Lowell Mellett Papers, 1938-1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

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Collection Overview

Title: Lowell Mellett Papers, 1938-1944

Primary Creator: Lowell Mellett

Extent: 9.58 Cubic Feet

Arrangement:

This is a collection in two series:

Series 1: Government Agency and Departmental Files

Series 2: Personal Files, Alphabetically

Date Acquired: 11/03/1960

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection is in two series that primarily chronicles his years in the White House as an aide to FDR during WWII. The first series contains material and correspondence filed under government agencies, departments, organizations, and surnames. The second series consists of personal correspondence.

Collection Historical Note

Lowell Mellett was a veteran journalist and editor who became an Adminstrative Assistant to FDR from 1940-1944. Born in 1884, Mellett was a native of Indiana. After working around the country for a series of regional newspapers, most notably the St Louis Post-Dispatch, Mellet moved to Washington DC. There he joined the United Press as a war correspondent during World War I before settling in Washington DC as an editor for Colliers and the Washington News.

Mellet was a respected editor on the Washington news scene up until 1938 when he joined the National Emergency Council. Later he became the Director of the Office of Government Reports and assumed the role of a coodinator of government films when World War II broke out. Mellett went back to news in 1944 and joined the Washington Star as a columnist. He went on to publish "Handbook of Politics-Voters Guide" in 1946 and retired in 1956.

Administrative Information

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: Material that might be used to embarrass, harass or injure living persons has been closed.

Acquisition Source: Anne Mellett Keezer

Acquisition Method: The papers were presented to the Library by Anne Mellett Keezer, daughter of Lowell Mellett, on November 3, 1960.

Related Materials:

President’s Official File

President’s Personal File

President’s Secretary’s File

Henry A. Wallace Papers

Harry L. Hopkins Papers

Gardner Jackson Papers

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Departmental Files],
[Series 2: Personal Files],
[All]

Series 2: Personal Files

Box 8

"Prelude to War"
A - General
American Retail Federation
Anderson, Robert N.
Arnold, Thurman
Atlantic Monthly, Sepeptember 1941
Attendance Records

Box 9

B - General
Balderston, John
Bane, Frank
Baruch, Bernard
Beecher, John
Benton, William - V.P., University of Chicago
Bickel, Earl A.
Bing, Dr. Edward J.
Bliven, Bruce - New Republic
Boddy, Manchester
Boettiger, John - Seattle Post Intelligencer
Bohn, Dr. Frank
Bolte, Guy - Movies
Brown, Roy A. - NEA, Calif.
Bruce, Edward - Fine Arts
Burkhardt - Calif.
Butcher, Harry C. - CBS Radio

Box 10

Bye, George T.
C - General
Campaign, 1944
Carson, John
Carter, John Franklin
Censorship
Clippings
Cohen, Benjamin V.
Collier's - Davenport
Corcoran, Thomas G.
Council for Democracy

Box 11

Coy, Wayne
Coyle, David Cushman
Crowell, Evelyn M.
D - General
Daniels, Jonathan
Davidson, Jo - Lahaska
Davies, Joseph E.
Davis, George L. (Ala.)
Dodd, William and Martha
Douglas, Paul H.
Drekoff, Max M.
Dunbar, Ruth
E - General
Easby-Smith, Col. James S.
Ernst, Morris
Ervin, Charles W.
Ethridge, Mark F.
F - General
Finnegan, R. J. - Chicago Times

Box 12

Flegel, Austin F., Jr.
Flynn, Edward J.
Foreman, Clark
Fredericks, R. T. (Okla.)
G - General
Gallagher, Thomas
Gillingham, George O.
Granik, Theodore - American Forum of the Air
Gridiron Club
Griffith, E. J. - Portland, Ore.
Ha-Hi - General
Hj-Hy - General
Haas, Frank E. - St. Paul
Haas, Saul - Seattle
Harmon, Francis S.
Harriman, W. Averell
Harris, A. I. (Minneapolis)
Harry, DeWitt
Harvey, Guy H. (So. Dakota)

Box 13

Hollander, Richard
Honeyman, Mrs. Nan Wood
Hotz, William J. (Omaha)
Howard, N. R. (of the Cleveland News)
Howard, Roy W.
Hoyt, Palmer (Portland, Ore.)
Hughes, J. J. (Iowa)
I - General
Ingersoll, Ralph (of P.M.)
J - General
Jackson, Gardner "Pat"
Jacobs, Harold D.
Johnson, Sveinjorn (Ill.)
K - General

Box 14

Keenan, Jospeh
Keezer, Dexter
Kirby, James P.
Knapp, Dr. George L.
L - General
Lee and Losh
Lemmon, Walter S.
Lilley, Charles J.
Lockwood, W. T. (Idaho)
Luce, Henry R. (Life, Time, Fortune)
Mc - General
McGill, Ralph (Atlanta, Ga.)
M - General

Box 15

Meeman, Edward J. (Memphis)
Mellett, John C.
Mellett, Lowell * (Personal)
Michelson, Charles
Mittell, Sherman
Morrow, Walter
Morton, Charles W., Jr. - The Atlantic Monthly
Moskovit, Harold R.
N - General
National Press Club
Neuberger, Richard L.
Newspaper Publishers Committee
Noel, Percy
O - General
Office of Government Reports Division - OWI

Box 16

P - General
Perry, John - Agriculture Department
Perry, John H.
Picture, 1944
Poynter, Nelson
Pyle, Ernie
Q - General
R - General
Radio
Redman, Fulton J.
Renshaw, Donald (Calif.)

Box 17

Richberg, Donald
Riis, Roger William
Rochester, Alfred R.
Romney, Miles (Montana)
Royal, John F. - NBC Radio
Sa-Sm - General
Sn-Sy - General
Sheey, Rev. Maurice S.
Somerville, H. P.
Speeches
Speech Material
Spewack, Samuel
Sterling, Donald J. (Portland, Ore.)
Stewart, Donald Ogden
Swope, Herbert Bayard

Box 18

T - General
Taylor, Mrs. Mary
Thomason, S. E. (Chicago)
Travel Vouchers
U - General
V - General
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, Jr.
Vickery, Howard F. (Fed. Home Loan Bank Board)
W - General
War Mobilization, Office of
Warner Brothers
Weisman, Jacob M.
Western Newspaper Union
White, B. Frank (Texas)
White, Walter
White, William Allen and William L.
Williams, Jay Jerome
Willkie, Wendell L.
Wilson, Lyle C.
Wood, George A. G.
Wood, Lorenzo K. (Kentucky)

Box 19

World Wide Broadcasting Foundation
Wright, Chester
X-Y-Z - General
Pamphlets

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[Series 1: Departmental Files],
[Series 2: Personal Files],
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