contains the incoming and outgoing manuscript, typescript, and carbon letters, transcripts of telephone conversations, telegrams, and postcards generated during Smyth's career. The series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent, corporate, or subject name and then chronologically within each file. This professional correspondence constitutes the most voluminous series of the Smyth Papers.

These files do not contain correspondence exclusively. Essays, short papers or abstracts, photographs, reports, minutes, and photocopies of newspaper clippings remain throughout Series I with the accompanying correspondence. Cross referencing exists for files which contain letters generated by writers other than the primary correspondent listed as the folder title. These materials usually appear in the form of carbon copies which were enclosed with letters sent to Smyth by the individual who appears as the folder title. Names of correspondents whose carbon copies, papers, or reports are filed in this manner are listed on the outside of the primary correspondent's folder (folder #1 if multiple folders exist per name). For the most part, these listings reflect the physical order in which the material appears throughout the folder(s). Complete cross referencing for these items has been incorporated on the container list.

Smyth's correspondents include colleagues from Princeton University, fellow scientists from institutions around the country, government officials, associates from the U.S. AEC and the IAEA, officers of various professional and honorary scientific societies, administrators of businesses and corporations concerned with the uses of atomic energy, fans and critics of the Smyth Report, journalists, publishers, and historians. Correspondence is filed mainly by personal name, although there is a significant portion of material in Series I which has been organized under corporate or subject name. This most often occurs in cases where Smyth collected correspondence and related materials dealing with specific events and organizations rather than separating it by individual correspondents' names. These topical files remain intact as arranged by Smyth primarily because the related correspondence appears more valuable when maintained under the original heading assigned by Smyth. Individual correspondents in such files are listed on the outside of the folders and cross referenced on the container list. Examples of these types of subject files containing various correspondents include Smyth's "invitations to join/speak," the "American Physical Society," and the "Oppenheimer security clearance." These files have been placed in Series I rather than with the other subject files of Series II because they are almost entirely correspondence.

The correspondence files primarily chronicle Smyth's involvements with Princeton University, the Smyth Report, the U.S. AEC, and the IAEA. The bulk of this material dates from 1944 to 1970, during his most active career years. Throughout this period, Smyth was continuously involved with the Princeton University physics department. A considerable amount of administrative correspondence generated throughout Smyth's tenure at Princeton is located in Series I under the names of various university officials, professors, and administrators. The development of the Princeton physics program in the twentieth century is documented through much of these memoranda, letters, and transcripts of telephone conversations. Perhaps the most valuable of this Princeton related correspondence dates from 1940 through 1945, reflecting the university's Manhattan Project research focusing on the production of an atomic bomb.

Researchers should note that correspondence dealing with the writing and editing of the Smyth Report is mainly located in Series V, Smyth Report. This correspondence appears to have been filed by Smyth with related materials (i.e., notes, draft manuscripts, early printings) for several reasons. His primary intent appears to have been continuity; the correspondence discussing his work on the Smyth Report often refers to specific drafts, now also filed in Series V. These letters were also often classified "Secret" and "Top Secret" along with his various manuscript versions from 1944 through 1945. These materials remained together over the years while in Smyth's possession, periodically undergoing review for declassification as a group by the U.S. AEC. For these reasons, as well as the fact that Smyth meticulously arranged Series V himself, the correspondence dealing with the Smyth Report has been maintained in its original order and assigned to this separate series. Cross referencing has been done for correspondents who appear in Series V, Smyth Report; the existence of letters in Series V has been noted under the appropriate correspondent's name in the Series I section of the container list.

While it is recommended that researchers interested in correspondence dealing with the Smyth Report see Series V, it should be noted that a certain amount of this correspondence does exist in Series I as well. In many cases, these letters deal with comments, criticisms, and corrections to the first edition of the Smyth Report in 1945. Any correspondence of this nature has been identified in the "Notes" column of the container list.

Smyth's term as a commissioner to the U.S. AEC from 1949 through 1954 produced correspondence focusing on the peaceful uses of nuclear power, continued U.S. research in the field of nuclear energy, and the internal politics and administration of the AEC. For the most part, AEC related correspondence is dispersed throughout Series I, filed under correspondent's name. The most significant correspondence dealing with Smyth's involvement with the AEC is filed with the subject heading "Oppenheimer security clearance." Five folders contain letters sent from colleagues in the science community across the country, voicing their support for Oppenheimer, outrage at the actions of the AEC, and agreement with Smyth's dissenting opinion. Also located in these folders is much of the preliminary correspondence between Smyth, Lewis R. Strauss, and their fellow commissioners as the Oppenheimer investigation unfolded.

Smyth's involvement with the Edison Electric Institute's Technical Appraisal Task Force is thoroughly documented in thirteen correspondence files which span nearly three boxes of Series I. The Task Force material appears in the form of agendas, reports, and minutes enclosed with correspondence. These letters and documents comprise one of the largest corporate files of Series I; much of the material discusses the development of nuclear power and the construction of reactors in the United States from ca. 1956 to 1960. Another large corporate file holds the correspondence, reports, and minutes of the Universities Research Association, Inc. Fifteen folders record the development of high-energy accelerators in laboratories across the U.S. from 1964 to 1979.

Other significant correspondence files record Smyth's work as consultant to the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy. Letters with accompanying reports, press releases, statements, and testimonies before the committee are located in ten correspondence folders of Series I. Most of this material focuses on the development of a federal program to promote nuclear reactors in the U.S. during the late 1950s.

Correspondence dealing with Smyth's years as U.S. Representative to the IAEA is generally filed by individual correspondent's name. Some of the most notable correspondents of Series I involved with the IAEA are Sigvard Eklund and Richard Tolman. The files of these IAEA correspondents and many others offer material which records the development of nuclear safeguards and the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970.

Overall, perhaps the most historically valuable correspondence of Series I deals with Smyth's work for the Manhattan District during World War II. Besides the detail-rich letters and documents found in Series V which focus on Smyth's technical history of the development of the atomic bomb, there is a significant amount of similar correspondence in the files of Series I. Other than identifying correspondents in Series I who were also involved with the Manhattan Project, researchers will find much of this material through the "Notes" column of the container list where comments identify OSRD and NDRC related documents.

Among Smyth's most notable correspondents are: