Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 435

Title

Peter Pastor Collection on Atlantic Research and Publications, Inc.

Date(s)

1978 - 2018

Description Level

Fonds

Extent and medium (processed)

9 Archival boxes, 1.12 linear meters

Context

Name of creator(s)

Pastor, Peter
Király, Béla

Archival history

The collection was accumulated by Peter Pastor mainly during the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to the documents pertaining to the publishing, granting, conference organization activities of Atlantic Research and Publications run by Peter Pastor, the collection contains several documents related to Bela Kiraly. The collection came to the Blinken OSA in 2018, and was processed and made available for research in 2020.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

The fonds contains documents related to the activities of Hungarian émigré historian Peter Pastor, carried out in the framework of the company Atlantic Research and Publications. The material gives an insight into his professional life, publishing and organizational efforts. A set of documents contribute to and redefine Bela Kiraly’s biography.

Scope and Content (Narrative)

The collection comprises altogether 2 linear meters (8 archival boxes). One part of the documents outline Peter Pastor’s professional career from being the mentoree and later colleague of Béla Kiraly to finally becoming his opponent; the other part pertains to Pastor’s activities, and sometimes private life, as research fellow, manager, secretary, treasurer, editor, writer, reviewer, etc. of Atlantic Research and Publications Inc. (ARP).
Peter Pastor arrived to the United States with his parents as émigrés of the 1956 revolution. He started his PhD as historian at Brooklyn College in 1964 where he became the “reader” (teaching assistant) of Bela Kiraly and met several young Hungarian and East European émigrés who later became the writers, editors and friends of ARP.
The collection contains Pastor’s extensive correspondence with individuals and institutions; documents (mainly letters) related to the main tasks and activities of ARP. The material is structured in five series according to the five main activities of ARP as follows:
The first series includes the letters and contracts related to ARP publishing activities which are arranged and described by the serial number of volumes published in the “Atlantic Studies on Society in Change” book series. The second series contains documents related to the conferences and public events organized by ARP, arranged in chronological order. The third series contains the documents of ARP’s grant program, financing several Hungarian historians and members of the democratic opposition (including Gábor Demszky, Viktor Orbán, János Kis, Tibor Liska, Ignác Romsics) to research or demonstrate their contribution to the change of régime in Hungary, 1989-1990. The fourth series contains the correspondence of ARP leadership with friends and fellows of ARP including several interesting documents related the professional, social, and private life of Hungarian émigrés and academic partners of ARP, and a collection of personal memoirs, comments of Peter Pastor on Bela Kiraly and other personalities as well as on the history of ARP. Essentially, this series represents the social network of ARP. The fifth series contains business related documents, bills, yearly reports of ARP etc.

Accruals

Not Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

Not Restricted

Languages

English, French, Hungarian

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

In addition to typewritten letters and contracts, the collection contains photocopies and handwritten documents, faxes, printed e-mails, ephemera, and a few photos in the third series.

Allied Materials

Publication note

The Peter Pastor collection is closely related to the Bela Kiraly fonds of Blinken OSA, HU OSA 336. Allied materials are mentioned in the individual series.

Description Control

Archivist's note

Processed by Balazs Leposa, March 11, 2020.