William D. Hassett Papers | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Collection Overview
Title: William D. Hassett Papers
Primary Creator: William D. Hassett (1880-1965)
Extent: 13.0 Cubic Feet
Date Acquired: 06/02/1958
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Collection Historical Note
William D. Hassett was born in Northfield, Vermont, on August 28, 1880. He attended Clark University from 1902-04, then became a reporter for the Burlington Free Press.
In 1909, Hassett went to Washington, D.C., where he continued his newspaper career with the Washington Post and the Associated Press, and also served as Washington correspondent for the Cincinnati Enquirer and the New York Telegram. From 1921 to 1925, her served in London as correspondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger and the Associated Press.
Hassett began his government career in 1933 with the National Recovery Administration. In 1935 he became an Assistant Secretary to the President. On February 19, 1944, President Roosevelt appointed him Secretary to the President. Hassett also served occasionally as White House press secretary and it was he who announced the President’s death in Warm Springs, Georgia. He was appointed Secretary to President Truman on April 16, 1945, and held this post until his retirement in 1952.
Hassett was a director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Foundation, a trustee of Norwich University (Vermont), and a member of the Board of Management of the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. He wrote several articles and books, the best known being Off the Record with FDR (New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1958).
Mr. Hassett died on August 29, 1965, in Northfield Vermont.
Administrative Information
Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Access Restrictions: Certain materials have been closed on the instructions of the donor.
Use Restrictions: The literary property rights in them have not been donated to the United States Government.
Acquisition Source: William D. Hassett
Acquisition Method: Mr. Hassett donated his papers to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library on June 2, 1958.
Related Materials: Materials relating to William Hassett will be found in PPF 5125 (William D. Hassett), OF 5485 (William D. Hassett) and the Oscar Cox Papers (William D. Hassett). There is also material at the Library of Congress and copies of material at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: General Correspondence, 1911-1965],
[Series 2: Personal File, 1903-1961],
[Series 3: Clippings File, 1910-1960],
[Series 4: Microfilm, 1941-1955],
[All]
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Series 1: General Correspondence, 1911-1965 - Incoming and outgoing correspondence, memoranda, reports and printed material arranged alphabetically by subject and surname of correspondent. Material before 1933 consists only of printed items. The Franklin D. Roosevelt files (1933-45) contain copies of Presidential memoranda from his papers in the Library of Congress)(Containers 1-19).
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Box 1 -
Box 2 -
B - General -
Barcella, Ernest, 1951-1963 -
Bassett, Mr. and Mrs. R. C., 1946-1951 -
Baukage, H. R., 1939-1949 -
Baukage, H. R., 1950-1960 -
Benton, William, 1945-1956 -
Bergman, Vonda, 1949-1955 -
Bishop, H. O., 1942-1951 -
Bogart, Charles M., 1950-1951 -
Books Loaned by W.D.H. -
Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc., 1951 -
Bradfield, H. C., 1943-1955
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Box 3 -
Brodnax, Mrs. E. P. (Dorothy Mosely), 1946-1952 -
Brown, John P., 1945-1952 -
Buck, Gardner A., 1940-1950 -
Burlington Free Press, 1953-1962 -
Burlington Free Press Reunion, 1953 and 1958 -
C - General -
Cave, Richard L., 1944-1952 -
Cayo, Arthur J., 1948-1951 -
Chadwick, H. H., 1950-1952 -
Chandler, Florence, 1942-1955 -
Christmas Lists, 1951 -
Christmas Card Lists, 1950, 1954 -
Clark University, 1927, 1945-1951 -
Clark University, 1952 -
Clark University Dinn, January 10, 1952
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Box 4 -
Clark University, 1953-1965 -
Clark University - Alumni Bulletin, 1946-1952 -
Clifford, Clark M., 1947-1965 -
Clifford Children (Joyce, Mary and Margery), 1947-1952 -
Cobb, Mrs. Guy W., 1940-1951 -
Cogswell, Robert F., 1947-1952 -
Cole, Mr. and Mrs. Victor B., 1938-1955 -
Collet, John C., 1945-1952 -
Collier's Article - Correspondence re, October 20, 1951 -
Conversational Club, 1953-1964 -
Copies of Old Letter and Humorous Memos -
Cosmos Club, 1940-1963
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Box 5 -
Cosmos Club - Committee on Admissions, 1946-1952 -
Cosmos Club - House Rules, Membership Card, Notices -
Cosmos Club - Board of Governors, 1951 -
Cosmos Club - Board of Governors, 1952 -
Cosmos Club - Bulletin, 1947-1952 -
Crain, Bennett, 1944-1958 -
Crane, Charles E., 1945-1957 -
Cross, Marie, 1949-1950 -
Cushman, Roy M., 1944-1955 -
D - General -
Daniels, Jonathan, 1945-1965 -
Davenport, B. Warwick, 1945-1952
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Box 6 -
Dolbear, Samuel H., 1952-1958 -
Drew, Ira Walton, 1936-1955 -
Drury, Newton B., 1949-1956 -
Drury, Newton B. - re Termination as Director of Park Servi, 1951 -
E - General -
Early, Stephen, 1945-1952 -
Early, Mrs. Stephen, 1951 -
Edgerton, Alson B., 1941-1951 -
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 1946-1949 -
Ellis, George A., 1950-1953 -
Emerson, George T., 1941-1952 -
Essex Junction -
F - General -
Farrar, John, 1952 -
Fisher, A. K., 1946-1948 -
Flash - Hassett's Mynah Bird -
Funny Letters -
G- General
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Box 7 -
Box 8 -
Holmes, George - Memorial Library, 1944 -
Home Life Insurance Company, 1945-1951 -
Hopkins, Bishop J. H., 1947-1949 -
Howe, David, 1941-1952 -
Illingsworth, Robert, 1945-1951 -
Important - To Be Filed Later -
Irish, Stacey, 1947-1953 -
Isherwood, Mrs. Harold, 1954 -
J - General -
Jefferson, Howard B., 1951-1952 -
Jefferson, Thomas (Papers of) -
Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, 1947-1952 -
Johnson, Luther, 1953-1962 -
K - General -
Kelly, H. John (See also Gale Hargrove), 1949-1952 -
Kerin, Charles A., 1943-1964 -
Kerin, Susie, 1943-1951 -
Kerr and Elliott, 1945-1951 -
Kromer, Leon, 1947-1952 -
Kyes, Frank M., 1950-1952 -
L - General -
Leahy, William D., 1945-1959 -
Leviero, Anthony, 1952-1954 -
Living Wilderness Magazine, 1946-1949
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Box 9 -
M - General -
U.S.S. "Margie", 1951 -
Marble, Henry C., 1944-1965 -
Marshall, George C., 1943-1964 -
Mayo Memorial Hospital, 1955 -
Mazuzan, John E., 1943-1952 -
McCrea, John E., 1943-1965 -
Mearns, David C., 1953-1964 -
Message to Garcia, February 8, 1952 -
Morse, Lincoln W., 1941-1955 -
Morse, Louis L., 1942-1952 -
Morse Children - Andy, Pat, Ellen, Tom, 1947-1952 -
Morse, Theron, 1943-1952 -
Mutual Life Insurance Company, 1946-1947 -
N - General -
National Geographic Society, 1946-1951 -
National Life Insurance Company, 1947-1951 -
National Parks, 1950-1952
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Box 10 -
National Press Club - Year Book, 1911-1913 -
Newsweek Magazine, 1950-1951 -
New Yorker Magazine, 1949-1951 -
New York Times, 1960-1962 -
Northfield High School Alumni Association, 1941-1951 -
Northfield High School Reunion, 1950 -
Northfield High School - The Aegis -
Northfield Town Report, 1947-1950 -
Northfield - Miscellaneous, 1947-1965 -
Norwich University, 1945-1953 -
Norwich University - Reports and Printed Materials
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Box 11 -
Norwich University - Board of Trustees, 1951-1953 -
O - General -
O'Brien, Robert L., 1951-1953 -
O'Connor and Faber - re Saturday Evening Post Articles -
Oehser, Paul H., 1948-1952 -
Oxford University Press, 1953-1957 -
P-Q - General -
Pearl Harbor Disaster -
Petigru, James - Epitaph -
Pierce, H. R., 1941-1951 -
Pingree, C. E., 1945-1956 -
Plumley, Charles A., 1935-1960 -
Plumley, Fletcher, 1936-1952
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Box 12 -
Box 13 -
Roosevelt, Franklin D., May-December 1940 -
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1941 -
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1942-January 1944 -
Roosevelt, Franklin D., April 1944-1945 -
Roosevelt, Franklin D. - Campaign Speech Materi, 1944 -
Roosevelt, Franklin D. - V-E Day Proclamation, 1944-1945 -
Roosevelt Day Dinners, 1951-1952, 1956-1957 -
Roosevelt Foundation, 1947-1951
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Box 14 -
Roosevelt - President's Birthday Ball, 1944-1945 -
Roosevelt Library, 1948-1966 -
Roosevelt National Historic Site, 1949-1950 -
Roosevelt - Warm Springs Foundation and Memorial Commission, 1947-1963 -
Roosevelt - Inscriptions in books given to Hassett -
Roosevelt, Franklin D., Jr., 1949-1952 -
Roosevelt, James, 1938, 1950, 1964 -
Roosevelt, Mrs. Kermit, 1944-1946 -
Rutgers University Press, 1957-1965 -
S - General -
Saturday Evening Post, 1953-1961 -
Shangri-La, 1946-1952 -
Sherry Hall - Hassett's Apartment, 1949-1951 -
Sherwood, Robert, 1944-1952
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Box 15 -
Box 16 -
Box 17 -
Box 18 -
Truman, Harry S., 1953-1965 -
Truman, Margaret and Bess, 1946-1952 -
Tuckerman, Louis B., 1948-1954 -
Tully, Grace G., 1939-1960 -
U-V - General -
The Vermonter, 1946 -
Vermont Historical Society, 1943-1963 -
Vermont Life, 1946-1952 -
Vermont State Association, 1946-1952 -
Vermont Town Meeting, 1950-1951 -
Vinson, Fred M., 1945-1947 -
W - General -
Washington, George - Farewell Addresses -
Washington Post and Star, 1952
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Box 19
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Series 2: Personal File, 1903-1961 - Messages of congratulations, greeting cards, diary material, date and guest books, invitations, memorabilia and writings of Hassett and others. The diary is a marked copy which Hassett used in preparing Off the Record with FDR. The only material before 1933 is a Clark College notebook (1903) and White House invitations (1914 and 1917). (Containers 20-24)
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Box 20 -
Box 21 -
Box 22 -
Box 23 -
Box 24 -
Press Conferences, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1949 -
Speech - Hassett, June 16, 1954 -
Writings - "The Lengthening Shadow of FDR" -
Writings - "Walking with the Devil" -
Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - Correspondence re -
Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - Material re -
Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - Galley Proof -
Writings - "Off the Record with FDR" - Reviews -
Writings - "The President was My Boss" - Article in the Saturday Evening Post -
Reviews of Books about FDR -
Writings of Others - Miscellaneous -
Publications - "Confessions Of A Young Man" and "La Peinture de Michel'Ange"
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Series 3: Clippings File, 1910-1960 - Containers 25-28 include newspaper clippings arranged in rough chronological order for the entire period. Containers 29-32 include newspaper clippings bound in scrapbooks covering the period 1944-1952.
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Series 4: Microfilm, 1941-1955 -
MICROFILM: The Hassett Papers contain three rolls of microfilm.
Microfilm NO. 46-1 (two rolls) consists of Hassett’s correspondence with family and friends filmed by the Library and returned to him. Roll 1 covers the period 1941-1955, and includes correspondence with Mr. and Mrs. C. I. Frost, Warren Frost, Fred A. Howland and Mrs. C. E. Dorothy, Maxine and Wilson C. McNamara. Roll 2 covers the period 1944-1952 and contains correspondence with Wilson C. McNamara, Mrs. Lawrence Morah and Hassett personal papers relating to real estate, finance, travel, insurance and medical matters. Microfilm No, 46-2 (one roll) consists of material copied from the Hassett Papers in the Library of Congress. Included are a number of FDR memoranda, an invitation to the Truman-Barkley inauguration, an address by Hassett on the eighth anniversary of FDR’s death and material related to the FDR Memorial Commission. Some of this material is duplicated in the manuscript collection.
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: General Correspondence, 1911-1965],
[Series 2: Personal File, 1903-1961],
[Series 3: Clippings File, 1910-1960],
[Series 4: Microfilm, 1941-1955],
[All]