Central America Papers Project

"This set began as the Central American Papers Project (CAPP) of the Fund for Free Expression with support from the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation and National Community Funds. The project was originally inspired by Congressman Jim Moody, a former university professor and Peace Corps official, and was originally housed in his office. Subsequently the CAPP moved o the offices of the Center for National Security Studies, a project of The Fund for Peace. The CAPP evolved into the National Security Archive and became a project of The Fund for Peace through the efforts of Stephen R. Paschke, Controller and Chief Financial Officer of The Fund for Peace, and Morton Halperin, Executive Director of the Center for National Security Studies. Nina Solarz, Executive Director of The Fund for Peace, has been particularly helpful in the process of institutionalizing the Archive. The systematic use of the Freedom of Information Act to secure important documentation relevant to the ongoing debate over national security policy was first encouraged by former Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Laurence Stern who died in 1979.

"The members of the original advisory board of the Central American Papers Project provided essential support and guidance in the earliest days of document collection and cataloging. They include: Source
 * Scott Armstrong, former Director of the Washington Post Foreign Policy Project, founder and Executive Director, National Security Archive
 * Cynthia Arnson, former Legislative Assistant to Rep. George Miller (D-CA), U.S. Congress; Author of El Salvador: A Revolution Confronts the United States
 * John J. Bailey, Georgetown University Library
 * Raymond Bonner, former New York Times reporter in El Salvador, and author of Weakness and Deceit: U.S. Policy and El Salvador
 * Philip Brenner, Associate Professor of International Relations, American University
 * Victor Johnson, Staff Director, U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs
 * Jim Moody (D-WI)
 * Aryeh Neier, Vice Chair, Americas Watch
 * Robert White, President, International Center for Development Policy; U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, 1980-81
 * Murat W. Williams, U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, 1961-1964