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To Douglas S. Freeman

March 4, 1942 [Washington, D.C.]

My dear Dr. Freeman:

The other evening while waiting in the Red Room at the White House to be called to the President’s sitting-room for dinner with him, I picked up your volume entitled “The South To Posterity”, which was in a table book-rack. My interest was so intrigued that I walked off with the book in my dispatch case.

I want you to know that I found it delightfully interesting reading and rather instructive in the light of present events and prospective history. The only trouble now is to restore the book to the White House without being discovered in the process. As a matter of fact, one of the ushers told me that he would protect my interests.¹

Faithfully yours,

Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.

Document Format: Typed letter.

1. Douglas S. Freeman, author of historical works and editor of the Richmond News Leader, had written The South to Posterity: An Introduction to the Writings of Confederate History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1939) while preparing Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command, 3 vols. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942-44). Freeman replied, “I hope the little volume I send today saves you from the charges of purloining an incubus of the Red Room book rack.” (Freeman to Marshall, March 5, 1942, GCMRL/ G. C. Marshall Papers [Pentagon Office, Selected].)

Recommended Citation: ThePapers of George Catlett Marshall, ed.Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens(Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981- ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 3, “The Right Man for the Job,” December 7, 1941-May 31, 1943 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), p. 122.