RALPH J. BUNCHE - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/01/1953 - HFSID 258030

RALPH J. BUNCHE
Ralph J. Bunche sends a typed letter accepting to participate in a television special if time allows.
Typed Letter signed: "Ralph J. Bunche" as Director, United Nations Department of Trusteeships, 1p, 8½x11. On United Nations letterhead. New York, New York, 1953 October 1. To Ken Murray, c/o Edgar Bergen-Ken Murray Productions, Hollywood, California. In full: "I am in receipt of your letter of 22 September inviting me to participate in a fifteen minute television series of great Americans in History. I am very happy to accept your invitation though I sincerely doubt that I belong in this company. The General Assembly is now in session and the work entailed by its meetings keeps me fully occupied. I will, however, manage somehow to find time whenever you come. Perhaps you might wish to suggest a specific date. Sincerely yours," Ralph J. Bunche, (1904-1971) who joined the United Nations in 1946, was chief U.N. mediator in the Middle East in 1948 and was awarded the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to negotiate a truce between the Arabs and Israelis the previous year. He served as Undersecretary-General for Special Political Affairs from 1958-1971, and was a principal U.N. negotiator in such trouble spots as the Suez Canal (1956), the Congo (1960), Yemen (1963) and Cyprus (1964). Bunche was awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal (1949) and the Medal of Freedom in 1963, the year he participated in the March on Washington. Lightly creased. File holes at left edge. Otherwise, fine condition.