Frederic A. Delano Papers, 1812-1959 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

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Collection Overview

Title: Frederic A. Delano Papers, 1812-1959

Primary Creator: Delano, Frederic A (1863-1953)

Extent: 11.53 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 00/00/1950

Collection Historical Note

Frederic Adrian Delano, Franklin D. Roosevelt's uncle, was born in Hong Kong, China on September 10, 1863. His father, Warren Delano II, was at that time a partner in the shipping firm of Russell and Company based in that city. A few years later the Delano family returned to "Algonac", the family home near Newburgh, New York and Delano spent much of his childhood there.

After graduating from Harvard University in 1885, Frederic A. Delano began a railroad career as an apprentice machinist with the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad. He eventually became General Manager of that company, serving in that position from 1901 through 1904. In 1905 he was named president of the Wabash Railroad; in January 1911, he assumed the presidency of the Monon Railroad. Resigning that position on August 10, 1914, he accepted appointment to a six-year term on the Federal Reserve Board. In 1918 he resigned as Vice-Chairman of the Board and entered the army as a Major in the U.S. Engineering Corps. He served as director of transportation at Paris, France, attaining the rank of Colonel. In 1921 the United States Government awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal for his wartime service.

The Supreme Court of the United States named Mr. Delano as Receiver in the Red River Boundary Case (Oklahoma v. Texas) in April 1920 and he served in that capacity until the court issued its final decree, on June 1, 1925. The following December he was appointed President of the League of Nations Commission of Enquiry into Production of Opium in Persia. In 1926 the Commission visited Persia to survey the local economy with the aim of proposing a financial substitute for the production of opium.

Frederic A. Delano also had a deep interest in the field of city planning and was a member of the Chicago Plan Commission during his residence in that city prior to 1914. After moving to Washington in that year he became involved in many planning activities in the District of Columbia. President Coolidge appointed him President of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1927. In 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt named him Chairman of the National Resources Planning Commission, a position that he held for ten years. He also served as President of the American Planning and Civic Association for a number of years.

Mr. Delano gave much of his time to civic affairs throughout his life. He served as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution and a trustee of the Carnegie Institution and also had interests in a number of other organizations. He was the author of many articles on subjects diverse as railroad transportation, monetary policy and city planning. He died in Washington on March 28, 1953 at the age of 89.

Administrative Information

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: This collection is available for use by the general public.

Use Restrictions: Literary property rights have not been donated to the United States Government.

Acquisition Source: Catherine Delano Grant and Laura Delano Houghtelling

Acquisition Method: The "Algonac" Diaries were received at the Library in 1950 from Catherine Delano Grant and Laura Delano Houghteling, daughters of Frederic A. Delano. In August 1950 Catherine Delano Grant also gave the Library a volume of condolences received by the Delano family on the death of Laura F. Delano, Mr. Delano's sister, in 1884. The remainder was given to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library by Laura Delano Houghteling in July 1953 and October 1964.

Related Materials: Correspondence with Frederic A. Delano may be found in the papers of Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt and in the Delano Family Papers. The Delano Family Papers and the Roosevelt Family Papers include material concerning other members of the Delano family.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Subject File, 1904-1950],
[Series 2: Red River Boundary Case, 1920-1928],
[Series 3: League of Nations Commission of Enquiry into Production of Opium in Persia, 1925-1927],
[Series 4: Speeches and Writings, 1887-1940's],
[Series 5: Estate Papers],
[Series 6: Family Papers, 1812-ca. 1925],
[All]

Series 1: Subject File, 1904-1950

Box 1

Alaska
"Algonac"
"Algonac": Appraisal, 1939
Algonquin Park, Newburg, N.Y.
American Federation of Arts
American Planning and Civic Association
Balm Tree, Balmville, New York
Baltimore Harbor Bridge

Box 2

Banking Reforms, Gold Standard, Economics
Brookings Institution
"Buffalo Hunt" (Bronze Statuary by H. K. Bush-Brown
Calendar Reform
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie Institution
Chicago
China Defense Supplies
Choiseul Family
Christmas Cards, Postcards and Invitations
Clubs
Coal
Commission on Industrial Relations

Box 3

Delano Family Matters (including clippings and genealogical material)
Diamond Ranche (Wyoming)
Dimock, Mrs. Henry F. - The George Washington Memorial Building
District of Columbia
Fairhaven and New Bedford, Massachusetts
Federal Reserve Board
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library
Freer Bequest (to Smithsonian Institution)

Box 4

Handkerchief Map of Washington, D.C.
Harvard University
Harvard University Committee on Regional Planning
Investors' Equity Company
Jakobsen, Hans
LeBelle Case (Fred A. LeBelle, Youngstown, Ohio)
Library of Congress
Lippman, Walter (F. A. D.'s reply to column of July 18, 1935)
Llambias House, St. Augustine, Florida
Locomotive Patent
Medals; Honorary Memberships
Mineral Exploration Company
Miscellaneous
Mississippi River Transportation
Mount Desert Island, Maine
National Council for Prevention of War
New Boston Land Company

Box 5

Newburgh and Mid-Hudson River Valley Historical Matters
Newburgh and Orange County Planning Matters
Pacific Coast Trip, 1935
Politics-Post Office
Public Appointments
Railroads (1 of 2)
Railroads (2 of 2)
Roosevelt, Franklin D.

Box 6

Russell Sage Foundation
Samuel Russell Company (Russell and Company)
Smithsonian Institution (1 of 2)
Smithsonian Institution (2 of 2)
Stable Money Association
Stock Certificates
Tennessee Valley Authority
Trees in the District of Columbia and Elsewhere
Tunnel Under Decatur St. Property
Unemployment Relief
Vinton Colliery Company

Box 7

Warren Delano Portrait by Charles L. Elliot, 1852
Washington Monument
Washington Property (S Street)
Washington's Headquarters (2049 M Street)
World War I Papers
Yucatan Visit, 1932

Box 8

Newspaper Clippings
Scrapbook re Franklin D. Roosevelt

Box 9

Scrapbook-General
Scrapbook re World War I

Series 2: Red River Boundary Case, 1920-1928

Box 10

Red River Boundary Case Correspondence, 1923-1928
Red River Boundary Case-Supreme Court Documents, 2 volumes
"Order Instructing Receiver", June 7, 1920
"Thirteenth Report of Receiver", January 13, 1925
"Fourteenth Report of Receiver", April 16, 1925
"The Red River Boundary Dispute" by W. Clayton Carpenter, 1925

Box 11

Oklahoma v. Texas, History of the Receivership, Vol. I

Box 12

Oklahoma v. Texas, History of the Receivership, Vol. II

Box 13

Oklahoma v. Texas, History of the Receivership, Vol. III

Box 14

Oklahoma v. Texas, History of the Receivership, Vol. I (copy 2)

Box 15

Oklahoma v. Texas, History of the Receivership, Vol. II (copy 2)

Box 16

Oklahoma v. Texas, History of the Receivership, Vol. III (copy 2)

Box 17

Red River Boundary Case-Photographs (album)

Box 18

Red River Boundary Case-Photographs (album)

Series 3: League of Nations Commission of Enquiry into Production of Opium in Persia, 1925-1927

Box 19

Correspondence (General)
Correspondence, Frederic A. Delano to Matilda P. Delano, 1926
Agenda of Meetings
Memoranda and Reports
Report by Jewell B. Knight, Agricultural Expert

Box 20

Report to Council-Drafts
Report to Council-Delano Draft
Report to Council-MacLeish Draft
Report to Council-"Trial Balloons"
Report to Council-Chapter III
Report to Council-Chapter IV
Report to Council-Cavara Sections
Report to Council-Final Corrected Copy
Frederic A. Delano's Log of Persian Trip
Archibald MacLeish's Diary of Persian Trip
Memorabilia

Box 21

League of Nations Printed Documents

Box 22

Printed Materials re Persia
Material on Opium Traffic in India
Two Scrapbooks with reports, correspondence, and memoranda

Series 4: Speeches and Writings, 1887-1940's

Box 23

Speeches and Writings, 1887-1919

Box 24

Speeches and Writings, 1920-1940's and Undated
Addresses and Reports (Bound volume)

Series 5: Estate Papers

Box 25

"Algonac"-Sale of
"Algonac" Diaries
Appraisal-F. A. D.'s Washington Property, 1944
Delano, Frederic A.-Clippings, Tributes, Obituaries
Guimont, Tercide
Furnishings Account
Houghteling Correspondence with Family re F. A. D.'s Will

Box 26

Inventories and Appraisals
Sales
Shipping Charges

Series 6: Family Papers, 1812-ca. 1925

Box 27

Copy of Correspondence between Amasa Delano and John Quincy Adams, 1817
Correspondence-Edward Delano (F. A. D.'s uncle) to Family, 1847
Letterpress Copies (with transcripts) of correspondence from Frederick A. Delano (Warren Delano II's brother) to his family, 1838-1844
Photostats of correspondence from Joseph C. Delano (Warren Delano II's cousin) to family members, 1812-1818
Correspondence (with transcripts)-Sara Delano (F. A. D.'s sister) to her family, 1863-1877
Correspondence-Warren Delano II and Franklin H. Delano (his brother) to Capt. Joseph C. Delano (their cousin), 1833-1837
Transcripts of Letters from Warren Delano II to members of Russell and Co. during the Opium War, 1840-1841
Correspondence-Warren Delano II to his father, Warren Delano, 1843; 1864
Correspondence-William Delano to [Warren Delano II?], 1845
Correspondence between Warren Delano II and P.S. Forbes, 1857-1858
Notes by Warren Delano II on U.S. Sea Trade, 1877
Correspondence between Warren Delano II and R. B. Forbes, 1879
Correspondence-Warren Delano II to Frederic A. Delano, 1876-1891
Correspondence-Annie Delano Hitch (F. A. D.'s sister) to Eleanor Blodgett, 1878
Condolences on the death of Laura F. Delano (F. A. D.'s sister), 1884
Journal kept by Catherine R. Delano (Mrs. Warren Delano II) on voyage from New York to Hong Kong on the clipper Surprise, 1862
Frederic A. Delano's Autobiographical Sketch, Algonac. Donated by F. D. Grant Jr., July 5, 1941

Box 28

"Algonac Diaries", January 1869-September 1870
"Algonac Diaries", October 1870-August 1872

Box 29

"Algonac Diaries", September 1872-September 1875
"Algonac Diaries", October 1875-January 1879
"Algonac Diaries", January 1879-January 1882

Box 30

"Algonac Diaries", January 1882-October 1885
"Algonac Diaries", August 1885-January 1889
"Algonac Diaries", January 1889-January 1893

Box 31

"Algonac Diaries", January 1893-April 1896

Box 32

"Algonac Diaries", May 1896-October 1900

Box 33

"Algonac Diaries", November 1900-September 1905

Box 34

"Algonac Diaries", October 1905-December 1909

Box 35

"Algonac Diaries", January 1910-December 1914; June 30, 1914

Box 36

"Algonac Diaries", July 1914-ca.1925
Scrapbook kept by Annie Delano Hitch, 1883-1916

Box 37

Clippings and Memorabilia (Apparently kept by Edward Delano), ca.1850-1875
Scrapbook kept by Edward Delano
Scrapbook with material re Warren Delano II, ca.1840-1898
Two Scrapbooks kept by Dora Delano Forbes

Box 38

Log of the Philippe De La Noy, 1848-1852
Log of the Philippe De La Noy, 1852-1855