Certainly the National Scholar-
ship Service and Fund for Negro
Students enables Negro youth to con-
tinue their education in the finest
colleges and universities ih the land.
The Fund obtains tremendous mile-
age out of each dollar of its budget;
it is multiplied in dollars by grants
from colleges, universities and other
sources, and it is multiplied in ef-
fectiveness through. the encourage-
ment, stimulatign and motivation it
gives to American youth of meager
finances and environment, to prepare
themselves to make large contribu-
tions as citizens. The Fund deserves
the strongest support."
JAMES S. COLES, President
BOWDOIN COLLEGE
"Union College has been awarding
scholarships through the National
Scholarship Service and Fund for
Negro Students for several years. We
have found the boys who have come
to us under this program outstanding
in their contribution to campus life.
We would welcome more such stu-
dents in the future, since we feel
that integration must become more
and more the normal process on
every American college campus."
CARTER DAVIDSON, President
UNION COLLEGE
"We cannot permit lack of opportunity to destroy the incentive of many
Negro students to advance beyond high school and to develop fully their
personal abilities. Such students often lose all hope of attending the great
liberal arts institutions of this country.
"The National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students is striving
to combat this feeling of hopelessness by launching their Community Talent
Search in high schools throughout the country. With guidance programs in
elementary and high schools they aim to encourage and aid the Negro student
psychologically, socially and financially to obtain a college education."
MILLICENT C. McINTOSH, President
BARNARD COLLEGE
"I was a member of a group of educators that has just returned from the
Soviet Union. We were deeply impressed by the monumental strides higher
education is taking there. We Americans can no longer, if we ever could,
deprive ourselves of the proven ability and talent of a large segment of our
people. The National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students is
helping our Negroes, our universities, our country in this vital search.
"I have been most impressed by the extensive counseling undertaken in
high schools in the South. This pragmatic approach to the search for talent
has resulted in discovering talented Negro students, and, more importantly,
encouraging them to pursue their education in institutions calculated to
provide a wholesome environment conducive to learning in its totality. Our
experience at the University of Pittsburgh with National Scholarship Service
students has been, without exception, fruitful and rewarding for students
and University."
EDWARD H. LITCHFIELD, Chancellor
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
NSSFNS OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chairman: HARRY J. CARMAN, Dean Emeritus, Columbia College; President: RICHARD L. PLAUT; Vice Chairmen: MRS. NATHAN STRAUS; MRS.
FELICE N. SCHWARTZ; DR. ROBERT C. WEAVER, Consultant, Ford Foundation; DR. KENNETH B. CLARK, Associate Professor of Psychology, City
College of NY; Secretary: FRANK T. SIMPSON, Executive Secretary, Connecticut Civil Rights Commission; Treasurer: REV. JAMES H. ROBINSON,
Pastor. Church of the Master; Board of Directors: The Officers and DANIEL J. BERNSTEIN, Security Analyst; SUSAN BRANDEIS, Attorney-at-Law;
CHARLES T. DUNCAN, Attorney-at-law; JOHN H. FISCHER, Dean, Teachers College, Columbia University; HON. THOMAS K. FINLETTER, Attorney-
at-law; former Secretary of the Air Force; DR. ZELMA GEORGE, Educator and lecturer; MARGARET HALSEY, Author; D. JOHN HEYMAN, Secretary,
New York Foundation; DR. CHARLES R. KELLER, Director, John Hay Fellows Program; SHILDRICK A. KENDRICK, Vice President, College Entrance
Examination Board; DR. J. OSCAR LEE, Executive Director, Dept. of Racial and Cultural Relations, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A.; HON. ARTHUR LEVITT, Comptroller, State of New York; CHARLES N. MASON, JR., Bureau of Personnel, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory;
JOHN U. MONRO, Dean, Harvard College; JOHN H. MORTIMER, Asst. to General Manager, New York Daily News; LYLE M. SPENCER, President,
Science Research Associates; DR. CHANNING H. TOBIAS, Chairman, Board of Directors, NAACP; STANLEY YOUNG, Author.
Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000200070010-6
 Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000200070010-6
HARRY J . C A R M A
Columbia University
New York 27, N. Y.
Executive P gi;ery
November 4, 1959
I respectfully ask you to read the enclosed
message. A matter of serious long-standing
neglect demands forthright attention from
national and community leaders.
Much can be done, as the attached paper
shows. That is why we are forming a Com-
mittee to Salvage Talent. We hope that you
will identify yourself with us, and will take
part in mobilizing citizen concern and action.
Your prompt affirmative answer will be
deeply appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
Approved For Release 2003/03/28 : CIA-RDP80R01731 R000200070010-6