[MGSA-L] New acquisition of the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection

[Paganelis, George I]

Dear Friends of the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection,

I am pleased to announce that the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection has acquired the papers of Charles Maxton Schermerhorn. The American Charles Maxton Schermerhorn (1901-1985) attended Princeton Theological Seminary in the early 1920s and became a social worker during the 1930s. In 1946 the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) sent him to Greece, but he was shortly thereafter employed by the Near East Foundation in Thessaloniki and by UNICEF, where he was the only civilian (native Greek or foreigner) running humanitarian food distribution campaigns throughout 170 war-torn northern Greek towns and villages between 1946-1951 during and after the Greek Civil War. His interactions included associations with the renowned photographer David Seymour and important journalists such as George Polk, Dana Adams Schmidt, Maynard Owen Williams, and Mark Gayn. Upon returning to the US after 1951 CMS was reportedly blacklisted, thus prevented from employment with the US State Department, and subsequently pursued gainful employment as a social worker in California until his death in 1985.

The CMS Papers, all of which are in English, document five consecutive years of direct field experience from 1946-1951 and contain reports, correspondence, indexed photographs of food distribution sites and people, including children, contemporary military-issued maps, CMS’s diary from 1948, a 200,000-word manuscript CMS wrote about his experiences in Greece, and more. Included also are indexes compiled by Schermerhorn's son David. These materials documenting Schermerhorn’s food distribution efforts in the postwar years add another chapter to the history of humanitarian aid in Greece during the 20th century and wonderfully complement other existing strengths in the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, particularly the Vlavianos papers.

The collection is currently being processed and will be physically accessible in the near future. If you would like to contribute funds to help pay for the digitization of select materials from the collection, please visit https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1894/19/home-hero.aspx?sid=1894&gid=2&pgid=418&cid=1063&appealcode=D626__;!!CzAuKJ42GuquVTTmVmPViYEvSg!J8G9XE3G2hu1DJgklm3jXFFZ8usSUcQP5azRkTtCuWhioMnR-yeRwDKIKHawF66tful2hdqHvFHDoHjP6w$ . Under Designations, click View all giving options and select Hellenic Book Fund under University Library; then, under Gift Instructions type Schermerhorn Papers Digitization.

Many thanks to David Schermerhorn for donating this important collection to the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, and to Prof. Anthony Bernier and Prof. Gonda Van Steen for helping to facilitate this gift.


Best,
George I. Paganelis

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George I. Paganelis
Curator, Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection
University Library
California State University, Sacramento
2000 State University Drive
Sacramento, CA 95819-6039
Ph: (916) 278-4361 * (916) 278-6877
Fax: (916) 278-5917
paganelis at csus.edu<mailto:paganelis at csus.edu>
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