State of Tennessee Department of State Tennessee State Library and Archives 403 Seventh Avenue North Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0312 FRANK GOAD CLEMENT GOVERNOR’S PAPERS (First and Second Terms) 1953-1959 GP 47 Processed by: Archival Technical Services INTRODUCTION This finding aid covers the gubernatorial papers of his first two terms of Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement, who served for six years from 1953-1959: a two year term, 1954-1955, and the first four-year term 1956-1959. The collection consists of 321 boxes of materials that consist of correspondence, subject files, extraditions and renditions, speeches, financial records, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, and press releases. There are no restrictions on the use of the materials and researchers may make copies of individual items for individual or scholarly use. SCOPE AND CONTENT The official papers of the gubernatorial administration of the first two terms of Governor Frank Goad Clement constitute a valuable record of a Tennessee governor. Their considerable volume of almost 161 cubic feet is attributable to the length of Clement’s tenure (six years, a two-year term and the first four-year term) and to the expansion of state government during those years. Included in the official papers are correspondence, photographs, financial records, written texts of many of Clement’s speeches, scrapbooks, and extradition and rendition records. The changes which occurred in Tennessee during the 1950s and 1960s were partly the result of political and economic changes affecting the entire nation. The scope of these changes and the speed with which they were accomplished in Tennessee, however, owed much to the political philosophy of Frank Clement. He greatly expanded the governor’s role, as well as that of the state government in general. During his three administrations, Tennessee accepted new responsibilities to its citizens and created new bureaucracies to administer them. Correspondence included in the gubernatorial papers reflects the planning that shaped new programs, as well as their early implementation. Especially significant in this context are the materials relating to the Department of Mental Health, created by Clement early in his firs administration. Clement became a national leader in the re-direction of state mental health efforts away from a merely custodial responsibility and toward the active search for ways to return mentally ill people to productive life. Clement’s interest in Education is reflected in the voluminous files generated by legislation establishing, among other advantages, a free textbook program, training for exceptional children, assistance for blind students, and extended benefits for teachers. Thirty-six folders of material were created as Chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board. The financial records of the governor’s office also document the expansion of government, showing increasing expenditures in every area of operations. Much of the correspondence reflects the impact on Tennessee and Tennesseans of intensely emotional national crises of the 1950s and 1960s. Clement’s response to the segregation question, for example, set him apart form other Southern governors and produced thousands of letters from all over the country. This correspondence reflected the extremes of emotional response to the issue by Tennesseans and other Americans, as well as Clement’s genuine concern for a course of action which would be legal, fair and satisfactory to his own conscience. Almost as emotional in tone is the correspondence concerning labor law, unrest and corruption, as well as that in regard to his stand on the abolishment of capital punishment in 1965, all of which were divisive issues during Clement’s tenure. His famous speaking ability and his outspoken religious convictions (also reflected in correspondence with the evangelist Billy Graham and with many private citizens) can see from copies of his many speeches, including the famous Democratic National Convention keynote address of 1956, whose extreme emotionalism may have hasted the end of his national political career. In addition to the various types of written records, the Clement papers also include numerous photographs taken during his administrations. Unfortunately, many of the events, dates or persons recorded in these photographs were not identified. Persons associated with the Clement administrations were asked for help and were, indeed, able to identify many subjects. However, many photographs remain unidentified. The papers of the third administration are noticeably less voluminous that those of the first two. It is unclear why this is so. The great volume of fan mail received by Clement during his first six years in office is not there. There is no way of knowing whether it was discarded by the office staff or simply did not come in the same tidal wave proportions. Also, much of the correspondence of the third administration is less substantive than in the first two. It is possible that, in line with a fairly general tendency of late twentieth-century governments and business, decisions and policy were increasingly discussed in person or over the telephone rather than by mail, as long distance telephoning and long distance travel became cheaper and more efficient. When the papers of the Clement administration were received in the Archives, they were approximately three times the present volume. Significant reduction in volume was achieved through discarding of extraneous materials: envelopes; printed and unmarked duplicates of correspondence, press releases, etc; and many news clippings from Tennessee newspapers. (Clippings from out-of-state newspapers have been retained, however.) Several cubic feet of materials, dating from the period before Clement first assumed the governorship and from the period between 1959 and 1963 were considered private rather than official papers and were transferred to the Manuscript Collection. Other materials actually were produced by the Browning and Ellington administrations and were transferred to those record groups. Most of the correspondence is arranged chronologically, following the arrangement established by Governor Clement’s office staff. Some correspondence, however, designated as “County,” “Out-of-State,” “Miscellaneous,” or “General,” was arranged alphabetically by the Governor’s staff, and that arrangement has been preserved here. Box 71, Folder 20, contains the correspondence requesting permission from Mr. Cordell Hull to name the new state office building for him that was under construction in 1954. A personally written note dated March 4, 1954 indicates acceptance. Because of the great volume of the Clement papers, in addition to a shortage of staff time available for processing, it was not possible to prepare a comprehensive index of names or subjects. As time permits, such an index will be completed. In the meantime, a superficial indexing of especially important names or topics is available, and the container lists offer a good breakdown of material along topical lines. CONTENTS Subgroup Series Subseries Box Numbers I Correspondence Executive Departments 1-20 Board and Commissions 21-26 Judicial Branch 27 Legislative Branch 28-32 Subject files 34-45, 85-91 County 46-63 Out-of-State 64-72 Proclamation (Corres.) 83 Questionnaires 84 Speeches Speeches 92-99 Proclamations Proclamations 100 Extraditions and Extraditions 101-105 Renditions Renditions 106 Financial Records Financial Records 109-110 Lists Lists 111-118 Photographs Prints 119-122, 125 Negatives 123 Press Releases Press Releases 124 Scrapbooks Scrapbooks Oversize Volumes 313-321 II Correspondence Executive Departments 126-148 Boards and Commissions 149-156 Judicial Branch 158-161 Legislative Branch 162-167 Subject Files 168-188 County 189-222 Out-of-State 223-253 Scheduling 254-259 Proclamations (Corres.) 260-262 Speeches Speeches 263-274 Proclamations Proclamations 275 Extraditions and Extraditions 276-280 Renditions Renditions 281-287 Financial Records Financial Records 288-296 Lists Lists 297-303 Newspaper Clippings-Conventions 304-307 Photographs Prints 122, 125, 308- 312 Negatives 123 Press Releases Press Releases 312 I, II Misc. Items Certifications, Poetry Recipes, etc. 124 INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS NAME/SUBJECT BOX-FOLDER CORRESPONDENT Allen, Clifford, FGC relations with 31-1 John W. Duke 142-1 Paul A. Phillips 145-8-18 Various 146-1 Various 207-1 Clifford Allen 217-20 Clifford Allen Blacks, appointments of by FGC 53-11 Walter C. Robinson 187-13 R.C. Anderson-Q.E Cope Blacks, job opportunities for 15-4 C.J. Ruilman Civil rights/race relations 182-13 J.G. Stahlman FGC, political ambitions of 182-13 J.G. Stahlman 273-22 Jim Nance Democratic National Convention (1956), FGC’s role in 182-13 J.G. Stahlman Evangelism, FGC’s 60-8 J.Z. Howard 69-1 Ernest Mahler 72-3 Fulton Lewis, Jr. 188-8 Howard Anderson 238-6 Howard Anderson Highlander Folk School 4-10 W.A. Swift 52-3 Myles Horton 210-19 S.B. Churchill Kefauver, Estes. FGC relations with 76-17 Glen Nicely 77-8 Leroy Porter 182-13 J.G. Stahlman 199-3 Bernard L. Steckler 199-4 Billy Viles 199-4 H. Christine Weems 199-22 J.B. Avery 203-9 T.P. Lawson 203-10 Jack Prince 205-10 Jim Camp 229-2 Estes Kefauver NAME/SUBJECT BOX-FOLDER CORRESPONDENT Music Industry 239-21 Carl Haverlin 246-10 Mrs. Alta Drakeford 249-3 Sen. Albert Gore Patronage 63-4 Grace Green 198-13 Grace Green 199-13 Hoyt Bryson 199-18 Mrs. W.C. Myers 205-13 Grace Green Schoolfield, Ralston. Impeachment of 29-1 John Hay Hooker, Jr. 291-7 James E.