Bretton Woods

Archives & Sites

Center for Financial Sustainability. Unpublished Documents and Conference Transcripts of Bretton Woods
IMF. Archives on Bretton Woods
United Kingdom. Archives on Bretton Woods; Preliminary Conference Papers; Communication with Delegates;
United Kingdom Parliament Hansard. Items concerning Bretton Woods (1944-1945).

United States Federal Reserve. Page on Bretton Woods

United States National Archives. 43.3.7 Records relating to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference (Bretton Woods Conference).

Wikipedia. Bretton Woods entry
World Bank. Page on Bretton Woods

Contemporary Sources & Documents

Articles of Agreement of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, December 27, 1945, 2 UNTS 134
Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund. December 27, 1945, 2 UNTS 39
Bretton Woods, 1944, CBS Broadcast, July 18, 1944. Transcript from Morganthau’s Diary, Book 755 July16-18, 1994, pp 243-270
India. Report of the Coordinating Committee dated July 21, 1944 Bretton Woods Conference. Accessed from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Archives, Pune ACC No 44784 DEAP
NAACP 1940-55. General office file. United Nations -- Bretton Woods Conference, 1944-1946. Frederick, MD. University Publications of America.
National Planning Association. 1945. The stakes of Bretton Woods: a statement. Washington, D.C.
New Zealand. 1946. The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference Held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, U.S.A., 1-22 July, 1944 : Report by New Zealand Delegation. Publication, No. 22. Wellington N.Z.: Dept. of External Affairs
Newcomer, Mabel. 1944. Monetary plans for the United nations, a layman's guide to proposals of the Bretton Woods conference. Washington, D.C.: American Association of University Women
United Nations Information Office. 1945. Money and the Postwar World: The Story of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. New York, N.Y: United nations information Office.
United States, Dept of State. 1948. Proceedings and Documents of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference: Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, July 1-22, 1944. 2v. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Gvt. Printing Office, Volume 1; Volume 2.
United States, Dept. of the Treasury. 1944. Questions and Answers on the Bank for Reconstruction and Development (distributed at Bretton Woods)

United States, Dept. of the Treasury. 1945. The Bretton Woods proposals. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Treasury.
United States. Dept. of the Treasury. 1945. Charts relating to the Bretton Woods proposals. Washington, D.C.: United States Treasury.

United States. White House Central Files: Official Files, 1945-1953. Boxes 460-461 (Held at the Truman Library)

Broches, A. Verslag van de Monetaire en financieele Conferentie der Vereenigde Volken, gehouden te Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, van 1 tot en met 22 Juli 1944, en in het bijzonder nopens de Nederlandsche deelneming daaraan. (Held in World Bank Law Library)

Secondary Works

Hernandez Andreu, Juan. 2005. España y Bretton Woods. Delta.
Balasubramanian, Aditya and Srinath Raghavan. "Present at the Creation: India, the Global Economy, and the Bretton Woods Conference." Journal of World History. Vol. 29, No. 1 (March 2018), pp. 65-94.
Black, Stanley W. 1991. A Levite among the priests: Edward M. Bernstein and the origins of the Bretton Woods System. Routledge
“Bretton Woods: Background and History.” Bulletin/Reserve Bank of New Zealand (New Zealand); p. 84-86, June 1952.
Cesarano, Filippo. 2006. Monetary theory and Bretton Woods : the construction of an international monetary order. New York : Cambridge University Press
Conway, Edmund. 2015. The Summit: Bretton Woods, 1944 : J.m. Keynes and the Reshaping of the Global Economy. New York: Pegasus Books.
Helleiner, Eric. 2016. Forgotten Foundations of Bretton Woods: International Development and the Making of the Postwar Order. Cornell University Press.
Helleiner, Eric. 2022. Silences of Bretton Woods: gender inequality, racial discrimination and environmental degradation. Review of international political economy : RIPE, 2023-09, Vol.30 (5), p.1701-1722
Schild, Georg. 1995. Bretton Woods and Dumbarton Oaks : American economic and political postwar planning in the summer of 1944. New York : St. Martin's Press
Schuler, Kurt & Mark Bernkopf, Who Was at Bretton Woods, Center for Financial Stability
Scott-Smith, Giles & J. Simon Rofe [editors]. 2017. Global Perspectives on the Bretton Woods Conference and the Post-War World Order. Palgrave Macmillan.
Steil, Benn. 2014. The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the making of a new world order.
Van Dormael, Armand. 1978. Bretton Woods: Birth of a Monetary System. Palgrave McMillan UK.

Personal Papers & Archives

Arey, Hawthorne. (US Technical Secretary). Hawthorne Arey Papers, 1944-1967. (Held at the Truman Library)
Bernstein, Edward M. (US Technical Adviser) Edward M. Bernstein papers. (Held at UNC Chapel Hill Southern History Collection)
Brand, Henry. (Delegate, United Kingdom Delegation) Archive of Robert Henry Brand, Baron Brand (Held at the Bodleian Library)
Brigden, James Bristock. (Delegate, Australian Delegation)Papers of James Bristock Brigden. Held at National Library of Australia).
Campos, Roberto de Oliveira. (Secretary, Brazilian Delegation) Papers and Collection (Held at the Biblioteca do Centro Universitário Positivo)
Cox, Oscar S., (US Legal Adviser) Oscar S Cox Papers. (Held at FDR Library)
Dulles, Eleanor Lansing, (US Secretary) and John T. Mason. 1967. Oral history interview with Eleanor Lansing Dulles. Eisenhower Administration Project.
Durbrow, Eldbridge (US Liaison Secretary). Elbridge Durbrow papers, 1926-1996. (Held at Hoover Institution Library)
Eccles, Marriner. (Delegate, US Delegation) Marriner S. Eccles Papers (Held at the St. Louis Federal Reserves)
Gruben, Hervé de, Baron. (Delegate, Belgian Delegation) Archives of Baron Hervé de Gruben. (Held at CegeSoma, State Archives of Belgium)
Gutt, Camille. (Chairman, Belgium Delegation) Archives of Camille Gutt. (Held at CegeSoma, State Archives of Belgium)
Hansen, Alvin Harvey. (Technical Adviser, US Delegation). Papers of Alvin Harvey Hansen. (Held at Harvard University Archives).
Hoo, Chi Tsai (Victor). (Delegate, China Delegation) Hoo (Victor) Papers. (Held at Hoover Institution Library)
Horne, Roman L. (Organizing Secretary of the IMF, IMF staff 1946-67) Roman L. Horne Papers, 1944-1983 (bulk 1944-45) (Held at the Truman Library)
Keynes, John Maynard (Chairman, United Kingdom Delegation)
- The Papers of John Maynard Keynes, 1868-1951. King's College Archives, University of Cambridge. GB 272 JMK
- Treasury: Papers of Lord Keynes, T247, (Held at UK National Archives)
- Keynes Articles in the Pressearchive von HWWA und IfW (in German)
- Carter, Zachary D. 2021. The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
- Johnson, E., and D. Moggridge, editors. 1980. The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes, XXV, Activities 1940–1944 Shaping the Post-War World—The Clearing Union. Cambridge, U.K.: Macmillan.
- Skidelsky, Robert. 2005. John Maynard Keynes 1883-1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman.
Knapp, J. Burke (US Unofficial Attendee). Knapp (J. Burke) papers 1888-1997. (Held at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives)
Kung, Hsiang-hsi. (Chairman, China Delegation)
- H. H. Kung Papers. (Held at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives)
- Kung, Hsiang-hsi/Kung, H. H./Kong, Xiangxi/孔祥熙, 1958-1974. Oral History. (Held at Columbia University)
- H. H. Kung papers, 1936-1958, bulk 1936-1944. (Held at Columbia University)
Melville, Leslie Galfried (Chairman, Australian Delegation)
- Papers of Leslie Melville. (Held at National Library of Australia)
- Oral history interviews with Sir Leslie Melville are held in National Library of Australia Oral History Section at Oral TRC 182.
Mikesell, Raymond French. (US Secretary) 1994. The Bretton Woods debates: a memoir. Princeton, N.J.: International - Finance Section, Dept. of Economics, Princeton University
Morgenthau, Henry. Jr. (Chairman, US Delegation)
- Henry Morgenthau Jr. Papers, 1866-1953 (Held at FDR Library)
- Diaries of Henry Morgenthau, Jr., April 27, 1933-July 27, 1945 (Digitally available from FDR Library)
Pei, Tsu-Yee. (Delegate, Chinese Delegation). Tsuyee Pei papers, 1929-1951, bulk 1943-1948. (Held at Columbia University)
Polak, Jacques. (Expert, Netherlands Delegation) 2000. Oral history interview with Jacques J. Polak, 2000, Louis Emmerij (Interviewer) (Held at Colombia University)
Tange, Sir Arthur. (Delegate, Australian Delegation). Papers of Sir Arthur Tange. (Held at the National Library of Australia).
Theunis, Georges (Delegate, Belgium Delegation)
- Selected papers of Georges Theunis - EHRI Portal (Held by the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Center)
- Selected papers of Georges Theunis (Held by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Tsiang, Tingfu Fuller. (Delegate, Chinese Delegation).
- Tsiang Diaries, 1944-1964. (Held by Harvard University)
- Tingfu Tsiang Papers, 1942-1965. (Held at Columbia University).
- Tsiang, Tingfu Fuller (Jiang, Tingfu), 蔣廷黻, 1965 Oral History. (Held at Columbia University).
Wheeler, Sir Frederick (Delegate, Australian Delegation). Papers of Sir Frederick Wheeler. (Held by the National Library of Australia).
White, Harry Dexter (Delegate, US Delegation)
- Harry Dexter White Papers, 1895-2000 (Held at Princeton)
- Boughton, James M. 2021. Harry White and the American Creed. ‎ Yale University Press
- Craig, R. Bruce. 2004. Treasonable doubt : the Harry Dexter White spy case. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas
- Rees, David. 1973. Harry Dexter White: a study in paradox. New York : Coward, McCann & Geoghegan
- White, Nathan I. 1956. Harry Dexter White : loyal American. Waban, Mass : Bessie (White) Bloom
Young, Arthur Nichols. (Technical Consultant, Chinese Delegation). Arthur N. Young Papers. (Held at Hoover Institution Library and Archives)

Critics

Australian Railways Union. 1946. Bretton Woods . Sydney: Australian Railways Union.
DeWitt, Jim. & Economic Reform Club and Institute. 1944. Your guide to Bretton Woods : how its adoption would affect New Zealand's independence. Wellington, N.Z : Economic Reform Club
Field, A. N. (1957). The Bretton Woods plot. Nelson, N.Z : A.N. Field
Hawtrey, R. G. 1946. Bretton Woods : for better or worse. London : Longmans, Green
New World Reconstruction Movement (Melbourne, Vic.). 1947. A protest against Bretton Woods. Melbourne : New World Reconstruction Movement
Ward, E. J. 1947. The case against the ratification of the Bretton Woods financial agreement. Canberra : [E.J. Ward]

Multimedia

Bänziger, Hugo. (Bretton Woods) Interview with Barry Eichengreen. Finance & History Podcast audio. August 12, 2021.
Steil, Benn. Bretton Woods Conference and Harry Dexter White. American History TV series. CSPAN. January 3, 2014.

Presidential Speeches

Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass on Bretton Woods Seventy-Fifth Anniversary, July 16, 2019
Address to the Board of Governors by Lewis T. Preston, October 4, 1994
Annual Meetings Address by Eugene R. Black, President of the Bank, September 25, 1956
Address by Eugene R. Black, President of IBRD, before the Twenty-First Session of the Economic and Social Council of United Nations, Meeting at UN Headquarters, New York City, April 18, 1956

Sources for WBG History Guide

Bretton Woods

Archives & Sites

Contemporary Sources & Documents

Secondary Works

Personal Papers & Archives

Critics

Multimedia

Presidential Speeches