Harold L. Ickes Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2005 Revised 2010 April Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms009071 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm78027011 Prepared by Joseph Sullivan and Michael Miller Revised and expanded by Laura J. Kells Collection Summary Title: Harold L. Ickes Papers Span Dates: 1815-1969 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1933-1951) ID No.: MSS27011 Creator: Ickes, Harold L. (Harold LeClair), 1874-1952 Extent: 150,000 items ; 490 containers plus 93 oversize ; 221 linear feet ; 21 microfilm reels Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Lawyer and secretary of the interior. Correspondence, diaries, speeches and writings, family papers, legal and financial records, subject files, scrapbooks, and other papers documenting all aspects of Ickes's career, especially his service as secretary of the interior. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Chapman, Oscar L. (Oscar Littleton), 1896-1978. Cox, James M. (James Middleton), 1870-1957. Douglas, Paul H. (Paul Howard), 1892-1976. Farley, James A. (James Aloysius), 1888-1976. Garfield, James Rudolph, 1865-1950. Hays, Will H. (Will Harrison), 1879-1954. Hughes, Charles Evans, 1862-1948. Ickes, Harold L. (Harold LeClair), 1874-1952. Insull, Samuel, 1859-1938. Johnson, Hiram, 1866-1945. Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973. Knox, Frank, 1874-1944. Morgenthau, Henry, 1891-1967. Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946. Richberg, Donald R. (Donald Randall), 1881-1960. Robins, Raymond, 1873-1954. Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945. Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919. Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972. Vittum, Karl D. Wallace, Henry A. (Henry Agard), 1888-1965. White, William Allen, 1868-1944. Organizations Arabian American Oil Company. Progressive Party (1912) United States. Department of the Interior. Subjects Conservation of natural resources. Indians of North America--Government relations. Municipal government--United States. Petroleum industry and trade. Practice of law--Illinois--Chicago. Presidents--United States--Election. Harold L. Ickes Papers 2 World War, 1939-1945--Japanese Americans. Places Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government. Illinois--Politics and government. Puerto Rico--History. United States--History--1933-1945. United States--Politics and government--1933-1945. Occupations Cabinet officers. Lawyers. Administrative Information Provenance The papers of Harold L. Ickes, lawyer and secretary of the interior, were given to the Library of Congress by his wife, Jane Dahlman Ickes, in 1952. Additional material was given to the Library by the Ickes family from 1952 to 1972. Other material was purchased from Paul H. North, Jr., in 1984 and given to the Library by Frances W. Saunders in 1985. Processing History A preliminary guide to the collection was prepared by Manuscript Division staff in 1952. Portions of the papers were microfilmed in 1974 and 1977. The papers were arranged and described in 1980 and revised and expanded in 1999. The finding aid was revised in 2005. Transfers Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some photographs, cartoons, and posters have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Some maps have been transferred to the Geography and Maps Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Harold L. Ickes Papers. Copyright Status Copyright in the unpublished writings of Harold L. Ickes in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public, except that these rights are reserved to Elizabeth Ickes and Harold McEwen Ickes during their lifetimes. Access and Restrictions The papers of Harold L. Ickes are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Microfilm A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on two sets of microfilm with a total of twenty-five reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase on interlibrary loan. Preferred Citation Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Harold L. Ickes Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Biographical Note Date Event 1874, Mar. 15 Born, Frankstown Township, Blair County, Pa. Harold L. Ickes Papers 3 1897 A.B., University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. 1897-1900 Newspaper reporter, Chicago, Ill. 1905 Managed the mayoral campaign of John Maynard Harlan, Chicago, Ill. 1907 J.D., University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Began private law practice 1911 Married Anna Wilmarth Thompson (died 1935) Managed the mayoral campaign of Charles E. Merriam, Chicago, Ill. 1912-1916 Active in the Progressive Party 1918-1919 Worked with the Y.M.C.A. in France, attached to the Thirty- Fifth Division, American Expeditionary Forces 1922 President, People's Protective League 1924 Illinois campaign manager, Hiram Johnson's campaign for the Republican Party presidential nomination 1926 Managed the senatorial campaign of Hugh S. Magill of Illinois 1929-1930 Director, People's Traction League 1933-1946 Secretary of the interior 1933-1939 Administrator of the Public Works Administration 1934 Published The New Democracy. New York: W.W. Norton 1935 Published Back to Work. New York: Macmillan 1938 Married Jane Dahlman 1939 Published America's House of Lords. New York: Harcourt, Brace 1941 Published Freedom of the Press Today. New York: Vanguard Press 1941-1946 Solid Fuels Administrator and Petroleum Administrator for War 1943 Published Fightin' Oil. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1943 Published The Autobiography of a Curmudgeon. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock 1945 Chairman, American delegation, Anglo-American Oil Treaty negotiations 1952, Feb. 3 Died, Washington, D.C. Harold L. Ickes Papers 4 Scope and Content Note The papers of Harold LeClair Ickes (1874-1952) span the years 1815-1969, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1933-1951. Almost all aspects of Ickes's career are illuminated in the papers through letters to friends and critics, official correspondence while he was secretary of the interior, his diary, unpublished and published memoirs and autobiographical sketches, and speeches and statements. Ickes's diary includes observations on affairs of state and prominent public figures. Although the collection includes little family correspondence , Ickes's memoirs in the Speeches and Writings File contain information regarding his family life and early years. The General Correspondence series is organized in two chronological sections: 1903-1933 and 1946-1952. Ickes's personal correspondence for the period in which he was secretary of the interior is in the Secretary of the Interior File , much of it under the heading "Friends." Ickes assisted in the 1905 mayoral campaign of John Maynard Harlan. Material on Progressivism and Theodore Roosevelt's relationship to the movement is found in files on Hiram Johnson, Donald Richberg, and Raymond Robins. Other political subjects discussed in the correspondence include the 1920 presidential campaign of James M. Cox. Charles Evans Hughes and the presidential campaign of 1916 are noted in files on Will H. Hays and James R. Garfield. The appointment of Progressives to political office in Chicago and in Illinois and the attempt by Hiram Johnson to take the 1924 Republican presidential nomination from Calvin Coolidge are discussed as well. Ickes wrote regularly for the Progressive State Central Committee of Illinois, advocating such measures as product safety and the banning of literacy tests for immigrants as a requisite for voting. He was also involved during the 1920s in the People's Traction League, an association organized to combat the attempt by Samuel Insull to control rail service in Chicago during the period 1925-1930, and the People's Protective League, 1922-1923, through which Ickes and other Progressives blocked the passage of a revised Illinois constitution which they believed was not compatible with the needs of the people. These activities are documented in the first section of the General Correspondence file, as are such diverse interests as Ickes's stock market investments and his hobbies of growing dahlias and collecting stamps. The second part of the General Correspondence series, 1946-1952, includes material on conservation issues, Ickes's interest in bringing the offshore oil issue before the Supreme Court for final settlement, planning for the hydrogen bomb, and corruption in government. An occasional file relates to his interests in legal matters. File names in both parts of the General Correpondence series refer to names of correspondents and to subjects of interest. While Ickes was secretary of the interior, his personal correspondence and other material was filed separately from the Interior Department's official records and constitutes the largest single segment of