Foster Parents Plan International, Volume II (Mss. Gr. 117.2)

The records of PLAN International (Foster Parents Plan International, Inc.) described herein were deposited in the Special Collections Department of the University of Rhode Island Library in 1986. The records span the years 1937 to 1982 (bulk dates 1937-1978) and document the founding, early development, and international growth of the organization. Later records of PLAN, the bulk of which span the years 1980 to 1994, were removed from the organization's then international headquarters in Warwick, Rhode Island and deposited in the Special Collections Department in 1994. Those records were organized separately and are described in a separate finding aid. There is some overlap between the two groups of records. Therefore, researchers should consult the finding aids to both collections to insure that they have all of the material relating to a particular event or issue.

The records in this group were originally organized by PLAN employee Henry Molumphy, who used them as source material for his 1984 history of the organization entitled For Common Decency: The History of Foster Parents Plan,1937-1983. They have been reorganized in order to allow researchers to use more easily the records in this group in conjunction with the more recently accessioned and processed records.

The records consist of documents generated by or sent to PLAN headquarters by field officers, headquarters staff in the field, national organizations, government officials, consultants hired by PLAN and firms with which PLAN conducted business. Included are correspondence, memos, completed forms, operations manuals, agendas and minutes of meetings, reports, case histories, legal documents, and photographic prints and negatives. The condition of the records varies widely. Foster child case histories, particularly those from China, Czechoslovakia, and Spain, are in poor condition. The same is true of original telegrams relating to the evacuation of Spanish children to Biarritz (See Series VII). The bulk of the remaining records are in relatively good condition.

After processing, the records were organized into eleven series as follows:

Series I, Board of Directors, 1938-1973, contains records documenting the activities of PLAN's governing board. Included are agenda and minutes of meetings, correspondence, memos, budget proposals and reports.

Series II, Committees, 1951-1972, contains records relating to the activities of standing and ad hoc committees of PLAN. Topics of committee interest include personnel and salaries, relocation of PLAN headquarters from New York City to Warwick, Rhode Island, and the establishment of PLAN programs in new countries. The types of records include agenda and minutes of meetings, correspondence, memos, and reports.

Series III, Subject File, 1939-1977, contains the administrative files of PLAN's headquarters staff and documents its activities. Included are correspondence, memos, reports, the by-laws of PLAN, grant proposals, conference proceedings, operations manual, policies and procedures manuals, brochures, and newspaper clippings.

Series IV, Quarterly Reports, 1953-1980, contains reports filed with PLAN headquarters by field directors in the various countries in which PLAN administered programs. Statistics compiled from the reports are grouped together at the end of the series.

Series V, Case Histories, 1937-1982, consists of records relating to the foster children served by PLAN in its program countries. Contents of the case histories vary widely, but usually include at least a case history questionnaire and correspondence.

Series VI, Photographs, 1942-1977, documents in photographic images the activities of PLAN throughout the world. Included are photographs of foster children, PLAN headquarters and field office staff, celebrity foster parents and photographs used for publicity purposes and in PLAN publications.

Series VII, War in Europe, 1937-1945, documents the activities of PLAN (then known as Foster Parents Plan for War Children) in rescuing and providing care for children displaced, orphaned, or injured during the Spanish Civil War and, later, World War II. Included are correspondence, reports, brochures, completed questionnaires, lists of children in the various "colonies" in Spain, France, and England supported by PLAN, and correspondence of PLAN co-founders John Langdon-Davies and Eric Muggeridge.

Series VIII, Publications/ Publicity, 1940-1976, contains records relating to the various ways in which PLAN publicized its work and appealed for funds to support it. Included are "appeal letters," brochures, press releases, reports by public relations firms, stories written by foster children, and copies of newspaper and magazine articles about PLAN and its work.

Series IX, Miles for Millions, 1968-1978, contains records relating to a program initiated by the Canadian government to focus worldwide attention on the needs of people (the "millions") in underdeveloped countries. PLAN received funding through this program for a number of its projects in underdeveloped countries. Included are correspondence, memos, newspaper clippings, committee reports, and project proposals.

Series X, Donor Countries, 1949-1979, documents the activities of the national organizations of PLAN in industrialized nations where funds were raised and foster parents recruited to support PLAN's activities in underdeveloped countries. Included are correspondence, memos, agenda and minutes of meetings, budgets, procedures manuals, copies of national organization publications, reports, grant proposals, and newspaper clippings.

Series XI, Program Countries, 1947-1978, documents the activities of PLAN in underdeveloped countries where it initiates and supports programs designed to assist children and their families to better their lot in life. Included are copies of the agreements between PLAN and the governments of the host countries allowing PLAN to operate in those countries, correspondence, memos, reports, photographs, financial statements, operations manuals, and program proposals.