PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 29, 2002
Prange Papers Are Added to the UM Prange Legacy
The Archives and Manuscripts Department at the University
of Maryland’s Hornbake Library has acquired the research papers of the
late Dr. Gordon W. Prange, a history professor at the university for many
years and a scholar on Pearl Harbor and World War II in general.
Prange is perhaps best known for his 1969 book on Pearl Harbor, Tora! Tora! Tora!, which was made into a movie of the same name. Following his death in 1980, several of his works were published posthumously, including Miracle at Midway and At Dawn We Slept: the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor.
Professor Prange’s working papers include notes for his early writings on Hitler; interviews with American and Japanese military figures; correspondence with friends and publishers; drafts of books; maps; and lecture notes from University of Maryland classes.
This latest gift marks the second legacy that Dr. Prange has provided for the University of Maryland. When censorship of the Japanese media by Allied Forces was lifted in 1949 and the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD) disestablished, Professor Prange, recognizing the historical significance of the CCD material, used his connections and influence to arrange for the declassification of this material and for its shipment to the University of Maryland. The Gordon W. Prange Collection is currently housed in McKeldin Library.
Two of Dr. Prange’s children, Polly and Winfred Prange, visited the UM Libraries on December 10, 2001. Their tour included a stop at the Gordon W. Prange Collection and East Asia Collection in McKeldin Library, and then a visit to view the new home of their father’s working papers in Hornbake Library. The day ended with a luncheon with Dean of Libraries Charles Lowry and the signing of the instrument of gift.
Researchers interested in using the Papers of Gordon W.
Prange may contact Jennie Levine, Assistant Curator for Historical Manuscripts,
in the Archives and Manuscripts Department at 301-314-2712.
For access to the Gordon W. Prange Collection in McKeldin Library, researchers
may contact Amy Wasserstrom at 301-405-9348.
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