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State Library of Massachusetts - Special Collections Department Scrapbook 17 Scrapbook of Eugene N. Foss, 1902-1936, bulk 1902-1916: Guide COLLECTION SUMMARY Creator: Foss, Eugene, 1858-1939. Call Number: Scrapbook 17 Extent: 40 volumes (# linear feet) Preferred Citation Style: Folder Title, Box Number #. Scrapbook of Eugene N. Foss. State Library of Massachusetts Special Collections. Provenance: Unknown. About This Finding Aid: Description based on DACS. Processed by: Finding aid prepared by Dory Klein, March 2016. Abstract: This collection of scrapbooks contains clippings compiled between 1902 and 1936, documenting the political activities, business interests, and family life of Massachusetts political figure Eugene Foss. SCOPE AND CONTENT The bulk of the materials pertain to Eugene Foss’s many campaigns, policies, and endorsements prior to 1916, with attention to his work regarding tariff reform, prison and asylum reform, and his anti-labor policies. Clippings largely consist of newspaper articles, but also include pamphlets, posters, flyers, correspondence, and banquet menus, as well as a medal and a signed letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt, both in Volume 39. State Library of Massachusetts – Special Collections Department Guide to Scrapbook 17 – Scrapbook of Eugene N. Foss Page 1 of 13 Volume 18 includes a December 9, 1910 clipping from the Traveler stating that Marion Pottle had, thus far, compiled sixteen volumes of scrapbooks under the direction of Foss, and that the work was ongoing. BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE Eugene Noble Foss (1858-1939) served as a Representative from Massachusetts from 1910 to 1911 and governor of Massachusetts from 1911 to 1914. Born on September 24, 1858 to George Edmund Foss and Marcia Noble Foss in West Berkshire, Vermont, he received his childhood education in the local public schools and attended the Franklin County Academy at St. Albans. In 1877, he enrolled at the University of Vermont, but left after his sophomore year to pursue business interests. In 1882, he relocated to Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, where he worked as a traveling salesman for the B. F. Sturtevant Company. He advanced within the business and married Lilla Sturtevant, the daughter of the company’s owner, Benjamin F. Sturtevant. Foss became the company president upon the passing of his father-in-law in 1884; in this role, he oversaw the company’s expansion to other countries. Foss was a Republican for many years, but was a vocal advocate of Canadian reciprocity (the lowering of tariffs on natural resources being imported and exported between Canada and the United States), a policy opposed by many Republicans. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1902 and in 1904, and failed in a bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 1906. In 1909 he left the Republican Party and became a Democrat. He was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-first United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William C. Lovering and served from 1910 until he resigned in 1911, having been elected Governor of Massachusetts. He served as governor from 1911 to 1914. By 1913, his anti-labor policies had caused him to fall out of favor with the state Democratic leadership, and he ran unsuccessfully for reelection as an Independent, losing to Democrat David I. Walsh. He unsuccessfully campaigned variously for governor, president, and U.S. senator, and in 1925 lost to Edith Nourse Rogers for the fifth congressional district of Massachusetts. Though he never returned to political office, he remained politically active throughout his life, actively campaigning for tariff reform, prison and asylum reform, prohibition, and public ownership of utilities. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Arrangement The scrapbooks are arranged, largely in chronological order, with the exception of Volume 40. The scrapbooks are arranged in forty volumes: Volume 1: May 1, 1902 to September 15, 1902 State Library of Massachusetts – Special Collections Department Guide to Scrapbook 17 – Scrapbook of Eugene N. Foss Page 2 of 13 Volume 2: September 13, 1902 to October 1, 1902 Volume 3: September 26, 1902 to October 30, 1902 Volume 4: September 20, 1902 to October 22, 1907 Volume 5: October 4, 1902 to April 22, 1904 Volume 6: October 19, 1902 to June 20, 1906 Volume 7: March 19, 1904 to August 13, 1904 Volume 8: August 14, 1904 to November 9, 1904 Volume 9: November 9, 1904 to July 8, 1905 Volume 10: July 8, 1905 to October 27, 1905 Volume 11: October 28, 1905 to June 20, 1906 Volume 12: June 16, 1906 to September 23, 1906 Volume 13: September 21, 1906 to August 10, 1907 Volume 14: August 20, 1907 to March 23, 1910 Volume 15: March 22, 1910 to October 29, 1910 Volume 16: March 22, 1910 to April 16, 1910 Volume 17: October 30, 1910 to November 16, 1910 Volume 18: September 1, 1910 to December 24, 1910 Volume 19: December 24, 1910 to January 31, 1911 Volume 20: February 1, 1911 to May 27, 1911 Volume 21: May 27, 1911 to August 25, 1911 Volume 22: August 23, 1911 to October 21, 1911 Volume 23: October 22, 1911 to November 8, 1911 Volume 24: October 1911 to January 19, 1912 Volume 25: January 19, 1912 to May 4, 1912 Volume 26: May 6, 1912 to July 23, 1912 Volume 27: July 23, 1912 to October 23, 1912 Volume 28: October 23, 1912 to January 11, 1913 Volume 29: January 12, 1913 to April 24, 1913 Volume 30: April 27, 1913 to June 20, 1913 Volume 31: June 21, 1913 to August 9, 1913 Volume 32: August 9, 1913 to October 9, 1913 Volume 33: October 10, 1913 to November 15, 1913 Volume 34: November 15, 1913 to July 6, 1914 Volume 35: April 26, 1915 to September 20, 1915 Volume 36: September 3, 1915 to July 10, 1916 Volume 37: July 31, 1919 to October 15, 1920 Volume 38: August 1, 1921 to October 2, 1927 State Library of Massachusetts – Special Collections Department Guide to Scrapbook 17 – Scrapbook of Eugene N. Foss Page 3 of 13 Volume 39: October 3, 1927 to September 24, 1936 Volume 40: September 6, 1902 to November 11, 1902 Conditions Governing Access This collection is open for research during the Special Collections Department’s regular hours. Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use Copyright restrictions may apply. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with Special Collections staff. Languages and Scripts The collection is entirely in English. Related Materials The following collections may also be of interest: Foss, Eugene Noble. [Address] before the state board of trade at its annual meeting, at Norwood ... 1913. State Library of Massachusetts. Call number: HF295.F67 1913. Foss, Eugene Noble. Address at the Conference of Governors, Richmond, Va., Dec. 5, 1912 : [the development of inland waterways]. 1912. State Library of Massachusetts. Call number: HE393.F67 1912. Foss, Eugene Noble. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. By his excellency the governor : a proclamation concerning the election of electors of president and vice president of the United States. Circa 1912. State Library of Massachusetts Special Collections. Call number: Broadside 137. Collection on Massachusetts State Functions and Events, 1873-1971. State Library of Massachusetts Special Collections. Call number: Ms. Coll. 136. Massachusetts Historical Documents Collection, 1650-1943. State Library of Massachusetts Special Collections. Call number: Ms. Coll. 135. Detailed Series Description and Container List Volume 1: May 1, 1902 to September 15, 1902 Volume 1 contains clippings documenting Eugene Foss’s 1902 nomination and campaign for congressman of Massachusetts's 11th congressional district, also known as the Back Bay district. A number of articles describe the political sparring between Foss and his opponent, Colonel Melvin O. Adams, also a Republican vying for the congressional seat. A large number of articles detail Foss’s platforms of Canadian reciprocity, the improvement of Boston Harbor, the uplifting of State Library of Massachusetts – Special Collections Department Guide to Scrapbook 17 – Scrapbook of Eugene N. Foss Page 4 of 13 the merchant marine, and the development of industry in Boston and in Massachusetts as a whole. Volume 2: September 13, 1902 to October 1, 1902 Volume 2 documents Foss’s campaign and subsequent defeat of Melvin O. Adams (1850-1920) for the Republican nomination for the 11th congressional district of Massachusetts. In the weeks approaching the Republican caucus, a great many articles are devoted to assessing the candidates’ strengths, weaknesses, and platforms, and deliberating which politicians, businessmen, and political machines supported whom. A number of articles also document the campaign activities of both candidates, including rallies, speeches, meetings, and parades. A large number of clippings document the recount that validated Foss’s win. Volume 3: September 26, 1902 to October 30, 1902 Volume 2 documents Foss’s 1902 congressional campaign against Democrat John A. Sullivan (1868-1927), with a number of articles highlighting the lack of Republican support of Foss’s tariff reform platform. Other articles note the anti-Foss sentiment within the Massachusetts labor movement, and Foss’s neglect of African American voters. Volume 4: September 20, 1902 to October 22, 1907 Volume 4 documents Foss’s 1902 defeat by Democratic candidate John Sullivan, and Foss’s continued political involvement, particularly his efforts for tariff reform. Articles also document Foss’s business interests, including his involvement as director of the Boston Merchants Association, his expansion of the Sturtevant Blower Works in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood, and his establishment of a bank and donation of a hospital to the town, and the subsequent industrial boom in the area. Articles also document Foss’s expulsion from the Republican Home Market Club for his views regarding Canadian reciprocity and tariff reform. Articles also detail the proposed merger between Harvard University and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1904 and 1905.