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in the files, collected from various national archives and private individuals, the vast majority of which are unpublished.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 Audio Recordings
- Travel Guides and Books
- Photographs and Memorabilia
- Reference Library
Administrative Information
- Restrictions: This collection is open to use under the rules and regulations of the 51社区 Libraries.
- Preferred Citation: Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, 51社区 Libraries
- Accession Number: MSS#20
- Provenance: The 51社区 Libraries received the collection through Kathryn Morgan Ryan in 1981.
- Property Rights: The 51社区 Libraries owns the property rights to this collection.
- Copyrights: Geoffrey Ryan and Victoria Ryan Bida retain the literary rights they may possess in the materials. Consideration of such rights and any other rights owned by others is the responsibility of the researcher and publisher.
- Photo Duplication: 51社区 Libraries will entertain requests to photocopy reasonable amounts of material from the collection for the convenience of individual researchers.
- Processing: The Collection was received in 1981 and processed by Richard Coleman over the next two years. A Supplement was received in 1984 and processed by Ann Calvin. Materials relating to the Collection have been received since that time and were processed by Doug McCabe.
Related Materials
Other books and articles by Ryan include:
- (with Frank Kelley, 1947)
- (with Frank Kelley, 1950)
- (with Dr. Werhner von Braun, 1952)
- (with Dr. Wernher von Braun, 1953)
- (1957)
- 鈥淏eautiful Murder,鈥 Life, 2 June 1947. p.7
- 鈥淭he Women Behind MacArthur,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 23 September 1950
- 鈥淚reland Today: From Great Famine to Great Future,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 17 March 1951
- 鈥淥peration Eggnog: Preview of the War We Do Not Want,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 27 October 1951
- 鈥淢an Will Conquer Space Soon,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 22 March 1952
- 鈥淢an on the Moon: The Journey,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 18 October 1952
- 鈥淢an on the Moon: The Exploration,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 25 October 1952
- 鈥淢an鈥檚 Survival in Space: Emergency!鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 14 March 1953
- 鈥淭he Baby Space Station,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚 27 June 1953
- 鈥淢idget Subs: The Navy鈥檚 New Sneak Weapon,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 21 August 1953
- 鈥淕-Gas, A New Weapon of Chilling Terror 鈥 We Have It 鈥 So Do the Russians,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 27 November 1953
- 鈥淭hese Fighters Take Off Straight Up,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚 2 April 1954
- 鈥淐an We Get to Mars?鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 30 April 1954
- 鈥淪tereatronics: A New Science That Will Change Your Way of Life,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 3 September 1954
- 鈥淚 Rode the World鈥檚 Fastest Sub,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 1 April 1955
- 鈥淭he Navy Comes Up with a Real 鈥楩lying Saucer鈥,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 29 April 1955
- 鈥淔rom Plebe to President,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 10 June 1955
- 鈥淣ATO鈥檚 Navy,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 20 January 1956
- 鈥淲hat Made Vuky Race?鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 25 May 1956
- 鈥淭he Major of St. Lo,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 6 June 1956
- 鈥淭he Andrea Doria鈥檚 Untold Story: Five Desperate Hours in Cabin 56,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 28 September 1956
- 鈥淥ne Minute to Ditch,鈥 颁辞濒濒颈别谤鈥檚, 21 December 1956
- 鈥淨ueen of the Seas,鈥 Saturday Evening Post, 14 September 1957, p.48-121. .
- 鈥淎ir Age Bargin Mart,鈥 Reader鈥檚 Digest, 1957
- 鈥淢ore of The Longest Day,鈥 Reader鈥檚 Digest, 6 June 1965
Bound volumes of and are available from the Library Annex.