Register of the James T. Williams Papers, 1836-1947
[top]Descriptive Summary
TitleJames T. Williams Papers, 1836-1947
Creator
Williams, James T., 1881-1969
Extent
48 Linear Feet
36,000 Items
Repository
36,000 Items
Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Language
English.
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Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
copyright interests in these papers have not been transferred to the University. For more information consult the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], James T. Williams Papers, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The Williams Papers were purchased by Duke University Library in 1970.
Processing Information
Processed by: Janie C. Morris
Encoded by Stephen Miller
Completed October 25, 1991
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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Biographical Note
| 1881, Aug. 10 | Born, Lincolnton, N.C. |
| 1897-1898 | Attended Furman College in Greenville, S.C. |
| 1898-1900 | Attended the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn. |
| 1901 | Received B.A. from Columbia University |
| 1901-1902 | Employed at The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. |
| 1902-1906 | Washington correspondent for Associated Press (AP) |
| 1904 | AP representative at Democratic and Republican national conventions |
| 1905 | AP representative at Portsmouth Peace Conference |
| 1906-1908 | Washington correspondent for the Boston Evening Transcript |
| 1907 | Elected member of U.S. Naval Institute |
| 1908 | Worked for Republican Party and on campaign staff of William Howard Taft |
| 1909 | U.S. Civil Service Commissioner. Contracted tuberculosis and admitted to Fort Bayard Army Hospital in New Mexico. |
| 1910-1912 | Editor and part owner of the Tucson Citizen newspaper |
| 1912 | Delegate-at-large from Arizona at Republican National Convention |
| 1912-1925 | Editor of the Boston Evening Transcript, a Republican newspaper |
| 1917 | Applied for service in U.S. Army and was rejected because of physical disability |
| 1920 | Decorated Knight of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) and Commander of the Order of the Crown (Italy) |
| 1924 | Received honorary (D.C.L.) degree from the University of the South; Appointed to Board of Visitors to the U.S. Naval Academy by President Coolidge |
| 1925-1927 | Columnist for the Boston American, a Hearst paper |
| 1925-1937 | Contributing editor for Hearst's National Syndicate in Washington, D.C. |
| 1928 | Received LL.D. from Norwich University |
| 1937-1938 | Washington representative for the Chicago Daily News foreign service |
| 1939-1947 | Employed at Sperry Gyroscope Corporation for public relations |
| 1967 | Returned to Greenville, S.C. to live with sister |
| 1969, Dec. 26 | Died in Greenville, S.C. |
After 1937 and for the remainder of his career, he lectured across the country and was a free lance writer. Member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Society of the Cincinnati, and Metropolitan, Cosmos, Army and Navy clubs.
[top]Collection Overview
The Williams Papers span the period 1836 to 1947 with the bulk dating from 1904 to 1942. The collection contains the following series: Diaries and Reminiscences; Correspondence; Subject Files; Legal Papers; Financial Papers; Writings and Speeches; Miscellaneous; Clippings; Printed Material; and Pictures. Correspondence comprises the majority of the collection and particularly focuses on Williams's professional career during the period from 1910 to 1925 when he was editor of the Tucson Citizen and the Boston Evening Transcript. While the collection documents aspects of Williams's personal and professional life from his college days through the early 1940s, the last twenty years of his life are not included. There is as well very little information about the Teapot Dome Affair in the correspondence, which occurred during the period covered by the collection.
Williams wrote, spoke, and accumulated material about a variety of topics and concerns which are represented in different parts of the collection. Among the most prominent are Aviation and the Presidential Elections of 1916, 1920, and 1924 which are found in the Correspondence, Subject Files, Writings and Speeches, Clippings, Printed Material and Pictures Series; Military preparedness before the entry of the United States into World War I in the Correspondence, Subject Files, Writings and Speeches, and Pictures Series; Arizona's efforts to achieve statehood in the Correspondence, Legal Papers, and Writings and Speeches Series; Massachusetts politics in the Diaries and Reminiscences, Correspondence, Writings and Speeches, Clippings, and Printed Material Series; and Peace and disarmament in the Correspondence, Subject Files, Clippings and Printed Material Series. Prominent politicians such as Warren G. Harding and Herbert Hoover are represented in the Correspondence, Writings and Speeches, and Clippings Series. The collection would be of interest to researchers studying the League of Nations, the Republican Party during the first quarter of the 20th century, and the political and social climate in Greenville, S.C..
The Correspondence Series illustrates that as a leading spokesman for the Republican Party, Williams corresponded with many public figures concerning the topics above. After moving to Tucson, Williams became involved in Arizona's efforts to become a state. He represented the positions taken by President Taft and expressed these viewpoints in numerous editorials related to political matters. Many letters criticize Woodrow Wilson and Josephus Daniels for their policies relating to military preparedness and foreign relations. Of particular note are Williams's strong opposition to the League of Nations and his correspondence in the collection with leading opponents of the League, including Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924), William Edgar Borah, Hiram Warren Johnson, and Frank Bosworth Brandegee.
Also included in the Correspondence Series is extensive family correspondence containing material about the social life and political affairs in Greenville, S.C., where Williams's father was mayor, and about his mother's family, the McBees of Lincolnton, N.C. Numerous letters were written by his uncles, Silas McBee, a noted Episcopal clergyman and editor in New York; William Ephraim Mikell, Dean of the Law School at the University of Pennsylvania; and William Alexander Guerry, an Episcopal bishop in South Carolina. There are also letters from cousins, Mary Vardrine McBee, who founded Ashley Hall, a school for girls in Charleston, South Carolina, and Alexander Guerry, who served in various positions at the University of Chatanooga and at The University of the South. Other correspondents in the series include William Howard Taft, Leonard Wood, Nicholas Murray Butler, Albert J. Beveridge, Calvin Coolidge, Frank H. Hitchcock, Charles Nagel, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Wingate Weeks.
Related collections include the Vardry Alexander McBee Papers at Duke University, the Silas McBee and the McBee Family collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the James Thomas Williams (1845-1936) Papers at the University of South Carolina, and an interview with Williams in the Biographical Oral History Collection at Columbia University.
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Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
- Aeronautics--United States.
- Air mail service--United States--Photographs.
- Tucson Citizen.
- Boston Evening Transcript.
- Presidents--United States--Election 1916.
- Presidents--United States--Election 1920.
- Presidents--United States--Election 1924.
- United States--Military policy.
- Arizona--Politics and government--To 1950.
- Massachusetts--Politics and government 1865-1950.
- Peace.
- Disarmament.
- Republican Party.
- League of Nations.
- Greenville (S.C.).
- Menus
- Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923.
- Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
- Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.
- Daniels, Josephus, 1862-1948.
- Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924.
- Borah, William Edgar, 1865-1940.
- Johnson, Hiram, 1866-1945.
- Brandegee, Frank Bosworth, 1864-1924.
- Guerry, Alexander.
- Hitchcock, Frank H. (Frank Harris), 1867-1935.
- Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
- Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930.
- Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947.
- Beveridge, Albert Jeremiah, 1862-1947.
- Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933.
- Nagel, Charles, 1849-1940.
- Weeks, John W. (John Wingate), 1860-1926.
Detailed Description of Collection
Diaries and Reminiscences Series, 1909-1923
Several diaries, none kept very consistently, and a few pages of reminiscences chiefly relating to Massachusetts politics and social engagements. One reminiscence (March 26, 1909) concerns a meeting with President Taft when Willliams was asked to become the United States Civil Service Commissioner.
Box 1
Diaries, and Reminiscences,
1909-1923
(2 folders)
Correspondence Series, 1868-1947 and undated (bulk 1910-1925)
Documents Williams's personal and professional life from college through the 1940s. Contains lengthy correspondence with his parents, siblings, and other relatives. Arranged in chronological order. Also includes two index file boxes numbered 1a and 1b that contain subject entries to the Correspondence. Autograph cards for the most prominent correspondents have been filed into the Manuscript Division's card catalog.
Box 1
1868-1904, Mar.
(5 folders)
Box 2
1904, Apr.-1904, Nov.
(7 folders)
Box 3
1904, Dec.-1905, Aug.
(8 folders)
Box 4
1905, Sept.-1907, July
(6 folders)
Box 5
1907, Aug.-1909, Mar.
(6 folders)
Box 6
1909, Apr.-June
(6 folders)
Box 7
1909, July-Nov.
(5 folders)
Box 8
1909, Dec. -1910, Mar.
(6 folders)
Box 9
1910, Apr.-July
(6 folders)
Box 10
1910, Aug.-Oct.
(6 folders)
Box 11
1910, Nov.-1911, Feb.
(6 folders)
Box 12
1911, Mar.-Aug.
(6 folders)
Box 13
1911, Sept.-Dec., undated
(7 folders)
Box 14
1912, Jan.-May 20
(6 folders)
Box 15
1912, May 21-1912, Dec., undated
(6 folders)
Box 16
1913, Jan.-Apr.
(6 folders)
Box 17
1913, May-Aug.
(6 folders)
Box 18
1913, Sept.-Nov.
(5 folders)
Box 19
1913, Dec.-1914, Mar.
(6 folders)
Box 20
1914, Apr.-July
(5 folders)
Box 21
1914, Aug.-Nov.
(6 folders)
Box 22
1914, Dec.-1915, Feb. 14
(5 folders)
Box 23
1915, Feb.-Apr.
(4 folders)
Box 24
1915, Apr.-Aug. 15
(5 folders)
Box 25
1915, Aug 16-Nov.
(4 folders)
Box 26
1915, Dec.-1916, Mar.
(6 folders)
Box 27
1916, Apr.-Aug.
(5 folders)
Box 28
1916, Sept.-Dec., undated
(6 folders)
Box 29
1917, Jan.-Aug.
(7 folders)
Box 30
1917, Sept.-1918, Apr.
(6 folders)
Box 31
1918, May-Oct.
(5 folders)
Box 32
1918, Nov.-1919, Apr.
Box 33
1919, May-July
(6 folders)
Box 34
1919, Aug.-Nov.
(6 folders)
Box 35
1919, Dec.-1920, Mar.
(6 folders)
Box 36
1920, Apr.-Aug.
(6 folders)
Box 37
1920, Sept.-1921, Jan.
(6 folders)
Box 38
1921, Feb.-May
(6 folders)
Box 39
1921, May-Sept. 15
(6 folders)
Box 40
1921, Sept. 16-1922, Jan. 15
Box 41
1922, Jan. 16-1922, Apr. 15
Box 42
1922, Apr.16-1922, July
Box 43
1922, Aug.-Nov. 15
(6 folders)
Box 44
1922, Nov. 16-1923, Jan.
(5 folders)
Box 45
1923, Feb.-Apr.
(6 folders)
Box 46
1923, May-July 15
(7 folders)
Box 47
1923, July 16-Oct. 15
(6 folders)
Box 48
1923, Oct. 16-Dec., undated
(6 folders)
Box 49
1924, Jan.-May
(6 folders)
Box 50
1924, June-Sept.
(6 folders)
Box 51
1924, Oct.-1925, Jan. 15
(6 folders)
Box 52
1925, Jan. 16-Apr. 15
(6 folders)
Box 53
1925, Apr. 16-Sept.
(7 folders)
Box 54
1925, Oct.-1926, Apr.
(7 folders)
Box 55
1926, May-Dec.
(6 folders)
Box 56
1927-1930
(7 folders)
Box 57
1931-1938
(7 folders)
Box 58
1939-1942, July
(6 folders)
Box 59
1942, Aug.-1947, undated
(7 folders)
Box 60
undated
(3 folders)
Subject Files Series, 1906-1941 and undated
Reports, writings, press releases, memoranda, financial papers, and printed materials. Some files may have been used as background material for Williams's newspaper articles. Arranged alphabetically by topic and within each topic chronologically.
Box 60
Aeronautics and Aviation,
1921-1925
(2 folders)
Box 61
Aeronautics and Aviation:
undated
War Department Report,
1923
American Legion,
1915-1931
Federal Council of Churches,
1919-1928
Labor,
1907-1925
Massachusetts,
1913-1925, undated
(2 folders)
Peace and Disarmament,
1919-1920s
Box 62
Politics,
1911-1925, undated
Presidential Inaugurations,
1905-1941
Railroads,
1913-1922
U.S. Army,
1906-1925
(2 folders)
U.S. Army,
undated
U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1925
U.S. Department of the Interior,
1925-1926
Box 63
U.S. Navy,
1913-1925, undated
(5 folders)
Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armaments,
1921, Sept.-Nov.
Box 64
Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armaments,
1921, Dec. 1-1923
(5 folders)
Williams, James T (1881-1969) and family
World War I and Aftermath,
1914-1919, undated
Legal Papers Series, 1910-1943 and undated
Several briefs. Relates to the purchase of printing supplies and a publishing company; the relationship between civilian and military law; and the authorization of the construction and leasing of an airplane landing field in Boston, Mass. to the United States government. Also contains a proclamation proclaiming Arizona a state, rent lease agreements, insurance policies, and contracts for Williams to speak at various events. Arranged chronologically.
Box 65
1910-1943 and undated
(5 folders)
Financial Papers Series, 1904-1947 and undated
Chiefly receipts for personal items such as clothing. Also contains a financial statement of the Tucson Printing and Publishing Company for 1911, information about annual dues for different organizations, and income tax returns. Arranged chronologically.
Box 65
1904-1947
(4 folders)
Writings and Speeches Series, 1889-1940s
Handwritten and typewritten papers on a variety of topics, including social, political, and business issues. Contains extracts of Herbert Hoover's speeches from the time of his nomination for President in 1928 to 1931. Divided into two sections, one arranged by date, the other by subject and for the most part undated. Also includes fragments. Extracts of Hoover's speeches arranged at the end of the series.
Chronological
1889-ca. 1913
(5 folders)
Box 67
1914-1916
(5 folders)
Box 68
1917-1920
(5 folders)
Box 69
1921, Jan.-1922, June
(4 folders)
Box 70
1922, July-1924
(7 folders)
Box 71
1925-1929
(7 folders)
1920s
Box 72
1920s
(3 folders)
1921-1940s, undated
(4 folders)
Box 73
undated
(6 folders)
Box 74
undated
(8 folders)
Box 75
undated
Topical
Arizona,
undated
Armament and Warfare,
undated
Aviation,
undated
Business and Labor,
undated
Education,
undated
(2 folders)
Eulogies and Biographies,
1920s, undated
Foreign Relations,
undated
(2 folders)
Box 76
Health,
undated
Immigration,
undated
Massachusetts,
undated
Military,
undated
Press,
undated
Social Problems,
undated
Tariffs,
undated
Transportation and Communication,
undated
Hoover, Herbert,
1928-1931
Miscellaneous Series, 1885-1942 and undated
Resolutions honoring various people; report cards of siblings; minutes of various associations; reminders about speaking engagements; and sundry notes. Also contains note, address, and datebooks which may have been used to gather information for newspaper articles. Loose pages arranged chronologically followed by the bound material arranged chronologically.
Box 76
1885-1942, undated
Note, Address, and Datebooks,
1888-1915
Box 77
Note, Address, and Datebooks,
1917-1923 and undated
Clippings Series, 1912-1945 and undated
Subdivided into two subseries Scrapbooks and Subjects.
Scrapbooks, 1912-1926.
The majority contain Williams' editorials from the Boston Evening Transcript. One contains clippings relating to Carmi A. Thompson's mission as the personal emissary of Calvin Coolidge to the Philippine Islands to make an economic survey in 1926. Arranged in chronological order.
Box 77
1912, Jan. 3-1916, Apr. 20
Box 78
1916, Apr. 21-1917, Nov. 17
Box 79
1917, Nov. 17-1919, Mar. 1
Box 80
1919, Mar.-1920, Oct. 29(2 vols.)
Box 81
1920, Oct. 30-1922, Feb. 6(2 vols.)
Box 82
1922, Feb. 11-1924, Dec.
Philippines,
1926, July-August
Subjects, 1909-1926 and undated
Subdivided into topics. Several were either by or about Williams. Represented in the subject clippings is information about the Carmi Thompson investigation in the Philippines while Williams was in the Philippines working for the Boston American. Also contains information about speeches he made on various topics. Arranged in alphabetical order by topic and chronologically within each topic.
Box 83
Aviation,
1916-1925, undated
Coolidge, Calvin,
1920-1926, undated
(2 folders)
Harding, Warren G.,
1921-1923
Ku Klux Klan,
1923-1925
Landon, Alf M.,
1936
League of Nations and World Court, 1919-1925
Massachusetts,
1913-1926
Mitchell, William,
1925, undated
Philippine Independence Movement,
1923-1926, undated
Presidential Campaigns,
1912-1920
(2 folders)
Box 84
Presidential campaign,
1924
(3 folders)
Prohibition,
1921-1926
Roosevelt, Theodore,
1909-1921
Taft, William H.,
1910-1921
Williams, James T. (1881-1969),
1909-1941, undated
(2 folders)
Williams family,
1921-1945, undated
Wilson, Woodrow,
1913-1924, undated
Wood, Leonard,
1903-1927
World Disarmament,
1919-1930, undated
Printed Material Series, 1836-1947 and undated
*
[1836 material is located in Oversize Box 65]
Subdivided into two subseries, one by date, the other by types of printed material in alphabetical order. Includes printed political speeches, sermons, Boston Evening Transcript editorials, political pamphlets, periodical tearsheets, and material about the League of Nations. Contains political postcards, poetry, flyers, hymns, ribbons, campaign buttons, and press buttons for different state and national conventions, including some from the Republican National Convention in 1912. Also various programs and flyers of clubs where Williams spoke.
Box 85
1892-1915
(6 folders)
Box 86
1916-1922
(8 folders)
Box 87
1923-1939
(7 folders)
Box 88
1940-1947, undated
(4 folders)
Church bulletins
Invitations and cards
Box 89
Invitations and cards
(3 folders)
Membership cards, Passes, etc.
Menus
(2 folders)
Box 90
Political campaign memorabilia
(4 folders)
Programs
Publications:
Air Service Newsletter,
1921-1925, July
(2 folders)
David Lawrence's Weekly,
1933
National Council for Reduction of Armaments Bulletin,
1922-1923
Pictures Series, 1905-1935 and undated
Includes photographs of early airplanes, including those used in the United States air mail service as well as unidentified pilots in front of airplanes. Also two photographs of persons rehearsing for the Equal Rights Pageant to be given by the National Woman's Party in Colorado Springs on September 23 [year unavailable] which are located in the Pictures: Political, 1905-1924 and undated folder; signed portraits of Leonard Wood, Frank H. Hitchcock, and Charles Nagel; a few photographs of Fort Bayard, N.M., where Williams went to recover from tuberculosis; and several of Williams and members of his family.
Box 91
Agriculture,
undated
Aviation:
Aerial photographs,
1922 and undated
Aircraft,
undated
Box 92
Aviation: People,
1911-1927 and undated
Military (Miscellaneous),
1916-1923 and undated
(2 folders)
People:
Coolidge, Calvin,
1923 and undated
Lincoln, Abraham,
undated
Roosevelt, Theodore,
1918 and undated
Williams, James T., (1845-1936)
1918 and undated
Williams, James T., (1881-1969)
1918 and undated
Williams Family Groups,
1905 and undated
Williams Family Photos--Children,
undated
Williams, James, Vardry, Silas, and Sumner,
1919 and undated
Box 93
Political figures,
1922 and undated
Signed portraits,
1904-1919 and undated
Identified,
1923-1930
Unidentified:
Men,
undated
Groups,
undated
With James T. Williams, undated
Women,
undated
Places:
Alaska,
1915 and undated
Arizona,
undated
Box 94
Fort Bayard, N.M.,
undated
Oxford, England,
undated
Pacific,
1908-1926 and undated
Miscellaneous,
1935 and undated
Political,
1905-1924 and undated
Rifle Team,
undated
Miscellaneous,
1920-1922 and undated
(2 folders)
Oversize Materials
Correspondence Series,
1918-1940
Ovsz. Box 65
Subject Files Series,
1925
Ovsz. Box 65
Legal Papers,
1921-1925
Ovsz. Box 65
Writings and Speeches,
1925
Oversize Cabinet
OC:I:4:
Writings and Speeches,
1921
Ovsz. Box 65
Miscellaneous Series,
1920
Oversize Cabinet
OC:II:8:
Miscellaneous Series,
undated
Ovsz. Box 70
Clippings Series,
1919-1926
Ovsz. Box 71
Clippings Series,
1908-1930
Oversize Cabinet
OC:II:5:
Clippings Series,
1914-1926
Ovsz. Box 65
Printed Material Series,
1836-1923
Oversize Cabinet
OC:II:8:
Printed Material Series,
1903-1947 and undated
(3 folders)
Ovsz. Box 65
Pictures Series,
undated
Oversize Cabinet
OC:II:8:
Pictures Series,
undated
