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COLLECTION Identifier: H MS c432

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War records

Overview

The records of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 1957-1989 (inclusive), 1980-1987 (bulk), are the product of the organization’s activist, educational, outreach, publishing, and administrative activities over the course of its first ten years. The papers are arranged in seven series: I. Administrative Records, 1959-1989, undated; II. International Congresses, 1963-1987, undated; III. Physicians’ Call for an End to the Nuclear Arms Race Petition Campaign, 1983-1984, undated; IV. Writings and Publications, 1978-1986, undated; V. Audio and Audiovisual Recordings, 1980-1988, undated; VI. Resource Files, 1957-1986, undated; and VII. Physicians for Social Responsibility Administrative Records, 1979-1987.

Dates

  • Creation: 1957-2023 (inclusive),
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1980-1987 .

Creator

Language of Materials

Records are predominantly in English. The collection also contains records in Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Access requires advance notice. Access to personal, patient, and student information is restricted for 80 years from the date of creation. These restrictions appear in Series I and II. Access to Harvard University records is restricted for 50 years from the date of creation. These restrictions appear in Series II. Researchers may apply for access to restricted records. Consult Public Services for further information.

Please note: audio and audiovisual recordings are restricted to access until such a time as they can be converted to digital media. Please consult Public Services for further information.

The records contain 5.25 inch floppy disks (as found in Series I and II) that have not been surveyed for content, and are restricted to access until such a time as they can be surveyed. Once surveyed, access to electronic records in the collection is subject to the above restrictions. Additionally, access is premised on the availability of a computer station, requisite software, and/or the ability of Public Services staff to review and/or print out records of interest in advance of an on-site visit. Please consult Public Services for further information.

The Records are stored offsite. Researchers are advised to consult Public Services for further information concerning retrieval of material.

Conditions Governing Use

The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in the collection. Researchers are responsible for identifying and contacting any third-party copyright holders for permission to reproduce or publish. For more information on the Center's use, publication, and reproduction policies, view our Reproductions and Use Policy.

Extent

48.67 cubic feet (51 records center cartons, 1 legal size document box, and 2 flat oversize boxes)
0.01 gigabytes* (16 5.25 inch floppy disks)
0.2 cubic feet (1 document box (unprocessed))

The records of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 1957-1989 (inclusive), 1980-1987 (bulk), are the product of the organization’s activist, educational, outreach, publishing, and administrative activities over the course of its first ten years. The papers are arranged in seven series: I. Administrative Records, 1959-1989, undated; II. International Congresses, 1963-1987, undated; III. Physicians’ Call for an End to the Nuclear Arms Race Petition Campaign, 1983-1984, undated; IV. Writings and Publications, 1978-1986, undated; V. Audio and Audiovisual Recordings, 1980-1988, undated; VI. Resource Files, 1957-1986, undated; and VII. Physicians for Social Responsibility Administrative Records, 1979-1987.

Administrative records and international congress records together constitute the bulk of the collection. Administrative records (Series I) consist primarily of: administrative correspondence; meeting minutes, agendas, and reports of the IPPNW Executive Committee and International Council; registration forms, mailing lists, and correspondence for IPPNW members and affiliates; personnel, volunteer, and student work-study records; event-planning correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports; and budgets, expenditures, financial reports, and fundraising records. Administrative records also contain: membership correspondence, conference programs, and reports from a variety of organizations concerned with nuclear issues; the IPPNW’s 1985 Nobel Peace Prize reception speeches, and congratulation letters from members and friends of the organization; and collected publications and newspaper clippings related to nuclear issues, political events, and IPPNW activities. International congress records (Series II) primarily include: conference planning correspondence, program drafts, and budgets; participant lists, registration correspondence, and travel itineraries; lecture and discussion transcripts and notes of sessions, working groups, and panel discussions, concerning the medical, economic, psychological, environmental, and social effects of nuclear war; working group reports; draft and published copies of congress proceedings; and drafts of anti-nuclear war appeals addressed to United States and Soviet heads of state. International congress records also contain correspondence related to IPPNW’s founding and first meetings, and greetings to congress delegates from various world political and religious leaders.

Petition campaign records (Series III) contain petitions signed by physicians of forty-five countries, collected by the IPPNW between 1983 and 1984 as a part of its international campaign, “Physicians’ Call for an End to the Nuclear Arms Race”. Writings and publications (Series IV) include manuscript drafts, reprints, newspaper and journal clippings, and related publication correspondence for the IPPNW’s various print and film publications, including articles, editorials, reports, public statements, newsletters, various films, and the book, Last Aid: The Medical Dimensions of Nuclear War (1982). Audio and audiovisual recordings (Series V) contain: recordings taken at the organization’s international congresses and international council meetings; films and television broadcast recordings produced and collected by the organization, concerning topics related to nuclear war and current events; and audiovisual recordings related to IPPNW’s anti-nuclear activities, including copies of the “Moscow Telecast” roundtable discussion (1982). Writings, publications, and audio and audiovisual recordings frequently concern: the medical, psychological, and environmental effects of nuclear war; nuclear disarmament; antiwar activist movements; and physicians’ roles in the anti-nuclear movement. Records also contain: collected publications concerning various topics in nuclear war, the nuclear arms race, nuclear survivors, and nuclear war prevention (Series VI); and administrative correspondence, publications, and event programs of the activist organization and IPPNW’s United States affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility (Series VII).

The papers contain a number of access restriction types to protect personal and institutional privacy. These types include 80-year restrictions from the date of record creation for personnel records, patient records, student records, and records with a high density of personally-identifying information.

The records are predominantly in English. The collection also contains records in Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Historical Notes

The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), founded in 1980, is an international association of national medical organizations that seek to educate the international community of the medical, environmental, psychological, and social dangers of nuclear weapons, with an aim to prevent nuclear war. The organization was awarded the UNESCO Peace Education Prize in 1984 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War was founded by: cardiologist Bernard Lown (born 1921), radiologist Herbert L. Abrams (1920-2016), psychiatrist Eric Chivian (born 1942), and cardiologist James E. Muller (born 1943) from the United States; and cardiologist Evgueni Chazov (born 1929), biophysicist and radiologist Leonid A. Ilyin, and surgeon Mikhail Kuzin of the Soviet Union. The organization quickly built affiliations with medical groups from across the globe that worked toward the same cause, growing into a large international federation spanning both sides of the Cold War. Over the course of IPPNW’s first few years, the organization made numerous education and outreach efforts. Its first International Congress was held in March 1981 in Airlie, Virginia, where delegates from twelve nations met to discuss the consequences of nuclear war and possibilities for prevention, and to appeal world leaders to make nuclear prevention a top priority. As IPPNW grew, the organization continued to hold annual congresses in various international cities through 1989, and biannual congresses starting in 1991. In June 1981, U.S. and Soviet members Bernard Lown, John Pastore (born 1942), James Muller, Evgueni I. Chazov, Mikhail Kuzin, and Leonid Ilyin, gathered for a roundtable discussion on the medical consequences of nuclear war, which was broadcast live and unedited across the Soviet Union. That discussion, known as “The Moscow Telecast,” was seen by 100 million Soviet viewers, and was later broadcast on multiple occasions in the United States. Further educational and outreach efforts include a 1983-1984 petition campaign, “The International Physicians’ Call for an End to the Nuclear Arms Race,” during which the organization collected signatures of physicians in at least forty-five countries, and several international tours by IPPNW leaders to campaign for peace and to educate the public about the dangers of nuclear war.

Throughout its existence, the IPPNW has worked closely with other like-minded organizations, including Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR), its United States affiliate Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), the United Nations (UN), and the World Health Organization (WHO). As a part of its educational activities, the organization has published the book, Last Aid: the Medical Dimension of Nuclear War (1982), edited by Eric Chivian, Susanna Chivian, Robert Jay Lifton (born 1926), and John E. Mack (1929-2004), as well as numerous articles in the scientific and medical literature. Further publications include the films: “Grappling with the Last Epidemic: The Medical Response to Nuclear War,” (1981) a film written by Zachary B. Gerbarg and David S. Greer for IPPNW, as a collaboration with Brown University and Physicians for Social Responsibility; “There’s a Nuclear War Going on Inside Me: What Young People are Saying about Nuclear Weapons” (1982), produced and directed by Eric Chivian, Roberta Snow, and Susan Wing, as a collaboration with Educators for Social Responsibility; and “What Soviet Children are Saying about Nuclear Weapons” (1983), produced and directed by Eric Chivian, John E. Mack, and Jeremy P. Waletzky. In recognition of its antiwar educational efforts, the IPPNW was awarded the 1984 Beyond War Award, the 1984 UNESCO Peace Education Prize, and the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

Today the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War’s affiliates span sixty-two countries, as it continues working to bring an end to nuclear threats.

Series and Subseries in the Collection

  1. I. Administrative Records, 1959-1989, undated
  2. II. International Congresses, 1963-1987, undated
  3. III. Physicians' Call for an End to the Nuclear Arms Race Petition Campaign, 1983-1984, undated
  4. IV. Writings and Publications, 1978-1986, undated
  5. V. Audio and Audiovisual Recordings, 1980-1988, undated
  6. ___ A. IPPNW Meetings and Congresses, 1981-1986, undated
  7. ___ B. Films and Television Broadcasts, 1980-1988, undated
  8. VI. Resource Files, 1957-1986, undated
  9. VII. Physicians for Social Responsibility Administrative Records, 1979-1987

Related Papers in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Center for the History of Medicine

Related Papers in the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History in the Smith College Archives

  1. Helen Caldicott papers. MS 223.

Related Papers in the Stanford University Libraries, Department of Special Collections and University Archives

  1. Herbert L. Abrams Papers. SC0858.

Related Collections in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection

  1. International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War collected records.
  2. James E. Muller collection. CDG-A.
  3. Physicians for Social Responsibility records. DG 175

Related Papers in the University of Notre Dame Archives

  1. Joseph P. Evans Papers. JPE.

Separations

Some donation and membership records containing photocopied images of personal checks or bank account transfers have been either destroyed or redacted, so as to protect the personal financial information of individual IPPNW members and donors, while maintaining all nonsensitive information.

Resources about the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

  • International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. "Abolition of Nuclear Weapons Campaign Material and Research." IPPNW.org. Retrieved 2018 March 27.
  • International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. "IPPNW: A Brief History." IPPNW.org. Retrieved 2014 October 24.
  • Lown, Bernard and Howard Zinn. Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2008.

Processing Information

Processed by Amber LaFountain, 2014 October.

Processing staff in the Center for the History of Medicine analyzed, arranged, and described the papers, and created a finding aid to improve access. Items were rehoused and, where necessary, photocopied to acid-free paper. Folder titles were transcribed from the originals when available; titles supplied by the processing staff appear in brackets only on the physical folders. Duplicate journals and reprints already in the collection were discarded.

Abbreviations and acronyms in titles have been written in their full forms when available in brackets after the abbreviation or acronym. When the abbreviation or acronym appears in a consecutive list of folder titles, the full form has been written out only in the first title. Partial names have also been written in their full forms when available in brackets after the partial name.

Several spellings were used throughout the collection for Evgueni Chazov’s name. The most frequently used spelling is “Evgueni Chazov,” and so that form has been adopted as the standard form in this finding aid. Where folder titles have been labeled using another form of the name, the standardized form has been spelled out in brackets after the variant spelling. The finding aid was updated in March 2018 to correct previous statements regarding the founding and founders of the organization, and the date of the first congress. Further information was provided on the production of two films ("What Soviet Children are Saying about Nuclear Weapons" and "There's a Nuclear War Going On Inside Me"). Additional related collections were also added to the related materials note.

Title
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Records, 1957-1989 (inclusive), 1980-1987 (bulk): Finding Aid.
Author
Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine.
Language of description
und
Sponsor
The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War records were processed as a part of the Center's Access to Activism project, with funding from a Hidden Collections grant from the Harvard University Library.
EAD ID
med00200

Repository Details

Part of the Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine) Repository

The Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is one of the world's leading resources for the study of the history of health and medicine. Our mission is to enable the history of medicine and public health to inform healthcare, the health sciences, and the societies in which they are embedded.

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