The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
This document is protected by copyright and has been removed.
Author(s): Irving Brant
Article Title: Care of Presidents' Papers: Poor Conditions Blamed on Lack of Library of
Congress Funds
Journal Title: New York Times
Volume Number:
Date:
December 29, 1954
Page Numbers:
Issue Number:
REPRINT FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION, MARCH,
1917.
_DEL MAR GOLLEGTION ADDED TO THE A. B, A. LIBRARY
T
HE books and the literary and statistical collection of Alexander Del Mar have been
added to the library of the American Bankers Association. The collection, unique in all respects, consists of several hundred books and thousands of pamphlets, manuscripts, clippings and extensive notes on the financial and monetary studies
made by Mr. Del Mar in the libraries of Europe.
The entire collection is covered by an index contained in about 15,000 cards. The reference system
permits ready access to information on both historical and current and existing affairs concerning
finance, commerce, money, banking, etc.
This invaluable addition to the library will be
known as the Alexander Del Mar Collection of the
Library of the American Bankers Association. It
will be placed in the rooms heretofore occupied by
the secretary of the New York State Bankers Association and thereby give the entire twelfth floor of
the Hanover Bank Building to the exclusive occupancy of the general offices of the Association.
In order to estimate the value and usefulness
to the banking fraternity of Mr. Del Mar's collection
it A&$ necessary to state under what circumstances
it #as formed, from what sources it has been derived
and the purpose it has served and is still serving.
Mr. Del Mar is a native of New York and he
has been engaged in writing on general financial,
statistical and historical subjects since 1855. He
has been the editor of many publications, including
the Commercial and Financial Chronicle and he has
been a heavy contributor not only to technical magazines but to the daily papers. In 1865 he was appointed director of the United States Bureau of
Commerce and organized the statistical department
whose work was subsequently amplified until it developed to such proportions that the bureau was reorganized into the Department of Commerce and its
head made a Cabinet officer. It will be seen, therefore, that Mr. Del Mar has been an active student
and writer on commercial and financial subjects for
over sixty years. Now at the age of eighty he is as
active as ever.
In the course of his voluminous studies and investigations Mr. Del Mar has purchased both in
Europe and in America thousands of books which
have been digested and rearranged and eliminated
until the accumulation in its present form consists
of working tools of great value. There are many
rare books in the collection, for some of which Mr.
Del Mar paid as high as fifty dollars, and he has
made extracts and digested information from other
books of which copies could not be purchased at alL
His purpose has been to bring together in one collection all the experience of the past on financial
and commercial topics and to keep the whole up-to-
date by adding that part of current production
which gives promise of survival. The collection comprises about 1,300 works. The extracts, copied
largely from works in the great libraries of London,
Paris, Berlin and Vienna, fill about 300 note-books
with a card index of 12,000 to 15,000 titles. Mr.
Del Mar describes the whole as an "up-to-date pandect, capable of responding to almost any financial,
commercial, historical or chronological inquiry."
From this great reservoir of information Mr.
Del Mar has completed many financial and commercial books which have been published under his
name. From it he has earned a literary income of
no mean amount and he says that although for the
past twenty years he has been actively engaged in
writing financial articles, he has not found it necessary to consult the libraries of the metropolis. Indeed, he has donated to the Public Library of New
York several hundred works for which he had no
further use.
Among Mr. Del Mar's published works are:
History of the Precious Metals; History of Money
in Ancient States; History of Monetary Systems;
The Science of Money; History of Monetary Crimes;
History of Money in Modern States; The Aryans
and the Conquest of India, and many others. To
these must be added about 200 pamphlets which
cover a wide range within the limitations of the
subject to which he has devoted his attention.
There are also in the collection fourteen unpublished manuscripts. These works are practically
finished and need only arrangement of foot notes,
revision of statistical tables and minor additions to
render them complete for study or publication. In
this list are included: History of Money in States,
not included in previous works, viz., Korea, CochinChina, Burmah, Siam, Manchuria, aboriginal Africa,
modern Italy, including Venice and Genoa, Poland,
modern Greece, Balkan States, Switzerland, Canada,
Venezuela, Mexico and Peru; History and Principles of Taxation; History of Civilization in Europe
and America; Hydraulics of the Golden Rivers;
History of Money in the United States During the
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, with an appendix on the history of money in the Confederate
states; History and Romance of Gold; History and
Principles of the Rate of Interest for Money; Politics of Money, and others.
The Del Mar collection will soon be installed
in its new quarters and Mr. Del Mar will have a
desk there where he can work if he wishes to. It is
his purpose to spend his leisure in completing the
index and rearranging the works so that they will
be better adapted for general reference purposes.
In this connection he will have the assistance of the
regular library staff.
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Mr- G&ylord A* Freeman, Vice President
FROM:
Marion E. Wells, Librarian
March I, 1955
^
Uh\f
K I Vm
0
3
Subject: The Archives of The First NationalBankofChicago
During my recent trip East, it was my privilege to make as careful
a study as was possible in a limited time of the methods used by a number
of libraries and companies in the handling of their archives.
Visits were
made to the following organizations:
National Archives, Washington. D. C.
The Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division, Washington, D* C.
"
»
t Prints and Pictures Division
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
New York Life Insurance Company
Bank of the Manhattan Company
Bankers Trust Company
Chase National Bank
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
National City Bank
Morgan Library
Rockefeller Family Offices
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N*Y,
Ford Motor Company Archives, Detroit
In each of these places I found a cordial welcome and an interest in
the possible development of an archival program by The First National Bank
of Chicago*
Personal interviews with the archivists or curators, the librarians,
or the persons in charge of historical records proved most profitable.
The
information acquired as to procedures and techniques used by them will be of
great value in organizing our present collection and in helping to formulate
any undertakings that may be decided upon, especially as we approach our
100th Anniversary,
The need for establishing a department in which historical materials
of their companies could be deposited was evidenced in the majority of inter*
views made* Many of them either have had important anniversaries or are
anticipating them and they recognise the value of having such records properly organised and available for use.
Only a few of them have set up archival
programs, however* The banks have done little along this line* although
efforts are being made by their librarians to collect and index as many
records as they can.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Ford Motor Company are two
companies which experienced a genuine need for organized historical records
as they prepared for anniversaries and, as a result, both established outstanding archives departments.
From them 1 gained the greatest amount of
knowledge• Both of these companies consider their archive® to be an
operating function of their organisations and both have found that these
collections have provided a wealth of information which they had not expected*
They have found that records placed under the supervision of a professional
archivist or librarian are more usable than when located in scattered placesdepartments, vaults, warehouses*
The records which were placed in these two collections ware only those
that had permanent value. They found it necessary to place restrictions on
the use of some records «• certain materials are available only to the department to which they belong * but, nevertheless, the records were placed in
the archives. The decisions as to which materials were to be considered
archival were made by persons who had a broad, over-all view of their historical value to the company*
•3-
Whea Metropolitan and Ford decided to establish such au historical
collection, it was at the instigation and with full support of their chief
executives»
In the case of Metropolitan, a letter was tent by the President
to all policyhotders and agents, inviting them to send in contributions of
any of the companyfs reports* publications* pictures, etc. that were in their
possessions*
They were analysed at the response and many important things
showed up.
The following list gives an idea of ihm type of materials found in these
archives departments:
Original, doc urn eats and papers
Old ledgers, cash books, journals
Financial statements
Company publications
- House organs
- Economic studies
- Promotional literature
Advertising
Speeches and papers of officers
Newspaper clippings
Pictures
Correspondence
* Executives (where deemtd of value for research)
* Oldest customers
Premiums; calendars etc*
Programs of company affairs
Objects of historical interest
Oral histories (of old employees)
The two collections have attractive displays of pictures and historical documents, which are interesting to customers as well as their staffs.
Frequently researchers make use of their materials* The Metropolitan
collection, which is more modest* is adjacent to the Library and under the
direction of the librarian* with an archives librarian in charge
arrangements are simple, yet attractive.
The physical
The Ford Archives is an elaborate
set*upf of course* It is hou$ed in the last home of Henry Ford and is directed
•4*
by aa archivist and three progressions! librarians* plus a large clerical
staff.
la view of our approaching 100th Anniversary * it might be well for us
to consider a definite piaa for formulating an archival program of our own,
vf e have made a good beginning - far better than a»y of the banks that were
visited. A number of our officers are becoming more aware of the value of
the collection which has been gathered together in the Library, and they are
using it.
Realising the limitations of space and of funds, the folio wing proposals
are suggested for your consideration:
i,
A letter should be sent to all pensioners and to stockholders and
customers of long standing, explaining our wish to Locate and to
obtain, if possible* records, reports* publication pictures,
programs! or any objects that relate to the history of The First
National Bauk of Chicago* The letter would be irery effective if
signed by Mr*
2*
A donor's file should be set up which would record all contributions
of historical materials.
Letters of acknowledgement would be sent
each donor.
3*
The present collection of financial statements* histories of the
Bamkt biographies of former presidents , collections of their
speeches, boujd volumes of Bastk publications, pictures, and records
of various kinds which have been placed in the Library through the
yeari will be asterabied in one place in the Library.
It may be
necessary to rearrange shelving or even to consider enlarging the
present Library by absorbing the space now occupied by the Urange
outside our doors*
4*
The valuable collection o£ the James B. Forgan papers will be transferred to new sturdy document boxes, such as arc used by The Library
o£ Congress and the National Archives, aad will become am important
accession to the historical materials of the Bank.
5.
Th^ Meivin A, Traylor files - now housed in the Old Records Department - could be organised in the same way and made available for use,
&»
A picture collection will be established*
into this will go copies of
all portraits, exterior and interior views of the Bank, pictures of
personnel activities, etc, , all indexed for ready reference use*
7.
When ©pace permits, a wing panel unit could be used as an effective
permanent exhibit of old Bank pictures* The Metropolitan has such
an exhibit which is called "The Family Album",
enjoy looking at these old pictures.
Old and new employees
A unit can be installed for about
$350,00
8,
Important historical records may be stored in the Warehouse* A survey
should be made to see what is there.
The first ledgers used by the
Batik are a£ definite historical value and should be placed in the archives.
f#
Other documents are in the custody of the Cashier*
Until space can
be arranged for the necessary protection and proper display of such
items of historical interest, it would be useful to have them included
in an Archives index which will be set up in the Library.
10.
Certain records are available at the present time only through the
Comptroller's Office.
Currently they are Confidential but after a
time lag of an indefinite number of years could they not cease to be
Confidential but become historical? One report» for examplef is the
''Comparative Statement"1.
If a time schedule could be determined as
to when this report could be placed in the archives» it would become an
important addition to our historical collection.
Many statistics are
available there which are not found elsewhere.
If necessary* restric-
tions can be placed on such records, limiting them to the use of
executives or specific departments,
11.
Other departments may have collected records of their activities over
long period of years* These should become part of the archives*
For
example* the Bond Department prepared a display of Monthly Bond Circulars and of their original offering circulars (beginning in 108?) for
the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Bank.
For many years these have been
in the Library.
12.
The collection, of speeches and articles of Bank officers should be considered an important part of the company's archives.
It can be main-
tained only through the cooperation of each person who prepares a
speech or article.
Information about this collection should be brought
to the attention of the officers with request that one or more copies
of each speech mad# be sent to the archives for permanent reference.
It is not unusual to have requests for papers that were delivered many
years ago by former officers,
13.
The collection of trophies which cover sport activities over a very long
period of years should be considered a part of the historical exhibit
material* There are enough to fill a room, and they would be interesting
to many people•
14.
The problem of deterioration of paper is ever-present with librarians
and archivists.
The Federal Reserve B&nk of New York is protecting
its records by having 50 copies of each report and publication run off on
linen rag paper.
A slightly different colored cover is used to distia-
gui$h them from the rest.
These are used for official file copies• Such
a program should be adopted by us to insure the preservation of important
reports*
15.
A project, somewhat like that of Ford's Oral History Program, would
be valuable in preserving some of the stories associated with the early
days of the Batik, If reminiscences of some of our pensioners aad
officers amd employees with long service records could be taken on a
tape recorder, we would have information mot found in print* Some time
would be required to set up such a program of personal interviews but
the results could be worth the effort*
The above suggestions are possible ways in which we can begin to gather
together important materials relating to the Bank1*! history*
Before 1963 we
will find them much more important and their accessibility will be appreciated
to a greater degree than we caa foresee now*
It is conceivable that at some future time a motm elaborate arrange-*
orient of housing these records could be decided upon, A separate room could
be given over to the Archives, preferably under the supervision of the Library*
Here could be displayed some of the interesting and valuable documents re*
iating to our history - in display cases that would protect them yet make them
available for research use. Other papers could be added to the Forgaa and
Traylor collections.
Furniture that was used in the early days of the Baak
could become part of this historical exhibit* The beautiful desk that was used
by Mr. James B, Forgan is now being used by Mr. Batcom*
Perhaps, at at
later date* that could be placed in such a room* Other pieces may become
available to us. The First National Bank of Chicago has earned a prominent
place in Chicagofs history aad our historical records can became a valuable
part of Chicago1* resources.
The attached list indicate® the scope of the materials which already
are in the Library*
Marion E. Weils
Librarian
Historical materials of The First National Bank of Chicago
now located in the Library
Annual reports • - - 1895 to date (only scattered reports for earlier years)
Quarterly statements * - - 1863 to date (photo static copies of early years)
Annual statements to the press - - - 1914 to 1930
Anniversary booklets
Biographies - ~ - James B. Forgan
Lymaa 3* Gage
Bank histories - • - Henry Morris
Guy Cooke
Cyril James
Mrs. Brown * "The Tutnult Dies11
Speeches and articles - Baak officers for many years
- James B» Forgan papers (bound)
Newspaper clippings (in scrapbooks)
Programs of Quarter--Century Club dinners -** 1911 to date
Pictures * Bank personnel
* Baak building (exterior and interior view®)
- Sport activities
First National Bank stock quotations »-- 1912 to date .
Trust Department — "Recent Decisions Affecting Wills, Trust & Taxation, 193$
to date
Bond Department —~ Monthly bond circulars, 1897-1928
' Original offering circulars* 1897-1928
First National Choral Club •>-- Minutes, 1929 to date
Union Trust Company - - * Annual reports, 1901*1929
RECEIVED
REGULATIONS FOR THE PUBLIC USE OF RECORDS
IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
[Reprinted from FEDERAL REGISTER, March 28,1953]
SYSifcM
§ 2.0 Scope. The provisions of this
part apply to the public use of records
deposited with the National Archives of
the United States.
§ 2.1 Meaning of terms. As used in
this part, unless the context otherwise
requires, terms shall have the meaning
ascribed in the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as
amended (63 Stat. 377, as amended; 40
U. S. C. Sup. 472, 44 U. S. C. Sup. 391).
§ 2.2 Legal custody. The Administrator has legal custody of all records
deposited with the National Archives of
the United States.
§ 2.3 Availability of records in general, (a) Records deposited with the
National Archives of the United States
will be made available for use subject to
restrictions and limitations imposed by
law, by Executive order, by the regulations in this part, by the agency from
which they have been transferred, or by
the Archivist of the United States.
(b) The following general practices
will be observed:
(1) Records will not ordinarily be
made available for purposes that can be
as well served by a public library.
(2) Persons wishing to examine records, will, as a rule, be required to do so
in the search rooms of the National
Archives Building.
(3) The National Archives and Records Service will also render services with
regard to reproductions, information,
and motion pictures and sound recordings in accordance with the provisions
of this part.
§ 2.4 Access to classified and restricted records. Access to records bearing
security classification will be governed
by the terms of Executive Order No.
10290 (16 P. R. 9795; 3 CPR, 1951 Supp.).
Access to records subject to other forms
of restriction will be governed by the
conditions imposed by the Archivist in
the pertinent Restriction Statements.
(1)
ADMISSION TO SEARCH FACILITIES
§ 2.10 Admission to search rooms.
Persons desiring admission to either the
central search room or one of the
branch search rooms in the National
Archives Building must make application on the prescribed form, stating their
purpose in examining the records.
Forms will be provided and applications
received at the desk of the central search
room.
§ 2.11 Admission card. If an application is approved, a card of admission
to the search rooms will be issued. This
card will be valid for a period not longer
than one year but may be renewed upon
application. It is not transferable and
must be produced when required. Possession of this card does not entitle a
searcher to examine records whose use
is restricted.
§ 2.12 Withdrawal of admission privilege. The Archivist of the United
States may withdraw the privilege of
admission to the search rooms from any
one who violates the regulations in this
part or disregards the instructions of a
search room supervisor.
§ 2.13 Hours of admission. The central and branch search rooms and the
library will be open to persons authorized to use them from 8:45 to 5:15 p. m.
Monday through Friday, Federal holidays excepted. The central search
room will also remain open from 5:15 to
10:00 p. m. Monday through Friday, and
from 8:45 a. m. to 5:15 p. m. on Saturday, Federal holidays excepted. Under
special circumstances, by direction of
the Archivist of the United States, the
search rooms may be closed during any
of the hours specified in this section or
may be opened at other times.
§ 2.14 Admission
to National
Archives Theater. Applications for admission to the National Archives Theater
for the purpose of viewing motion pictures or hearing sound recordings shall
be made to the Chief Archivist of the search room before 4:00 p. m. on the
Audio-Visual Records Branch. Appli- day on which they are to be used, and
cations should be made long enough in those for records or books to be used
advance to permit the completion of
on Saturdays must be filed before 3:00
necessary arrangements. A group of
p. m. on the preceding Friday.
persons must be represented by an au§ 2.26 Removal or mutilation of recthorized spokesman, who, in making application for their admission, must ords. No records or other property of
identify the group he represents. On the National Archives and Records
approval of the application, a time will Service may be taken from the search
be fixed for the rendering of the service, rooms except by members of the Service
staff acting in their official capacities
and the applicant will be notified.
or by others having written authorization
SEARCH ROOM RULES
from a search room supervisor. The
removal or mutilation of rec§ 2.20 Register of searchers. Each unlawful
is forbidden by law and is punishday that a searcher uses records in a ords
able by fine or imprisonment or both
search room he must sign the register of
(62 Stat. 695; 18 U. S. C. Sup., 2071).
searchers maintained there.
§ 2.27 Disturbances. Loud talking
§ 2.21 Searcher's responsibility.
When a searcher has completed his use of and other actions likely to disturb
records or leaves the search room for searchers are prohibited. Persons desirmore than a short period of time, he ing to use typewriters, to read proof
must notify the supervisor. A searcher aloud, or to do other work that may
is responsible for all records delivered to disturb others in the search rooms will,
him until he returns them to the super- where possible, be assigned desks in a
room designated for such purposes.
visor.
§ 2.28 Smoking and eating. Smoking
§ 2.22 Protection of records. Searchers must exercise all possible care to pre- and eating in the search rooms are provent damage to the records delivered to hibited.
them. They must not use ink at desks
REPRODUCTION SERVICES
upon which there are records except
§
2.30
Reproduction fees. The Nawhen a supervisor authorizes the use of
a fountain pen. Records may not be tional Archives and Records Service will,
leaned on, written on, folded anew, for a fee, furnish reproductions of rectraced, or handled in any way likely to ords among its holdings that are availdamage them. Application to the rec- able for public use without restriction.
ords of paper clips, rubber bands, or other Fees must be paid in advance except in
fasteners not on them when they are de- cases where the Chief Archivist of the
livered to a searcher is prohibited. The Audio-Visual Records Branch approves
use of records of exceptional value or in an order for handling them on an "acfragile condition will be subject to such counts receivable basis." Fees may be
special safeguards as the supervisor may paid in coin or currency of the United
States, by check drawn on a bank in the
deem necessary.
United States or its possessions and
§ 2.23 Keeping records in order. The made payable to the Treasurer of the
searcher must keep unbound papers in United States, or by United States postal
the order in which they are delivered to money order or international money
him. If records are found to be in dis- order made payable to the Treasurer of
order, the searcher must not attempt to the United States.
restore them to order but should call the
§ 2.31 Reproduction equipment and
fact to the attention of a supervisor.
Insofar as practicable the
§ 2.24 Limitation on quantity. The personnel.
reproduction
of records in the National
supervisor in charge of a search room Archives Building
will be done by permay limit the quantity of records deliv- sonnel of the National
Archives and
ered to a searcher at one time.
Records Service with equipment belong§ 2.25 Night and Saturday use. Re- ing to the Service. Exceptions to this
quests for records or library books to be rule may be made by the chief archiused at night must be filed with the vists of the records branches upon
supervisor in charge of the central assurance from the Chief Chemist, Pres-
ervation Services Branch, that the equipment proposed to be used is safe for use
in the place and manner intended: And
provided, That the equipment is used
under the supervision of responsible
personnel of the service.
§ 2.32 Authentication and attestation.
Upon request and the payment of appropriate fees, authentication certificates in
the name of the Archivist of the United
States will be prepared and attached to
reproductions of records deposited with
the National Archives. Authority to
issue such certificates is delegated to
the Director of the Federal Register
Division, the Chief Archivist of any records branch, and the Chief of the General
Reference Section of the National Archives.
mation derived from the records that will
be furnished to an individual inquirer
within a given period of time.
LEGAL DEMANDS
§ 2.40 Compliance with subpoena or
other legal demand. When a subpoena
duces tecum or other legal demand for
the production of records or other material deposited with the National Archives is served upon the Administrator
of General Services, the Administrator
will, so far as legally practicable, comply
with such subpoena or demand by submitting authenticated copies of such
records or material, or the original records or material if necessary, unless he
determines that disclosure of the information contained therein is contrary to
law or would prejudice the national inINFORMATION SERVICE
terest or security of the United States.
§ 2.35 Information about records. In- When such subpoena or demand is
formation about the holdings of the Na- served upon any officer or employee of
tional Archives and Records Service or the General Services Administration
about the presence of desired records other than the Administrator, he will, so
among its holdings will be given on re- far as legally practicable and unless
quest, provided that the time required for otherwise directed by the Administrator,
respectfully decline to produce such recthe purpose is not excessive.
ords or material on the ground that he
§ 2.36 Information derived from rec- does not have legal custody thereof, that
ords. Persons living or working within he is without authority under these regthe metropolitan area ordinarily will be ulations to produce the same, and that
expected to examine the records for the Administrator has not determined
themselves. Summary information dedisclosure is lawful and will not
rived from the records will be furnished that
prejudice the national interest or secuby mail to persons who do not have ready rity
of the United States.
access to the National Archives Building;
Provided, That the amount of time reRUSSELL FORBES,
quired for abstracting the information is
Acting Administrator.
not excessive. Staff members will not
MARCH 24, 1953.
undertake to interpret such information.
When necessary, limits will be placed on [P. R. Doc. 53-2672; Piled, Mar. 27, 1953;
the number of replies containing infor8:50 a. zn.]
GSA WASH DC 5 5 - 5 2 4 0
copy
X G
SuBJECT HEADINGS FROM 1918-1932 FILES SENT TO NATIONAL ARCHIVES WHICH MIGHT
CONTAIN MATERIAL OF INTEREST TO THE OCMMITTEE ON FEDERAL RESERVE HISTORY
ACCEPTANCES..,
BANKS & BANKING
Clearing House Funds & Advances—1918
1924
BANKS & BANKING—International Conference of Banks of Issue—1922
BANKS & BANKING
BLUE SKI LAW
World Bank
1918
1926
1919
CAPITAL ISSUES COMMITTEE
CAPITAL ISSUES
1918
1918
1921
1930
DEFLATIOH & INFLATION
1919
1932
EXCHANGE-—Foreign—-Correspondence-—1913—-1932
EXCHANGE—-Stabili za t l o n — 1 9 1 9 — 1 9 2 3
FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS
1917
1932
FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS
Discount Rates (Policy Letters)
1922—1923
(Notes There are a whole list of breakdowns under Federal Reserve Banks
vhich you might want to look at when you get to Archives, but these
listed above are likely prospects)
GOLD—--Payment for Export & Earmarking Purposes—1924—-1932
INSTALLMENT—Buying & Selling
1926-—1932
INTERNATIONAL GOLD CLEARANCE F0HD
LOANS
Private—1922
1922
1932
PUBLIC DEBT—(GENERAL)
RURAL CREDITS
1918
1928—1932 (All prior files sent to Public Debt files)
1920-1932
STABILIZATION OF THE DOLLAR AND COMMODITY PRICES
1918
1932
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Secretary—Letters Sent to Bermuda (1926 Mellon)
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Secretary—Letters Sent to Europe (1924--1927 Mellon)
TREASURY DEPARTMSNT-~-Secretary—Letters Sent to Southampton (1925 Mellon)
TREASURY DEPARTHENT
Secretary—Memoranda to (1921
TREASURY DEPARTHENT
Secretary
Political Situation (1926—1930 Mellon)
WAR FINANCE—Credit Billion Dollars to Germany-—1920
WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD—1917
1931 Mellon)
1921
1922
This document is protected by copyright and has been removed.
Author(s): R. H. Darling; Du Pont Company
Title: Industry Looks at Records management & Safeguarding
Date: September 20, 1954
Page Numbers:
T H E L I B R A R Y OF
CONGRESS
W A S H I N G T O N
25, D. C.
Press Release
No* 56-30
For IMMEDIATE Publication
February 2, 1956
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I JOURNAL DEVOTES NEW ISSUE
TO STUDY OF PERSONAL PAPERS OF WOODROW WILSON
AND CATALOG OF FORTHCOMING CENTENNIAL EXHIBIT
The February issue of the Library of Congress Quarterly Journal of Current
Acquisitions« published today, is devoted primarily to the Library's unique
research materials on Woodrow Wilson and ushers in the Library1s celebration
of the centennial of Wilson's birth*
The Journal's lead article, "Woodrow Wilson, in His Own Time," by
Katharine E« Brand of the Manuscripts Division, tells of the contents of Wilson's
papers in the Library of Congress and also describes those of the statesmen
who served in his two administrations. Taken as a whole, these papers form the
largest and most important body of source material for the study of Wilson and
his era.
Through public-spirited gifts to the Library from Mrs, Woodrow Wilson and
from friends and associates of the former President, Wilson1 s papers alone have
grown to more than 196,000 pieces. Through them biographers and historians can
study Wilson's career from his student days through his roles as lawyer, college
professor, president of Princeton University, Governor of New Jersey, President
of the United States, and world statesman.
Miss Brand also describes how the papers of many other public figures—including 10 of the 19 men who served in Wilson's Cabinet between 1913 and 1921—
have been joined with the Wilson papers in the Library to form "a Mecca for
scholars concerned with the history of the first quarter of the twentieth century.
To enable the public to view some of the documents that illuminate Wilson's
life and achievements, the Library will open a major exhibit of more than 200
items on March 14• The display will present a biographical picture of Wilson
as "teacher, writer, orator, statesman, human being." The catalog of this exhibit—also the work of Miss Brand, with the assistance of George Treasure of the
Manuscripts Division—comprises the second article in the Quarterly Journal's
February issue and is illustrated with reproductions of Wilson's letters and
important state papers. .
The Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions is published as a supplement
to the Annual Report to Congress of the Librarian of Congress. Copies of the
February issue may be purchased from the Government Printing Office, Washington
Digitized for25,
FRASER
D. C., for 75 cents each.
The Library of Congress
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF
CURRENT ACQUISITIONS
Volume 13
FEBRUARY 1956
Number 2
CONTENTS
ARTICLE
Woodrow Wilson, in His Own Time.
KATHARINE E. BRAND . .
CATALOG OF THE WOODROW WILSON
EXHIBIT
ANNUAL
61
CENTENNIAL
73
REPORTS
Orientalia:
Far East,
EDWIN G. BEAL, K. T. WU, ANDREW Y. KURODA,
and KEY p. YANG
Near East.
Hebraica.
119
ROBERT F. OGDEN
120
LAWRENCE MARWIGK
South Asia.
HORACE
I.
POLEMAN,
GEGIL HOBBS,
and
WALTER H. MAURER.
Annual Report of the
Librarian of Congress
PUBLISHED AS]A SUPPLEMENT TO THE
109
122
OT^*7 8 r ? 1 ^
mmm
FRONTISPIECE:
Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, made at the Peace Conference in Paris, 1919.
Reproduced by courtesy of Harris & Ewing.
Woodrow Wilson, in
His Own Time
of this year, a century
will have passed since the birth of
Woodrow Wilson. And what a century! A Civil War, World Wars, uneasy
intervals of peace, scientific advance beyond what would have seemed the limits
of possibility in 1856—and certainly beyond the limits to which the spirit of man
can even now easily adjust.
Much of this upheaval Wilson missed,
in point of time. He began his life in the
leisurely South, among gentlefolk, deeply
religious people. He remembered the
effects of the Civil War, yes, but for the
most part these were not searing memories.
And he came to maturity—he "came to
himself—in quiet academic communities
which, with all the bitter controversy, were
still somewhat removed from the noise of
business, of politics. Wilson himself felt
this keenly. "Experience in affairs, I feel,
is what I most imperatively need . . ." he
wrote, from his first teaching post. "I love
the stir of the world."
The advent of World War I was a shocking thing to most men. What must it have
been to a President newly come into the
place of highest responsibility, to a "literary
politician" who instinctively resisted, but
had finally to accept, the task of leading his
country into and through and out of the
maelstrom! It is interesting enough to
speculate upon what Wilson would have
been—what, indeed, Washington, or Lincoln, or Franklin D. Roosevelt would have
been—without the circumstances of their
respective times. It is interesting, but fu-
I
N DECEMBER
tile. The times forged the men; each man
in his own way put his indelible stamp upon
his time.
Of first importance, then, is the study of
the leader, not only within his own personal
framework but within his own time. This
has been possible for many years in the case
of Washington, of Lincoln, and the others;
it is now becoming increasingly possible
with the more recent figures.
When the first reader opened his first
box of Woodrow Wilson papers* 1 in the
Library of Congress some 15 years ago, he
was venturing into more or less new territory. Until the previous year, most of them
had been in the custody of the authorized
biographer, in Amherst, Mass., and, by
Mrs. Wilson's wish, had been little seen or
used except by Ray Stannard Baker himself. He had, to be sure, written three
volumes of just-off-the-fire Versailles Peace
Conference history, and eight volumes of
the biography (carrying the story through
World War I only), and had also, with
William E. Dodd, edited six volumes of
Wilson's Public Papers. But this mass of
published material, valuable though it was,
represented in the main one man's selection and interpretation. For many others
there now remained the exciting business of
looking into the papers for the first time.
For the eager biographer, and there have
been many, it meant realignment of the
*An asterisk (*) following the name of a
collection will hereafter indicate that those papers may be used only by special permission,
which should be sought through the Chief of the
Library's Manuscripts Division.
61
story, readjustment of emphasis after the
passage of time, and, in a sense, the straining of known facts through a new personality. For the specialist in economic history it meant the discovery or rediscovery
of materials which had been little used or
used not at all. For the student of political
philosophy it meant tracing again, perhaps, the dramatic 1912 convention at Baltimore, which few writers can resist; or the
curious campaign of 1916; or the election
of 1920, in some ways tragic, with the President still in the White House but broken by
illness; or the final days of retirement,
which saw Wilson's last straining effort, in
which a few of his friends participated with
kindness and a kind of desperate hope, to
exercise some final political guidance in the
years before his death.
The story of the papers in Amherst has
been briefly told, and the story of their coming to Washington, and their subsequent
organization in the Library. But the Wilson collection did not remain static at that
point, as many do. The papers which
Baker had assembled during his 15 years of
work on the biography came also, and were
organized; and, almost at once, Wilson's
friends and associates began sending to the
Library letters or copies of letters received
from him, retained copies of which, if they
were of the early years, had not been preserved in the Wilson papers.2
But quite aside from these valuable accretions to the Library's manuscript holdings, the Wilson papers themselves have
been gradually increased. Long unused
trunks, boxes, and bundles in the Wilson
residence have been uncovered from time
to time and examined. Those containing
manuscripts were sent to the Library at
once by Mrs. Wilson, whose constant effort
'See: Katharine E. Brand, "The Woodrow
Wilson Collection," "The Personal Papers of Ray
Stannard Baker," and "The Inside Friends':
Woodrow Wilson to Robert Bridges," in QJCA,
February 1945, August 1948, and May 1953.
62
for more than 30 years has been to effect a
public-spirited disposition of her husband's
papers. These completely new materials
(some 18,000 pieces), constituting a true
part of the papers of Woodrow Wilson,
have not yet, in most cases, been integrated
in the original materials, which became
available for use in the summer of 1940.
They have been thrown, rather, as a matter
of deliberate policy, into a rough chronological arrangement to facilitate their use,
and have been kept entirely separate, so
that those who came earlier to the Manuscripts Division, and sat day after day in
the Reading Room scanning each paper,
need not, upon a return visit, be confronted
with the necessity of going again through
the entire collection to discover the fresh
materials. But now, since the latest, and
almost certainly the final, large addition
was made in the fall of 1954, a definitive
reorganization and integration of all the
papers within a year or two is contemplated.
The new material covers a wide datespan (roughly 1875-1924, with a few
earlier and later papers) and constitutes a
varied and fascinating assortment, from
early notebooks kept while Wilson was still
in college to hundreds of letters and messages which poured in after his death in
1924. The latter are carefully mounted
in several volumes of an extensive scrapbook series* kept by John Randolph Boiling, Mrs. Wilson's brother and assistant
through many years.
Practically all the letters found in this
new group were addressed to Wilson.
There are family letters, from his father,
his brother and sisters, his uncles, and his
cousins. There are letters from many
friends: R. Heath Dabney and Charles W.
Kent, of the University of Virginia days;
Herbert B. Adams and Albert Shaw, whom
he knew at Johns Hopkins; James W.
Hazen, a Middletown friend of the Wesleyan period; Princeton classmates such as
Robert Bridges, Hiram Woods, and Charles
Talcott, as well as the friends and associates
of his later Princeton years—Winthrop M.
Daniels, Henry B. Fine, Henry Jones Ford,
Andrew F. West, David B. Jones, Thomas
D. Jones, Henry van Dyke, Cyrus H. McCormick, Edward R. Sheldon, Lawrence
Woods, Adrian H. Joline, Edward G.
Conklin, Cornelius C. Cuyler, and others.
There are letters from John Grier Hibben,
who followed Wilson in the presidency of
Princeton, and from Francis L. Patton, who
preceded him; and a handwritten note
from old Dr. James McCosh, stalwart
friend of the Wilson family and, at the
time of Wilson's appointment to the
Princeton faculty, President Emeritus:
I
old
and
will
am glad they are bringing you back to your
college. You will receive a welcome here
will have a wide field of usefulness. You
enter in and possess it.
There are letters also from Edward
Ireland Renick, Wilson's first law partner,
who remained his warm friend to the time
of his death in 1902; and, from the early
months in Atlanta, a power of attorney
given to Wilson by his mother and father,
and written out in careful longhand by the
young lawyer himself.
Then, too, there is correspondence from
associates in the publishing world, such as
Walter Hines Page and Horace E. Scudder;
letters relating to efforts made by universities—William and Mary, Virginia, and
Texas, among them—to draw Wilson away
from Princeton; letters from colleagues in
his own and related fields, including Frederick J. Turner, A. Lawrence Lowell, John
Bates Clark of Smith College, John H.
Latane, and even one—strictly businesslike
and to the point—from President M. Carey
Thomas of Bryn Mawr! And here and
there one finds a surprising note, such, for
example, as this letter of September 14,
1891:
Dear Sir
Allow me to express the pleasure with which
I have read your paper in the Atlantic. Your
literary touch is so light and sure that you ought
by no means to confine yourself to public questions which so many others are treating. We
have few who possess the literary touch.
I should not venture to write this, but that
the best reward of literature lies in the acknowledgments it brings from strangers.
Cordially yours,
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
We must regret that Wilson, at this point
in his career, was so little inclined to view
himself as a man confined "to public questions" that he failed, as far as can be discovered, to make and retain a copy of his
own reply.
Included also are drafts of early essays,
some of which never got beyond their
youthful author's desk; and, laid between
the pages of an 1876 notebook, careful
pencil drawings of sailing ships, Wilson's
interest in which was stimulated when, at
the age of 18, he moved with his family to
the coastal town of Wilmington, N. C.
There are many pages of practice notes,
painstakingly written out and preserved in
the course of the study of Graham shorthand, which Wilson undertook when he
was still in school, and used consistently to
the end of his life in the preparation of lectures, articles, books, and public addresses.
And there are essays toward diary-keeping
which broke off, as did all his later efforts
of the same kind, after the first few entries. One of the latter was written at
Bryn Mawr College, where he began his
long academic career by lecturing to women—an exercise which appears to have
confirmed this young Southern intellectual
in what was already a deep-seated point of
view. His comment was set down on
October 20, 1887, evidently in some
exasperation of spirit:
Lecturing to young women of the present
generation on the history and principles of
politics is about as appropriate and profitable as
would be lecturing to stone-masons on the evolution of fashion in dress. There is a painful
absenteeism of mind on the part of the audience.
63
Passing through a vacuum, your speech generates no heat. Perhaps it is some of it due to
undergraduateism, not all to femininity.
I have devoted myself to a literary life; but
I do not see how a literary life can be built up
on foundations of undergraduate instruction.
That instruction compels one to live with the
commonplaces, the A. B. C , of every subject, to
dwell upon these with an emphasis and an
invention altogether disproportionate to their intrinsic weight and importance: it keeps one on
the dusty, century-travelled high-roads of every
subject, from which one gets no outlooks except
those that are catalogued and vulgarized in
every guide-book. One gets weary plodding and
yet grows habituated to it and finds all excursions
aside more and more difficult. What is a
fellow to do? How is he to earn bread and at
the same time find leisure and (in the toils of
such a routine) disposition of mind for thoughts
entirely detached from and elevated high above
the topics of his trade?
Also from the academic years, but representative of a more mature Wilson, are
notes, examination questions, various exchanges in regard to college administrative
matters, and other letters from friends and
colleagues. As controversies at Princeton
waxed hotter, they drew increasing notice
from other academic centers about the
country, and mail poured in. One point
of view, at least, is represented by a letter
from David Starr Jordan of Leland Stanford University—"I believe most sincerely
in the things that you are trying to do at
Princeton." The manuscripts relating to
the Princeton years must be used, of course,
in conjunction with the collection of such
materials in the Princeton University
Library.
The fresh material of the governorship
period is perhaps of especial value, since the
documentation for those years has been,
in the past, much too sparse. In the concentration of new materials for 1910-12,
for example—some 2,500 pieces—there are
many communications from H. E. Alexander of the Trenton True American and
several from George Harvey, as well as
scattered letters from Richard S. Childs of
64
the Short Ballot Association, James Kerney
of the Trenton Evening Times, Dan Fellows Piatt, Martin P. Devlin, Thomas B.
Love, and others who were in one way or
another concerned with Wilson's candidacy.
We find him, in the spring of 1910, being
asked by the Democratic State Central
Committee of Pennsylvania to draft a
Democratic platform. "Of course, this is
entirely confidential," wrote A. G. Dewalt,
Chairman of the Committee, "and I will
never mention your name, unless you give
me permission to do so."
The deed was done, and on April 12 Dewalt returned enthusiastic thanks: "The
planks that you have constructed are so
tersely and succinctly drawn that they met
with unanimous approbation."
Unfortunately, Wilson's drafts for his
own part of this exchange have not yet been
identified, though they may well be found
among the shorthand notes in the papers,
not yet transcribed.
On July 15, it will be remembered, Wilson finally "took the plunge," as one of his
biographers relates, and sent a statement
regarding his candidacy for the governorship of New Jersey to the Trenton True
American. His draft for this statement is
among the new papers, as is a letter from
his friend, Alexander, who wrote: "Your
'statement' was exactly the thing. In my
opinion it prepares the way for your
unanimous nomination and election and
then! It means a political revolution in
New Jersey and every man who has any
political sense so understands it."
And the next day, the practical-minded
Alexander wrote: "As a matter of policy,
so far as possible we speak of you as plain
Woodrow Wilson, eliminating 'the President' and ( Dr.'"
The passage from academic halls to
politics was fairly swift, once the "plunge"
had been taken! From then on, events
moved fast. We find among the additional
materials Wilson's much-revised draft of
his letter of October 24, 1910, to George
Record, which proved so effective in the
governorship campaign. It is interesting
to note that in this draft, following the
well-known statement, "If I am elected, I
shall understand that I am chosen leader
of my party and the direct representative
of the whole people in the conduct of the
government," the words "No person or
organization will twice try to dictate to
me" are crossed out—one wonders at what
point in the revision, or by whose advice.
There are, too, early letters from many
who became influential in the years of the
Presidency: from Josephus Daniels, who
wrote of the 1910 election, "My wife joins
me in hearty and sincere congratulations
on your victory. Will hearten all men
everywhere who are tired of government
by favoritism"; from Charles A. Talcott,
Princeton classmate, whose letter began,
"My dear old boy—I am glad New Jerseyis to be all right"; from Lindley M. Garrison, later Wilson's Secretary of War, who
considered the election to be "a demonstration of the inherent sanity and wisdom
of the people." Senator John Sharp Williams, that remarkable old character who
became one of Wilson's warm friends,
wrote with some prescience: "You will
succeed in public life because you have
the knack of striking off 'key-note' sentences. . . ."
As the governorship wore along into the
Presidential campaign, new names appear:
William G. McAdoo, who was to become
Secretary of the Treasury; Frank I. Cobb
of the New York World ("Whether we
win or lose at Baltimore we can at least
make a real fight for a real principle");
Carter Glass, asking, two days after the
election, for a brief interview on the revision of the currency system.
From Louis D. Brandeis there came a
characteristic note on November 6:
Your great victory, so nobly won, fills me with
a deep sense of gratitude; and I feel that every
American should be congratulated, except possibly yourself.
May strength be given you to bear the heavy
burden.
And James Bryce, an old friend now
become British Ambassador to the United
States, wrote a letter which must have
warmed the heart of the newly elected
President:
Though I am debarred from congratulating a
victor in a political campaign, there is nothing
to prevent me from sending sincere good wishes
and earnest hopes to an old friend who, being
a scholar and a man of learning has obtained
a rare and splendid opportunity of shewing in
the amplest sphere of action what the possession
of thought and learning may accomplish for
the good of a nation in the field of practical
statesmanship This opportunity is yours, and
I may wish you joy the more heartily because I
feel confident that your attainments and character promise success. Few have ever reached
your high office equally qualified, in both respects, to discharge its duties worthily.
The new materials for the Presidential
years are not extensive, which is understandable in view of the heavy documentation of that period in the main body of the
Wilson papers. They do, however, contain additional letters from Edward M.
House, a good many of William J. Bryan's
sprawling, handwritten communications
(which were, in the beginning, transcribed
on the typewriter for the President by one
of the White House clerks), and material
relating to Mexican problems, including a
number of reports from John Lind. There
are also a number of Wilson's drafts—for
letters, public statements, and addresses—
suggesting, in some cases, the development
of his thought. A hand-corrected early
draft of his letter of February 5, 1913, to
A. Mitchell Palmer, for example, on the
matter of a second term for Presidents, was
found to contain the following words,
crossed out in pen by Wilson:
At the outset, and in order to clear the ground,
let me say that I do not understand this discussion to have anything whatever to do with the
65
question of a third term. That I take it may
now be regarded as beyond debate. Nothing
that I shall have to say will touch that.
There are a few documents which may
throw some additional light upon this
country's foreign policy in the last years of
the administration. And there is a remarkable collection of memorabilia, mainly
of the Peace Conference period. Petitions
are there, and diplomas from the Universities of Brussels, Padua, Cracow, Pisa,
Ghent, and others; illuminated manuscripts are there, and unique documents in
hand-tooled leather cases, and honorary
memberships, and honorary citizenships.
These, with the hundreds of letters and
messages in the main body of the Wilson
papers, which came to the President in
1919 from the little people of many countries, written in many languages—all these,
one must suppose, represent part of the
outpouring of relief and hope and, for a
time, faith, with which Woodrow Wilson
was greeted in Europe at the close of World
War I.
But, fortunately for scholarship, the
Woodrow Wilson papers by no means
stand alone. The Library of Congress,
which has for many years been assembling
personal papers of public figures in order
to round out and supplement its Presidential collections, now has, for the Wilson
period^ much closely related Cabinet material, personal papers of Senators and
Representatives whose service in Congress
included the Wilson administration, Versailles Peace Conference papers, and, in
addition, the significant but often more
peripheral papers of military and naval
figures, bankers, labor leaders, social workers, and others.
This aggregation of historical source
material has become, in consequence, a
Mecca for scholars concerned with the
history of the first quarter of the twentieth
century.
The papers of Cabinet members should
66
perhaps be given first attention. Of the
19 men whom Wilson brought into his
Cabinet between 1913 and 1921, the
papers, or all that remain, of 10 are in the
Library of Congress, and the papers, or all
that remain, of five are in other repositories.
The Bryan, Lansing, and Colby* collections areTn theXibrary, thus*oornpletely
covering the Secretaryship of State for the
two administrations which included World
War I and the Versailles Peace Conference.
Each, of course, has special contributions
to make: the Bryan papers, with regard to
foreign service appointments, the administration's early policies in Latin America,
arbitration treaties, and the increasingly
difficult neutrality problems; 3 the Lansing
papers in the continuing area of neutrality,
followed by the war and the Peace Conference; the Colby papers in the final days
of the administration, when this country's
relations with Russia were of vital concern
and when the President's hopes for a
League of Nations in which the United
States would play a strong part were being
gradually beaten down. The Colby
papers also contain some material relating
to his law partnership with Woodrow
Wilson, after the latter's retirement from
office.
While the papers of Lindley M. Garrison, Wilson's first Secretary of War, lire
not in the Library, they have been preserved and made available in the Firestone
Library at Princeton University. The
main body of the papers of Newton P..
Baker*, who followed Garrison as Secrefaryof War and saw the country through
its first major world struggle, have been in
the Library of Congress for some years, and
a considerable addition to the collection is
expected in the near future. These have,
perhaps, an especial interest for the biographer and the student of military history,
3
The Library has also a small group of papers
relating to the fabulous expedition of the Ford
Peace Ship.
since the minds of the Commander-inChief and his Secretary of War ran parallel
on many matters of principle and the application of principle. The papers of
William, G^ McAdaa*, first of Wilson's
three Secretaries of the Treasury and longest in that office, are also in the Library,
but by the donor's wish, are closed to research until July 1, 1959. In the Alderman Library at the nearby University of
Virginia are the papers of Senator Carter
Glass^second of Wilson's Secretaries of the
Treasury and, before that, his close associate in the battle for the Federal Reserve
Act; and also the papers of Justice James
C. McReynqldSj first Attorney General and,
later, by Wilson's appointment, Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States. The papers of D a y i d F - .Houston,
who served as Secretary of Agriculture,
leaving that post in 1920 to succeed Glass
in the Treasury, have not, unfortunately
for scholars, been preserved in a unified
group. The official records of his Cabinet
department during his incumbency may of
course be found, with similar official records of all such departments, in the National Archives; a group of his correspondence is in the custody of the Widener
Library at Harvard; and some materials
presumably are still in family hands. The
Thomas W. Gregory papers, not a large
collection but all that have been preserved,
are also in the Library, as are a series of
letters—mainly from Woodrow Wilson—
to
A^MitcheJlI Palmer, who, as Wilson's
third Attorney General, succeeded Gregory
in 1919. The main body of the Palmer
papers has not so far been found.
The papers of Josephus Daniels and of
Albert JS^ Burleson, Secretary of the Navy
and Postmaster General, respectively, during both Wilson administrations, are in the
Library. Of these, the Daniels papers are
by far the most extensive, pertaining as they
do not only to his service under Wilson but
also to his years as Ambassador to Mexico
368006—56
2
in the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and to his own work, in the years between these posts, as owner and editor of
the Raleigh News and Observer,
His
papers include a substantial amount of
diary material, which adds much to an already valuable collection. T h e Burleson
papers, bound in chronological order, relate not only to the affairs of the Post Office Department but also, as would be
expected, to the matter of lesser appointments and to relations between the President and his colleagues on Capitol Hill.
T h e collection also includes some 80 letters
addressed to the President, but sent by him
to his Postmaster General, under "buckslips," for information or comment or
action, and never returned to the White
House.
Of the remaining six Cabinet members,
the papers of WilliamrBJffijhQn, Secretary
of Labor through both administrations, are
in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
in Philadelphia; such of the papers of
Franklin K. Lane ? Secretary of the Interior, as have been preserved are in the
custody of the University of California at
Berkeley; and a small group of JolmBarton
Payne^papers remain with the~American
Red Cross, in which organization he held
the post of Chairman of the Central Committee from 1921 until his death in 1935.
His papers pertain for the most part to that
portion of his career. The family of Edwin
T. Meredith, who succeeded Houston in
the Department of Agriculture, is searching
for his papers, but none have been found as
yet. Such papers of William,C. Redfield
(Secretary of Commerce, 1913-17) as have
been preserved are in the custody of the
Library of Congress, but they are sadly few
in number; and the papers of J.JILjUexand^r, Redfield's successor in office, were,
it is believed, destroyed many years ago in
an office fire.
So stands the Cabinet record as of 1956.
It is probably safe to say that more than
67
two-thirds of the personal papers accumulated by Cabinet members during the Wilson administration have been preserved in
the Library of Congress or in non-Governmental repositories. There is still hope that
papers now missing altogether will eventually be found, since the Wilson administration, in historical terms at least, is recent,
and experience has shown that both care
and patience are needed in order to discover
and draw together the documentation of
an era.
The Library's manuscripts relating to the
Peace Conference of 1919 are likewise
voluminous. Of the five American Commissioners to Negotiate Peace, the Library
owns the papers of four—Wilson, Lansing,
Henry^White, and Tasker^H. Bliss. The
papers of the fifth, Col. Edward.M. House,
are at Yale University, as are those of
Frank L. Polk; Acting Secretary of State
duringXansing's absence from the country
at the Peace Conference. Among other
Conference papers in the Library are: an
indexed collection of House "Inquiry" materials, consisting mainly of studies prepared by various of its members; the papers
of David Hunterw-j^ijler*i international
lawyer and member of the "Inquiry,"
whose 21-volume diary, privately printed,
has long been an extremely useful part of
the Conference documentation; the papers
of Leland Harrison^ Diplomatic Secretary
to the American Commission to Negotiate
Peace and subsequently a distinguished
career diplomat; the papers of Ray Stan^
nard Baker*, who was head of the American Press Bureau in Paris during the
Conference and later became Wilson's
biographer; and the papers of Norman
H. Davis?, financial adviser to President
Wilson at Paris and, like Harrison, an outstanding member of this country's diplomatic corps. The papers of Miss Edith
Benham*,4 Mrs. Wilson's secretary, who
4
Now Mrs. James M. Helm.
68
accompanied the President's party to
Europe, and of Irwin H. Hoover, Head
Usher at the White House, who functioned
under many Presidents and who was also a
member of the Presidential party in 1919,
will furnish many details which would be
difficult to come at elsewhere.
Among the collections of Members of
Congress who were active during the Wilson administration, there should be mentioned those of Senator Gilbert F. Hitchcock, leader of the pro-Leagu"e"oFT^atiohs
forces in the treaty fight of 1919-20—a
small group, but valuable for that period;
of Philander C. Knox, then Senator and
a member^tthTo^position; of John Sharp
Williams, Senator from Mississippi; of
Hemc^TS.JFlood,.Chairman1 of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee during World
War I, whose papers are voluminous but
unfortunately lack, for the most part, materials relating to the powerful committee
which he headed; of James Hay, Chairman of the House Committee on Military
Affairs until 1917, whose papers, though
very few in number, do relate to the preparedness program; of RobertJM!., LaFpllette, Sr.*, whose voluminous and detailed
collection is invaluable on many counts,
not the least of which is its usefulness as
a kind of corrective in the study of various
moot points; of Cordell Hull*, later Secretary of State under Trlmklin D. Roosevelt, but during the Wilson administration
a member of the Democratic National
Committee; and of William^ E. Borah,
Geoj:geM^W^nJNprris; Thomas J. Walsh,
Charles L. McNary, Key Pittman, Tom
Connaily, and others, each of whom played
a part in the country's legislative history
during all or part of the Wilson administration.
Then, too, there are in the Library the
papers of many other figures whose careers
impinged upon that of Wilson. These collections, like most of those already mentioned, furnish widely varying materials
for research, some having only restricted
bearing upon the Wilson story; but, for the
student of Wilson's broad career, each does
have certain contributions to make.
Among these are the papers of John J.
Pershing*, General of the Armies, and of
the other high-ranking military and naval
figures—Hugh L. Scott, James G. Harbord, Leonard Wood*, Robert Lee Bullard, Mark L. Bristol, Albert Gleaves, and
Washington I. Chambers, and a first installment of the Peyton C. March collection, relating to World War I and the 1919
Conference, to Mexican border difficulties,
and many other matters. There are the
papers of Charley EvansM Hughes*, distinguished jurist, Secretary of State under
Harding and*Coolidge, and Chief Justice
of the United States, who ran against
Wilson in the campaign of 1916, and two
years later headed, by Presidential appointment, the Aircraft Investigation which was
sparked by that fiery sculptor, Gutzon Borglum. And there are the papers of Borglum*, himself. There are also the papers
of Br£ddm^£jLong*, Third Assistant
Secretary of State" and specialist in Far
Eastern questions in Wilson's time, and subsequently a member of the country's diplomatic corps, and those of Harry A. Garfield*, whom Wilson called to'WasT&mgton
during the war to be Fuel Administrator.
There are the papers of Elihu Jtoot, Secretary of War under McKinley, Secretary of
State under Theodore Roosevelt, and for
six years United States Senator from New
York, whose career crossed Wilson's at
more than one point but nowhere more surprisingly than when he was made by Presidential appointment the head of the United
States Commission to Russia in 1917; and
the papers of Charles-Edward jlussejl,
member of the same Commission. The
papers of William E. Dodd, one of Wilson's
early biographers long before his appointment by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Ambassadorship of Germany, are in the
Library, as are the papers of such newspapermen as "Marse Henry" Watterson,
Frederick William Wile, Stanley Washburn, and William Allen White. There
also are journals, like that kept by Chandler
P. Anderson from 1914 to 1927, which remains in his papers, and there are the long
and chatty diaries and the exhaustive scrapbook series of Charles Sumner Hamlin,
which concern not only the early days of
the Federal Reserve System but also various political and social facets of the Wilson
and other administrations.
The papers of George Creel, writer and
head of the Committee on Public Information during World War I, are also in the
Library. Creel was not one to save correspondence, but he did preserve and have
bound, in three handsome leather-backed
volumes, his Wilson letters, as well as such
drafts and memoranda as concerned their
association and his own work in the C. P. I.
This material continues to be the heart of
the Creel correspondence, though his remaining papers, which came to the Library
after his death, include much that pertains
to his long career as a writer.
There are, too, the papers of Brand
Whitlock, Minister to Belgium, and of
Henr£ Mojgenthau, Sr., Ambassador to
Turkey, both appointed by Wilson, and of
Oscar S. Straus, Ambassador to Turkey,
Cabinet member under earlier administrations, and a member of Wilson's Second
Industrial Conference. And there are the
papers of Andrew Carnegie, whose relations with the war President, beginning in
the Princeton days, included a visit to
Carnegie's Scottish "castle," and lasted to
the end of Carnegie's life.
"I know how your heart must rejoice
at the dawn of peace after these terrible
years of struggle," Wilson wrote Carnegie
in the winter of 1918, "for I know how long
and how earnestly you have worked for and
desired such conditions as I pray God it
may now be possible for us to establish.
69
The meeting place of the Peace Conference
has not yet been selected, but even if it is
not held at The Hague, I am sure that you
will be present in spirit."
Last but not least are the papers of other
Presidents of the United States, without
which a study of Woodrow Wilson would
be the poorer: Grover Cleveland, for some
years Wilson's friend and neighbor in
Princeton; Theodore Ro^eveh, whom he
knew in friendly fashion long before the
exigencies of the Presidency drove the two
men poles apart; WiUiamJHo^^
whom he followed in the White House and
from whose views in the matter of a League
of Nations he diverged less widely, at one
period, than might have been expected;
and Calvin Coolidge*, with whom he had
little or nothing in common, but whose
administration must often serve (the Harding papers being to all intents and purposes nonexistent) to point up the changes
wrought in the country and in its viewpoint under changed political leadership.
Then, too, there are in the Library the
papers of earlier Presidents, about whom
Wilson himself wrote much and eloquently
during his academic years, when he could
afford the luxury of leisurely historical
writing—Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln,
and the others. Of the 28 Presidents from
Washington through Coolidge, the Library
has the papers, or the best collection of
papers that has been preserved, of 23, and
it also has the papers of many Cabinet
members. These collections, easily available as they are, have been found invaluable by scholars concerned with the development of the thinking, and the principles,
and the practices of our Chief Executives.
All these papers, and others too, offer
rich source-material for a study of late
nineteenth- and early twentieth-century
history and biography. Such a network of
interlocking (and constantly increasing)
manuscripts for research tends at times to
drive the conscientious scholar into a fine
70
frenzy as he approaches the end of the time
he has allotted for himself, but it tends also
to bring him back again and again to the
reading tables of the Manuscripts Division.
From these materials and others in the
Library—Wilson's books in the Woodrow
Wilson Room, photographs in the Prints
and Photographs Division, maps, music,
periodicals, Government publications, and
other materials in the collections,—much
history, much biography in the Wilson
period, has already been written. More
than 350 persons have been given permission to consult the papers of Woodrow
Wilson since their opening in the summer
of 1940, and there have been few days,
except when the Manuscripts Division was
closed to research for a time during World
War II, which have not seen at least one
student at work there upon the Wilson and
related collections. A good many studies of
special phases of Wilson's career have been
published, or, in the case of doctoral dissertations, made available otherwise, as
have been studies and biographies or autobiographies of Wilson's contemporaries.
And 20 or more writers have consulted the
papers with the intention of preparing
biographies of Wilson or editions of his
works. Ten such volumes have already
been published and it is expected that at
least three or four more will appear during
this centennial year.
In reviewing the notable printed record
and manuscript resources of an era, one
cannot fail to be impressed over and over
again with the continuing pertinence of
many of Woodrow Wilson's words—not for
his time only, but for the years between and
for our own generation. There are set
down below certain of his sentences, which
illustrate this curious ability to speak of the
present and at the same time for the future:
The great malady of public life is cowardice.
Most men are not untrue, but they are afraid.
Most of the errors of public life, if my observation is to be trusted, come, not because men are
morally bad, but because they are afraid of
somebody. (Address of June 13, 1914, to the
Princeton Glass of 1879.)
. . . every man can see that the opportunity
of America is going to be unparalleled and that
the resources of America must be put at the
service of the world as they never were put at
its service before. Therefore, it is imperative
that no impediments should be put in the way
of commerce with the rest of the world. You
cannot sell unless you buy. Commerce is only
an exalted kind of barter. (Speech of December
10, 1915, to the Columbus, Ohio, Chamber of
Commerce.)
I can imagine no greater disservice to the
country than to establish a system of censorship
that would deny to the people of a free republic
like our own their indisputable right to criticise
their own public officials. (Letter of April 25.
1917, to Arthur Brisbane.)
. . . I want to utter my earnest protest against
any manifestation of the spirit of lawlessness anywhere or in any cause. . . . We claim to be the
greatest democratic people in the world, and
democracy means first of all that we can govern
ourselves. If our men have not self-control, then
they are not capable of that great thing which
we call democratic government. (Address of
November 12, 1917, to the American Federation
of Labor.)
I have not lost faith in the Russian outcome
by any means. Russia, like France in a past
century, will no doubt have to go through deep
waters but she will come out upon firm land on
the other side and her great people, for they
are a great people, will in my opinion take their
proper place in the world. (Letter of November 13, 1917, to Frank Clark.)
• . . when I pronounced for open diplomacy
I meant not that there should be no private discussions of delicate matters, but that no secret
agreement of any sort should be entered into and
that all international relations, when fixed,
should be open, aboveboard, and explicit. (Letter of March 12, 1918, to Robert Lansing.)
I feel that it is very dangerous to raise questions of loyalty unnecessarily, though I believe
in raising them very emphatically when it is
necessary. I am afraid that we are getting in
a suspicious attitude towards people who are
not really disloyal but merely unreasonable. We
never know until a crisis like this how many of
them there are in the country, and yet upon
reflection it is evident that most of them do very
little harm. (Letter of May 1, 1918, to Anita
McCormick Blaine.)
We proudly claim to be the champions of
democracy. If we really are, in deed and in
truth, let us see to it that we do not discredit our
own. I say plainly that every American who
takes part in the action of a mob or gives it any
sort of countenance is no true son of this great
democracy, but its betrayer. . . . How shall we
commend democracy to the acceptance of other
peoples, if we disgrace our own by proving that
it is, after all, no protection to the weak?
(Statement of July 26, 1918.)
It will now be our fortunate duty to assist by
example, by sober, friendly counsel and by material aid in the establishment of just democracy
throughout the world. (Announcement of the
signing of an armistice, November 11/1918.)
It is moral force that is irresistible. It is
moral force as much as physical that has defeated the effort to subdue the world. (Address
of December 29, 1918, at the Lowthcr Street
Congregational Church, Carlisle, England.)
I am not hopeful that the individual items of
the settlements which we are about to attempt
will be altogether satisfactory. One has but to
apply his mind to any one of the questions of
boundary and of altered sovereignty and of
racial aspiration to do something more than conjecture that there is no man and no body of men
who know just how it ought to be settled. . . .
So that we must provide a machinery of readjustment . . . (Address of December 30, 1918,
at Manchester, England.)
Force can always be conquered, but the spirit
of liberty never can be. . . (Speech of January
5, 1919, at La Scala, in Milan, Italy.)
If America were at this juncture to fail the
world, what would come of it? . . . I do not
mean any disrespect to any other great people
when I say that America is the hope of the
world. And if she does not justify that hope
results are unthinkable. (Address of February
24,1919, in Boston, Mass.)
An admirable spirit of self-sacrifice, of patriotic devotion, and of community action guided
and inspired us while the fighting was on. Wc
shall need all these now, and need them in a.
heightened degree, if we are to accomplish the
first tasks of peace. They are more difficult
than the tasks of war,—more complex, less
easily understood,—and require more intelligence, patience, and sobriety. (Reply of August
71
25, 1919, to representatives of the Railway Employees' Department of the American Federation
of Labor.)
America is necessary to the peace of the
world. And reverse the proposition: The peace
and good will of the world are necessary to
America. (Address of September 8, 1919, at
Sioux Falls, S. D.)
Our choice in this great enterprise of mankind . . . is only this: Shall we go in and assist as trusted partners or shall we stay out and
act as suspected rivals? We have got to do one
or the other. We have got to be either provincials or statesmen. (Address of September 9,
1919, at Minneapolis, Minn.)
The immediate need of this country and of
the world is peace not only, but settled peace,
peace upon a definite and well-understood
foundation, supported by such covenants as men
can depend upon, supported by such purposes
as will permit of a concert of action throughout
72
all the free peoples of the world. (Address of
September 18, 1919, at San Francisco, Calif.)
Stop for a moment to think about the next
war, if there should be one. I do not hesitate
to say that the war we have just been through,
though it was shot through with terror of every
kind, is not to be compared with the war we
would have to face next time. (Address of
September 25, 1919, at Denver, Colo.)
. . * there is only one way to assure the world
of peace; that is by making it so dangerous to
break the peace that no other nation will have
the audacity to attempt it. (Address of October
27, 1920, to Pro-League Republicans.)
The sum of the whole matter is this, that our
civilization cannot survive materially unless it
be redeemed spiritually. (Wilson's last published article, "The Road Away from Revolution," August 1923.)
KATHARINE E. BRAND
Manuscripts
Division
@FedFRASER