Overview
Kenneth Todd Young (1916-1972) received an A.B. in 1939 and A.M. in 1942 from Harvard. Young served in various government positions, including as director of the Office of Southeast Asian Affairs 1956-1958 and U.S. Ambassador to Thailand 1961-1963. Young was a trustee of the Harvard-Yenching Institute and a member of the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Department of Far Eastern Languages. The Papers of Kenneth Todd Young document Young’s professional and personal activities from 1934 to 1973, including his government and foreign policy work and his personal experiences as a student in Asia and at Harvard.
Dates
- Creation: 1934 - 1973
Researcher Access
Open for research with the following exceptions: Harvard University records are restricted for 50 years. Personnel and student records are closed for 80 years. Specific restrictions are noted at the series level. Requires review by archivist.
Conditions Governing Use
Audio tapes (HUGFP 26.80) are closed for fragility. Use copies are needed. Please contact Public Services staff for details.
Extent
3.12 cubic feet (6 document boxes, 5 half document boxes, and 3 pamphlet folders)The Papers of Kenneth Todd Young document Young’s professional and personal activities from 1934 to 1973. Professional records include correspondence, manuscripts of speeches and articles, reports, and files from government positions. Correspondents from Young’s government work include U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon; State and Defense Department officials, such as John Foster Dulles, Dean Rusk, and Robert McNamara; and diplomats, embassies, and other government officials from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, and other nations. Other professional correspondence relates to the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard committees and Board of Trustees, Harvard-Yenching Institute, the Standard Vacuum Oil Company, and other professional organizations and associates. Young’s speeches, writings, and talks, particularly about foreign policy matters in Southeast Asia, are documented in manuscripts, transcripts of speeches and oral history interviews, and audio tapes of interviews and broadcasts. Also included are personnel reviews and applications for government positions. Personal records include Young’s writings from his time at Lingnan University in Canton (Guangzhou), China, 1934-1935; Harvard student class notes and transcripts; photographs of Vietnam and China; memo books, maps, and notes about East Asia; news clippings; autobiographical summaries; obituaries and eulogies; and family genealogy. The collection also includes reprints of publications and other reference material.
Biographical Note on Kenneth Todd Young, Jr.
Kenneth Todd Young, Jr., Harvard A.B. 1939, A.M. 1942, was U.S. Ambassador to Thailand. Young was born on June 22, 1916. He attended the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts before beginning study at Harvard. Young left Harvard and studied at Lingnan University in Canton (Guangzhou), China in 1934-1935 and at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1937. He then returned to Harvard and received an A.B. in 1939 and A.M. in 1942. While completing his graduate studies, Young was a teaching fellow at Harvard from 1940 to 1942. He also served in the Air Force before joining the State Department as a political intelligence officer in 1946. Young was director of the Office of Southeast Asian Affairs at the State Department from 1956 to 1958. He then worked for the Standard Vacuum Oil Company from 1958 to 1961. Young was named U.S. Ambassador to Thailand in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and held the position until 1963. He acted as an advisor for government officials at international conferences and sessions of the United Nations General Assembly regarding political matters in Southeast Asia until his death in 1972. He was President of the Asia Society from 1964 to 1970 and founded the Society's Southeast Asia Development Advisory Group (SEADAG). Young also held positions at Harvard as a trustee of the Harvard-Yenching Institute and a member of the Visiting Committee, Harvard Department of Far Eastern Languages. He also taught an undergraduate course on Vietnam. The Kenneth T. Young Professorship of Sino-Vietnamese History was established at Harvard in his honor in 1973. Young died on August 29, 1972.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in eleven series. The collection follows the arrangement of call numbers given to series upon receipt at the Harvard University Archives.
- Biographical manuscripts, 1943-1973 (HUGFP 26.1)
- Transcripts of oral history interviews, 1969 (HUGFP 26.3)
- Correspondence, 1935-1972 (HUGFP 26.10)
- Personal papers, Study in China, 1935-1936 (HUGFP 26.32)
- Personal miscellaneous, 1934-1967 (HUGFP 26.35)
- Government personnel file, 1942-1961 (HUGFP 26.39)
- Unpublished papers, 1949-1972 (HUGFP 26.44)
- Speeches, 1963-1970 (HUGFP 26.46)
- Tapes, audio, 1965-1972 (HUGFP 26.80)
- General box (HUGFP 26.81)
- Reprints, pamphlets, etc. (HUGFP 26.82)
Acquisition
Gift of Stephen B. Young, received 1977-10-27; accession 8256.
Processing Information
The finding aid was created by Erin Clauss in January 2022. Information in this finding aid was assembled from legacy inventories and container management data. Titles are transcribed from legacy inventories or existing folders. The majority of the collection was not re-examined.
The bulk of the material received in the original accession consisted of printed material which was background reading for Young. These were weeded and offered to Gifts and Exchange. All files were developed in the Archives because of the disarray of materials. Most materials were dated so files were arranged in chronological order.
- Title
- Young, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Todd), 1916-1972. Papers of Kenneth Todd Young, 1934-1973 : an inventory
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hua04022
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461
archives_reference@harvard.edu