SHIRLEY PECK BARNES PAPERS, 1967-2005

Shirley Peck Barnes was a hospital administrator in Denver, Colorado, during the Vietnam War, and offered her facility and services to the Friends of Children of Vietnam (FCVN) adoption agency in April and May, 1975. FCVN was a participating agency in Operation Babylift, a coordinated evacuation of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American babies and children during the fall of Saigon and the withdrawal of American troops. The airlift began in late March, 1975, when Edward Daly, owner of the World Airways airline, flew 50 orphans out of Vietnam on an unauthorized but widely celebrated flight. Daly was presented by the media as a hero who had finally taken charge in an increasingly desperate situation. Soon thereafter, President Ford approved Operation Babylift, an Agency for International Development (State Department) plan to airlift an estimated 3000 orphan children to the United States to be adopted by American families. The Ford White House was not involved in the planning of Operation Babylift.

At the time, the Babylift was a novel and somewhat controversial approach. The public was fascinated by the media coverage of planes full of babies arriving in the United States. Some viewed the evacuation of Vietnamese orphans as a rescue, and saw their adoption as a chance at a better life. Because many of the orphans had been fathered by American soldiers, there were fears that the Viet Cong would kill the children when South Vietnam was taken over by the communists. Others considered the airlift the equivalent of abduction, and in the years following, there were several lawsuits by Vietnamese refugees to recover their children who had been placed in orphanages for safekeeping, and then inadvertently sent to the United States and adopted.

Although Barnes was on the periphery for much of the administration of Operation Babylift, her involvement in caring for some of the children upon their arrival in Denver deeply touched and inspired her. In the decades following, Barnes kept in close contact with adoptees and other participants of Operation Babylift. She eventually researched and wrote a book about the airlift, titled The War Cradle, which was published in 2000. She also participated in a World Airways reunion tour and traveled with other Babylift participants to Vietnam in 2005. Barnes died in 2007.

Scope and Content Note
The collection is useful for researchers interested in learning more about Operation Babylift, particularly its portrayal and coverage by the American media. The Magazine and Newspaper Clippings series brings together multiple viewpoints and perspectives on the Babylift, which could be beneficial to researchers looking for an overview of the nation's reaction to the event.

There are also several files in the Subject series relating to the operations and activities of the Friends of Children of Vietnam (FCVN) adoption agency, which may offer insight into the organization's mission and understanding of its role during the Vietnam War. FCVN newsletters and internal correspondence could be helpful for researchers wanting to know more about the events preceding Operation Babylift.

Another highlight of the collection is the LeeSanne Buchanan materials, which pre-dates Operation Babylift but is quite informative in understanding the process of international adoption in the 1960s. Buchanan eventually became president of the FCVN and worked with Vietnamese orphanages through the early 1970s, but appears to have left the organization before the commencement of Operation Babylift. The Buchanan material overlaps some of the FCVN material contained in the Barnes Subject series; both series offer insight into the condition of Vietnamese orphanages and the role of the FCVN and other charities in the final years of the war.

The Barnes Papers are not particularly revealing about the role played by Barnes herself during Operation Babylift. Most documentation dating from 1975 is either photocopies of original documents or does not relate to Barnes' personal work. Much of her personal correspondence dates from 2000 onward, and discusses contemporary Babylift events and exhibits rather than reflecting on her work in 1975. The materials relating to her research on The War Cradle are probably best understood in context of the book itself. The book is available to researchers as part of the Ford Library's book collection.

Related Materials (March 2014)
The library does not have extensive additional materials on Operation Babylift. Very little White House discussion or decision-making on this effort occurred. Some material appears in the White House Central Files Subject category ND 18-2/CO 165, /CO 165-1, and /CO 165-2 (Refugees/Vietnam). Scattered folders also appear in such collections as the Richard Cheney Files, the Philip Buchen Files, the John Marsh Files, the Theodore Marrs Files, and the Ron Nessen Papers. Shirley Peck Barnes' book, The War Cradle, is available to researchers as part of the Ford Library's book collection. The records of the Agency for International Development, the government agency that planned Operation Babylift, are held at the National Archives in Record Group 286.