James T. Williams papers, 1836-1947
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Summary
- Creator:
- Williams, James T., 1881-1969
- Extent:
- 48 Linear Feet
36,000 Items - Language:
- English.
- Collection ID:
- RL.01385
Background
- Scope and content:
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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.
- Biographical / historical:
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Chronology Date Event 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 University1901-1902 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 conventions1905 AP representative at Portsmouth Peace Conference1906-1908 Washington correspondent for the Boston Evening Transcript1907 Elected member of U.S. Naval Institute1908 Worked for Republican Party and on campaign staff of William Howard Taft1909 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 newspaper1912 Delegate-at-large from Arizona at Republican National Convention1912-1925 Editor of the Boston Evening Transcript, a Republican newspaper1917 Applied for service in U.S. Army and was rejected because of physical disability1920 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 Coolidge1925-1927 Columnist for the Boston American, a Hearst paper1925-1937 Contributing editor for Hearst's National Syndicate in Washington, D.C.1928 Received LL.D. from Norwich University1937-1938 Washington representative for the Chicago Daily News foreign service1939-1947 Employed at Sperry Gyroscope Corporation for public relations1967 Returned to Greenville, S.C. to live with sister1969, 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.
- Acquisition information:
- 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
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
- Subjects:
- Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 1916
Air mail service -- United States -- Photographs
Aeronautics -- United States
Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 1924
Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 1920
Disarmament
Peace - Format:
- Menus
- Names:
- Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
League of Nations
Beveridge, Albert Jeremiah, 1862-1947
Borah, William Edgar, 1865-1940
Brandegee, Frank Bosworth, 1864-1924
Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947
Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933
Daniels, Josephus, 1862-1948
Guerry, Alexander
Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923
Hitchcock, Frank H. (Frank Harris), 1867-1935
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964
Johnson, Hiram, 1866-1945
Nagel, Charles, 1849-1940
Weeks, John W. (John Wingate), 1860-1926
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Williams, James T., 1881-1969
Roosevelt, Theodore
Wilson, Woodrow
Lodge, Henry Cabot - Places:
- United States -- Military policy
Arizona -- Politics and government -- To 1950
Greenville (S.C.)
Massachusetts -- Politics and government 1865-1950
Contents
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Collection is open for research.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], James T. Williams Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.