Charles L. Kades Papers, 1913-1997 (bulk 1945-1996)

Requests for permission to publish material from the Charles L. Kades Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

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Biographical Note

Charles L. Kades was born in 1906 in Newburgh, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1927 and Harvard Law School in 1930, joining the Manhattan law firm of Hawkins, Delafield, and Longfellow as a municipal bond lawyer. From 1933 to 1942, he brought his knowledge of public finance to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal administration, serving as Assistant General Counsel for the Public Works Administration and then for the Treasury Department. An Army reservist since 1924, Kades entered active military duty in 1942. After service in the Army Civil Affairs Division in Washington, he participated in the U.S. D-Day landing in Southern France in August, 1944. In 1945, he was re-assigned to the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) in Tokyo, Japan. As Deputy Chief of the Government Section of SCAP, Kades became head of the steering committee charged by General Douglas MacArthur in February 1946 with producing a "democratic" draft constitution for Japan. He maintained life-long relationships with several SCAP colleagues and superiors, including General Courtney Whitney, then Chief of the Government Section. Kades returned to private law practice at Hawkins, Delafield, and Wood in 1949 and became known for his role in developing new methods of tackling public fiscal crises (the municipal assistance corporation) and financing public works ("pothole bonds"). From the 1950s to the 1970s, Kades participated intermittently in discussions with scholars, journalists, and Japanese politicians about the origins of Japan's post-war constitution. After his retirement to Heath, Massachusetts, in 1976, he became more actively involved in these discussions, travelling to Japan, participating in conferences, and producing an article for Political Science Quarterly (1989). He also provided numerous interviews for scholars and journalists. Charles Kades died in 1996.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The collection consists primarily of materials related to the creation of the Japanese Constitution of 1946. The collection provides partial documentation of the drafting and promulgation of the constitution through memoranda and correspondence (original and photocopied) and through multiple annotated versions of the draft constitution. Kades's own copies of English translations of Japanese deliberations over constitutional revision (transcripts of the Japanese Diet hearings and sessions, minutes of Privy Council meetings) form an important part of the collection. Other materials from the immediate post-war period include a small number of photographs of the opening of the Japanese Diet in December 1945 and of SCAP personnel. The collection also includes copies of SCAP correspondence and memoranda obtained sometime after 1965 from the MacArthur Archives, located at the McArthur Memorial, Norfolk, VA.

In addition, the collection contains scholarly and non-scholarly material on post-war Japan and the Japanese Constitution gathered or produced after 1949: correspondence, manuscripts, notes, interview transcripts, recorded interviews, clippings, newspapers and periodicals, conference materials, annotated books and pamphlets, printed material, and photocopies of articles and original documents. Additional material documents Kades's role as a legal advisor to General Douglas MacArthur and his widow, Jean Faircloth MacArthur. Small amounts of material related to Kades's schooling, military service, government service, and legal career are also in the collection. Particularly noteworthy is his carefully assembled and captioned photograph album documenting D-Day in Southern France (1944).

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into nine series:

• BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND AWARDS (1913-1994)
• HAWKINS, DELAFIELD, AND WOOD (LEGAL CAREER) (1930-1989)
• GOVERNMENT SERVICE (PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION; TREASURY DEPARTMENT)
• MILITARY TRAINING AND SERVICE (1922-1947)
• THE JAPANESE CONSTITUTION OF 1946 (1945-1953)
• RETROSPECTIVE VIEWS OF THE JAPANESE CONSTITUTION AND POST-WAR JAPAN (1950-1996)
• GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR AND MAJOR GENERAL COURTNEY WHITNEY (1951-1996)
• GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE; INVITATIONS; CORRESPONDENCE FROM OTHERS TO PHYLLIS KADES (1941-1999)
• PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS, AND TEXTILES (ca. 1940-1987)

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Series 1: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND AWARDS [1913-1994]

Series 1 contains school and religious records and certificates, diplomas, applications, transcripts, framed awards and medals, photographs, a scrapbook, obituaries, and condolence letters sent to Kades's wife, Phyllis Kades.

Series 2: HAWKINS, DELAFIELD, AND WOOD (LEGAL CAREER)

Series 2 includes research material; legal briefs, reports, and opinions; and publications and addresses by Kades on legal topics. Material related Kades's role in the creation of the municipal assistance corporation (MAC) is in this series. The series also includes a history of the firm where Kades practiced law from 1930-1933 and from 1949 until his retirement as senior partner in 1976.

Series 3: GOVERNMENT SERVICE (PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION; TREASURY DEPARTMENT)

Series 3 includes texts of speeches, publications, and clippings regarding the work of Kades and his colleagues on New Deal programs established during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The bulk of the material in this small series is retrospective.

Series 4: MILITARY TRAINING AND SERVICE [1922-1944]

Series 4 includes clippings, newspapers, military records and certificates, photographs, and a photograph album. The album documents the invasion of southern France by the U.S. 7th Army beginning on 15 August 1944.

Series 5: THE JAPANESE CONSTITUTION OF 1946 [1945-1953]

Series 5 includes memoranda, reports, and manuscript and printed drafts of the constitution. Many of these items are in the form of photocopies made after 1950. The origin of these copies is not clear. Kades noted in correspondence that when he completed his work in Japan, most of his documents remained with SCAP (Kades to Colonel Lyman F. Hammond, 9 August 1985, box 9, folder 20). Many of the memoranda were written by SCAP Government Section members assigned to the committee or subcommittees charged with producing a draft constitution. Only a portion of these memoranda contain named authors. Committee and subcommittee members are listed in Box 2, Folder 58, and included (in addition to Kades): Alfred Rodman Hussey, Milo Rowell, Beata Sirota (Beata Gordon), Milton J. Esman, Frank Rizzo, Frank E. Hays, Guy J. Swope, Osborne Hauge, Roy Malcolm, Richard Armstrong Poole, Cyrus H. Peake, Cecil G. Tilton, Harry Emerson Wildes, Pieter K. Roest, Gertrude Norman, Ruth Ellerman, Jacob I. Miller, Margaret Stone, Philip O. Kenney, and George A. Nelson, Jr.

The series does include Kades's bound copies of translated transcripts of hearing and sessions of the Japanese Diet and Privy Council on the topic of constitutional revision. These are Kades's own copies that appear to have returned with him when he left Japan. Additional material consists of correspondence, promotional material on the Japanese constitution, press releases, photographs, newsclippings, awards, speeches, printed material. Correspondence and speeches in this series document Kades's SCAP-related activities through 1950, after his return to private law practice.

The series also includes two folders of photocopies of documents originating with SCAP that appear to have been obtained from the MacArthur Archives. These folders include copies of correspondence between Douglas MacArthur and Japanese Prime Ministers Shigeru Yoshida, Tetsu Katayama, and Hitoshi Ashida. When these copies were gathered and by whom is not clear.

The series is divided into thirteen sections:

• Memoranda, notes, and related material
• Meeting minutes, notes
• Reports and briefings
• Memoranda [after 1946]
• Press releases and statements
• The Constitution: chronologies, drafting committees, and drafts
• Hearings and sessions of the Japanese Diet and Privy Council
• Promotional material and newsclippings
• Correspondence
• Kades's SCAP assignments, citations, resignation; speeches
• Photographs and maps
• Printed material
• MacArthur Archives material

Series 6: RETROSPECTIVE VIEWS OF THE JAPANESE CONSTITUTION AND POST-WAR JAPAN [1950-1996]

Series 6 contains correspondence, typescripts drafts, notes, annotated memoranda (photocopies), texts of speeches, travel itineraries, newsclippings, newspapers and periodicals, interview transcripts, recordings, and printed material.

The series is divided into eleven sections:

• Correspondence-Alphabetical
• Correspondence-Multiple correspondents
• Correspondence-Chronological
• Japanese Constitutional Reform Commission
• Publications by Charles Kades
• Research
• Conferences, lectures, and travel to Japan
• Interview transcripts, summaries, and questions
• Recorded interviews
• Publications and writings by others
• Clippings, newspapers, and printed material

Series 7: GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR AND MAJOR GENERAL COURTNEY WHITNEY [1951-1996]

Series 7 consists of materials documenting Kades's relationship with his SCAP superiors after their service in Japan had come to an end. The series contains little personal correspondence, but does document Kades's role as a legal advisor to Douglas MacArthur and to Jean Faircloth MacArthur. Included are clippings, printed material, correspondence, photographs, and the badge worn by Kades in the New York City parade in honor of MacArthur on 20 April 1951.

Series 8: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, INVITATIONS, CORRESPONDENCE FROM OTHERS TO PHYLLIS KADES [1941-1999]

Series 8 contains correspondence not directly related to Kades's activities as a lawyer or to his work on the Japanese constitution. Correspondence associated with those activities is filed in Series 3, 5 and 6, respectively. Most correspondence in the collection that is not addressed to Kades is located here.

Series 9: PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS, AND TEXTILES [ca. 1940-1987]

Series 9 contains formal and informal photographs of Kades and inscribed photographs from SCAP officials. It also includes items given to Kades (a framed tapestry, photographs, and prints).

Appendices

Appendix A: UNCATALOGED BOOKS IN THE COLLECTION

The following uncataloged books are in Boxes 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the Charles L. Kades Papers: Most contain inscriptions, marginalia, or other markings that associate the items with Charles Kades.

Box 11

Box 12

Box 13

Box 14

Appendix B: CATALOGUED BOOKS FROM KADES' PERSONAL LIBRARY

The following books from Charles Kades's library have been catalogued and are located at Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College. The Five College Catalog will show location information for these items:

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