Register of the of Harry A. Slattery Papers, 1890-1953

Collection Overview

The Harry Slattery Papers span the period 1890-1953 with the bulk dated 1928 to 1944. They include correspondence, memoranda, writings and speeches, printed material, clippings, scrapbooks, and indexes. The collection chiefly concerns positions Slattery held during his years of public service and reflect his lifelong interest in conservation. Very few of Slattery's personal papers are included in the collection.

The bulk of the collection relates to Slattery's positions as personal assistant to Harold L. Ickes (1933-1938), as Under-secretary of the Interior (1938-1939), and as administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) (1939-1944). Other papers concern his service as secretary to Gifford Pinchot (1909-1912), as secretary of the National Conservation Association (1912-1923), as special assistant to Interior Secretary Franklin K. Lane (1917-1918), as a Washington lawyer (1923-1933), and as counsel to the National Boulder Dam Association (1925-1929). There is also information about the Teapot Dome Scandal. While information about the REA is found throughout the collection, information pertaining to the other topics is found chiefly in the Correspondence, Memoranda, Writings and Speeches, Printed Material, and Clippings Series. A typescript of Slattery's autobiography, From Roosevelt to Roosevelt, Washington, D.C., 1948, and information relating to the published work Rural America Lights Up, Washington, D.C., 1940, which is attributed to Slattery, are found in the Writings and Speeches and Scrapbooks Series. Persons studying conservation issues in the United States and the spread of electricity to rural areas would find this collection particularly helpful.

There is extensive material relating to the controversy surrounding the Rural Electrification Administration, tensions between the REA and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, whose executive manager was Clyde Ellis, and the conflict between Slattery and the Secretary of Agriculture Claude W. Wickard. Correspondents include Harold L. Ickes, Judson King, Basil Maxwell Manly, Gifford Pinchot, Amos R. Pinchot, John Patrick Grace, Cornelia B. Pinchot, and Philip Patterson Wells.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Harry A. Slattery Papers
Creator: Slattery, Harry A.
Extent: Linear ft. of shelf space occupied: 60, Number of items: ca. 35,300
Repository: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185
Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Collections are on the move for the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »

Access Restrictions

Collection 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 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in the Slattery Papers have not been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Special Collections Library.

Contents of the Collection

Browse List of Series

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Correspondence, 1908-1953, undated(bulk 1928?1944).

Chiefly typed professional letters documenting Slattery's career. About half consists of Slattery's outgoing and incoming mail. The remainder is between other individuals. Also contains a few telegrams, cards, memoranda and clippings. One folder dated Oct., 1938contains copies of microfilmed records relating to oil scandals. Arranged chronologically.

1908-1923 Apr.

(19 folders)

Box 1

1923 May-1926 Aug.

(20 folders)

Box 2

1926 Sept.-1928 June

(18 folders)

Box 3

1928 July-1931 Dec.

(23 folders)

Box 4

1932 Jan.-1933-June

(17 folders)

Box 5

1933 July-1934 Apr. 7

(19 folders)

Box 6

1934 Apr. 8 -1935 May

(19 folders)

Box 7

1935 June-1936 July 20

(21 folders)

Box 8

1936 July 21-1937 July 10

(18 folders)

Box 9

1937 July 12-1938 May

(15 folders)

Box 10

1938 June-1939 Nov. 20

(18 folders)

Box 11

1939 Nov. 21-1940 June 20

(16 folders)

Box 12

1940 June 21-1941 Jan. 26

(15 folders)

Box 13

1941 Jan.27-1942 May 15

(16 folders)

Box 14

1942 May 16-1943 Feb. 10

(14 folders)

Box 15

1943 Feb. 11-July

(14 folders)

Box 16

1943 Aug.-1944 June

(14 folders)

Box 17

1944, July-1953, undated

(8 folders)

Box 18

Office Calendars, 1940-1944.

Typed logs of daily visits and phone calls to Slattery's office, presumably while he was employed at the REA. Most are bound by year, with pages for each workday. Some entries also contain phone messages and schedules for meetings and speaking engagements.

1940-1943, Feb.

(5 folders)

1943, Feb.-1944

(6 folders)

Box 19

Memoranda, 1908-1944, undated(bulk 1928-1940s).

Chiefly typed material relating to Slattery's career in the form of articles, speeches, reports, and press releases. They pertain to a variety of topics including conservation, utilities, legislation, and governmental investigations. Most speeches were given by individuals other than Slattery. Also includes correspondence; printed material in the form of newsletters, invitations, conference programs, and announcements; statements; clippings; notes; lists; meeting minutes; financial records; and a few photographs. The majority of material was not originated by Slattery.

1901-1916

(6 folders)

1916-1920s, Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of Interior

Box 20

1917-1923

(5 folders)

Box 20

1924,Draft of Oil Brief by Harry Slattery on leases of Naval Oil Reserves

Box 20

1924-1927

(8 folders)

Box 20

1927

(2 folders)

Box 21

1927,Boulder Dam

(3 folders)

Box 21

1927-1928

Box 21

1928

(7 folders)

Box 21

1928, story of Teapot Dome Oil Scandal

Box 21

1928,Boulder Dam

Box 21

1929

(2 folders)

Box 21

1930-1932

(16 folders)

Box 22

1933-1935

(14 folders)

Box 23

1935,Bonneville Dam Project (photographs)

Box 23

1935-1938, Kiplinger Washington Newsletter, with annotations

Box 23

1935-1938, Kiplinger Washington Newsletter

Box 24

1936-1939

(16 folders)

Box 24

1939

(2 folders)

Box 25

1939,Addresses given at special meetings by Slattery

Box 25

1930s

Box 25

1940

(8 folders)

Box 25

1941

(3 folders)

Box 25

1941

Box 26

1941-1944, slattery's personal files

(2 folders)

Box 26

1942

(4 folders)

Box 26

1942,REA:

Daily Press Digest

Box 26

Writings and Speeches, 1906-1940s, undated(bulk 1920-1940s).

Typed copies of articles, speeches, memoranda, and press releases by a number of authors; a book and book manuscript; and book orders and other miscellaneous material relating to Slattery's political career. Arranged chronologically. Slattery's two works are placed at the end of the series.

1912-1940s, undated

(3 folders)

Autobiography: From Roosevelt to Roosevelt,1906-1946(7 folders, 1 vol.)

Rural America Lights Up, 1940 and undated

Miscellaneous, 1910s-1944, undated

Photographs, notes, legal papers, reports, memoranda, clippings, receipts, copies of legislation, and lists. Arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by topic. The subseries Financial Papers is placed at the end of the series.

1910s-1944, undated

(2 folders)

1930-1931, Louis T. McFadden

1921-1939, undated,Pictures

1914-,Relief provisions relating to oil and gas

1939, undated, Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

1927-1928,Walsh bill and resolution

Financial Papers

1921-1943, undated

Cards and Invitations, 1930s-1945, undated

Calling cards, greeting cards, and invitations to banquets and other public events; both personal and professional in nature. Arranged chronologically.

1930s,Cards and invitations

1930s-1945, undated

(5 folders)

Box 29

Printed Material, 1907-1945, undated(bulk 1920-1945).

Primarily booklets of speeches, articles, and government reports. Also includes brochures, programs, bulletins, addresses, periodicals, articles, reports, pamphlets, and government publications. Arranged chronologically.

1907-1922

(9 folders)

1922-1924, undated,Teapot Dome

Box 30

1923-1928

(10 folders)

Box 30

1928,Hoover campaign material

Box 30

1929

(2 folders)

Box 30

1930-1944

(15 folders)

Box 31

1944-1945, undated

(4 folders)

Box 32

Clippings, 1910-1940s, undated(bulk 1920-1940s).

Mostly newspaper, but also some magazine clippings, from a variety of sources. Most are loose, but some are glued on paper. Includes sections of the Congressional Record relating to rural electrification. Arranged alphabetically by topic. There is a “Persons” subsection within this order in which folders are arranged alphabetically by last names of individuals.

Chester Lake Hunger Strike, 1944

Conservation and Boulder Dam, 1910-1930s, undated

(6 folders)

Conservation and Reclamation, 1913-1932

(5 folders)

Conservation and Reclamation, 1933-1940s

(3 folders)

Box 33

Democratic Party and Politics, 1921-1941

Box 33

Ku Klux Klan, 1929

Box 33

Nye (Gerald) Committee, 1929-1931

Box 33

Persons

Appleby, Paul, 1941-1944

Box 33

Brandeis, Louis, 1927-1941

Box 33

Byrnes, James, 1942-1943

Box 33

Carmody, John M., 1941

Box 33

Corcoran, Thomas, 1937-1942, undated

Box 33

Davis, Chester, 1943

Box 33

Henderson, Leon, 1941-1942

Box 33

Hoover, Herbert, 1915-1932

(9 folders)

Box 33

Huston, Claudins Hart, 1924-1942

Box 33

Ickes, Harold LeClair, 1933-1943

Box 33

Lane, Franklin K., 1916-1920s

Box 33

LaFollette family, 1924-1934

Box 33

Morgan, John Pierpont, 1927-1937

Box 33

Morrow, Dwight Whitney, 1927-1931

Box 33

Nelson, Donald, 1941-1943

Box 33

Norris, George William, 1927-1943

Box 33

Pinchot, Gifford, 1919-1925

Box 33

Pinchot, Gifford, 1926-1944, undated

(12 folders)

Box 34

Reed, James Alexander, 1927-1929

Box 34

Roosevelt, F. D., 1923-1944, undated

(5 folders)

Box 35

Slattery, Harry A., 1930's-1944

Box 35

Slemp, Bascom, 1923

Box 35

Smith, Alfred E., 1927-1929

Box 35

Vare, William Scott, 1926-1929

(2 folders)

Box 35

Wallace, Henry, 1937-1943

Box 35

West, Ray O. and Charles West, 1928-1937

Box 35

Wickard, Claude W., 1940-1945

Box 35

Wilkie, Wendell, 1940-1941

Box 35

Price control and priorities, 1941-1943

Box 35

Public works and utilities, 1906-1928

(6 folders)

Box 35

Public Works and Utilities, 1928-1944, undated

(11 folders)

Box 36

Radio, 1930-1932

Box 36

Red Cross, 1931

Box 36

Rural Electrification Administration (REA), 1940-1945, undated

(6 folders)

Box 36

Teapot Dome oil scandal, 1915-1921

(2 folders)

Box 36

Teapot Dome oil scandal, 1922-1933, undated

(12 folders)

Box 37

Miscellaneous, 1915-1944, undated

Box 37

Scrapbooks, 1890-1944.

Includes newspaper and magazine clippings from a variety of sources, press releases, pamphlets, correspondence and excerpts from articles chiefly relating to Slattery and issues which arose while he was administrator of the REA. Arranged chronologically. See Oversize Material section of the inventory.

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 1943-1944(2 vols.)

Rural Elecrification Administration, 1944

Indexes, 1909-1944.

Three boxes contain indexes, presumably prepared by REA staff, referring to letters in the Correspondence Series and may also refer to material in other parts of the collection as well. These contain typed index cards filed alphabetically under the names of individuals. They include the date of correspondence, place of origination, and topic or type of material sent. Some refer to outgoing as well as incoming mail. Arranged alphabetically.

Rural Electrification Administration Indexes, 1939-1944(3 boxes)

Box 38

Oversize Materials

Correspondence

Correspondence, 1924-1944

Box 44

Memoranda

Memoranda, 1920-1928, undated

Box 44

Writings and Speeches

Writings and Speeches, 1940

Box 44

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous, 1928-1941

Box 44

Miscellaneous: Photograph Album, 1935-1941(Photographs of people connected with the REA)

Ovsz. Box 43

Cards and Invitations

Cards and Invitations, 1936-1937, undated

Box 44

Printed Material

Printed Material, 1909-1944, undated

Box 44

Scrapbooks

Scrapbook, 1890-1939, Aug.

Ovsz. Box 39

Scrapbook, 1939, Sept.-Dec.

Ovsz. Box 39

Scrapbook, 1940, Jan.-Sept.

Ovsz. Box 40

Scrapbook, 1940, Sept.-1941, Sept.

Ovsz. Box 40

Scrapbook, 1941, Sept.-1942, July

Ovsz. Box 41

Scrapbook, 1942, July-1943, Mar.

Ovsz. Box 41

Scrapbook, 1943, Apr 1944, Oct.

Ovsz. Box 42

Scrapbook, 1940-1941 (Clippings relating to Rural America Lights Up)

Ovsz. Box 42

Historical Note

Date	Event(s)
1887, June 13	Born, Greenville, South Carolina
1909-1912	Secretary to Gifford Pinchot, chief forester in Theodore Roosevelt's administration.
1912-1917	Executive Secretary of the National Conservation Association, appointed by its founder, Pinchot
1917-1918	Special Assistant to Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior
1919-1923	Counsel to the National Conservation Association
1923-1933	Practiced law in Washington
1925-1929	Executive and counsel for the National Boulder Dam Association
1929-1932	Counsel for the National Conservation Commission
1931-1933	Washington representative for New York Power Authority
1933-1938	Personal assistant to Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior Assistant to administrator of Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works
1938-1939	Undersecretary of the Interior
1939-1944	Administrator of Rural Electrification Administration (REA), from which he resigned after a conflict with the Secretary of Agriculture in 1944
1940-1942	Consultant to the power subcommittee of the advisory commission of the Council of National Defense
1944	Received LL.D. from the University of South Carolina
1949, Sept. 1	Died

Slattery attended Mount Saint Mary's College in Maryland, Georgetown University and George Washington University. As part of government efforts to indict big business for the exploitation of the country's natural resources, he was involved in Senate investigations of the Mulhall exposure during Wilson's administration and the Teapot Dome Scandal of 1921. The 1944 controversy between the REA and the Department of Agriculture over the administration of REA led to a Senate investigation. Slattery was involved in the passage of a federal coal and oil leasing measure, federal water power legislation, Alaska coal and home rule acts, and rural electrification legislation. He was a member of the National Power Policy Committee, the Energy Resources and Land Committees of the National Resources Planning Board, the Interbureau Coordinating Committee, the Federal States Relations Committee, the Society of American Foresters, the National Press Club, the Missouri Athletic Club, and Delta Theta Phi Fraternity.