90. Memorandum From the Assistant Director, Motion Pictures and Television Service, United States Information Agency (Herschensohn) to the Deputy Director (Loomis)1
This coming July 4 in Washington should be permanentized into the largest, biggest production of USIA film history.
Last July there was Woodstock and from it came one of the best documentaries of all time.2 Creatively, it was a marvelous film. Unfortunately, its cast was dope, sex, and anti-war songs—but what made the film great was its creativity and its sheer size and entertainment value.
For once, this July the 4th, we have an enormous event that speaks positively about our society with all the elements of entertainment and size.3 By its projected magnitude, a great film could brush aside international borders, (except the Bloc countries) and be a vehicle for [Page 225] audiences of all ages. Its cast would include Bob Hope, Reverend Billy Graham, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell and others.
We are making a check to see if someone else is going to make a large production of this day. But time is short, the fiscal year is running out and with it our funds that would need to be contracted if no one else is planning its production. We would need your approval as we simultaneously check to see if anyone else has production plans, so as little time as possible is wasted. If no one else is making those plans, we could then move ahead right away. Even with simultaneous approval, time would be terribly short.
I think it would be obvious to anyone who would suspect us of “June spending”, this event could be done in no other way since its announcement was only made days ago and contracts must be made prior to the event.
We request $180,000 to make this production.
We are coordinating with networks and we will shortly send you a proposed television plan as well. It will not be as costly, however, as the above.
To save time we are sending copies of this memo to IOP and all Area Directors.4
- Source: National Archives, RG 306, Office of Policy and Plans, Program Coordination Staff, Subject Files, 1966–1971, Entry P–12, Box 1, INF 7–6 Honor America Day. No classification marking. Drafted by Herschensohn. Copies were sent to IOP and the area directors. A typewritten notation on the first page of the memorandum reads: “IOP—Miss White.” Handwritten notations in an unknown hand indicate that the copies were sent to IOP/C and IOP/P. An unknown hand also wrote White’s, Bunce’s, and Conley’s initials in the top right-hand corner of the memorandum.↩
- Presumably Herschensohn meant August 1969, which is when the Woodstock festival took place in upstate New York. Woodstock, the documentary directed by Michael Wadleigh, won an Academy Award in 1970 for best documentary.↩
- Reference is to Honor America Day, a day-long event planned to take place on the grounds of the Washington Monument on Independence Day. The event was scheduled to include an ecumenical prayer service, flag procession, and an evening rally, organized by Walt Disney and MPAA head Jack Valenti, accompanied by performances by various entertainers, prior to the traditional fireworks display. Entertainer Bob Hope and the Reverend Billy Graham served as the co-chairs of the citizens committee, and hotel owner J. Willard Marriott chaired the executive committee. (“‘Honor America Day’ Set for Capital July 4,” June 5, 1970, p. 39 and “Big July 4 Rally Slated in Capital: ‘Honor America Day” Group Planning Demonstration,” June 14, 1970, p. 44, both New York Times) In late June, activist Rennie Davis met with the Honor America Day organizers on two successive days and presented a list of demands for the organizers to consider. According to the New York Times: “The demands included painting the Washington Monument ‘all the colors of the rainbow to symbolize more unity than only shades of red, white, and blue.’ Other suggestions were carrying the flags of the Vietcong and other ‘liberated peoples’ in a parade, and allowing Allen Ginsburg, the poet, to direct a religious service with the Rev. Billy Graham, the evangelist.” (“Radicals Give Demands for July 4 Fete,” ibid., June 26, 1970, p. 16) The Honor America Committee rejected Davis’s demands, while suggesting that Davis, and those accompanying him to the meetings, could propose entertainers to add to the evening rally. (“July 4 Group Bars Radicals’ Demands,” ibid., June 27, 1970, p. 25) At a June 29 news conference in Washington, Hope explained that the day’s events were “designed to ‘show Americans can have a good time together despite their differences.’” (“Peak Capital Crowd Foreseen On July 4 Honor America Day,” ibid., June 30, 1970, p. 32)↩
- Under an August 13 covering memorandum, Stoddard sent Leeper a copy of an undated paper entitled “United States Information Agency Activities Supporting the Honor America Day Program.” The paper stated that USIA media outlets “gave extensive coverage to the day’s events, showing the representation of all faiths, participation of various racial groups, members of the principal political parties, social and economic groups, and the large crowds of people demonstrating their pride and pleasure in having an opportunity to honor America.” (National Archives, RG 306, Office of Policy and Plans, Program Coordination Staff, Subject Files, 1966–1971, Entry P–12, Box 1, INF 7–6 Honor America Day)↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩