Date Span: 1946-1949
The papers of Marvin Sorkin include correspondence, diary pages, personnel records, reports, and other items concerning Sorkin's life, his official diplomatic activity in Greece, and U.S. relations with Greece during the administration of President Harry S. Truman.
Size: 5 linear inches (about 400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave her copyright interest in writings in this collection, and in any other collection in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration, to the United States of America. Documents created by U.S. Government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents in this collection presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Rebecca Reilly (2017) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
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1915 (March 19) |
Born Marvin A. Sorkin, Carbondale, Pennsylvania |
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1937 |
B.A., Syracuse University |
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1937-1942 |
Reporter, feature writer, and copy editor, Syracuse Post-Standard |
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1942-1946 |
Soldier and Public Relations Officer, U.S. Army |
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1946-1947 |
Assistant News Chief, National Housing Agency |
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1947-1949 |
Public Relations Officer, U.S. Consulate General in Salonika, Greece |
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1949-1974 |
Writer, editor, chief of the editorial division, and deputy and acting chief, Worldwide Press and Publications Service, U.S. Information Agency |
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2005 (November 3) |
Died, Santa Rosa, California |
The papers of Marvin Sorkin include correspondence, diary pages, personnel records, reports, and other items concerning Sorkin's life, his official diplomatic activity in Greece, and U.S. relations with Greece during the administration of President Harry S. Truman. The collection is arranged in one series, a Subject File.
The Subject File contains Sorkin's personal correspondence, mostly typed letters, with his parents, family, friends, and associates. It also contains letters from fellow associates involved with the American Mission for Aid to Greece (AMAG). The series includes a letter that discusses Sorkin's reassignment from the Mission to the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), the agency that carried out the Marshall Plan. Sorkin's official position was U.S. Information Officer for Northern Greece. During his years in Greece, he carried out public information activities for AMAG, ECA, and the U.S. Information Service (USIS).
The Subject File also contains press releases; interagency reports detailing the distribution of aid to Greek communities and the upkeep of an American farm school educating Greek students; monthly reports authored by Sorkin; correspondence between the American Consulate in Salonika and the American Embassy in Athens; notes on a personal trip to Istanbul; Greek vocabulary and cultural notes; Sorkin's diary from part of his time in Greece; a map of communities in Northern Greece; newspaper clippings about Sorkin; Sorkin's passport; his personnel forms; a booklet about the American farm school in Salonika; photographs of consular personnel, offices, and activities; and reports regarding the USIS film program and window displays in Salonika on such subjects as the 1948 U.S. Presidential Election. Correspondence in Sorkin's papers includes references to the Greek Civil War, the murder of George Polk, and the use of books, films, exhibits, phonograph records, and radio broadcasts to communicate the U.S. point of view to Greek citizens.
More information about U.S. relations with Greece after World War II can be found at the Truman Library in the papers of Harry S. Truman (Official File 206), Harry N. Howard, Paul A. Porter, Paul R. Porter, and Dwight P. Griswold.
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Container Nos. |
Series |
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1 |
SUBJECT FILE, 1946-1949 Correspondence, diary pages, personnel records, reports, and other items concerning Sorkin's life, his official diplomatic activity in Greece, and U.S. relations with Greece during the administration of President Harry S. Truman. Arranged alphabetically by folder title, and thereunder chronologically. |
Box 1
- Correspondence
- Diary
- Map
- Newspaper Clippings
- Passport
- Personnel
- Photographs
- Printed Material
- Reports