The Daniel C. Roper Papers, 1860-1958 (bulk 1933-1938), consist chiefly of professional and political correspondence, including telegrams and memoranda, but also include speeches, financial papers, clippings, invitations, legal papers, printed material, and pictures. The collection primarily documents Roper's term as Secretary of Commerce during the first administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In general the papers provide an inside look at this Democratic administration during the early depression years, as well as the relationships among business, government, and politics. In particular, Roper had close ties to people in the business community and was sympathetic to their concerns. In addition, the collection tracks the course of the New Deal in the Department of Commerce and the career of Roper not only as a United States government official in Roosevelt's cabinet but also as a progressive Democrat. However, there are some gaps in these professional files in that there is very little material pertaining to Roper's career prior to his appointment to the cabinet post. Also, files for 1931 are almost entirely missing, and cross-reference sheets in the collection prepared by Roper's staff appear to refer to a separate set of files missing from this collection. There is relatively little in the papers concerning Roper's personal life, except for financial papers.