Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Claude   A. Swanson   Papers, Accession 907-a, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

The Claude   A. Swanson   Papers were given to the University of Virginia Library by Martha Conley Hall, Chevy Chase, Maryland, through Charles and Deane Hall, on December 20, 1993.

Funding Note

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Scope and Content

This collection consists of the papers of Senator Claude   A. Swanson   of Virginia (1862-1939), 1917-1922, ca. 6,400 items (16 Hollinger boxes, 6.5 linear feet) primarily correspondence with constituents and fellow congressmen concerning bills in the Senate, constituent needs and requests, appointments and invitations, all related to his senatorial career. Common constituent concerns include claims against various federal and state agencies, especially the United States Army , pardons for family members and friends, difficulties with foreign governments, personal problems, the loss of personal effects of soldiers, liberty bonds, requests for letters of introduction and recommendation, and questions about government surplus from World War I.

Also present are several printed items, including a dedication ceremony program of a Virginia Historical Highway Marker honoring Swanson  ; an article about Swanson   by Henry H. Mitchell ; copies of a Yorktown Sesquicentennial Celebration program, a silver service presentation to the Battleship Virginia, and a song "Our Governor Elect" by Blanche Hardy Consolvo ; and a bound scrapbook of electrostatic copies of newsclippings and other contemporary documents taken from the Swanson   family collection of newspaper articles, photographs and papers, and compiled by Charles C. Hall in 1992.

Swanson   was born on March 31, 1862, at Swansonville, Virginia, and educated at Randolph-Macon College (1885) and the University of Virginia (law degree in 1886). He returned to Pittsylvania County and practiced law until elected to the House of Representatives, serving from 1893-1906. Swanson   was governor of Virginia , 1906-1910, and immediately following his term as governor he was appointed to fill the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death of Senator John Daniel. Subsequently Swanson   was elected by the Virginia Legislature to complete the unfinished term. After the change in the Virginia Constitution, he was re-elected by popular vote for three terms, serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Naval Affairs Committee. His service in the Senate continued from 1910 until 1933, when he became Secretary of the Navy under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was instrumental in building a modern U.S. Navy. For a more complete discussion of his political career and accomplishments see Claude   A. Swanson   of Virginia: A Political Biography by Henry C. Ferrell, Jr. (1985, University Press of Kentucky).

He married Elizabeth Deane Lyons ("Lizzie"), on December 11, 1894, and following his term as governor, the Swansons lived on their farm "Eldon" east of Chatham, Virginia , when the Senate was not in session, until her death on July 13, 1920. Swanson's   second marriage, in October of 1923, was to Lulie Lyons Hall , widow of Cunningham Hall of Richmond and sister of his first wife, Lizzie Lyons.

The Swanson   Papers are arranged chronologically with an alphabetical listing of subjects and the dates of their letters following in this guide (Boxes 1-10). Several topics of concern to numerous constituents have been foldered separately (Boxes 11-16) and include the following: the Armenian refugee problem and conflict with their Turkish rulers; disarmament letters discussing the first major attempt to reduce the burden of armaments at the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-1922; letters concerned with the affairs of the Hampton Roads Area, including Norfolk , Newport News , Hampton , and Portsmouth , chiefly reflecting the vast impact that World War I and the presence of the armed forces had on the area; Naval Appointments; Prohibition and related topics; Requests by Constituents, which includes mostly simple requests for government publications, seeds, plants, fish applications, Senate gallery passes, White House tours, and tickets to various events; Richmond affairs; Second Class Mail Rates, a bill introduced to repeal the zone postal law applying to second class mail matter, viewed as harmful to small local newspapers and beneficial to the big magazines; the Sheppard-Towner Bill, which gave funds to states to promote maternal and infant welfare; the Soldier's Bonus Bill, which sought to compensate soldiers who served in the armed forces during World War I while their contemporaries earned high wages back home; and Tariffs and Taxes, chiefly concerned with the perceived impact of the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act upon various American industries and businesses.

Subject Index to the General Correspondence files

(Please note: there may be several letters of the same date referring to the same topic but the date is listed only once; the use of an asterisk * indicates that the person is a subject and not a correspondent)

A
African-American voting (1921 Jan 13)
agricultural experiment stations (1921 Jul 16)
agricultural voting bloc in the Senate (1921 Nov 8, 9; Dec 14)
air shows by government planes (1919 Oct 6, 11; 1920 Aug 31)
Alaskan Indians and salmon (1921 Dec 2)
Alderman, E.A. (1920 Jun 3)
Alexandria Torpedo Station (1921 Oct 26)
Alleghany Hotel (1921 Feb 24)
anti-Catholic sentiment (1921 Aug 18)
Appomattox River development (1919 Nov 6; 1920 Jun 23, Jul 1)
army, length of foreign service (1921 Sep 28)
army, officer discontent (1921 Jan 14)
army, recruitment poster (1921 Feb 9)
Army Reorganization Bill (1920 Apr 12)

B
Baker , Secretary of War Newton D. (1921 Jan 4)
Banking Bill S.39 (1921 Jun 25, 27)
Barbados, West Indies (1920 Mar 9)
Barrett, Dr. Kate Waller *, the work of (1922 Aug 11)
Barrett, Robert S. (1920 Jun 7)
Baruch, Bernard M. (1920 Apr 26)
Belgium, visit of King & Queen (1919 Oct 30)
Benson , Admiral W.S. (1919 Oct 7)
Blackstone Military Academy & R.O.T.C. (1919 Oct 4)
blind, workers for the, H.R. 2910 (1921 May 17)
Brazil , sale of German ships to the U.S. (1920 Jan 12)
building & loan associations, securing homes for the working class (1919 Dec 29)
Byrd, Harry F., Sr. (1920 Dec 30; 1922 Aug 8)

C
Calder Bill (1921 Jul 22)
Calderon, Don Ignacio , Minister of Bolivia (1919 Nov 26)
California politics & anti-Japanese feeling (1920 Jan 30)
Camp Eustis (1919 Nov 12, 25; Dec 9, 11, 16, 17, 23, 24; 1921 Jan 10; Jul 7, 27, 30; Aug 29; Sep 2)
Camp Lee (1920 Apr 28, Jun 8, Aug 27; 1921 Jan 4, 8, 10, 13; Jun 8, 27; Jul 5, 22; 1922 Jun 30)
canning industry (1920 Jun 9; 1921 Jul 25)
Capper-Tincher Bill (1921 May 3; Jul 5, 8; Aug 2, 18)
Child Labor Law (1922 Jul 10)
Childs, J. Rives (1920 May 28)
China and the drug trade (1921 Apr 14; Oct 19)
Civil Service retirement (1919 Nov 28)
Civil War battlefields (1921 May 31; Jun 24, 29)
Civil War service - Henry Treaker (1920 Jan 16)
Clayton Act (1921 May 4, Jul 9)
Coal Labor Board (1922 Feb 23)
coal, S.41 (1921 Apr 27)
coal supply priorities, prices & distribution (1919 Nov 10, 26; 1920 Jul 8 & 9; Sep 30; Oct 11, 22; 1921 Aug 13, Sep 2, 7; 1922 Aug 16, 17, 30)
coal mines, need for railroad cars (1920 Feb 16, Oct 22)
commerce, regulation of (1921 Jun 9)
cotton industry (1920 Oct 28, Nov 22; 1921 Aug 3, Oct 20; 1922 Jun 7)
CPA Board (1921 Nov 4, 5)
Craddock matter (1919 Sep 26; 1920 Dec 17, 27; 1921 Jan 17-18, 21, 24, 26, 30; Feb 1, 12; Apr 23; Jun 15, 20; Jul 16; Aug 23, 29; 1922 Feb 21; Apr 22)
Cramton Bill (1921 May 18)
Craney Island (1921 Nov 12)
Cuba, Guatanamo Bay (1921 Sep 14, Oct 8)
Cumming, Hugh S. (1920 May 10, Oct 21, Dec 7, 13; 1921 Feb 9, 10; Mar 1)
Cummings, Homer S. (1920 Mar 5; Apr 3, 10)

D
Daniel, Joseph M. (1920 May 4)
Davis, Arthur Kyle (1921 Sep 22, Oct 22)
Davis, Westmoreland *, and Virginia politics (1919 Dec 8; 1920 Jan 7; 1921 Nov 4)
Democratic Party and the South (1920 Nov 16)
Dismal Swamp (1920 Dec 8; 1922 Jun 12)
divorce, request for assistance (1920 Feb 10)
Dowell Bill (1921 Jun 14)
drug trade with China (1921 Oct 19)

E
Eggleston, Dr. J.D. (1921 Mar 2; 1922 Feb 9)
Esch-Cummins Transportation Act -see also railroad legislation (1919 Dec 5; 1920 Jan 3, 9, 13; Mar 16)
Ezekiel, Sir Moses , remains (1920 Dec 21)

F
Farm Loan Act (1921 Feb 19, Apr 15, 19; May 7, 20; Jun 1, 10; Nov 3; 1922 Jan 18, Feb 3, 7, Jul 8)
farm related legislation (1921 Jun 6, 7; Jul 19; Sep 13, 23; Oct 13; Nov 3; 1922 Jan 9, 12; Feb 8, 20, 24)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (1921 Nov 23)
federal employees, participation in politics (1922 Aug 31)
federal employees, viewed as too numerous (1920 Mar 12)
Federal Reserve Act (1922 Aug 11)
Federal Reserve Banks (1921 Aug 24, 27; Sep 26; Dec 5; 1922 Feb 27)
Federal Reserve Board, need for a farmer representative (1922 Jan 16, 18)
Fishburn, Junius P. (1920 Jan 13)
fishing, commercial, in Virginia (1919 Dec 1)
Fiske, Rear Admiral Bradley A. -disarmament (1921 Nov 1)
Fitzgerald Bill -D.C. Workmen's Compensation (1922 Jul 14, 25)
flour trade (1920 Oct 19, 22)
Food & Drug Act (1921 Jun 27)
foreign indebtedness to the U.S. (1921 Jul 19, 26; Oct 8; 1922 Feb 22)
forestry conference in New Orleans (1920 Mar 13)
forestry service (1922 Feb 24)
forestry service headquarters at Buena Vista (1919 Oct 10)
Fort Monroe (1921 Apr 1)
France, Senator Joseph Irwin (1920 May 6; 1921 Jan 28)
Frelinghuysen Coal Bill S.1807 (1921 Jun 24, 25, 27; Jul 7)
Fuel Administration (1920 Feb 12)

G
Glass, Carter (1920 Mar 8; 1921 Apr 14)
glass containers bill (1921 May 31)
glass prices (1922 Jul 15, 19)
government lands leasing bill S. 2775 (1920 Feb 17)
gun control (1921 Aug 20, Dec 5)
gypsum deposits (1921 Jan 12)

H
Harrison Naval Store Bill (1921 May 18)
Haugen Bill (1921 May 5, Jul 9, 22)
Hawaii (1920 May 27)
Hawaii & the Philippines , Congressional trip to (1920 Apr 16)
Hoover, Herbert (1921 Mar 19, May 19, Jun 6, 14)
Hughes, Secretary of State Charles E. (1921 Mar 15, May 31)

I
immigration (1919 Dec 3; 1920 Feb 17, 20, 24, 26; Mar 12; May 12; Jun 26; Jul 22; Aug 4, 20; Sep 7; Nov 8, 17; 1921 Mar 2; Jun 3; Jul 15; Sep 23, 28; Oct 20, 21, 27; 1922 Jan 10, Feb 10, 20; Apr 27, Jul 6, 21)
immigrants wanted for agricultural work (1921 Jan 17, May 14)
industry, federal operation of (1921 Jun 9)
internment of German aliens during World War II, Carl Heynen (1919 Sep 22); Reinhard Neeb (1919 Dec 3); and E.K. Vietor (1922 Jun 15)
Ireland, M.W. (1920 Dec 24)
Ireland , Republic of (1921 May 8, 9, 18; Jun 15, 17, 22, 24; Jul 5; 1922 Jul 20)

J
James River (1921 Dec 19; 1922 Sep 1)
Jamestown Island (1920 May 28; 1921 May 17; Jun 20)
Japan , danger to the Philippines (1921 Nov 1)
Jones Bill (1920 Feb 6; 1921 Jul 18)
Jones-Miller Bill forbidding the shipment of opium to China (1921 Apr 14)
Jusserand, Jean-Jules (1921 Oct 26, Dec 5)

K
Knox Amendment to H.R. 2435 (1921 May 4)

L
labor, African-American (1921 Sep 2)
labor, Central Labor Union resolutions re legislation (1921 May 30)
labor, effect of disputes on the operation of the Lavino Furnace Co. (1919 Aug 7)
labor, strikes (1919 Dec 9, 15; 1922 Jun 28, Sep 1)
labor, V.P.I. students working as scabs on the Norfolk & Western Railway during a strike (1922 Aug 8, 12)
Lansing, Robert (1919 Dec 10, 12)
Leesburg , possible site of President Harding 's summer home (1921 Apr 27)
Lempart Patent Office Bill (1921 Feb 22)
Lenroot-Strong Resolution ((1921 May 25)
Lever Food Control Act & the storage of apples (1919 Sep 26)
Lewis, Alfred E. , relief bill (1921 Jan 28, Feb 25)
Liberia , loan to (1922 Aug 28)
Lighthouse Bill (1921 May 5, 9)
Linthicum Bill & the seafood industry (1921 May 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 24; Jun 11, 17)
Lodge Bill (1921 Jun 6)

M
McAdoo, William G. (1919 Nov 10, women's suffrage; Dec 4; 1922 Feb 28)
manganese mines (1920 May 7)
Maplewood Memorial Association , Gordonsville , Civil War dead (1921 Mar 16)
marl investigation -fertilizer (1920 Apr 26, Jun 7)
Martin, Senator Thomas *, death of (1919 Nov 17)
Mayo, Dr. William J. (1921 Feb 14)
Merchant Marine (1921 Jan 12; 1922 Jul 14, 17, 24, 25)
Meredith, Secretary of Agriculture E.T. (1920 Oct 11)
metric system (1921 Jul 6; Nov 4, 7)
Mexico , American property in (1919 Dec 15)
Mexico , bandits holding Americans for ransom (1920 Mar 8)
Mexico , relations with the U.S. (1922 Feb 27, Jun 21)
mines, H.R. 3721 (1921 Jun 6)
Monticello (1921 May 18, Aug 18)
Mt. Vernon (1921 Jun 4, 7, 8)
moving pictures, federal censorship (1921 Jul 1)
Muscle Shoals nitrate plant (1919 Nov 10; 1920 Jan 15; 1921 Sep 7, 26; 1922 Jan 11, 16, 31; Feb 16, 18, 20; Jun 8, Jul 22)

N
National Guard (1920 Apr 10)
National Forests (1922 Apr 25)
National Parks, commercialization of (1921 Jul 12; Dec 16)
nautical schools (1921 Jul 18, 21)
Navajo Indian School , Fort Defiance, Arizona (1920 Jan 21, Mar 3)
Naval Appropriation Bill (1921 May 27, Jul 11; 1922 Jun 22, 26)
Naval Reserves Bill (1921 May 7; 1922 Apr 26)
navy pay (1921 May 23)
navy ships sunk in the Chesapeake Bay by the navy (1921 Apr 5)
newsprint shortage (1920 Jun 18)
New Zealand cooperatives (1922 Feb 25)
" Northwest Territory " and Virginia claims (1921 Feb 1)

O
oil supply (1922 Feb 4)
open shop principle -public utilities (1920 Oct 25)
opium use (1920 Apr 20)
optometry law in Virginia (1921 Feb 7)

P
packaging bill, fruits & vegetables (1921 Jul 27; 1922 Jul 19, 26)
Page, J.M. (1921 Feb 19; Mar 18)
Page, Thomas Nelson * & Roswell * and Virginia Senatorial election (1922 Apr 25)
Panama Canal (1920 Jun 1; 1921 May 17, Jun 20)
paper industry (1921 Jul 20)
parcel post system (1921 Sep 6)
passport fees excessive (1922 Jul 15)
patent complaint of William E. Ficklen (1920 Nov 30)
peanuts (1919 Oct 3; Nov 20, 24)
Pershing, General John (1919 Nov 13, Dec 1; 1920 Feb 3)
physical education, Fess-Capper Bill (1921 Apr 14, 19)
Poland (1921 Nov 5)
Polish American Navigation Corporation (1922 Aug 10)
political prisoners in the U.S., still imprisoned after W.W.I (1922 Aug 12, 17)
politics in Virginia (1920 Sep 9)
pollution of streams (1921 Apr 14, Aug 16, Oct 18, 21, 22; 1922 Feb 25)
postal questions (1919 Nov 29, Dec 4)

Q
Quantico road (1920 May 13)

R
racism (1920 Dec 3)
radio S.4038 (1920 Dec 10; 1922 Jul 26)
Railroad Labor Board (1921 Apr 19; 1922 Jul 31; n.d.)
railroad legislation & problems (1919 Dec 5; 1920 Jan 3, 9, 13; Feb 16; Mar 3, 4, 16, 31; Jun 18, Aug 19; Sep 16; Oct 28; 1921 Jun 4, 13, 30; Jul 7, 16; Aug 13, 20, 22, 23, 24; Sep 3, 26, 27; Oct 8, 24, 27, 28; Nov 1, 3, 8; 1922 Jul 29; Aug 17, 19)
railroad, Potomac Yards safety (1922 Aug 8)
Ralston-Nolan Bill (1920 Jan 11)
reclamation bill (1921 Nov 5)
road construction (1919 Nov 15; 1921 May 17; Jun 6, 9; Jul 18, 20; Aug 20; 1922 Feb 23, 27; Aug 3)
Robertson, A. Willis (1919 Oct 10; 1920 Apr 13)
Roosevelt, Theodore (1921 Sep 14, 15; Apr 5)

S
Saltville Chemical Plant , sale of (1920 Mar 12)
school superintendents, election of (1921 Feb 19)
Selective Service Act (1920 Jun 21)
ships, sale of German ships by Brazil to the U.S. (1920 Jan 12)
silk industry (1921 May 11)
Slaughter, J.F. *, estate of (1920 Jun 3)
Smith-Towner Bill (1921 May 4, Oct 25)
Southern Relief Home (1921 Mar 10)
Southern Traffic League (1921 Dec 14)
Soviet Union , American Relief Administration (1921 Sep 8)
Soviet Union , detention of American soldiers (1921 Apr 12)
Soviet Union , trade with (1921 Jan 24, 28; Dec 15)
suffrage, women's (1920 Jan 12; 1919 Nov 10)
Sugar Equalization Board & related (1919 Nov 18, 19; 1920 May 1, Jul 6)
surplus war material (1922 Aug 31)
Sweet Bill (Veteran's Bureau Bill) (1921 Jun 18, Jul 22, 30; Aug 2; Dec 8)

T
Tangier Channel improvements (1920 Apr 12, 27)
Thompson Submachine Gun (1921 Jun 24, 27)
tobacco (1920 Jan 14; 1921 Feb 11; Nov 26; Dec 3)
Towner-Sterling Bill (1921 Jul 1, 6; Aug 4, 8; Sep 13; Oct 3, 10, 20, 27; Nov 7, 25; Dec 19; 1922 Feb 21, 25; Apr 4, 13; Jun 12, 24; Jul 15, 29; Aug 2, 9)
Transportation Act of 1920 (1920 Dec 10; 1921 Apr 11, 26)
Treaty of Versailles (1921 Sep 26)
Trinkle, E. Lee (1920 Mar 12; 1922 Aug 8, Jun 12, Jul 18)

U
Ukraine region (1920 Jul 21)
United Mine Workers (1921 Sep 7)
University of Virginia , retention of the medical school (1921 May 31, Jun 18, Jul 2, 6, 20, 22, 23, 25; Aug 2, 27)
Urbanna, Virginia (1919 Dec 31; 1920 Jan 13)

V
Virginia Association for the Common Good (1920 Jan 3, 10; Dec 9; 1921 Jan 13; May 9, 10; Jul 14, Aug 15)
Vocational Education (1921 Aug 1)
Voight Bill (1922 Jul 14, 17)

W
War Memorial Commission (1921 Apr 2)
war tax on first class mail (1921 Aug 22)
Water Power Bill (1920 Apr 17; Mar 29)
Williams, John Skelton (1921 Apr 25)
Willis-Campbell Bill (1921 Jul 22, Aug 11)
Wilson, Woodrow *, health of (1920 May 8)
wool industry (1920 Jun 26; 1921 May 31, Jun 25, 27, 29)
Workmen's Compensation Bill S.847 (1921 Jul 11, 12, 13, 14, 19)
World War I -Christmas boxes to soldiers (1919 Dec 3)
World War I -deployment of American soldiers in Siberia (1920 Jan 5)
World War I -disabled soldiers and officers (1919 Nov 28; 1921 Apr 26, 30; Jul 17; Aug 23, 29; Sep 3, 7, 8; Oct 15; 1922 Feb 7, 22; and many form letters throughout)
World War I -Graham Bill, the reimportation of war material (1921 Aug 10, 19, 23; Sep 30; Oct 15; Nov 4)
World War I -partisan controversy re peace treaty with Germany (1919 Nov 25)
World War I -return of bodies from overseas (1919 Oct 24, 27; Nov 15; Dec 2, 6, 8, 26; 1920 Jan 3, 26, 27; Apr 12; May 27; 1921 Jan 3; Apr 5, 26; Jul 1, 23, 28; Aug 5; Oct 22)
World War I -women in armed forces (1921 Feb 1)

Y
Yorktown , holiday honoring (1921 Nov 3)
Yorktown , military park (1921 Jun 10, 11, 13, 15, 16)
Yorktown , mine depot land absorbed by the Navy Department (1919 Oct 4; 1920 May 20, 26)
Yorktown , National Bank organized (1919 Nov 18)
Yorktown , original British cannon loaned to William & Mary (1921 Jul 20)
Yorktown , road extension (1919 Dec 1)