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W. Cleon Skousen papers on Causa International, 1964-1987

 Sub-Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 9364 Series 4 Sub-Series 6

Scope and Contents

Contains materials on Causa International (CAUSA), including news clippings, business cards collected at Causa conferences, publications, viewpoint drafts, letters, photocopies of seminar lecture notes, and Causa Pan-American Convention notes, programs, VHS tapes of conferences and Causa programming, articles, and lists of participants. Topics include Central American politics, religious liberty, communism, and various events. Also includes materials on Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification movement, including photographs with Skousen at events, articles, clippings, and copies of legal documents of a case against Moon and a discussion of its impact on religious liberty. Materials dated 1964 to 1987.

Dates

  • 1964-1987

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Condition restricted. Photographs kept in cold storage; access requires 24 hours advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtainany necessary copyright clearances. Permission to use material from this collection must be obtained from Reference Services at specialcollections@byu.edu.

Biographical / Historical

Causa International was a non-profit educational organization founded in 1980 in New York City by members of the Unification Church and at the inspiration of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification movement. Its purpose was to promote a worldview based on philosophical and scientific reasoning while being God-centered, and to provide a positive alternative to communism. The organization eventually had chapters in 21 countries in the 1980s. Originally the acronym stood for "Confederation of Associations for the Unity of the Societies of the Americas." Later it stood for "Con amor y union, salvaremos America," or was just considered to be Spanish for "cause." The organization sponsored educational conferences and seminars for Christian leaders, politicians, and activists.

Biographical / Historical

Willard Cleon Skousen was born in Raymond, Alberta, Canada on January 20, 1913, to Margarita Bentley and Royal Pratt Skousen. The family moved to San Bernardino, California, when Cleon was 10. He studied at Juarez Academy in Mexico for 9th and 10th grade while living with his grandmother in Colonia Juarez. Skousen served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the British Isles. He later attended San Bernadino Valley Junior College, where he served as student body president and excelled as a debater and public speaker. He went on to attend George Washington University and received his J.D. degree. Skousen was admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and before the Federal District Court of Appeals. In 1935, while still attending law school, Skousen entered J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and was subsequently appointed as a Special Agent.

Skousen married Jewel Almira Pitcher Skousen on August 13, 1936, in Salt Lake City, Utah. They had eight children. Skousen served in various parts of the United States during World War II and was appointed to a supervisory administrative position at the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. Skousen left the FBI in 1951, after 16 years of service, to become the Director of Public Services and member of the faculty at Brigham Young University. In 1956, he was given a leave of absence from BYU to reorganize the Salt Lake City Police Department, where he served as Chief of Police until 1960. In the fall of 1960, Skousen became Field Director for the American Security Council, as well as the editorial director of Law and Order, a police magazine. He returned to teach at BYU from 1967 to 1978.

Skousen's loyalty to America's founding fathers and the Constitution led to his founding the Freeman Institute in 1971, which was later renamed the National Center for Constitutional Studies. He served as president of the NCCS until 1988, working on educational courses, speeches, and writings aimed to educate citizens and elect government officials with similar views on the Constitution. Skousen authored many books and spoke prolifically across the United States. Some of his best-selling publications include "The Naked Communist," "So You Want to Raise a Boy?" "The Making of America," and "The Five Thousand Year Leap." He also wrote books on religion, including "The Prophecy and Modern Times,” and "Treasures from the Book of Mormon.” Skousen passed away January 9, 2006, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Extent

43 folders

16 videocassettes

Language of Materials

English