The record group consists of two series, Conference Papers and Sound recordings of the speeches and study group sessions at the conference. The papers series includes correspondence, minutes, papers read at the conference, and other administrative files. Correspondents (to and from) include:
- Hannah Arendt, Sept. 17, 1965
- Germaine Brée, Aug. 3, 1965, Aug. 9, 1965, Sept. 25, 1965, Oct. 11, 1965
- J. Daniel Burke
- J. Edgar Edwards
- Jerome D. Frank, Sept. 9, 1965
- Erich Fromm, Sept. 4, 1965
- Herbert Kelman
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Aug. 26, 1965, Aug. 31, 1965, Sept. 8, 1965, Sept. 17, 1965
- Archibald MacLeish, Aug. 5, 1965, Aug. 13, 1965
- Emil Mazey, Aug. 30, 1965, Sept. 7, 1965
- Arthur Miller, Aug. 27, 1965, Sept. 30, 1965
- Mary C. Wright, June 7, 1965, July 28, 1965, Sept. 5, 1965.
The sound recordings include speeches by Arthur Miller, Edwin T. Dahlberg, Lord Fenner Brockway, Makoto Oda, and Emil Mazey, among others.
The International Conference on Alternative Perspectives on Viet Nam brought together some 40 scholars, theologians, writers and intellectuals from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the United States. The work of the Conference, according to its press release, was based on "the assumption that Cold War conceptions and policies derived from them have failed and have produced the disaster which Viet Nam is today. Therefore, the Conference sought alternative conceptions which might result in reasonable and constructive policies to achieve a peaceful and humane end to the war in Viet Nam."
The Conference divided into four Study Groups, each considering the problem of peace in Viet Nam from different aspects. One group considered the situation from the standpoint of international politics; the second, in terms of social and economic development; the third, in terms of conflict and conflict resolution; the fourth, from the standpoint of revolutionary warfare.
Although the Study Groups worked independently and developed a variety of recommendations, there was agreement among the participants on the following propositions. Again quoting from the press report of the conference
- "that the bombing of North Viet Nam must cease
- that there should be a general cease fire in South Viet Nam
- that the settlement of the problem of Viet Nam must be considered as political, not military
- that negotiations must include the National Liberation Front in its own right as a principal party to the conflict in South Viet Nam
- that peace and stability in Asia require the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations
- that there should be a fundamental reassessment of the goals and methods of United States foreign policy."
