UPEI historian petitions for release of Cold War spy records
Dr. R. Bruce Craig, a history professor at the University of Prince Edward Island, is using his expertise in espionage to unlock Cold War secrets.
His knowledge of Cold War history will be used to petition the federal court in New York City for the release of grand jury records from the 1951 indictment of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were accused of running a spy ring that passed American atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. They were convicted of spying and executed in 1953.
The National Security Archive, along with several leading US historical associations, filed the petition to unseal the Rosenberg grand jury records on January 31. Supported by extensive declarations from Craig and other experts, the petition describes the trial as a defining moment in the Cold War, and argues that 57 years later, scholarly and public interest in these transcripts far outweigh any remaining privacy or national security interests in continued secrecy.
Craig, who is the author of Treasonable Doubt: The Harry Dexter White Spy Case, published by the University Press of Kansas, has considerable experience in petitioning grand jury records that pertain to espionage, on the Rosenberg case and several others.
'I spent the good part of this last year preparing the lead historical declaration that was just filed with the National Security Archive petition to force open these grand jury records and I'm very excited about the current prospect of unsealing the Rosenberg records," stated Craig. "A victory in court not only would strike a blow against government secrecy, but the grand jury records we'd get access to would clarify much that remains divisive and unknown about this controversial trial."
Grand jury minutes are not generally made public and are supposed to remain secret in perpetuity. However, one of Craig's previous court filings, "Craig v. USA," set the precedent that makes it possible for historians to gain access when it can be clearly established that the historical values outweigh the need for continued secrecy. In the late 1990s Craig was the lead petitioner in another case that resulted in the unsealing of the Alger Hiss espionage case grand jury records.
Craig and his fellow petitioners believe they have made a strong case for the release of the Rosenberg records. In the words of one such petitioner, New York Times reporter Sam Roberts, "Few cases in American jurisprudence have stirred emotions, generated debate in and out of government and the judicial system, and have had as enduring and divisive a political impact as the prosecution of the Rosenbergs."
Before moving to Prince Edward Island, Bruce Craig represented the historical and archival communities on Capitol Hill for seven years. He served as Executive Director of the National Coalition for History in Washington DC, and his efforts were directly responsible for the public release of the records of the notorious House Committee on Un-American Activities.
