The media relations series includes press releases disseminated by the World Bank Group relating to operations and activities from the founding of the World Bank in 1946 through 1995. Press releases of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are included in this series.

The series consists of IBRD numbered press releases relating to Bank Group operations and activities dating from 1946 to1995. Press releases document country membership admission to the Bank and announce staff appointments in various member countries and other promotions within the Bank. The majority of IBRD press releases relate to IBRD loans, including applications, agreements, and issuances. Other topics of press releases include organizational changes (including reorganizations, retirements, and staff and Executive Director appointments), country membership, bond issuances, Resident Mission developments, speeches by senior management, report publications, conference attendance, consultative group meetings, mission travel undertaken by senior management, and Spring and Annual meetings. Early press releases were numbered consecutively. Beginning in 1962, press releases were numbered according to the year of release. Numbered press releases are missing from the following years: 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986.

Series also includes press releases relating to IDA operations and activities from its creation in 1960 to 1994. The majority of IDA press releases relate to the funding of projects through IDA credits. Other topics of press releases include organizational changes (including reorganizations, retirements, and staff appointments), country membership, IDA replenishments, consultative group meetings, conference attendance, and Spring and Annual meetings. The press releases are arranged consecutively by number from 1960 through December 1961, numerically by calendar year from 1962 to June 1976, and numerically by fiscal year from July 1976.

An index for IBRD and IDA press releases from 1946 to 1994 is included. Indexes provide a brief descriptive subject title along with press release number and date. A separate index for IDA records for the years 1962 to 1979 is also included and contains the same information.

A portion of IBRD and IDA press releases dating from 1946 to 1994 are unnumbered and arranged chronologically. Unnumbered press releases are included in the file indexes as "unnum" or "unnumbered" but are not filed withthe numbered press releases. Some press releases have published informational supplements attached; supplements originated in both the Bank and in other organizations.

The series also contains translations of some of the IBRD and IDA press releases from 1948 to 1994. French and Spanish translations are most common but translations into Chinese, German, Italian, Arabic, Japanese and Portuguese are also included. A number of smaller series of press releases dating from 1987 through 1994 that relate to specific World Bank agencies or topics are also included. The financial series describes general World Bank finances, currency issues, and bonds. The larger special series details World Bank presidents' visits to member countries, staff appointments, and new Bank initiatives. A small number of press releases from the early 1990s relate to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the impact of development on particular US states export growth are also included.

The series also includes versions of speeches and addresses by Bank Group officials that were disseminated as press releases. These date from 1946 to 1965. The majority of the speeches are by Bank presidents Eugene Meyer, George Woods, and Robert McNamara. Speeches by other Bank officials include: J. Burke Knapp; Sir Denis Rickett; Mohamed Shoaib; Siem Alderweld; and Irving Freidman. These speeches include commencement addresses, Annual Meetings addresses to the Board of Governors, remarks during sessions of Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and addresses to various bank associations and conferences.

The series also contains IFC press releases relating to operations and activities dating from 1956 to 1979. Topics include external operations as well as organizational changes, activities and events. Responsibility for writing and disseminating IFC press releases was the responsibility of various departments within the Information and Public Affairs Department (IPA) between IFC's creation in 1956 and 1979. In 1979, this activity was transferred to IFC's new Information Office. A small number of press releases dating from 1965 to 1974 include IPA correspondence relating to the authorship and dissemination of both press releases and photographs from the Bank's photograph library. These files are titled according to either the name of the company that received the investment or by country, thereunder by name of company.

The series also contains records relatingto press tours organized and facilitated by the Bank and governments and institutions of member countries. Press tours included media from around the world. Participants visited sites of projects funded by the Bank, partook in talks and discussions related to development, and met with government officials. Records include memoranda related to the planning of the trip, programs and itineraries, and background publications for participants.

Records in this fonds relate to the functions of the external relations complex as described in the Administrative History field above. In addition, records created and received by EXT Vice Presidencies are also included. Note that, periodically, the EXTVP contained units responsible for functions not included in the above definition. See Related Units of Description below for direction to the fonds containing those records.

This series contains speeches made by Bank staff and, in lesser amounts, Bank consultants, Executive Directors, and government officials. These records were maintained by EXT staff as a reference collection. In addition to speeches, a small amount of similar materials are included, such as: talking points for speeches; transcripts of radio addresses, lectures, press conferences, and interviews; and a small number of published articles.

Note that, while one of EXT's responsibilities was to serve as speechwriter for the Bank President and other senior staff, there is no evidence of speechwriting activities contained in the records of this series. Additionally, EXT staff were regularly responsible for fielding requests for appearances and speeches by Bank Presidents and managing logistics related to those appearances; records related to these activities are likewise not included in this series.

Speeches of Bank Presidents

Speeches made by every Bank President from 1946 to 1999 are included. Presidential speeches contained in this series were delivered to a variety of audiences, both internally and externally, although the latter is more common. The most frequent audience is the Board of Governors at the Bank's Annual Meetings. Other external audiences include international organizations (including the United Nations and its various councils, divisions, and conferences), clubs, associations, and academic institutions.

The speeches of Bank Presidents contained in this series are often small pamphlet-sized publications. This is most commonly the case with the annual Address to the Board of Governors given at the Bank's Annual Meetings. Other formats include photocopies and press releases.

Only three speeches made by President Eugene Meyer are included in this series. Two of the speeches, both dating from 1946, are from: the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Political Science; and a dinner in honor of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Boards of Governors. The third speech, from 13 January 1947, was given to the Canadian Club subsequent to Meyer's resignation as Bank President.

President John J. McCloy's speeches date from April 1947 to June 1949. In addition to speech transcripts and the scripts of two television programs McCloy participated in, the script for his three-part lecture given at John B. Stetson University in February 1949 is also included. Statements made by McCloy to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in January 1948 and the House Committee on Bank and Currency in May 1949 are also included.

The speeches of President Eugene Black date from 1947 to 1962. These include speeches from 1947 and 1948 made by Black while serving as the U.S. Executive Director to the Bank. In addition to his speeches, a single folder includes Bank press releases related to Black's appointment as President of the Bank and to other matters. A small number of photocopied magazine articles profiling Black are also included.

President George D. Woods' speeches date from January 1963 to May 1968. In addition to speeches, a small amount of Bank press releases related to Woods' appointment as Bank President as well as magazine articles related to Woods and the World Bank are included; the latter includes a copy of Forbes magazine dated 15 December 1963 featuring Woods on the cover. An article authored by Woods and published in Foreign Affairs magazine in January 1966 is also included.

The majority of President Robert S. McNamara's speeches are in published form and date from 1968 to 1981. Three speeches given by McNamara following his departure from the World Bank are also included: the Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture (1 November 1985); the Africa Leadership Forum (21 June 1990); and the Annual Conference on Development Economics (25 April 1991).

President A. W. Clausen's speeches date from 1981 to 1986. Clausen's addresses to the Board of Governors are available in published pamphlet form as are a small number of other speeches. The remainder are photocopies.

President Barber Conable's speeches date from 1986 to 1991. Conable's addresses to the Board of Governors at the Annual Meetings from 1988 to 1990 include translations in a number of languages, including: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French.

President Lewis Preston's speeches date from 1991 to 1994. Only talking points are included for a number of his speeches.

President James D. Wolfensohn's speeches date from 1997 and are relatively few in number. Speeches are filed alongside those of other Bank staff and external political figures.

Bank staff (non-President) and other speeches

This series also contains speeches made by Bank Group staff (including International Finance Corporation [IFC] staff) and, in far less number, Bank consultants, Executive Directors of the Bank, country leaders and ministers, and other prominent external figures. The majority of the speeches are by International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) staff. Speeches date from 1946 to 1993. In addition to speeches, a small number of interview transcripts, statements, and published articles are included. In most cases, there are between one and three speeches per individual, although in the case of more senior staff, the number of items can exceed a dozen. Drafts of speeches are included, although in very small number. Translations of speeches are included for some speeches and in a few cases the speech exists only in a language other than English; in the case of the latter, the most common languages are French and Spanish.

Note that some speeches by senior External Relations staff that were filed alongside the speeches of other senior Bank staff are included in this series. These include speeches, lecture and press conference transcripts, speech notes (with hand-written annotations), and published articles dating from 1996 to 1999 by EXTVP Mark Molloch Brown.

EXT speechwriters' reference collection

A group of speeches maintained as reference copies by EXT speechwriters from 1981 to 1989 are also included in this series. Speeches made by Presidents Clausen and Conable are the most common in this collection. Conable's speeches from August 1987 to September 1989 are interfiled with speeches made by other senior Bank staff and prominent external figures. Conable's speeches, however, still make up the majority of the records during this period.