Perhaps the first thing that strikes the attention is the degree to which the documents have been censored. In many cases, items no longer readable will likely contain names of people involved in preparing the report or who may still be living and thus subject to having their privacy protected.

This first document is one of nine to treat the four League of American Writers' (LAW) Congresses. Burke is known to have participated in the first three (1935, 1937, and 1939).

At the first LAW Congress in 1935, he presented the much-discussed speech, "Revolutionary Symbolism in America." (See Simons and Melia, The Legacy of Kenneth Burke, Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1989, for a copy of the speech and reactions.)

This first page of the report provides an overview of the LAW and identifies the content of the report, which appears to be a typical "brief" on the organization's activities. Seven lines from the bottom, the magazine Direction is mentioned. --DB

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Todd Deam is the project coordinator who acquired Burke's FBI Files and who has transcribed them for publication in PDF format. David Blakesley prepared the images for web publication and has written the running commentary.

*For a transcription of the text on this image in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, click here. Requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in, available for free download here.

Page 2 of Burke's FBI File.

 

Last updated: July 20, 2000--David Blakeskley.

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