Democratic Party National Committee Papers, 1928-1948 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

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Collection Overview

Title: Democratic Party National Committee Papers, 1928-1948

Primary Creator: National Committee of the Democratic Party (1928-1948)

Extent: 261.45 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: This is a collection in 26 series.

Abstract

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) Papers document the political activities, community organizing, campaign strategies, polling and data analysis, and direct public correspondence of the Democratic Party leadership from 1928 to 1948. The collection holds a significant quantity of FDR's direct correspondence with the general public during his 1932 campaign as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection consists of the records of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), 1928-1948. Materials in this collection are related primarily to the nominations, campaigns and elections of Franklin D. Roosevelt as president of the United States in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944. The collection contains correspondence exchanged among Franklin D. Roosevelt, many Democratic Party officials, activists and supporters, and the general public; patronage correspondence related to persons seeking positions in the government; campaign research materials and subject files; campaign literature; newsclipping files and scrapbooks; copies of Roosevelt campaign speeches and press releases.

A small amount of material in this collection pertains to Democratic Party activities following Roosevelt's death in 1945 and to the campaign and election of Harry S. Truman as president in 1948.

For political historians these papers present a rich portrait of a time when campaigns began to adopt a more scientific approach to elections that reflected growing voter registration efforts across the country. Almost half the collection consists of individual files on the 48 states. In addition, the human element is very much on display as there are files on dinner speeches, patronage requests, as well as some 30 boxes of clipping and memoribilia. Two individuals that figure heavily into this collection are DNC Chairman James Farley and his associate Emil Hurja. The latter, an influential political statistian and polling specialist, donated papers to the FDR library.

Researchers should also consult the records of the Women's Division of the DNC, a seperate but related collection that also contains a great deal of FDR's 1932 campaign correspondence and many additional records of the Party's political organizing of the New Deal era.

Administrative Information

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: This material is subject to copyright restrictions under Title 17 of the U.S. Code.

Acquisition Source: National Committee of the Democratic Party, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, James Farley, and Lela Stiles

Acquisition Method: The papers were donated to the Library by the National Committee of the Democratic Party, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, James Farley, and Lela Mae Stiles.

Related Materials: Numerous collections in the Library including: President's Official, Personal, and Secretary's Files; Women's Division of the Democratic Party National Committee Papers; Mary Dewson Papers; Stephen T. Early Papers; Harry L. Hopkins Papers; Louis M. Howe Papers; Emil Hurja Papers; National Committee of Independent Voters for Roosevelt; Eleanor Roosevelt Papers

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Correspondence, 1928-1933],
[Series 2: Campaign Materials, 1932],
[Series 3: Library and Research Bureau Papers, 1928-1933],
[Series 4: 1932 Campaign File - Newspaper Clippings [by state]],
[Series 5: Newspaper Clippings [by subject], 1931-1932],
[Series 6: 1932 Campaign Literature Files - Newspaper Clippings],
[Series 7: Patronage Correspondence, 1932-1933],
[Series 8: Patron Correspondence and Records, 1933-1940],
[Series 9: Applications for Positions, 1934-1936],
[Series 10: Democratic National Convention, 1936],
[Series 11: Willkie Index - Speeches and Statements],
[Series 12: Correspondence of James A. Farley, Chairman, 1936],
[Series 13: Election Forecasts, October 1936],
[Series 14: Democratic National Committee Campaign Correspondence, 1940],
[Series 15: 1940 Campaign Correspondence - Publicity Suggestions],
[Series 16: Correspondence with State Leaders (Elections and Newspaper Clippings), 1936-1937, 1940-1948],
[Series 17: Correspondence with Prominent Democratic Leaders, 1941-1948],
[Series 18: Presidential and Federal Appointments],
[Series 19: Campaign of 1942],
[Series 20: Miscellaneous Speech Materials and Speech Drafts],
[Series 21: Campaign of 1944 - Democratic National Convention],
[Series 22: Miscellaneous Papers [general subject files], 1932-1948],
[Series 23: Roosevelt - Speeches and Statements (Clippings)],
[Series 24: Roosevelt - Campaign Speeches],
[Series 25: Roosevelt - Miscellaneous Materials, 1929-1945],
[Series 26: Duplicates Unless Otherwise Noted [press releases]],
[All]

Series 3: Library and Research Bureau Papers, 1928-1933

This series contains subject matter research files. Although these records were created by the Democratic National Committee's Library and Research Bureau, they were last maintained in active use by Democratic National Committee headquarters staff. Included in this series are files related to agriculture, automobiles, the federal budget, banking, child welfare, conservation, immigration and deportation, election laws, education, electric power, foreign affairs, labor, national debt, old age pensions, prohibition, religion, and women voters. Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Box 392

General Correspondence - A-K

Box 393

General Correspondence - L-P (S-Z missing when Library received these papers)
Pre-Convention Correspondence
Absentee Voting, Election Laws and Data
Agriculture

Box 394

Agriculture, Reports and Statements
American Bar Association (Press Clippings)
American Bankers Association (Press Clippings)
Automobile Statistics and Building Trade, 1929-1932; 1931-1932
Baker, Newton (Press Clippings), September 1932, November 1932
Banking (Report on Failure)
Bonus (Press Clippings), January 1931-December 1932
Bowers, Claude
Budget
Bureau of Personnel Administration (Printed Matter)
"Burnett County Enterprise" (Wisconsin)
Business Conference, National (Press Clippings), August 27, 1932

Box 395

California and Florida, Lists of Membership and Political Offices
Candidates and Campaign Funds (Press Clippings)
Census, 1930
Child Welfare
Chilean Government Report
Coakley, Dan
Cohen, John S.
Commerce
Congress, Seventy-third - List of Members
Conservation
Convention Manual,, 1932
Coolidge, Speeches (Press Clippings), September 1932-November 1932
Copper, Before Election Issues, and Cotton - Reports
Crippled Children
Cummings, Homer (Speech)
Curley, James M. (Speech)
Curtis, Vice-President (Press Clippings of Speeches), August 1932-December 1932

Box 396

Deportation Laws, 1931
Directories and Lists of Organizations, Publications and Individuals and Economic Conference (Press Clippings) re: World Economic Conference, August 1932-December 1932
Economic Conference - "Power of Gold", 1927, 1931, and 1932
Economics - Plans and Statements re National Economic Scene Comparative Statistics
Education
Election Laws
Election News (Press Clippings) re Predictions and Returns
Election Trends
Election Units - Listed by States
Electors
Electric Power
Farley, James - Abstract of Letters, September 1932-November 1932
Farley, James (Press Clippings re Speeches), September 1932-December 1932

Box 397

Farm Loan Board (Press Clippings)
Farmer, Henry A. Wallace's
Federal Farm Loan Act, 1932
Federal Farm Loan Banks (Press Clippings) Senator Gilbert M. Hitchcock speech: The Brutal Policy, November 1, 1922
Federal Home Loan Bank
Federal Reserve Act - H.R. Bill #9203
Federal Reserve Bank (Press Clippings), July 1932-December 1932
Fess, Simon D.
Fish, Hamilton (Press Clippings re Statements)
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Loans
Foreign Trade
Forgotten Man (Press Clippings)
Fosdick, Raymond B.
Garner, John N. (Press Clippings), August 1932-December 1933
Glass, Carter (Press Clippings), May 1932-December 1932
Goldsborough Bill
Governors, List of Democratic Governors Elected, November 1932
Haiti
Home Loan Bank

Box 398

Hoover, Herbert (Press Clippings re Political Matters), October 1932-December 1932
Hoover's Accomplishments

Box 399

Hoover, Herbert
Extracts from Speeches and Inaugural Address - Press Clippings re Political Matters
Extracts from Speeches and Inaugural Address - Press Clippings circa, 1931
Extracts from Speeches and Inaugural Address - Press Clippings re Campaign, September 1932-December 1932
Hoover Commissions
Hoover and Roosevelt - White House Conference (Press Clippings), November 22, 1932
Howe, Louis McHenry (Press Clippings), November 1932-December 1932
Immigration, Imports, Insurance, Inauguration, Italy (Press Clippings)
Inaugural Address of Governor Roosevelt, January 1, 1929
Indian Bureau Reports
Inter-Allied Debt (Press Clippings)

Box 400

Inter-Allied Debt
Inter-Government Debts
Jahncke, Ernest (Press Clippings)
Japan (Press Clippings)
Johnson, Hiram (Press Clippings)
Kansas
Key Men in Campaign for State Delegations
Klein, Dr. Julius and Knickerbocker, H. R. (Press Clippings)
Labor (Press Clippings), August 1932-December 1932
Labor Pamphlet Frances Perkins Articles
Labor Annual Reports - N.Y.S. Federation on Labor
LaGuardia, Thomas Lamont
League of Nations (Press Clippings), September 1932-December 1932

Box 401

Legislatures, State - Political Information
Lehman, Herbert (Press Clippings)
Lindsey, Judge Benjamin B.
Lippman, Walter (Press Clippings)
Manchuria
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Morgenthau, Henry Sr.
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Mitchell, Charles E.
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Mitchell, William D.
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Moses, George H.
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Muscle Shoals
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: National Economy League
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: National Defense Department - Hurley, Patrick J.
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: LaGuardia, Fiorello
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Long, Huey
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: McKellar, Senator
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: McAdoo, William Gibbs
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Macy, W. Kingsland
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Malone, Dudley Field
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Marbury, Elizabeth
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Mellon, Andrew
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Michelson, Charles - includes Congressional Record -, July 25, 1932

Box 402

Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Mills, Ogden - Secretary of Treasury
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: National Debt
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: National Progressive League, native Matters, Negro Vote, Netherlands Bank
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: News Releases - List of Speeches and Statements -, January 1931-May 1932
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Old Age Pension Data
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Oil - Report on World Production
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Panic of 1873
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Patronage
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Pictures - Newspapers, August 1932-December 1932
Press Clippings of Speeches, Statements, Activities of Public Men and Organizations: Political Comment (Press Clippings, Campaign), August 1932-October 1932

Box 403

Political Data - Robinson, Senator from Arkansas
Political Data - Reed, James A. - Speeches
Political Data - Congressional Record, July 15, 1933
Political Data - California Assembly Districts - Membership
Political Data - Campaign Speeches, List of Delegates
Political Data - List of Publications
President Polls
Primaries and Results of
Prohibition - Democratic Platform, President Wilson's Veto Message
Prohibition - Reports
Prohibition, Public Utilities, Publicity
Publicity Releases
Publicity, Campaign, Home Owners and Farmers, Rand, James H. Jr. (Speech)
Raskob, John J.

Box 404

Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Congressional Hearings, Acts and Speeches
Registration Data (Telegrams)
Religion
Republican Campaign Information
Women Voters
Young Republican League

Box 405

Printed Material A-Z

Box 406

Printed Material A-Z

Box 407

Printed Material A-Z