The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON
June 13, 1956
Dear Miss Adams:
I think that the Minutes of our May 23
meeting, the resolution, and the other documents
which you sent me on June 6th are all fine and
I have no changes to suggest* I have called
Bob Calkins and have told him so*
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
MLss Mildred Adams
Executive Director
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
Hay 16, 1956
Dear Mr* Burgess?
Thanks so much for your note of the
I5th»
It is extreme!/ good news that you can be
here at lunch on the 28ta# and everyone vill be
very pleased*
Cordially yours,
Mildred Ade&s
Mr. W« Randolph Burgess
Under Secretery of tae Treasuiy
Treasury Building
Washington 25> $• C*
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON
R
E
May 15, 1956
C
E
I V £
MAY 1 6 1956
COMMITTEE ON THE HISTORY
OF THE
FEOBWL RESERVE SYSTEM
Dear Miss Adams:
Thank you for yours of the 11th.
I have re-arranged my travel schedule
and plan to arrive i n time for the 1:00 o'clock
lunch on the 28th*
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Executive Director
Committee on the History of
the Federal Reserve System
33 liberty Street
New York 45, New York
D
May 11, X956
Bear Mr. Burgess*
Details of the meeting of this Cteiittee o n
Monday, Mny 28t*i, are M follovs*
Mr. Sproul asks me to invite the members of
the Committee to lunoh with him at the Hev York Federal
Rsserve Bank at one o'clock. Following luncheon, the
meeting will be convened in the lounge adjoining the
President's dining room.
We *I1 hope very much that you can take &
earlier plane so as to arrive in tiise for luncheon.
Sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr* V. Randolph Burgese
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25, B. C*
5. &4.3-24M-1-34
FEDERAL R E S E R ^ W r f *
COPY OF TELEGRAM
SEND TO FILES
OF NEW YORK
SENT BY
TOl
Mr* V« Randolph Burgesa
Under Secretary of the
Troaeuiy
Treasury Building
Washington I?. C.
Coosilttee
postponed* STO?.
Voodvard i s i l l .
Washington. Will
Mr.ttn-McC- Martin
Mr, WinfMttlrift*aflmr
Federal Reserve Board
Federal Reserve Board
and Washington D. C.
and Vashington D. C.
meeting scheduled e t Brookings Saturday March serentaenth
$r* Calkins rei'ueetB more preparation tine and Mr.
STO?. Could you make i t April 16th or 18th i n
query by phone toriorrov Thursday•
Mildred Adaas
MISC.
S4.3-24M-1-S4
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
OF NEW YORK
8HT
3/U/56
COPY OF TELEGRAM
SENT BY
SEND TO FILES
Cod* on H i s t o r y FR System
Brookings InstituUon
TO: Di% Walter V« Stewart
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton University
Princeton, Kev Jersey
Cooed t tee Keating scheduled a t Brookings Saturday Kerch seventeenth
postponed* STOP. Dr« Calkins requests Bore ;vrepar«tion time and Mr. Voodvard
i s i l l * STOP* Could you &&ke i t April 16th or 13th i n Vashiogton* Will
query by phone tot-orrov Taursday.
Mildred Adams
MISC. S4.S-Z4M-1-S4
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
OF N E W YORK
COPY OF TELEGRAM
SRI
3/U/56
TO|
SEND TO FILES
Com. on History FR System
Institution
SENT BY Brooking
Dr. F. Cyril Juaea
, Principal &nd Vice Chancellor
McGiii University
Montreal 2 , Canada
AHP
Dr. Joseph H. V i l l i t g
Old Greonvich Road
Araonfc, Ifev York
Coanittee se^tin^ scieduled a t Brooking3 Seturday March seventeenth
postponed. STOP. Dr. Calkins requests more preparation time and Mr. Voodverd
i s i l l . STOP. Could you sake i t April 16th or 18th i n Washington.
Mildred Adams
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON
Of TH€
Dear Miss Adams:
Let me acknowledge your letter of
February 17th and say that I have read carefully the action of the Committee in both its
first and its alternate text and find it
entirely satisfactory.
Saturday, March 17th in Washington looks
all rigfrt with me, always subject to the
vicissitudes of a bureaucrat.
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Executive Director
Committee on the History of
the Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
Office of
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON
February 20, 1956
2 3 1256
Hiss Irma Burstein
Committee on the History of
The Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York U5, New York
Dear Miss Burstein:
Herewith is a statement of expenses incurred by
Mr. W. Randolph Burgess on Saturday, February 1*, 1956,
in connection with the all-day meeting of the Committee
on the History of the Federal Reserve System at Princeton,
New Jersey:
Taxi to station, New York City
New York City to Princeton, New Jersey
and return t
1 round trip PC rail ticket •••• $U«50
Plus tax ••••••••••••••••«••• »U5 U»95
2 Pullman seats @ $»91 each •... 1*82
Plus tax •«••••••••»••••••••• «18 2»00 ••••6«95
Taxi, University to station, Princeton,
TOTAL
•
Sincerely yours,
Secretary to Mr« Burgess
February 17, 1956
Bear Mr. Burgessi
Two details need your attention, a change vMch Dr*
Calkins would like to make in the "clause of enactment,11 end a
confirmation of the suggested date for the next meeting.
You will find enclosed the Minutes of the meeting of
this Cosasitte© a t Princeton on Ftbruaiy 4-th» and also & revised
Version of the '•clause of enactment* vhich vaa passed «t that
meeting.
This revision was undertaken in conference vith Dr»
Calkins and et his request. In gubstence i t does not differ fro©
the version adopted a t Princeton, but £r t Calkins vouid prefer to
present the Committee's proposal to the Brookings Board of Trustees
in this new wording i f the Committee api roves. I t can then be
added to the Minutes as i i &aended text*
Would you l e t ©e knov if you approve of the revision and
of the procedure?
As for the date of the next meeting, Saturday, Kerch 17th,
a t Brookings in Washington was the one most discussed in Princeton*
Members were aaksd a t that time to put this date do"wn tentatively^
If this i s not possible for you, Eiay ve have your suggestions*
Very sincerely yours,
Mildred
Kr, V» Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25» 5. C»
Enc. 2
February 6, 1956
Pear Hiss Alexanders
•Mr« Burgess will have incurred certqin expenses in
connection with the recent Coiasittee meeting at Princeton on
February 4th, this office would like to have an account of
his expenses as early es possible so that Brooking© ©an r e imburse him* I t should be itemized as to type of Qxpmm *
train fare, local transportation (taxi* bus,etc«), hotel,
meals, telephone, tips ~ as this i s the form in "which we send
accounts to Brookings.
Thanks for taking eare of this* for us #
Very truly.
Iraa Burstein
Miss Alexander
Office of V, Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
treasury Building
Washington 25, D* C«
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON
J VC
January 2$, 1956
JAN 2 6 ??5S
COM*JT7« ON TH€ HfSTOfty
Dear Miss Adams t
««**«. R£S£Wt ^ - ^
I think I have never acknowledged properly
yours of January 6th reporting on my old files at
the National City Bank, though they have been on
my conscience*
I am very glad, indeed, to have your reaction
and it ascribes more value to the files than perhaps
I thought.
For the moment, there is, I suspect, nothing to
do but to leave the files there with the hope that
one of these days I shall have leisure to use them
somewhere* In the meantime, I am glad that you know
about them and if there is any occasion when they
are of value in the research, they are, of course,
available*
I have not written you about the meeting because
I think I have nothing to add in advance.
Sincerely yours,
r- P
L
W» Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Committee on the History of
The Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York h$» New York
January 9> 1956
Dear Mr* Burgess»
Ve protdaed XQ 3end you det&ils of the schedule for
the meeting of this Cocuaiitee a t Princeton on Saturday, February 4tii f "when arrangements were completed* Those arrangements are now fixed as followsi
Place - Institute for Advanced Study,
Princeton, New Jersey
Time - 10 &•&• to 4 p.nu, February 4, 1956
Luncheon - at the Institute
Members are csked to meet at 10 a»su in tae Common
Room oi" the nr.in building, vherc Dr» Stewart will ect as guide
to the conference space -which i s kindly bein& provided for us*
Memoranda bearing on certain of the problems to be
discussed should re&cii you about a veek in auv&nce of th©
ki
We hope to mail them on January 26th •
Sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
j
Mr* V. 'Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the treasury
Treasury Building
25$ B, C*
January 6, 1956
Dear Hr« Bur«je3s:
Hiss Buxnevt cud I vent over i*> the H&tional
City Bonk ye&terday cfLcraoon to ia&ko a rough survey
of your f i l e s tnere, t.ad vert? oobt kindly received by
Miss MdCeegan in Mr, Te&ple's office*, She shovred us
to the capacious closet where the fiis& t l * kept,
offered us stair** & table, et*« and l«ft ue "Co our
inspection.
We find ta&i you have four f i l e cabinets
there of four dravers each, making 16toawMPlla fall*
iiiox, t U 01 thus are filled, 30 tiiet the tot&l qu&jitltgr
i s about 6QU*1 to 12 dravers full of correspondence!
Gt,c. tare© draw&rs are devoted to speeches.
The m^teri^l seeas to litve beon orte^iiized by
Miss Hoisaes, and some f f t D t i w&^ done^ u&ny of the
folders
include & fact? saeet with
audi>f coaiaents as,
n
1
Kr* Burgess v^nts to keep 1tliis,
'
or,
Kr« Burgese Kill
probably want to keep this, 1 or, "Mr# Burgess
may vant
n
to keep t h i s , though I don't know
The org&ai^tion sch^ae i s oisple - &iph&*betic#
or subject by alphabet Hid d&te, The t i t l e s of folders
are sometimes revealing, sometimes not. Sampling reveals
how the interesting a a t e r i a l i s scattered - a folder
marked "Roosevelt" contains an important memo 'which you
wrote for f i l e s early in 1933 giving the then Governors
•leva on ft projected economic conference to b© held in
London; a folder with a blind t i t l e contains your views
on an Inter-iiiserictm Bank, and so on#
- 2 -
i s l i t t l e Federal Reserve material qua
Federal Reserve - not more than three or four folders
i a a l l , but there i s abundant related materiel in
speeches, correspondence* accounts of foreign trips*
meetings of organizations with which you vere connected*
etc* Here, as in other files I have seen, i t i s not
so mush the formal document 'which draws the eye, but
the informal l e t t e r to a friend vlio has been i l l ,
absent, or otherwise out of touch, and i s being brought
up to date.
The files do not seem to go beck very far we found a l i t t l e material dating from tfct early
thirties* but most of i t seemed to be post-193^*
Tae National City told us tfaet souie of your
files w@re sent back here vhan you X#ft that be-nk, and
your assistants on the lQth floor report that among
folders of your personal affairs, there i s perhaps a
f i l e drcver full of material relating to the Federal
Reserve System, including your notes, galley proofs
and so on for your justly famous book en the Fed, and
the Money Market*
All this hole5;* great promise for I library
in the future, and I hope i t can ultimately be assembled
vdth ether Baterlal vhlch ytra p*ob*Wj Rtvt in Ha
and UMbiagton end trttlMdtted aa I collection to the
ery of OvagV^M or to Columbia,
Xfery sincerely yours,
HiIdred Adams
Mr» ii Randolph Surgess
Under Secretary of the treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 85| &• C #
d
3
J
^ P " 4—
I Tec? l /'i#C.
C
Q
/
A-
Z.
(1r\
•*
JU.
IM.
(to
cf
1 c
To /? 3 9
(s
'<
y
^
/
Speeches and memoranda from Nov. 10 - 1934
to 1937 re: Credit Policy of
the Federal Reserve System,
Plans for financial reconstruction,
Excess reserves and Federal Reserve
Policy, Preliminary thoughts on
Open Market Organization,
Relation between the Federal Reserve
System and the Treasury with respect
to National credit policy.
Written while in National City Bank - 1939 - 1942
re: Relation of the Federal Reserve
System to the Treasury and its
general organization to fulfill its
purposes;
•Centraljt Banking M (radio transcript)
section pertaining FRS and its functions;
Reply to Wagner Questionnaire - FRS
Speech introducing Alan Sproul as
new President;
Government financing (banks part)
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
O
FROM
,//
ixJtduJj Qj/u^
REMARKS
OtrC
COMMITTEE ON THE HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
December 12, 1955
TO: Messrs* Allan Sproul, Chairman
V. Randolph Burgess
Robert D. Calkins
Donald B. Woodward, Secretary
The material which follows, concerned mainly vith monographs, is
sent you to serve as basis for the first item to be discussed at the meeting
of the Executive Committee scheduled for December 19th. The other requested
item, a plan for a volume of readings, will follow*
This list of possible volumes was put together by Dr. Calkins and
Mi88 Adams from the suggestions made at various times by Committee members or
interested consultants* In substance, it is an expansion of the plan discussed in executive session on Hovember 25th. Each of the volumes as listed
raises questions (indicated belov) for which Committee discussion and decision
is essential to the success of the plan.
VOLUME I. A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY. OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM, being a
straightforward account of -v^iat happened, without analysis or evaluation*
Q* (l) Is this volume to be considered as giving the framework for the
monographs?
(2) For the readings? U ^
(3) Is there to be any editorial connection between this and the
other volumes?
Writers suggested for this include! Mrs. Margaret Myers Beckhart,
Thomas Cochran, Howard Ellis, Bert Fox, Kermit Gordon, filohard.
tfaagxavB, Winrield V. Biefler, Harold Roelse/^Voodlief Thomas,
Brooke Willis^ Ralph Toung. Is the Executive Committee ready to
express a choice?
VOLtBCE II* READINGS IN FEDERAL RESERVE HISTORY* which would supplement the
chronological history and provide material for more intensive study. It has
been suggested that this should draw from major Congressional hearings and 4r*
important published material which is difficult of access.
Q* (l) Should it also contain unpublished material, e.g. pertinent
letters from collections which have been uncovered?
(2) Should unpublished material be dispersed among published material,
or would the Committee prefer separate volumes?
(3} Would the Committee approve, as a spur to further research, the
appending of a list of the relevant collections found in the
course of this project?
VOLUMES III, IV, V* MONOGRAPHS* On considering the monograph topics
which have been suggested, and attempting to classify them under topics, it
became evident "feat they would not fit into a single volume* The three
volumes here suggested are tentative as to title, subject and content. In
reading these lists of suggestions, Committee members are asked to bear in
mind these questions!
- 2 -
Q. ( l ) Are these the right topics for monographs? ^ie ones you vant
authors found for? Should other topics be substituted, or
included?
(2) I s their arrangement right, or should they be otherwise arranged
for greater effectiveness?
3) I s this l i s t complete enough to give rounded coverage?
! 4) Does i t represent the "key episodes," that i s , those for -which
inclusion i s imperative?
VOLUME I I I . CRUCIAL EPISODES IN THE HISTORY OF FEDERAL RESERVE POLICI.
This volume might include the following monographs; authors are l i s t e d as
they have been suggested*
Monograph Subjects for Vol. I l l
Suggested Authors
Founding of the Federal Reserve Syst«a
Finance, 1917-19
•/- tf-o -/ H*£
Marshall Robinson
Inflation and Collapse, 1919-21
ederal Reserve and European Reconstruction,
( Arthur Marget
Miroslav Kris
Philip Bell
Henry Siejaaaan
Development of Federal Reserve Policy of the 1920 f 8
Credit for Business, but not for Speculation,
1927-29
of 1929-33
Market and the Federal Reserve
t r a i l e d Banks, and the Banking Holiday
Carl Parry
Oliver Povell
V_/1l930 f e Cooperation with European Central Banks to
CJ Prevent Catastrophe
Policy and Practice of the System (l920 f s and
1930*8) - magnitude of response, ete.
Miroslav Kris
Central Banking in International Politics
1941-45 War Financing
Marshall Robinson
- 3 -
V0L13ME IV, HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE OPERATING ASPECTS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE
SYSTEM* (The monograph suggestions grouped for this volume carzy -with them
very fev suggested authors* Help is needed here. Groupings within the
volume were added to help clarify a long list,)
Monograph Subjects for Vol. IV
Suggested Authors
Relationships
^
Board and Banks
Board - Staff
Goldenveiser did a study
^""~Board - Treasury
Tools - History and Effect of
Changes in the Discount Rate
Changes in Reserve Requirements
Moral Suasion
Open Market Operations
Credit Controls - general and selective
Functions - History and Importance of
Cheek Collection and Settlements
Pap Clearance Controversy
Bank Examinations and Relationships
^" Research and Intelligence in the System
( Harold Roelse
( Ralph Young
Regional Aspects of the System Foreign Transactions - shifts of position
between Board and Banks
Walter Salant
Legal Aspects of the System
Howard Hackley
VOUEflE V. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS AND MONOGRAPHS. (This volume would include
miscellaneous papers deserving publication but not f a l l i n g properly into
any one of the others*)
Monograph Subjects for Vol. V
Suggested Authors
Branch Banking and A f f i l i a t e s
Bray Hammond
Brokers1 Loans
Voodlief Thomas
Sound Money Agitation and i t s Effect on the
Federal Reserve System
Bankers1 Acceptances
f
(Based on Warburg memo)
VOLUME VI, THE FEDERAL RESERVE AS A UNIQUE GOVERNMENT ENTITY. (Monograph
suggestions i n t h i s f i e l d , as i n others, are l i s t e d as they came i n . Obviously,
more could, and should, be added to make such a study complete.)
Monograph Subjects f o r Vol. VI
Suggested Authors
Federal Reserve System, a Case History i n
Public Administration
Federal Reserve and the Public I n t e r e s t
Randolph Burgess
^ P o l i t i c s and the Federal Reserve System
Lucius WiLaerding
Congressional Hearings and the Fed. * t h e i r
Causes, Timing, Personnel and Effects
To t h i s l i s t of s i x volumes there should be added a seventh which i s
i n preparationi
VOLIBCE V I I . BEN STRONG. CENTRAL BANKER, by Lester Chandler.
I t has been suggested that a publishing subsidy be offered f o r the
study ^ i c h Dr. Elmer Vood has i n progress, e n t i t l e d MONETARY CONTROL IN
AMERICAN 1HE0RY AND PRACTICE.
The Committee may went to consider publication, or d i s t r i b u t i o n to
l i b r a r i e s i n i t s prtnmt mim^grtllJI^Jfo^f of the SELECTIVE INVENTORY OF
CARTER GLASS PAFERST^
"""
~^
Decisions to be made in the light of this memorandum are of such
character that Committee members may prefer to make their ovn -written notes of
acceptance, rejection or addition in advance of the meeting. To have such
notes in hand will help to assure complete understanding of members1 wishes.
Robert D. Calkins
Mildred Adams
T
-Liber 13, 1955
Dear Mr. Burgess*
I have your l e t t e r of December 10th
suggesting that Miss Burnett and I go to the
Metional City Bank, make a quick survey of your
papers and send you a recommendation about thorn*
We v i l l be gled to do t h i s , I Judge
from your no to that an itsFieril&te appointment with
Mr. Temple i s not necessary, but we will try to
do i t this month. I suspect you are too sodest
about their historieel Importance*
Sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr* tu Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25, D* C.
December 13, 1955
Dear Mr. Templet
A note from Mr* Randolph Burgess dated
10th, of Which he has sent you a copy*
suggeets that I come to make » quick survey of hie
papers vhich tafi been l e f t in the Rational City
Brink. I hope that ve cr.n do this before the end
of December, and I will "Uke the liberty of
telephoning you vhtn F»y schedule for 1iie balance
of the month i s £ l i t t l e clearer*
Sincerely yours,
Mildred Ade»s
Mr, Men T^sple
First Hetional City Bank
55 Wall Street
Sew York, H« Y,
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON
December 10, 1955
Dear Miss Adams:
I have never answered your letter of November 25th
about my papers at the National City Bank. The suggestion is a very welcome one, but I am afraid most of them
have little historical value.
As a suggestion, would you and Miss Burnett be
willing to go over to the City Bank some time and just
glance through the papers and then give me your counsel?
They are in Alan Temple's office, under the custodianship
of Miss McKeegan, and I am sending Mr. Temple a copy of
this letter so that you would not be turned away.
Many thanks,
Sincerely yours,
W. Eandolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Executive Director
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
CC:
Mr. Alan H. Temple
November 25, 1955
Dear Mr. Burgess:
After I l e f t the Executive Committee meeting
this afternnon i t occurred to me to suggest that i f
you wanted to send your papers now in the Hi-tional
City Bank to this office, i t might be possible for
Miss Burnett to l i s t then* This vould give you a
d u e to >^iat you have there, arid the collection could
then go on up to Columbia vhieh,, I e& sure, wold be
delighted to get i t .
I am continuelly hfeg'ridden by the fear
that vihile 1 hunt for other people* s papers, those
of this valuable Committee may elude us - he no* the
suggestion.
Cordially yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr. W, Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25, D. C.
November 25* 1955
Bear Mr« Burgess:
I understand from 2)r« Calkins that you have
suggested as a Committee project a. volume of readings
In Fftdertl Reserve history* this eeems to me a
b r i l l i a n t idea end one which I hope we can carry out*
Because you mgg**t#d l t # I vouid be r*ost greteful i f
you MRtXd note dovn on bits of pR|>er the sort of
tiling jou :ieve In mind ind send me those notations*
I would hope vt coulv get • fine? harvest of sug£es~
tions vith \zhica to &-t*rtf and your l i s t vould
& vonderful beginning.
Cordially yourp,
Kildred Adams
Mr, V. Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury- Building
Washington 25f D. C.
29 1955
Randy:
I &JS sending nlth this l e t t e r a report for wfcich I
wouldfc&kyour reading easa coasse&t* Entitled "Progress and
Plans,** i t i s designed as & report on wpik for "the yeer 1954-55#
*n&de to go ie the Committee and to the lifterfeller Foucd&tioR.
Icu v i l l find i s i t a st&t€ai«at of " e situation which the
Ccaamittec facts in Vim oi the fact that ^t the end cf the
f i r s t y^ar no historian has been selected*
The decisioi to prs&&st this problea to the
tioa aad to &.sk Uieir ^dTics has the aapi^fal of Messrs*
8proulf C&lkins, St^w&rt, /ou and ay self. Xfce sesio entitled
H f i t OM) Plans11 has been prepared Toy Hiss AcUsata and reTiewid *ad apporved by Dr* Calkins and B$rself f bat bas not
herstofors bean seen V athsra* Nsy ve have your ocK?53i©iit »t
your e&rly canveidsacs - prsferabX7 by the 9th of September.
Dr. C&lkins and I hope to call on Dr. Buchanan of the Foundstine.
Th« sceood report enclosed i s th&t of our executive
director, lii&s Adapts. lou ma^ be iaterfested in fiarthar detftils o& »QJ:4@ points ^tiich are merely suaesarized in jay report.
Appe&ded to t h i s , you v i l l find her notes on v i s i t s to the
%piilif h&nics, fmk sjoafe account of vhat she foiaid in their f i l e s
ii»d librarieis. She sJso appeiais a etudy of Board and Bank
officers and directors dttMOB ftraa the staff 1 s biogrsphic
f i l e s , and e rs-port on collections of private papers d i s Yery eincez^Iy
Donald Woodward
Secretary
(Signed at his r^uest, H*A«)
?.S*
¥e trust this aeets your understanding in your
telephone talk with D.V.
Mr* V* Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25 t C C*
23, 1955
Dear Mr. Burges3:
Thanks so much for your letter of May 12th,
giving us such complete information about tlie Hellon
files.
Dr. Chandler expects to come to Washington eerly
in June and will go through the material himself. Meanwhile I have £±ven him the list of selective subject headings suggested by Mr. Heffelfinger.
Xou were kind enough to say that you would be
gl&d to provide either Dr. Chandler or me, or both of us,
& letter of certification so that the Archives people will
give us all the help they can. Both of us would be most
grateful for that, and I know it will be useful.
Also, I suspect that both of us will want to talk
with Mr. Finley, Dr. Chandler on his narrower field and I
on the wider one. On that* both of us will flag you when
& possible date seems to be looming.
I shall be looking forward to seeing you in
Washington on the 24th.
Very sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr. V. Randolph Burgess
Onder-Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25, B. C.
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
FOR MONETARY AFFAIRS
i
WASHINGTON
May 12, 1955
j$$y J g
Dear Miss Adams:
I have yours of the 10th and have had a little checking done,
I find that, during the period 1918-1932, there was what functioned
pretty much as a central Office of the Secretary files on this floor.
Periodically, as they became cramped for space, files relating to the
various bureaus were consolidated with the respective bureau files.
The remainder, which filled 15 to 20 file cases, was ultimately sent
to the National Archives, where, I am told, it still rests in the
boxes in which it was sent over. Archives has a list of the subject
headings under which the material is segregated, and, under each
subject heading, the material is filed in chronological order.
I believe the sort of thing you are looking for is most likely
to be in the Archives, though you may want to take a look also at
the Public Debt Bureau files. Nothing, aside from the files which
were sent to the bureaus, as indicated, has been kept in the Treasury,
Under the circumstances, it would seem advisable for either you
or Chandler to make a trip to Washington and go through the material
yourselves. You would quickly recognize what would and would not be
of value, I enclose a list of selected subject headings suggested by
Bill Heffelfinger, to whom you talked when you visited the Treasury
a year or so ago and who was, in Mellon!s time, in charge of the
files. The full list of subject headings will, of course, be available
for reference at the Archives.
I shall be glad to provide either you or Chandler, or both, if
you wish, a letter of certification, so the Archives people will give
all the help they can.
Sincerely yours,
W, Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Committee on the History of
the Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 1+5, New York
P.S. I understand that David E. Finley, Director of the Mellon Art
Gallery, worked closely with Mellon in the Treasury. It might
be worthwhile talking to him, and I can arrange an introduction,
SUBJECT HEADINGS FROM 1918-1932 FILES SENT TO NATIONAL A i f a f i b Q H f i g i l V/
MIGHT CONTAIN MATERIAL OF INTEREST TO THE COMMITTEE ON FEDERAL RESERVE
HISTORY
ACCEPTANCES...1919—1932
™™
XIf E OH tm HtSTor v
1918 1924 OF THE
• W M l AESfiftyg 8Y$Ttjw
BANKS & BANKING
C l e a r i n g House Funds & Advances
BANKS & BANKING
I n t e r n a t i o n a l Conference of Banks of Issue
BANKS & BANKING
-World Bank
BLUE SKI LAW
1922
1918 1926
1918 1919
CAPITAL ISSUES COMMITTEE
1918 1921
CAPITAL ISSUES 1930
DEFIATION & INFLATION
1919 1932
EXCHANGE
Foreign-:—Correspondence
EXCHANGE
Stabilization
FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS
1919
1918
1932
1923
1917 1932
FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS Discount Rates (Policy L e t t e r s )
1922 1923
(Note: There a r e a -whole l i s t of breakdowns under Federal
Reserve Banks which you might want t o look a t when you
get t o Archives, b u t these l i s t e d above a r e l i k e l y p r o s p e c t s )
GOLD
Payment f o r Export & Earmarking Purposes
INSTALLMENT
Buying & S e l l i n g
1926 1932
INTERNATIONAL GOLD CLEARANCE FUND
LOANS
Private
1918 1922
1922 1932
PUBLIC DEBT—(GENERAL)
RURAL CREDITS
1924 1932
1928—1932 (All p r i o r f i l e s sent t o Public Debt f i l e s )
1920-1932
STABILIZATION OF THE DOLLAR AND COMMODITY PRICES
1918
1932
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Secretary
Letters Sent to Bermuda (1926 MaLlon)
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Secretary
Letters Sent to Europe (1924—1927 Mellon)
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Secretary
Letters Sent to Southampton (1925 Mellon)
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Secretary
Memoranda t o (1921
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Secretary
P o l i t i c a l S i t u a t i o n (1926—1930 Mellon)
D931 Mellon)
- 2 -
WAR FINANCE
Credit Billion Dollars to Germany
WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD
1917
1921
1920
1922
May 10, 1955
Dear Mr* Burgess*
I wonder if you can get help for us in the matter
of the papers of Andrew Mellon. ¥e have been assuming that
they went with him when he left the Treasury, and we have been
carrying on a correspondence for several months with Mr. A#
V. Schmidt, President of the A. V. Kellon Educational and
Charitable Trust, in an effort to spur the® to quicker examination of the papers. Recently I wrote him again saying
•feat Dr. Lester Chandler was eager to consult any material
which might bear on the relationship between Mr. Strong and
Mr. Mellon,
In reply to that letter, Mr. Schmidt has dealt our
hopes something of a blow. He quotes from the people who are
working on the Pittsburgh papers as follows:
*A preliminary study of the files of the late
Andrew ¥. Mellon, which are now stored in Pittsburgh, indicates that these papers, except for a
large number of volumes of newspaper clippings,
primarily concern his personal business and philanthropic affairs and do not contain material
directly related to his government service. Although a more detailed study aaay produce papers of
governmental interest, it appears possible that
Mr. Mellon, on his retirement from the Treasury,
did not take files with hia to the same extent as
have Cabinet members of succeeding administrations."
Mr. Schmidt then goes on to say that any correspondence between Mr. Strong and Mr. Mellon during the period
1921-28 must still be in the files of the Treasury Department
and suggests that Dr* Chandler make inquiry as to where the
Treasury Department has put such material*
It is at this point that I turn to you. Earlier,
Miss Alexander, under your direction, W E S kind enough to
send us a memorandum on the position of various files within
the Treasury, or files which had gone from the Treasury to
the National Archives, Thia memorandum included © statement
that, »Office of the Secretary files for the period 1918-33
have been transferred to National Archives,8
It may be that this sector contains just what Dr*
Chandler is looking for* The question still remains, however, as to whether Mr* Mellon*s own correspondence (he w©8
Secretary from 1921 to 1933) was included with the material
which went to Archives, or was held out for other disposition .
I assume that • record w&s kept as to what actually went to Archive®* If these records could be consulted
so that we could know if the Strong-Mellon correspondence
were included, it would be of great assistance. There is,
of course, some of that in the files of Mr* Strong here in
the Bank, but nowhere near as much as Br* Chandler expected
to find# It may be that they always talked over the telephone or in person, but one is still hopeful that papers
exist if only one can put a finger on them*
Thanks ever so much for your good help in this*
Very sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr* ¥» Randolph Burgess
Uhder-Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25, B. C,
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
FOR MONETARY AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON
April 1, 1955
Dear Miss Singer:
I have no changes to suggest in the
transcript of the conference at Princeton
on January 29th.
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
Miss Ellen Singer
Be search Assistant
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
33 liberty Street
New York 45, New York
^_
^
RECEIVED
March 15, 1955
Dear Mr. Burgess:
8 M enclosed career data on Edgar A» J . Johnson
i s sent you at tiie request of Mr. Sproul. I t c&jce o r i ginally froa Waiter Stewart, who presented Johnson*s name
for con side ration At the time v,h«n the preferred l i s t v&s
being Mds up. 3y coincidence, he h w d recently froza
Mr. JohnEoii that the l a t t e r i s finishing his vork in
Yugoslavia and looking about for • new connection. Dr*
Stewart forwarded the career data- to Mr. Sproul >dth the
suggestion that the Covnittat ^i 6 ht vaat to reconsider
this name i f Dr» Jtffies finds he cannot accept the poet.
Kr« Sproul tlked t-iat I forw&rd die career
sheets with Dr. Rteyart^i soggestion to Hui mexabers of
tiie Executive Committee•
Sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr. ¥• Randolph Burgess
Under-Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
'Washington 25, £• C,
RECEIVED
SWEDISHOLIOYD
MAR
I g
]g55
GOTHENBURG
C 0 M
W
T
£|
HISTORY
SYSTEM
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
FOR MONETARY AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON
J^
p
March 9 , 1955
,->•_.
Dear Miss Adams:
Mr. Burgess, as you may have suspected, is
away on a t r i p and will not be back u n t i l the 21st •
In h i s absence, I have done a l i t t lTew aasking
around |
^f\
s verv
and am told that ^gfiXBiSX3m^BXS^
positive! £ o4""
about not wanting to take any "original official
t
c i ">
correspondence or documents with him when he left
the Treasury. There was some controversy, as you
may recall, in the papers about Sec^e^aj^^ Mpr^enthau
having taken f i l e s with him, and i^lieve**§ecrefi^y
\ t
Snyder had t h i s in mind. There i s no way of knowing
what Secretary Vinson may have taken with him, but
i t is "&ou^nT*u1ilSKiy that he would have taken
original official papers with him. His then'secretary
i s now working for Chief Justice Warren and could be
contacted, if desired.
As to where the f i l e s are now located in the
Treasury, I refer you to the memorandum I prepared
for you just after your f i r s t v i s i t to the Treasury,
outlining the Treasury organization and f i l e s . I
suspect the material you would be most interested in
i s lodged in the Office of the Secretary f i l e s , the
old Technical Staff f i l e s , the office of General
Counsel f i l e s , the Fiscal Service f i l e s , and possibly
in the Office of International Finance f i l e s .
Mr. Burgess will see your l e t t e r when he returns,
In the meantime, I hope this will be of some help.
Sincerely yours,
Secretary to Mr. Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New lork 45, New York
o
Kerch A, 1955
Dear Hr» Burgess;
Thank» so ituch for your l e t t e r about the
<%uaaaflflteflfl3Pfia and tae Treasury file*
I t Ts wonderful to have a Comniittea member share the
sense of astonishment at what i s n ' t , which 30 often
confronts us in this office,
How th*it you have dipped into Treasury
files* could I ask another question about them? We
seeia to havs no information as to what has heppened
to tiie fiiea of Secret&r/ ^aydar, recently departed
fron that building, or Secretary Vinaon, vho was
tUex'e a t a s t i l l earlier period. We would like very
such to know whether those gentlemen followed the old
practice of taking their records froia the freaaury
when they l e f t , or whetaer ttiey are s t i l l in the
f i l e s . 1£ they are s t i l l in the building, we would
also like to know which files they ere in»
We will be ever tio grateful for your good
offices in this a a t t e r .
Cordi&ily yours,
Mildred Adasas
Kr, W# Randolph burgess
Under-Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25, 15. C.
i
Fefcruaiy 17, 1955
Dear Mrs, Ponton:
This is to confirm the Executive Cousrdttee meeting
on February 21, 1955 at 2:30 p.m. in Mr. Sproulfs office
in the Federal Reserve Bank of Hew York
I hope someday to have a chance to meet you after
so many telephone conversations.
Sincerely yours,
Research Assistant
Mrs. Edna Ponton
Office of the Under Secretary
Department of the Treasury
Washington 25, B.C.
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
FOR MONETARY AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON
January 3.
Dear Miss Adams:
With great hesitation and doubt, I have
checked a few names on the two lists* I'm afraid
they add up to 12 instead of 10, but that's about
the best I can do* I have checked several people
whom I don't know very well and would want to
investigate more fully before committing myself,
but they seemed the most promising on the list*
On the other hand, some of them I know very
well, like John Davenport, who is excellent,
Steve Saulnier and Brooke Willis*
Sincerely yours,
W* Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Committee on the History of
The Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 1*5, New York
Enclosure
^ ^
*"? U C
E ; V \Z
For Consideration as Historian
Lester V, Chandler
John Alfred Bavenport
Howard Sylvester Ellis
William John Fellner
Frank Whitson Fetter
Lewis Galantiere and
Woodlief Thomas, as a team
Earl J. Hamilton
John Virgil Lintner, Jr«
Paul Winston McCracken
Raymond Joseph Saulnier
Richard Sidney Sayers
J. Brooke Willis
C E jV
C O " /• i l Z _ I I I
E
("Me, i :>3 ? i . K '
Of . h't.
E
SVSTF.M
December 31, 1954
Hear Mr. Burgess:
I talked yesterday vith Kiss Katharine Brand of the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress about various problems
concerned with collections of pfepers &nd found her full of experience and common sense.
In the process of our discussion, I mentioned the papers
of CQlQnaJLLeonsrd A/res and found her very much interested in them.
The library vould very such like to hov* them, and Kiss Brand will
see that somebody in authority writes you concerning that i n t e r e s t .
I hope this vorks out veil for both you wad the library•
Very sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr« Vu Hendolph Burgess
Under-Secretery of the Treasury
Treasury Building
W&ahington 25» 8b C.
c . c . - Mlas Ktitriarine Br^nd
December 29> 1954
Dear Mr. Burgesi
I am enclosing -with this note a copy cf the l i s t of
possible ai3^o^ians whleh Mr. Cproul brought to the meeting yesterday. I t.iink you took with you the other l i s t vhich ve prepared in this office.
As soon as ve got your own ctioicee out of these l i s t s ,
we F i l l put them together vith the others &n& hope to come up
i-rith ft handful of recommendations for the meeting of the full
Committee on the 29th,
Cordially yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr. ¥« Randolph Burgess
Under-Secret*.ry of "the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25> D» C»
Enc.
December 20, 1954
Bear Mr* Burgess*
Mi38 Adams has asked me to write you that she has
received vord from Mr. Sproul about the Executive Coramittee
meeting on Tuesday, December 28th. He would like to change
the hour of that meeting from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Unless you
l e t this office know to the contrary, we shell ESSUK* that
1:00 p«m» at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday, December 28th, i s convenient for you.
Sincerely,
Secretary
Mr* V. ftendolph Burgess
Bnder-Seeretary of the Treasury
Treasury Building
Washington 25, B, C,
December 15, 195-4
Dear Mr. Burgesss
Xour secretary will probably have told you that
the Executive Committee meeting of December 14-th had
to be postponed on account of the illness of two
Cosmitte© members*
It has B O W been reset for Tuesday, December
28tht ms Mr. Sproul is to b© in Washington that
day. We are arranging for the Coamittee meeting
to be at Brookings st 12:30. The Institution will
have luncheon for you there.
If this is not possible for you, vould you
tunre your secretary let me know as soon at® possible.
Very sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr. ¥. Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Department
Washington 25, B.C.
AfiCEiVED
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
FOR MONETARY AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON
DEC
v
coimmzz en mi
OFtHC
December 2 ,
Dear Miss Adamst
Our take-off date for Paris is probably
December ll*th, but it's fairly possible that
it will be from New York and that I could
come to the lunch at the Fed on that date*
All I can do now is nurse the idea along
and see what happens when the time comes*
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Committee on the History of
The Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York l£, New York
December 1, 1954
Dear Mr. Burgess:
At Mr, Woodward1 s re meat we huve been trying to
find a date when the Executive Comtltto* coulo. meet
1 B December• After «any ;.
'oarui that
noon on Tuesday, December 14-th, seened to be the aoat
possible BOBaBt for the graatent number or r.enbers.
Mr. Sproal has therefore in\ritsd the Executive Committee
to lunch with him here at
"We understand that you are flying to Europe on
the 15th, but we still hope that you mp.y be in Kew lork
the previous day tad be able to attend this meeting.
Sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr. ¥. Randolph Burgess
Under Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Departeent
Washington 25, D.C.
UNDER SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
FOR MONETARY AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON
November 26, 1954
Dear Miss Adams:
Thank you for your letter of the 24th.
I shall put the January 8 Princeton date
on my calandar and plan to be there.
Also, I will let you know if I get any
further ideas about people.
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Research Director, Committee on
the History of the Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
Boveaber 24, 1954
Bear Mr. Burgess:
Minutes of the Princeton meeting will be sent you shortly, but
meanwhile this is to serve as a small reminder on two counts:
First, that you put on your calendar the date January 8th for a
return engagement at Princeton - an all day meeting to consider the
document which the experts will produce, and to move forward with a
decision on the choice of a man (or menj to write the comprehensive
history*
Second, if you hare & sudden inspiration, either for The Historian
or for writers of monographs, we would be delighted to have them by
December 10th so that we can circulate them to the Committee.
It wa3 good to 3ee you Sunday,
Most aincerely yours,
Mildred Adams
Mr. tf. Randolph Burgess
0nder Secretary of the Treasury
Treasury Department
Washington 25, B.C.
U N D E R SECRETARY O F T H E T R E A S U R Y
FOR M O N E T A R Y A F F A I R S
WASHINGTON
November 22, 19S1*
Mr. Donald B. Woodward
Committee on t h e History
of t h e Federal Reserve System
33 L i b e r t y S t r e e t
New York US, N. Y.
Attention:
Miss Adams
Dear Mr. Woodward;
In accordance with t h e suggestion i n your l e t t e r t o Mr* Burgess of
October 2 ° t h , t h e r e follows a statement of t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o s t s borne by
Mr. Burgess i n connection w i t h t h e Committee meeting a t P r i n c e t o n , New J e r s e y ,
on Sunday, November 21sts
One-way r a i l f a r e from Washington, D. C. t o New York, N. Y.
on F r i d a y , November 19th ( i n c l u d i n g t a x )
$11.06
Pullman s e a t ( i n c l u d i n g t a x )
. . . . . . .•.•.••. ..
( P a s s e n g e r ' s check #5h22 a t t a c h e d )
(NOTE? Since Mr. Burgess had an engagement i n
New York on Friday evening, November 1 9 t h , he
l e f t Washington by t r a i n a t 3:00 PM Friday
afternoon, a r r i v i n g i n New York a t 6ih5 PM.
On Saturday, November 20th, Mr* Burgess went
t o h i s home a t Hastings-on-Hudson, where he
remained u n t i l e a r l y Sunday morning, November
2 1 s t , when Mr. Allan Sproul came by for him
and they proceeded t o P r i n c e t o n , N. J . by
automobile. I t i s assumed t h a t you w i l l make
whatever reimbursement you consider a p p r o p r i a t e for t h i s p o r t i o n of Mr. Burgess* t r a v e l . )
2.30
&L3.36
One-way r a i l f a r e from Trenton, New J e r s e y t o Washington. DC
on Sunday, November 21st ( i n c l u d i n g t a x )
8#2U
Pullman s e a t ( i n c l u d i n g t a x )
( P a s s e n g e r ' s check #3265 a t t a c h e d ;
Taxi, s t a t i o n t o home « • • • •
lo90
.•••••••••••••
Total t r a v e l c o s t
10.11*
.75
$2lu25
Should you d e s i r e any f u r t h e r information regarding t h e above, I s h a l l be
glad t o f u r n i s h i t .
Sincerely yours,
Secretary to
Mr. W. Randolph Burgess
THE PULLMAN
Check. To identity
COMPANY-H«MHr'«
accommodations purchased.
^v>
WASHINGTON to NEW YORK, N. Y. C\>
—-—?-T
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OFFICE 1
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T H E P U L L M A N C O M P A N Y — Passenger's
Check. To ijtfifitify accommodations, purchased.
in
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.Property taken i n t o c a r w i l l beentirelyalowner'srisk
.—
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OFFICE 1 1 - 2
rORM 1 0 0 - R •
November 12, 1954
Dear Miss Alexander:
Miss Adesss asked me to thank you for giving us a co]:y
of Mr. Burgess1 speech, "Federal Reserve and Treasury
Relations". It has gone into our file, vhere it will be
2iGSt useful.
Sincerely yours,
Secret&ry
Miss Hae Alexander
Office of the Under Secretary
Tree miry Dep&rt&ent
Washington 25, ^.C.
COMMITTEE ON THE HIStOHX OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
October 1, 1954
Dear Mr, Burgesss
In accord vith the outcome of the poll of the Committee
Dr. Lcne vas invited to become e member of the Conoaittee• The
attached letter is his response.
Presumedly the Executive Coasaittee will consider the
question of further action on the natter at an early meeting.
Very truly yours,
Don&ld B. V^bodvsrd
Enclosure
Mr. ¥ . Haniolph Burgess
l»eputy to the Secretary
Treasury Dep^rtiiisnt
Washington 25, B.C.
lugu*X Up I
Burg**at
I got back froa f t . Loui« «ad Chle&gQ I
I .
r«tt.lng forth
In -^hich yow think yo\i a**y w«nt to vork
of i r^;s«Jt «03Wita»8t«» I w "orie* b^c&use X
t h a t «$ you ut thing* 4ov& on
iaa/ find
broadening tmd©r f u r ,'->«B.
fi
'
1$ I» of tho gr«at«»t *.id to
X fe*f* you111 Jflfld tlMi to 99&A y* aor« of
ld«»e vJOBt1riii« to ^rov In your ovn mind,
it 3
Iftttfl
Br. V. Randolph Burg»««
Hot«i Taffartoa
16th 2?tr*«t§ B.W.
THIRTY THREE LIBERTY STREET
NEW
YORK -45,
NY
July 26,
1954.
Dear Miss Adams:
In odd moments I have given some thought to the suggestion in
your letter of June 23rd that I might indicate the general area in vhich
I should like to do some writing when I get my release from present duties.
As of now, I am thinking in terms of a small book which might be
called "The Federal Reserve and the Public Interest" or a title to that
general effect.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the long term problem of
monetary policy in this country arises from the increasing itch to use money
as an instrument of politics and make monetary policy a political issue.
This was amply demonstrated last Spring in the barrage of criticism of the "hard money" policy. It has been continued by Patman and he has,
I am afraid, an increasing number of followers.
The same thing is happening in other countries where monetary
policy cannot claim exemption from political discussions. This will make it
increasingly difficult for monetary administration to do the hard things like
raise the discount rate and other steps which make money firm.
All of this suggests the need for effective exposition of the way
in which monetary policy serves the public interest and, as a corollary, the
need for some protection of the administration of monetary policy from political pressures.
All of this sounds not like history, but like argument.
What I have in mind, however, is exposition on the basis of the
history of the Federal Reserve System with illustrations from foreign experience, as well.
In institutional terms, the study could be described as a review
of the relationships among the Federal Reserve System, the Treasury and
other administration agencies, the Congress, and the agencies of public opinion,
Of course, in previous writing, I have done something in this field,
including the paper before the American Philosophical Society in 1952, the
informal address to the American Economic Association in December 1953 and, of
course, sections of my book, "The Reserve Banks and the Money Market".
THIRTY THREE LIBERTY STREET
NEW
YORK -45,
NY
—2—
Miss Adams - July 26, 1954-
The nearest approach by other writers is to be found in the
work of Dr. Goldenweiser.
This is the formulation of recent thoughts, but I put it on
paper partly to help my own thinking and as a general approach to the
question you have asked.
Sincerely yours,
¥. Bandolph Burgess.
Miss Mildred Adams,
Committee on the History of
The Federal Reserve System,
33 Liberty Street,
New York 4-5> New York.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON
June 29, 1954
Dear Miss Adams:
Thank you for yours of June 24th, with the enclosures,
and also for the earlier letter on my own activities* As
to this latter, I will undertake to do something about it
over the next few weeks. My present thought is that I would
undertake to write a general interpretation of fiscal and
monetary policy in the years that I have seen them in operation, but 1*11 try to be more specific later*
Most of the second list of names leave me moderately
cold, partly because I don't know the people very well.
I would be heartily in favor of Joe Willits —
enable him to keep an eye on his own baby.
it would
The other two on the list that I know are Charles
Abbott and Harold Reed, neither of whom I would think was
quite up to the assignment.
Without knowing him, I have a generally favorable impression of David Wright and would like to know what John
Williams and Bob Roosa think about him,
Elmer Wood sounds rather interesting but I do not
know him.
Lester Chandler's supplementary note shows a painful
lack of knowledge of Benjamin Strong, which shocks me a
little. He could certainly start from scratch.
Sincerely yours,
W, Randolph Burgess
Hiss Mildred Adams
Research Director
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
June ?3t 1954.
Dear Mr. Surgessi
In talking with Dr. Walter Stewart in Washington l e s t week, he
mentioned conversations vith you in -which you had get forth your ovn ideals
as to vhat this project should accomplish, and had referred to the work
vhich you yourself sight eventually undertake a? part of i t .
¥e are at present, ftf you know, in an amorphous stage in which
the only eleer lines yet dnan Km thoee of the Kincaid and Chandler proj e c t s . H sre trying to &dd ConoEittee members, gather a permanent staff,
rearrange space, collect suggestions as to potential history v r i t e r s , and
in general get set for the five-yeer stretch.
In this endeavor i t would be of the greatest help to the Committee 1 a thinking and planning if we could hMNi »ore about your own part
in the project &S you see it* At various times I have had gllspses, but
they have been fleeting, and p a r t i a l . From what Dr. Stewart saya I take
i t you are VtUl expecting to do a book vtthin the project 1 ? framework.
From what you once said to sie I got the idea that the book wuld not be
the definitive history of vhich ve keep talking, but nose thing else of
which I have no clear concept.
I know how extremely busy you are -with Treasury affairs and. I
realise the difficulty of grappling et this time with any recuest for a
description of the book yen want to write. But if you could, perhaps,
block out the areas of your interest, either in tiiie or in subject, indicate the limits within which you are thinking, give us some clue as to
what phases you expect to be working on, this would be of tremendous help.
I t e i g i t save us from making false i-oves that we would regret; at the very
least i t would help us av.iid the danger of suggesting that some stranger
be invited Is unviertakv aja exploration into the very thing you yourself
intend to aia a t .
Vith cl8ep gratitude in advance, I ea
[ally yours,
Mildred A<$w*
Mr» ¥ . Randolph Burgess
Hotel Jefferson
1200 16th Street, !?•¥.
Washington, IU C,
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON
June 9, 1954
Dear Miss Adams:
Yours of June 3rd is at hand, but
I am a little puzzled about my response
because I don't know most of the people.
I would be very happy with Cyril
James and Tom Cochran.
Perhaps other members of the Committee
know more about the other people. I know
Ted Schultz somewhat and thought he was
more on the statistical end, rather than
the historical*
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Research Director
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
c
p
Y
Treasury Department
Washington, D.C,
June 2, I9$h
Dear Don:
Thanks for yours of May 26th, I have talked with
Bill Martin about Ralph Young and I doubt very much if he
would be available, so I think it would be a good idea to
get out a note to the members of the Committee to see who
they can turn up.
I have also reviewed the requests from Chandler and
Kincaid, and I think they are both desirable.
I do not think it is valuable to have Kincaid add
additional people for his project.
One question about Chandler's proposal is with respect
to the cost of publication, which ought not to be anything
like $10,000,00, If the book is well done, it ought to have
commercial publication. Also, I think it might be wise for
Chandler to tell us his plans in a little more detail.
Sincerely yours,
s/ W, Randolph Burgess
Mr, Donald B, Woodward
122 East i;2nd Street
New York 17, N.Y.
G
0
P
Y
May 2 6 , 19$h
Mr. Randolph Burgess
Deputy to the Secretary
Treasury Department
Washington, D. C.
Dear Randy:
Mr, Sproul has given the matter further thou^rt and has concluded
against Harold Roelse on the concern that this would make the matter
too heavily weighted by the New York Reserve Bank. He has some
reservations about Ralph Young on the ground of affiliation with one
part of the Reserve System.
He suggests that I get out a note to a l l members of the Committee
t e l l i n g them of the unavailability of George Roberts and asking them
for suggestions.
Could you l e t me know i f this i s agreeable to you - and as I see i t ,
such action would not prejudice consideration of Ralph Young in any
event.
Co rdially,
Donald B. Woodward
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON
May 22, 1954
Dear Don:
The minutes of the meeting last week in
Washington seem to me entirely satisfactory and
accurate.
On Thursday, I talked to George Roberts and,
I confess, did not find him very receptive. He
has not slammed the door completely, but it is
very doubtful. I think we must begin to look
elsewhere•
Sincerely yours,
Randolph Burgess
Mr. Donald B. Woodward
Secretary, Committee on the History
of the Jederal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New Tork 45, New York
May 12, 1954
PROPOSED RELATION BET¥ESJ THE COMMITTEE ON THE HISTORY
OF HIE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM AND THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
1* The Committee on the History of the Federal Reserve System and
the Brookings Institution will assume joint responsibility for the
administration of the proposed project on the History of the Federal
Reserve System and the expenditure of funds that may be granted by
the Rockefeller Foundation for this activity. The proposed grant
•will be made to the Brookings Institution for administration jointly
by the Committee and the Institution.
2, The Committee will enlarge its present membership and provide
for the replacement of members as agreed upon by the Committee and
the Brookings Institution.
3. To facilitate the administration of the project, the Committee
will designate an Executive Committee with power to make administrative decisions jointly witfr the Brookings Institution on matters
that may require action, and a member of this Executive Committee
will be designated and empowered to act for the Committee in accordance
with general policies established jointly by the Committee and the
Brookings Institution.
U* The Committee, directly or through its designated representatives,
and the Brookings Institution, through the President, will jointly
determine the research and related activities to be undertaken, the
allocation of funds, the manner in which these activities «hall be
pursued, the-personnel to be engaged, the contracts, grants, or
other commitments that may be made.
2.
5. The administrative arrangements and the payment of funds will be
handled by the Institution on the authorisation of the President vith
the approval of a designated representative of the Committee,
6. Employees engaged for work on the project shall be appointed by
the President of the Institution in consultation with a designated
representative of the Committee, and they shall be joint employees
of the Committee and the Institution for specified periods, and not
regular employees of the Brookings Institution.
7. Contracts or grants for writing, research, or other services shall
, be arranged by the President of the Institution in consultation with a
designated representative of the Coaamittee. These contracts or grants,
as the circumstances may require, shall specify the obligations of
the parties, the amount and manner of payment, the responsibility for
supervision, and the responsibilities respecting reading and criticism
of manuscript, editorial work, approval for publication, and publication
arrangements. Such contracts or grants may be entered into with the
Brookings Institution itself for portions of the work on terms that
comply with the Institution1 s usual operating practices.
8. The Institution will keep a record of its overhead and other
expenses incurred in administering the project, and render an accounting
to the Committee annually. Such expenditures up to $3*000 per year (a#
provided in the request) shall be charged against the funds for the
project. Any expenditures beyond |3,000 per year shall be subject to
reimbursement with the approval of the Gommittee.
9* These arrangements shall apply for the duration of the project over
the next five years, unless altered with the approval of the Committee
and the Brookings Institution.
Kay 6, 1951;
Ux-t Um Randolph
Deputy to the Secret&iy
Treasury Dep&rtBtent
Dear Handy?
Chairman Sproul, Dr. Calkins end Walter Stewart
lunch at Brookings at Is00 on Tuesday, May 11 to discuss the
urgent questions in my memo. Either Governor Martin or Win
Kiefler will be present and I have high hopes of getting there,
but l a any event Miss Hildred Mans will be tliere.
This probably will be the only meetiiig of t!ie Ck>maittee
that need be held for a QMMddftYftbfa time. 1 do very much hope
that you can make i t - or at very least coae in for dessert with
us.
Cordially,
Donald B« Woodward
Secretary
ft
•
n
^
T /
April 2$,
m* GaUOMS •TOIL S
l-onald Woodward
subfistftslon of our •p^lieation to the
Foundation I h*?a talked tvlee with Br« Willlts at his
to clmrtl^ a few of the points* Hi fsels that the Gonsiitt*® f a
proposal wa« wall praparad and, whllsr nothing i s cartain until
the mc^rtin^ m !$*& 21$ th# application thus far appears to be
on the right track*
la vim of tha possibility tiMit in 1&1<! iay w® will
receive word that funds are available and wcrk i^ay proceed,
I siagfQst that the Committee might well begin to think about
future procedure* Two points are of especial importance; If
the CoasdLttea could reach a concensus of opinion on these two
before the Rockefeller meeting (which takes place Ma/ 20th) the
aoncluslotts mi&^it provide supplaasatal iaforsaation for Dr#
e i l l i t s in case ha should be question d on the®*
The two chief problems ar^ as follows f
1« Finding a na,ior staff %an*
2 . identliyifif aajor problems and seeerinf
7eprBsar>.tation of a l l points of view.
Page
2
1* Finding a major staff man. Oar proposal stated (Page 19) "the
Committee fs aim is to find a well equipped and exceptionally
able Research Assistant, with the necessary academic training
in monetary matters and some experience in administration who
has the capacity to play a major role in the project • Such a
person would, after a year or so as administrative assistant
take charge and carry forward. Miss Adams would then be in a
unique position to embark upon a major writing part of the
project11 • This individual will be a highly significant factor
in the work of the Committee* Therefore he will need to be
most carefully chosen*
I should think there are several possible avenues of
approach* One would be to seek an individual sufficiently
close to retirement and with sufficient qualifications as to be
interested in moving to this job in the near future* Such a
person might be George B. Koberts of the National City Bank or
W. A. Berridge, Economist of the Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company or J* H. Riddle recently retired from the Bankers Trust
Company after some time at the Federal Reserve Board*
Another approach would be to seek a presently established person who would want to do the job and might be able to
get a leave of absence, or who might see this as a big enough
opportunity to wish to take it and hope to find another post at
its termination*
(If there were the possibility of an appoint-
ment at Brookings following experience with this project, this
might also be a factor*) Halph Young of the Reserve Board staff
has excellent qualifications and so I should think does Donald
Page
Thompson of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank, R* J» Saulntar
of Columbia, Lester Qh&ndlar of Princeton, or Burton Hallowell
of Connecticut Ikeslayan • to name a few* (Other names follow
this memo*)
Tat another approach would ha to seek a good young
parson who might hope to make this the springboard for a major
earner and who has already demonstrated marked capacity. The
office haa a l i s t of younger scholars, floispiled by Miss MeKinstrjr
from experience with Dr. John Williams* which say be useful*
Probably Belph Toung, or Saulnler, or Dr» Williams or a number of
others could suggest names* (Other names follow this memo*)
Perhaps the Cosmlttea would wish to have prepared a statement
of i t s objectives and the kind of person It Is seeking, and to
mn^ such a statement to a number of Economists in this field
with a request for their sugpaarfcions.
Your preferences in thmm possibilities and your suggestion of nastes would be helpful* From responses a concensus
might evol/e for farther consideration by the Cojradttee*
2« Identification of s&jor problerns, with repi^sentation of a l l points
of viewi
One of the first problems for the research director,
in passing frtm the exploratory phase to the main project* will
be that of knowing, In so wide a field, which subjects and which
points of discussion are in nood of the added light that further
research way bring, that do the experts want to know! What inost
pussies the historians? ^hat Its i t about the System that Informed
aen have nearer really understood? Te obtain forees on key points
i s of the f i r s t impo2*t&nc©# I t should be the kind of focus
that ®&ms from coordinating various points of vie* - fro©
mn in and out of Board and Ban&a, £ro® tmGtmr® and student*
of finance and business, fros •canonic historians and $>©litieal
ordtsr to help obtain focus, and to get rounded
, the Cerasitte© might ear® to ask a do»«r> or so
and «palifl#d, for a
statasNmt on th« qtjestion® eoneftrninr the history,
sMnt &nd funatiotiinr of tho F®d©i%l :%»aam S'ystaa vhlcih mm
to than vost impertant wad most puaalingr* This method of
tha reaaaroh ,istoKi of a project ha® b®«n tried
whert with suee®f?s| i t se^ms to prora th® mor@ micsceatful
an honomrittffi of tlOO or 1200 for thoughtful ia^g«®ti©r*a i»
offered with the vaqpatut* The Comudtta® might llkft t o oo»aid#r
mich an idea*
(A. },i,$t of ©eossional adiris^rt or conaultants
on a £at feaeia follows a t UM wni of this
After t h i s ©ri;t*inal «pproeeh# th®
wish to establish a py*ocednre for intanolttant consultations with
auch a vepreftentatiire group in th« future«
the same group, or
seleeted indiYidtials fros I t , sd^ht b® fcm®& into an
^reup for th® CcBmittee} t h i s inl^ht h* dona directly
or thnra^h the f a c i l i t i e s of £¥®e1tings. Indeed i t mlpftt he
d««iimble to have atich a Cosgdttee malting purhap* 8«wi-anTiually
to mriMm prd^?®ss#
For the political scientists Cr# V. L. Key
of iar^ard or Arthur tfcMahan of Coluadsla addit %® suitable*
5
the historians Fred Lane of Johns Ho£*kins and who has
spending sosst time with the Rockefeller foundation alr&t be
h^lpffcil and so a l s o Arthur Col®«
On t h i s ^roup there might
well be some of the oases mentioned as p o s s i b i l i t i e s for
Cossn&tt©© s t a f f above and with the addition of perhaps such
as £r« John f i l l i a s s , &r# 0m C. Abbott, newly named i/fcan of
the Graduate School oi* th* Uii&r@ralty of VirirfLnia, F. Cyril
Jams,
Principal of MeOill Unlyorsity, Bolatid Bobinson of
Northwestern Onireristy, $ t c #
ID t h i s f as in the previous case, responses by the
Coj»aitt$® could possibly provide a concsnsua for furti^r
discussion.
compiled froia Staff l i s t s
Gee&sioaal 4dvis@rs or Consultants
(^a £e* b a s i s )
FI8ST PIBBFSMMCfi tl^T
? c
Joha R« i i l l i a m s
c Howard I* E l l i s
c J ^ n W , Clark
? Wm W# Rostow
•
•
•
? 0 . Griffith Johnson^
c J # ?i««r
Paul Howan
F # » . Fetter
Fritz Maeblap
P. V# Ellsworth
? L, W. Watteiiis
C ; H , M. S e n e r s
•
A
e * '
SECOSD CIK5ISCE
HAR/Am) - Arthur %itht»s ©r
t4ward S # Mason
CALJFOEIIJA • normn S # Buchanan h^ (c) .
COLUMBIA
1I«X«T#
CHICAGO
« U d «!• Haadlton
OOVT. SEHFICE
UCU
MOKTHIiSfy^l
•
»'ISCGN£2M
MICHIQAH
BUFFALO
I
•
Pag®
6
QualiHed persons^ presently In active mrrXo®, who ml^ht be
persuaded to get l@av#s from present poats to s e r w as Research
assistant and .eventually Cireotor of Research (providing salary
was scaled to t h e i r current levels) t
Karl R# Bopp *
H. S# n U i
Sbrnr loed
t f ? # Chandler •
Bray Haa®oiid -»
iarcld (« BNNI~
Philadelphia
California
Ifcdvendtsr of
Pilneetoa
Lining tempemrily in Italy
Cornell (ROW about 66 ywrs old)
Richard
sen who mi^ht be considered as ?*®eareh
Assistant and eventually Director ©f Beasareh, (in order of
• f*&* $ss« connection
! • Paul •« MeUjpaeiam
of Mietiigttn
i
u
-.x/f,. t J
i
-
.
3«
Iswrsnce '••* Thomson
3 . fiotor tf« Longstpa»t
MfA adsslon abroad
li» Harry 0* Johnson
#
6.
<«inmapolis Baalcf Corner
dii^etor of restareli
Haamurd aettaat® Behool o
Business Adainiatration
^Federal Bsserve Boanl
i!Bir# ox*
Fowl
®i^i
Freutel
S t . iouis Bank
?• Hl» 0 . Bradford
Worthwestern
0. Warren L . Saith
0, of 7in^Uda
9* Donald C# I d l l e r , BiT* of ft*
Fedeisl H#@©rr® Board
10» James Tobin or
H. 0 # Wallieh, Tale
Hew York Bank
April 28, 195U
Mr. V« Randolph Burgess
Deputy to the Secretary
Treasury Department
Washington, D. C.
Dear Randolph:
The Cossiittee's application is being carefully considered at the
Rockefeller Foundation and my impression from the discussions with Dr. Willits
who has asked some clarifying questions is that the reaction is favorable thus
far# Of course nothing is certain until final action is taken.
It is desirable to do everything reasonably possible to anticipate
any questions that migfat arise during the course of consideration. Xou are
the most significant figure in the entire matter, yet there is no coiaraunication from you directlyj there are only some statements made about you in
a document filed withraysignature as Secretary to a Committee of which you
are a member. If you feel that you could reasonably do so, a letter from
you expressing desire for the project to go forward and coiaaitting yourself
to major responsibility and time on a not too distant (but not specifically
identified) occasion it mig&t be helpful. This would simply amount essentially
to saying directly what you have authorised to be said in the report. And it
may be unnecessary and may never be used. But if the need arose it could be
quite useful.
If you care to write such a note you might address it to Dr. Wiliits
and either send it directly to him or let me have it to be used only in the
event of need. In the latter case I should of course want the permission to
let Dr. Willits know of its existance and contents.
This letter is not written out of my unstiaulated imagination; on
the other hand it is in no sense imposed &s a condition nor a formal request.
cc: Miss
Cordially
Donald B. Woodward
Secretary
Mildred Adams
April 15, 1954-
Dear Mr, Burgess:
I em enclosing e revised draft of the proposal to the
Rockefeller Foundation* This follovs the form of an outline developed
in discussion vith Dr. Willits and Mr, Woodward. With it goes the
report of the pilot project which you have already seen; I am not et
the moment enclosing another copy.
Time is pressing us so closely thet I would be greteful if
you vould reed this over the weekend end, if possible, let us have
your approval by Monday, so thet we can put it together with the report and send the whole to Dr. Willits.
Very sincerely yours,
Mildred Adams,
Research Director.
p . s.—The biographic data was taken frois Who's Who and put in for the
benefit of Rockefeller board members. If we have omitted any deteil
of your career which should be included I t r u s t you will make the necessery correction.
Enc.
Mr» V. Randolph Burgess,
Consul tent and Special Deputy to the
Secretary of the Treasury,
U. S. Treasury Department, Room 34-34,
Main Treasury Building,
Washington 25, D. C»
Hkthim
Iferefa :>1, 1954
Dear Mr. Dur^ess:
This i s to th&nk you end Hiss Alexander for
yoor klB&aess In. setting atobineiy In order so that I could
get soae sense of faailiariV with the files In trie Treasury
^ilch are concerned vith relationships between the Treasury
and the Federal Reserve S/sten.
I spent Iftst fiiBedey talkiii^ to vario'os people with
l^Lss Alexander had arranged ap^ointoteats, and I fcmad i t
vary re^/ardiag. Eresyone mus kind and helpful, end -while I
cannot claim nov to be an expert oa Treasury f i l e s , at least
I know so^ethlrig as to uhere vi*riouii ivrP2s of r,xteri^is
are.
I shall hope to see you goon both far the affairs
of this CoHUittee aim to hear something of Caracce, "which
been a ayoteiy toim to &••
Mildred
Mr. ¥• Randolph Burgess
Deputy to the Secretary of the Treasury
Room 3434, Main Treasury Building
Washington 2$, D. C.
MAtk*
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON
March 17, 1954
Dear Miss McKinstry:
It is nice to hear from you again.
I have arranged the following appointments for Miss Adams
for Tuesday, March 23rd:
9:00 - 11:00 AM - Mr. William T. Heffelfinger, Assistant to
the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Room 3452,
Main Treasury Bldg., Ext. 381. Mr. Heffelfinger will speak to Miss Adams for a while
and then introduce her to the people in the
bureaus and offices comprising the Fiscal
Service who can help her.
11:00 - 12:00 M - Mr. Robert T. Mayo, Chief, Debt Division,
Analysis Staff, Room 3036, Main Treasury,
Ext. 2027. ixX^^^^M^T'
1 2 : 0 0 ^ 1:00 PM - Mr. John Car lock, Assistant General Counsel,
Room 3308, Main Treasury, Ext. 324.
2:00 - 3:00 PM - Mr. Henry J. Bittermann, specialist in gold
matters for the Office of International Finance,
Room 3204, Main Treasury, Ext. 2855.
3:00 - 4:00 PM - Dr. Leland Howard, Acting Director of the
f
Bureau of the Mint, Room 3132, Main Treasury,
" V. ^ 0 7
E 3 ^- 435- Mr. Howard may be tied up with
hearings on the Hill, but if he is not available,
he will see that someone else is.
4:00 - 5:00 PM - Mr. Robert H. Perry, Jr., Chief, Printing Section,
Office of Administrative Services, Room 2315,
Jfein Treasury, Ext. 2832. Mr. Perry will serve
as the focal point for contact with Office of the
Secretary files, the Treasury library^ the Treasury
History File, and the National Archive
- 2 In addition, Miss Adams should see MLss Margaret Butt, Supervisor of Mail and File Unit, Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
Room 302-3, Engraving and Printing Annex, 14-th and D Streets, S.W.,
Code 137, Ext. 4.14. Since this is located some distance from the
Main Treasury, I thought it best to wait and see whether there will
be time to fit in this appointment on this trip or not. I am sure
it can be arranged on fairly short notice.
It is a little difficult to know how much time to allot for
each appointment, but, at any rate, this will give Miss Adams an
opportunity to be briefed by the top people and be introduced to the
file and record clerks or whoever is designated to dig stuff up for
her. If she should find herself free between appointments, I am
sure Mr. Perry could arrange on short notice for her to look at
the Treasury History file, or something of that sort to fill in the
interim.
Please ask Miss Adams to get in touch with me if anything comes
up on Tuesday on which I might be of assistance. Incidentally,
there is a cafeteria in the Main Treasury where she can have lunch
if she doesn't care to go out. I usually lunch with some people from
the Fiscal Service and we would be glad to have Miss Adams join us
if it develops that she has nothing better to do.
Sincerely yours,
Mae Alexander
Secretary to Mr. Burgess
Miss Katherine McKinstry
Research Assistant
Committee on the History of the
Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
March 15, 1954
Dear !ftss Alexander*
Following ttp OB our earlier exchange
of notes, I shouLd like to gir© you & l i t t l e
advance notice that Mi«s Mildred Ada&s expect*
to spend two dejrs in Washli^ton, Tuesday end
¥edaes$day# Mere*?. 23-24,
She foicid the MttterlAls you s«nt ber
on the 'Preaeusy flepfirtnentf s set-i^p sndf f i l e s
ertrffflelj iisefnl, aad votdd like to devote aost
of Tuesdey, March 23r£, to Ti£iticg at the
Tr®es«ry snd femilierf. sing herself vith the
flr files 7011 mention- She will kesp the
day claar ? a.sd v l l l be glad to leave her
for s^elag people withla th® Departin your bends.
Sincerely yours,
Research Assistant
Miss MR® Ale3GB.nder
Secretary to Mr. W, R&ndol^i Burgess
Boom 3434-, Ifeln
Ha^iugton 25, D. C,
February 23, 1954
Dear Kiss Alexander!
Just a note to thank you, on behalf of Hiss
Adams, for your note of February 19th, vith Its enclosures,
She hopes very much on her next trip to Washington to
find time to look orer the various Treasury files you
mention*
Sincerely yours,
Research Assistant
Miss Mae Alexander
Secretary to Mr* V. Randolph Burgess
Mais Treasury Building
Washington 25, D. C.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON
February 19, 1954-
Dear Miss Adams:
Following up our conversation yesterday afternoon,
I enclose a memorandum listing the Treasury bureaus and
offices -whose files will be of interest and the persons
to contact.
I have talked to each office so they know your purpose,
and, -when it is signed and distributed, I -will send you a
copy of the memorandum from Mr. Burgess to each office
asking them to assist you.
When you are ready to spend a day or two here, I
will be glad to line up appointments for you.
Sincerely yours,
Mae Alexander
Secretary to
Mr. Burgess
MLss Mildred Adams
Research Director, Committee to Study
the History of the Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
P.S. Enclosed are the pamphlets about Treasury history,
organization and function, which you may keep, since they
are extra copies.
;
THEASDHI SOURCE MATERIAL FOR CTUUY OF FEDERAL RESERVE Ell TEM
OFFICE OF THE SECSKT&RY FILLS
viss Lucille Henderson, Ext. 23o7, has supervision; M % Percy Burdette,
Ext, 2588, HIT:. 1217, has active charge of these files.
Under the Treasury's decentralized system, documents flowing through the
top offices are ordinarily returned for filing to the bureau or office having
operating responsibility. Top officials usually maintain personal files for
quick reference, consisting largely of carbons of material lodged in the operating
bureaus; to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the wishes of the incumbent,
so rue original material is retained in the top office files. When a top official
leaves office, his files are transferred to Mr. Burdette.
Also, some operating offices In the Office of thfi Secretary, sue:, as the
Analysis f-taff, semi material directly to Kr« Burdntte for initial filing*
Office of tha >.'ocrsvary files for tha period 1918-33 have been transferred
to Katioral Archives.
r. Robert. F. '.'ayo. Chief,ftooa3036, Fart. 2027, rill discuss tae Debt
Division files with you. MrB- 7'a.rgaret Tright, Tioczi 3041, Ext. 2056, is in
charge of record? and files.
The Debt Jivision does economic analysis, statistical and correspondence
work relating to debt •acagaaant*
, uch of the completed correspondence is sent totfr.Burdette for filings
the remainder is kept in the Debt DlTicion ^iles.
The Technical Staff4 whieh v^eceded the present .Analysis Staff| left files
iTiiich are lodged on U M 5tn floor of the tfsaim'jr °ri ahlcb ?dll, vrien tlaa ard
personnel perirdt, be weeded out and B9D% to the Satiorai Archives. The Debt
Division hat, I understand* removed certain Material .for their current files.
iss Florin, Jixt. 2868, was In charge of the Technical Staff files and is
familiar with them. However, Mr. ;.£>yc will he able to advise you about them.
The Office of the I!lrcal Assistant Secretary maintainr its own files, as
:to thi Bureau of Public Debt, th« Bureau of Accounts and the Treasurer's Office.
Mr. William Heffelfinger, Assistant to the Fiscal Assistant Secretary,
Fxt. 381, Room 34-52, is thoroughly familiar with the entire Fiscal cervice and
will provide access to the material In the various files.
- 2 1ENEEAI COWSKL'S
FILES
r . John Carlock, Assistant General Counsel, Room 3303, Ext. 324, -will
provide access to the material in the General Counsel's f i l e s r e l a t i n g to
l e g i s l a t i o n , "the Accord," the Patraan study, and other matters r e l a t i n g to the
Federal Reserve in which t h a t office p a r t i c i p a t e d .
OFFICE OF irTWaTIONAL riKANCE FILES
r . George H« W i l l i e | Director, ROOM 3222, Bet. 305, can advise you about
the OIF f i l e s on the Gold Stabilisation Fund,, el-e.
BUREAU OF TVV: VIKT r I L ' c
Dr. Lelartd h'owari. Acting Director, Booa 3132, Ext. 435, V l l l discuss with
you the KLnt f i l e s . Irs. ftgnes /aiilihen, Koo;r» 5124, Bet. 2577, if in charge of
the record?.
3lfhEAU OF ii£GhA¥lH) Ai"3 Pr.J.r T:!!G 7.U.V0
• r . Alvin "•. Hall, Zarector, xiocni 116j Engraving k Printing E l i g . , 14th and
C F t r e e t s , 5»V*a Code 137, tct« 443, w i l l be glad to talk to you tad introduce
you to Mr. Donovan, Chief of their Office of Adinirdfcbratlve i e r v i c e s . lir* Kail
mentioned there m t MUM i n t e r e s t i n g material on the w r g m o y currency they
printed and provided the Federal Reserve In March, 1933.
i s s I s a b e l l a F. Diamond, Kooa 5023i fct. 2069, is In charge and iLU be
very glad to help you. I underst&zii the l i b r a r y has a wealth of material, i n cluding a complete set of kh« Secretary of the Treae-ry 1 ^ Annsial Report•«
THE N\TIQraL 4BCHT? r
Mr. I<yle J. Holreretatt, Code I'M, £xt« 6497, too* 11-1, Rational archives
• j Pennsylvania Ivenne ar:i Sth Street, H. ?/», has charge of Treasury files
lodged in the Archives. ...r. Robert Perry, in Treasury, in in charge of Treasuryrecords and the transmittal of material to the Archives.
f SRI alf
. Elrna Dewees, Hoom 1208, Ext. 2533, maintains a file of records of
historical interest relating to the Trrasury. Just now complete thii is I do
not know.
*
TREASURY DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON
February 13, 1954
Dear Miss Adams:
Thank you for the Progress Report
which is most encouraging.
I think it's
a fine idea to send a periodic report
of this project.
Good luckj
Sincerely yours,
W. Randolph Burgess
Miss Mildred Adams
Research Director, Committee to Study
the History of the Federal Reserve System
33 Liberty Street
New York 45, New York
Date:
TO:
Jte_ch...$_>,...1954:....
M?: §.§... Ala..m.s..
*JElerewith copies of the memoranda
that have gone out in connection
with your forthcoming visit•
M. Alexander
FROM:
W. RANDOLPH BURGESS
Ext. 2352
Room
3434
Mr« Andrew H« Overby
ifiarch 5> 1954
. Randolph Burgess
History of the Federal Keserve System
There has been recently established a "Committee to Study the His tor/
of the Federal Reserve fysteou" MP« Allan fproul is serving as Chairman and
ifessrs, Robert D. Calkins* WiXHaa McC. Martin, Jr., YaXWr V« ftcmart, Donald
3, Woodward and I are serving as members,
bh the support of the Rockefeller
felon
lad 3rooldjngs Institute,
a small research staff has been engaged to make a survsjy of alstorical materials
relating to the Federal Reserve ryoteia# This preliminary work, it is hoped,
w i U lay the groundwork for a larger project, over a period of years, leading
to a comprehensive history of the System, The iisoiediate objsctive li to determine
the physical location of materials, make a rough evaluation of content and
develop a program for the lor.gev undertaking.
The files tad rscords of the Treasury Department contain material indispensable to a complete history of the Federal r.
I shall appreciate your authorising the offices under your jurisdiction
to provide tli© Coraaittee's iiesearch Director, ides Mildred AdUM, such information and material as isay properly be aada available -without violating e&isting
rules and regulations on the release of Treasury information. In particular,
1 believe tht Office of International Finance and the Comptrollers Office raay
have material of interest* I number of carbons of this MMOVAndvi are attached
for your convenience in providi: g the necessary authorisation*
4M 111 f t would like to co,ue to Washington the latter nart of this
month to review the Treasury filer, and my office will undertake to arrange
fcr har.
I am addrtMlBg a siirdlar reouest to llossrs. Tuttle, Rose. Dan Tiaith,
Parsons and Bartelt with reepect to tht bureaus and offices under their jurisdiction.
IT, Edward F. Bartelt
March 5 ,
.
IJl story of the Federal Lefeerve
. re hfti !'•—ffitiij U?en established a "Conceit tee to Study the History
of tl
"aral BtMTW System*" K .ilan Bprool If ttrflnc as Chairman and
IfeMNNU I'iobart D. Calkir.r, WUXlaa M>C« Martin* J r . , ""alter T:. ftewart, Donald
oodwar:
.re eerving as aesberc*
til the Bttpport of tro rockefeller FouiKUtioa end Brookin^c Xretitute,
a eiaall research ^tafi1 baa been ingaged to Mka a eurvey cf historical Bat^rlAll
relating to the Federal heserve fys:te!t;. Dill • "preliminary -work, i t l l hoped,
will lay the groundwork for a larce? project, over a period of years, latding
tc a cor^prehenriva history of the 'ystQu. The imaiodiata abjective l l to determine
the ph/Bieftl location of matorialE, Blkt a rough evaluation cf content and
develop a pregras for the lAQftf
d
Th« file? and recoris of thr ty^iBiury Department contain ssaterial in—
dispensable to i complete hlttory cf fehi Federal H
I shall appreciate jpor author!sin?: the offices: under your jurisdiction
to provide the Cosimittee1'' ffiitirnti Director,
I l d r e i Adaspj such information and s'lateriai as csay properlj be ^-a^ie available without vlolatlni existing
rules arid regulatioM or the release of Treasury inforsiation. A nusber of
carbons of this MMNNtoAm are attucliad for 7o.ir conveDianca In providing the
ti
Adaas would like to cone to VMbiflftea the l a t t e r part of this
MBlh to review the Treasur;.- f l l a s , wad qy off ice will uridertake to arrange
appointiaentc for her. Tt would be particularly helpful to have Mr. ''--effelfinger
talk tc yiss Aiaaae. if that car be arranged.
I arc iddresPing a similar request to Muwti Overby. HOM| Tuttle.?
Dan Baith and FvNOI with rer-pect to the bureaus -and offic@£? <xnc!@r their j u r l s iletlon«
Mr. H. Chaprsan Hose
IMarch 5, 1954
V. Randolph Burgess
History of the Federal Eeserve fysteis
There has recently been established a "Comittee to Study the History
of the Federal Reserve System." Nr« Allan Sproul Is serving as Chairman and
Messrs* Robert Da Calkins, ffilllaa McC. Martin, Jr., Walter W. Ftewart, DonaZd
B* Woodwari and 1 a.re serving a£
th the support of the Rockefeller Foundation and Brooking8 Institute,
a small research staff has been engaged to n&ke a survey of historical materials
relating to the Federal Reserve System* This preliminary work, it is hoped,
w i H lay the groundwork for a larger project, over a period of years, leading
to a comprehensive history of the 5ystes. The instsediate objective is to determine
th© physical location of materials, make a rough evaluation of content and
develop a program for the longer undertaking*
The files and records of th© Treasury Department contain material into a complete history of the Federal l>eserve*
1 shall appreciate your authorising the offices under your jurisdiction
to provide the Committee's Research f&rector, MLm Mildred Adams, such information and material as may properly be ntrtt available without violating existing
rules and regulations on the release of Treasury information* In particular,
I believe the Bureau of the Mint files contain material of interest. I number
of carbons of this laemorandum are attached for your convenience la providing the
necessary authorization.
&s Ad&xm would like to com to Washington trie latter part of this
Moth to review the Treasury files, and qp office will undertake to arrange
appointments for her*
I mm addressing a similar request to i&ssrs* Tuttle., Overby, Dan Pmith,
Parsons and Sartelt with respect to tr»e bureaus and offices under thsir jurisdiction.
•*
if,
Parsons (throur-
- . Tolsom)
lfcrch 5, 1954
. .'.andolpii tapgMM
•ii story of the Federal fie serve rysttaa
Fhers has recently been established & "Committee to Ptudy the History
Of the federal !ca serve ff/lfetBi* lfr« Allan SftfOVl la serving U Chairman and
MHWWfl Rttert D« Calkins, TfHHtl ^ C , Jiartin, J r . , -'"alter ' . rt®w:irt; Jonald
B« oodwaid arc I fti*t ttnrlnc AS
:th the ctipport o£ UM Kock^felier KoundAtlozi tad Brooking^ Xnstltate,
a snail research staff has been engaged to nake a survey of historical suterials
relating to the Federal Ressrv® Syet#2a, ThiE preliialiiary workt I t is hoped,
will l a / the groundwork for a larger project, over a period of years, leading
to a corspreher.sive history of the B y i t f • The Iisnediate objective i t to ieterndne
the physical location of asateriale, isake a rough evaluation of content and
develop a program for the longer undertaking«
Bit files- and records of tht Treasury dep&rtraent contain maisrial ir>to a cos^lete history of the Federal lie serve*
I shall appreciate your a\itnoriiing tlie offices under your jurisdiction
to provide the COMrf.it**1 f Etseareh director, ad.es idli^ed Adams, isuch Infor-satlon
tad material as :say properly be nidi available without violating existing rules
and mgoXationa on the rel^a^e of Troasury information. In particular, I believe
the files of Mr« Percy Bur'iette, of trie Bureau of 3-ngraving and Printing, tfi©
h:' storical. fJUfcM of M^« ^Jewees. ani ttii Treasury Library contain material of
interest 9 as do the Treasury f i l e s in the National Archives* A nuiaber of carbons
of this yBr^randuB are a t t a c h e for your convenience in proviling, the BMS
authorisation*
A M AdaiFns woulJ like to QCfW to V*tfalBg%oo tiie l a t t e r part of ihil
month %p review thefiPtMRVJTfiles?. t&d ^f office will undertake to arrange
appointn»nt? for Her.
; ur addressing a sindlar reqmrt t o •stegs-rg,, Hose, Tut t i e „ C)VBr
th taaA Barl#li wl 111 resptet to the I w s m and offiees ondtr thidr
riletion*
1% Dan Throop Smith (through Mr. Folsom)
ASarch 5, 1954
. Randolph Burgess
History of the Federal Reserve System
There has recently been established a "Committee to Study the History
of the Federal Reserve System." Its Allan J'proul If serving as Chairman and
iiessrs. Robert D. Calkins, William MBC« Martin, Jr., Walter V, ftewart, Donald
B. Woodward and I are serving as mes&ers.
With the support of the Rockefeller Foundation and Brookings Institute,
a small research staff has been engaged to make a survey of historical materials
relating to the Federal Reserve System. This preliminary work, it is hoped,
will lay the groundwork for a larger project, over a period of years, leading
to a comprehensive history of the Fystem, The immediate objective is to determine
the physical location of materials, make a rough evaluation of content and
develop a program for the longer undertaking.
The files and records of the Treasury Department contain material indispensable to a complete history of the Federal Reserve.
I shall appreciate your authorizing the offices under your jurisdiction
to provide the Comittee's Research Director, Miss Mildred Adams, such information
and material as may properly be made available without violating existing rules
and regulations on the release of Treasury information. In particular, I believe
the files of the Debt Division and of the organization it succeeded contain
material of interest. I nuraber of carbons of this njesorandum are attached for
your convenience in providing the necessary authorization.
Miss Adams would like to come to Washington the latter part of Ihll
month to review the Treasury files, and my office will undertake to arrange
appoint merits for her.
I am addressing a similar request to Messrs, Rose, Tuttle, Overby,
Parsons and Bartelt with respect to the bureaus and offices under their jurisdiction.
a>« Elbert P. Tuttle
March 5, 1954
W« Randolph Burgess
History of the Federal i<eserve System
There has bttn recently established a "Cozasittee to Ffcudy the History
of the Federal Reserve System." a¥« Allan Fproul is serving as Chairman and
Messrs. Robert D. Calkins, Williaa MBC. Martin, Jr., Walter f« ftewart, Donald
B« Woodward and I are serving as zaeofcors.
With the support of the rlockefeller Foundation and Blockings Institute,
a srsall research staff lias b®en engaged to mice -a survey of historical materials
relating to the Federal Reserve System. This preliminary ifork, it ie hoped,
will lay the groundwork for a larger prGJect^ over a period of >^ars, leading
to a coenprehensive history of the Systea. The immediate objective is to determine
the physical location of materials9 make a rough ©valuation of content ani
develop a program for the longer undertaking.
The files and records of the Treasury Dsparttaent contain material indispensable to • complete history of the Federal Reserve.
I shall appreciate your authorising the offices under jptwr jurisdiction
to provid© the Coa&iittee*s He search Erector, lUes Mildred Adaaa« euch informtion and laaterial as isaj properly be node available without violating existing
riilas arxi regulations on the release of Treasury information.
iHM Adacs would like to eona to "::ashiiigtoji thi latter part of this
month to review the Treasury files, and my office will undertake to arrang®
appointments for her. It would be particularly helpful to have Ik*. Car lock
talk to bar| if that can he arranged.
I aa addressing a oimilar request to Messrs. Overby, Hoae, Oan faith,
Parsons and Bartelt vith respect to the bureaus and offices under their jurisdiction.
January 18, 1954
The Hon. V, B&nciolph Burgeag
Deputy to the Secretary of tJae Treasury
Hoom 3434* Main Treasury Building
Washington 2£, P. C.
Dear Bandy*
How that we have the Rockefeller grant
in hand with Brookinge in a disbursing and consultative capacity, there would seca to be good reasori
to ask Dr. Robert Ctlkins, Precidsnt of that inetltutioc, to Join our CoasiBlttee, Unless you hr-ve cone
object ion, X would r&comend ths-t this be clone.
VilX you pleas? let me know how you feel Pbo-jt it?
Sincerely yours,
Donald B. Voodvart?
Secretary
on History of the Federal Rsaerve System
encs.
@FedFRASER