Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers (Manuscripts)
Overview of the Collection
- Creator: Cornelius J. Ryan
- Title: Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers
- Date: 1920-1974, with book and document supplements
- Abstract: Correspondence, documents, photographs, diaries, accounts, manuscripts, audio tapes, interviews, journal articles, screenplays, scrapbooks, memorabilia, and books detailing Ryan鈥檚 career as a journalist and author of the books The Longest Day, The Last Battle, and A Bridge Too Far.
- Quantity: 110 cu ft
Digitized items from the Ryan Collection
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Ryan Collection primarily consists of material relating to World War II, the European Theater of Operations, in the form of his research papers and files for his three battle books: The Longest Day (Operation OVERLORD, Normandy, France, June 6, 1944); A Bridge Too Far (Operation MARKET-GARDEN, Holland, September 17-26, 1944); and, The Last Battle (the capture of Berlin, Germany, April 15-May 10, 1945). There are personal files for 3,072 individuals, both military and civilian participants of the battles, covering all nationalities. The files contain 2,551 questionnaires, 955 interviews, and numerous letters, diaries, accounts, and observations. In addition, there are 166 audio recordings of interviews. Of particular note among the interviews are those with Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands, President Eisenhower, and General Simpson, all from 1963.
In addition to the personal files there are numerous newspaper and magazine articles and book excerpts dealing with the battles. Ryan also collected military documents of all types: combat interviews and after action reports, war diaries, message files and logs, strategic and tactical analyses, maps, and unit histories from all national forces involved. Of particular note among the military documents are war diaries and message logs of the major German commands from all three battles and accounts, interrogations and unit histories from the Moscow Archives concerning the storming of Berlin. The bulk of the German documents had not been consulted by any researcher prior to Ryan and, in the case of the Russian documents, no one else had ever been allowed access to the Moscow Archives.
There are in excess of 1,900 original photographs in the files, collected from various national archives and private individuals, the vast majority of which are unpublished.
The remainder of the Ryan Collection deals with his journalistic productions. The research files for his two articles 鈥淥ne Minute to Ditch鈥 and 鈥淔ive Desperate Hours in Cabin 56鈥 are complete, containing interviews, photographs, and official documents. Also of special note among these files are a collection of interviews with President Eisenhower鈥檚 West Point classmates (class of 1915) and correspondence and original material on the early American space program from Dr. Werhner von Braun.
Short Biography of Cornelius J. Ryan
Organization of the Collection
Original collection description is available upon request to Manuscripts Archivist, Greta Suiter. We are updating our . These records are organized primarily by the books Ryan authored.
Other materials and topics in the collection include:
- Material in Book Files of Special Note
- Books and Book Excerpts
- Journal and Periodical Articles
- Military Documents, Reports, and Publications
- Pamphlets, Brochures, Titled Accounts, Speeches, etc.
- Audio Recordings
- Screenplays, Radio Broadcasts Scripts, Film
- Other Manuscript Materials
- Armageddon
- Unlabeled Manuscript
- Journalistic Materials
- Discoverer XVIII
- Apollo 11 and Apollo 12
- Communications Satellites
- Photographs and Artwork
- Miscellaneous Notebooks
- Miscellaneous A