MAURICE PATE PAPERS
Scope and Content Note
Herbert Hoover once described Maurice Pate as "the most
effective human angel I know." Justification for this tribute
can be found in his papers which reflect his service to humanity
through the Commission for Relief in Belgium (1916-1917), the
American Relief Administration (1919-1962), the American Red
Cross' Relief to Prisoners of War (1941-1946), Hoover's world
food surveys (1946-47), and UNICEF (1946-1966). The bulk of
the materials described in this note are copies of original
documents which Pate donated to Princeton University.
Pate's involvement with the CRB & ARA was to have a major
impact on the the rest of his life for it launched him onto a
career in humanitarian service. The bulk of the the collection
is devoted to the documentation of Pate's service with a variety
(listed above) of relief and educational organizations. Pate's
diary of his CRB experiences provides rare insights into the
inner workings of that organization before America entered World
War I. His subsequent activities included work with the ARA's
Child Feeding Operations (1919-1921), European Children's Fund
(1919-1922), Mission to Poland (1919-1922), and the Russian
famine relief program (1922-1923). Documentation for this
section of his life includes: annual reports, bulletins,
clippings, correspondence, diaries, membership lists,
memorabilia, minutes, photographs, printed matter, speeches and
miscellany.
Although his work with the ARA occupied an important place
in his life , he was best known for his work with UNICEF which
today is known more simply as the United Nations' Children's
Fund. UNICEF was organized immediately after World War II to
provide emergency relief for children in the form of food,
clothes, medicine, and other necessities. When the Norwegian
Committee for UNICEF nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in
1960, Pate declined the nomination feeling that a more approp-
riate nominee would be UNICEF itself. Today there is some
uncertainty over credit for the conception of the idea which led
to the founding of UNICEF. Hoover and Pate were both very much
involved in the launching of the organization and certainly
deserve credit for translating the dream into reality.
Notably absent from the collection are papers having to do
with Pate's early life through 1915 when he graduated with
honors from Princeton with a Bachelor of Science degree. His
personal life, especially his strong family ties, surface from
time to time in his diaries and letters written during his stays
in Belgium and Poland. Through these we learn about his younger
brothers and sister, that he went to East high school (in
Denver, Colorado) and that he traveled in Europe in 1913 with
his father.
Biographers will be pleased to find that details concerning
Pate's adult years are more readily available. He first married
a beautiful Polish socialite, Jadwiga Mankowska. In 1935 they
came to the United States, where Mrs. Pate was unhappy, missing
her family and home. She returned to Poland and although they
were divorced in 1937, they remained the best of friends. Pate
was at her side when she died. His remarriage, a year after her
death, to Martha Lucas marked the beginning of several joint
ventures in the field of education.
Martha Lucas Pate was the president, successively, of both
Sweet Briar and Radcliffe College. She was also active on the
boards of the United Negro College Fund, Recordings for the
Blind, and the national selection committee for Fulbright
scholars. Her involvement with UNESCO, which she called the
"academic arm" of the United Nations, not only complemented her
husband's activities but allowed them to travel together most of
the time. Some of these activities are documented in the Pate
Papers.
Biographical Note
1894
Born in Pender, Nebraska
1911
Graduated from high school in Denver, Colorado
1915
Graduated with honors from Princeton with a
Bachelor of Science degree
1915-16
Worked for Central Savings Bank and Trust Co.,
Denver, Colorado
1916
Worked for First National Bank of Hartley, Iowa
1916-17
Field representative, supervising food distri-
bution in the province of Tournai, for the
Commission for Relief in Belgium
1917-18
United States Army in France, 29th Engineers
1919-21
Director, American Relief Administration's
child feeding operations
1919-22
Assistant to the Director, ARA European
Children's Fund and ARA's mission to Poland,
including a trip to Russia
1922-27
Financial and sales work for Standard oil of
New Jersey, in Poland
1927
Married Jadwiga Mankowska
1927-35
Managed banking and import businesses in Poland
1935-39
Investment banker and Director of natural gas
and machine tools companies, in New York
1937
Divorced Jadwiga Pate
1939-41
President and Director of the Commission for
Polish Relief, Inc.
1941-46
Director of the American Red Cross' Relief to
Prisoners of War
1946
Conducted world food surveys with Herbert
Hoover--38 countries in 76 days--and planned
(with Herbert Hoover) a worldwide children's
food relief organization (UNICEF)
1947-64
Named first Director of UNICEF
1960
Death of Jadwiga Pate
1961
Married Martha B. Lucas
1965
Died of a heart attack, January 19, at Bellevue Hospital, New York City
Awards and Honors:
Phi Beta Kappa while at Princeton
Decorations from Belgium, Ecuador, France, Netherlands and Poland
Foreign Press Award (1948)
"Class of 1915 Merit Cup" (1950)--presented by Herbert Hoover
L.H.D. from Denison University (1956)
Honorary Doctor of Philantropy from Princton (1958)
Laskes Foundation and American Public Health Association Award (1958)
Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize (1960) by the Norwegian Com-
mittee for UNICEF; he declined the nomination feeling that a
more appropriate nomination would be UNICEF itself.
Charles Evans Hughes Award, posthumously, by the Men's Class
to "a person who in his own life has exemplified the high
standards of public service and Christian character to which
the life of our first Leader was a testimony..." (1965)
MAURICE PATE SCRAPBOOKS ON MICROFILM
SUMMARY
Maurice Pate served with the Commission for Relief in Belgium for ten months as
director, Hainaut Province, Belgium, 1916-17; as director, American Relief Administration,
European Children's Fund, Mission to Poland, 1919-22; and as director, Commission
for Polish Relief, Inc. 1939-41.
Highlights noted in his scrapbooks of mementos are high school and Princeton
college records, 1905-15; CRB poster, 1917; letters of appreciation, 1917; letters of
recommendation, 1917; report of conditions in Hainaut Province, Belgium, 1917; report
of the children's work in Poland, 1921; clippings of the work of the Commission for
Polish Relief, 1939-40; photos of the foreign operations of the Commission for Polish
Relief, 1939-40; and photos of various staff members of CRB; ARA, ECF; and CPR.
Number of Microfilm Reels:
Inclusive dates: 1905-21; 1939-40
See Also:
General Accession, Maurice Pate Collection, 1839, 1907, 1916-65.
3 linear feet.
MAURICE PATE PAPERS
The Hoover Library has opened the papers of Maurice Pate who, as the first director
of UNICEF from 1946 to 1964, capped a long career in humanitarian enterprises which
began with the Commission for Relief in Belgium, 1916-17. Pate's diaries and
correspondence provide an interesting inside look at the organization Herbert Hoover
established to feed starving Belgium. Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and other
diaries relating to the relief of Poland and Russia, Red Cross services to American
prisoners of war in Europe during World War II. the world famine relief survey of
1946, and the establishment and subsequent activities of UNICEF are also available.
Although the bulk of Pate's papers, 1907-66 (3 cubic feet) were given to Princeton
University, the Hoover Library has copies.
Folder List
Box Contents
1
American Relief Administration
Printed Matter Re: ARA
ARA Association
Correspondence, 1936-62 and undated
Membership List, 1943-45
Printed Matter, 1926-46 and undated Belgian-American
Educational Foundation Correspondence, 1935-63
Annual Reports, 1935-37
Minutes, 1938
Belgian League of Honor, 1936-38
Belgian Relief: CRB
Correspondence, 1916-17
CRB Bulletins
CRB Representatives Manual, 1917
Diary of Maurice Pate, 1916-17
Transcribed Copy
First Draft
Photographs
2
Printed Matter
Withdrawal of American Commission
Memorabilia
Miscellaneous
Belgium: Misc Correspondence, 1919-26 and undated
Famine Survey (1946)
Correspondence, 1946-59
Famine Survey (1946)
Diary of Maurice Pate
Hoover, Herbert
Correspondence
1917-22
1934-64
American Epic, 1962-64
Articles and Speeches by H.H., 1950-63
Funeral, Condolences, etc., 1964
Miscellaneous
3
Hoover Institution, 1948-65
Hoover Presidential Library Association, 1954-64 and undated
Pate, Martha Lucas' 1950-64 and undated
Pate, Maurice
Biographical Data
Address book and Christmas Card List
Charles Evans Hughes Award, 1965
Condolences on Demise of
Illness and Resignation, 1963-64
Memorial Tributes, 1965-66
Passports and Identity Cards
Pate, Richard E. - Final,illness, Condolences, etc. 1935
Pate Family History
Poland
Cippings, 1948
Financial and Political Situation,, 1926
Income Taxes, 1933 and undated
Pate Personal Affairs
1920-26
1931-41 and undated
4
Polish Debt,
1933-35
1936
1937-39
undated
Miscellaneous
Polish Relief
Correspondence
1919
1920-21
1922-25 and undated
Commission for Polish Relief
1940
1941
1942 and undated
Meeting With Russian Authorities, 1920
5
Photographs
Printed Matter
1919
1920-23 and-undated
Reports-on Activities
1919-22
undated
Speeches, 1919 and undated
Polish Relief
Memorabilia
Miscellaneous
Prisoner of War Relief: WWII
Correspondence and Memoranda,1942-47 and undated
Awards and Recognition for Pate, 1945-46 and undated
Clippings and Press Releases, 1944-46 and undated
Reports: Robinson Report, 1948
Pages 1-99
Pages 100-199
6
Pages 200-380
Reports: Miscellaneous
1944
1945
1946-47
undated
Statistics
Red Cross, Miscellaneous 1944-46
Russian Relief, 1922-23 and undated
Russian Trip Observations, 1932
UNICEF
Correspondence and Memoranda
1946-48
1949-66 and-undated
Nobel Peace Prize (1965)
Correspondence, 1965 and undated
7
Clippings and Press Releases
Printed Matter
Photographs
Miscellaneous
Duplicates