Bretton Woods Conference Files

1261

1940-1947

series

textual records

7 linear feet of textual records

English

Fund, IBRD

E. M. Bernstein, Alice Bourneuf, Bretton Woods Conference, Federal Reserve System

The Bretton Woods Conference Files (boxes 26-39, 47-65) were assembled in the IMF Archives from a set of records from the Bretton Woods Conference Secretariat and files maintained by former staff members of the U.S. Treasury or Federal Reserve Board who, as members of the U.S. delegation or the Conference Secretariat participated in the drafting of the Bretton Woods Agreements and the establishment of the International Monetary Fund. Material includes: files of Research Department Director Edward M. Bernstein, former Assistant Director of the U.S. Treasury's Monetary Research Division and Executive Secretary of the U.S. Delegation at Bretton Woods; files of Raymond Mikesell, also a former member of Monetary Research Division; and files of Alice Bourneuf, who served as part of the Conference Secretariat, and was an Associate Economist in the Federal Reserve's Research and Statistics Division before joining the IMF. Documents consist of annotated internal memoranda, external correspondence, minutes of meetings, drafts, notes, working sheets and printed material - often duplicate documents held elsewhere. Creators' original file organization is lost and over time, files have been re-arranged alphabetically by subject or type of document. A second set of alphabetical files follows the main set; it contains mostly printed material or documents concerning material pertaining to the Bretton Woods Conference (Files 37/353 to 39/374). Documents filed under the "Joint Statement" files include the successive drafts of the "Joint Statement of Principles" by U.S. and U.K. experts to discuss the Harry Dexter White and Lord Keynes Plans (September- April 1944). The Atlantic City files are generally Alice Bourneuf's files. They include heavily annotated drafts used during the preliminary Conference of Atlantic City and minutes of meetings held by the U.S. Delegation. The Bank Proposals files and Fund Proposals files contain sets documenting the drafting of the Bretton Woods Agreements. Documents, numbered respectively B1 - B41 and F2 - F100 consist of copies of correspondence, minutes, drafts, press releases or printed material. Each country's role at the Conference, the composition of its delegation and the status of the ratification of the Agreements are documented in the Country files and the Cables files. The Correspondence files consist of correspondence exchanged by E.M. Bernstein with scholars and economists (1942-1945). The Memoranda files include sets on meeting minutes from both the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve (1942-1945). The rest of the files contain U.S. Treasury internal and external memoranda dealing with the interpretation, ratification, or implementation of the Bretton Woods Agreements. Other U.S. Treasury sets of meeting minutes can be found under the Meeting files. Many of the published articles, reports, and statements indicate they were sent to Edward M. Bernstein, who may have kept the files as a reference set of published articles about the Conference and the Agreements.