President Franklin Roosevelt's Letter to Myron C. Taylor on Evian Conference
4/26/1938
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Following the German Anchluss with Austria, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed an international conference to facilitate and finance “political refugee” emigration to other countries. In this letter, Roosevelt appoints Myron C.Taylor, a moderate Republican businessman, to represent the United States at the July 1938 Evian Conference.
At the conference, Taylor announced that the U.S. would admit its full German/Austrian quota of 27,370 per year over the next five years—a number set by the Immigration Quota Act of 1924. This was far lower than the 300,000 applicants on waiting lists for U.S. visas. The conference also established a new Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees to negotiate with Germany on refugee matters.
Ultimately, though, the Evian Conference was a failure because no country—including the United States—was willing to take in the large enough numbers of European Jews seeking safe haven.
At the conference, Taylor announced that the U.S. would admit its full German/Austrian quota of 27,370 per year over the next five years—a number set by the Immigration Quota Act of 1924. This was far lower than the 300,000 applicants on waiting lists for U.S. visas. The conference also established a new Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees to negotiate with Germany on refugee matters.
Ultimately, though, the Evian Conference was a failure because no country—including the United States—was willing to take in the large enough numbers of European Jews seeking safe haven.
This primary source comes from the Collection FDR-Taylor: Myron C. Taylor Papers.
Full Citation: President Franklin Roosevelt's Letter to Myron C. Taylor on Evian Conference; 4/26/1938; Collection FDR-Taylor: Myron C. Taylor Papers; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/fdr-letter-myron-taylor-evian-conference, March 28, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
