MSS 85-1
Papers of Justice James Clark McReynolds
Overview
Personal, genealogical and professional papers (1917- 1967). The small collection of professional documents include correspondence, opinions, memoranda, and notes from his years in the Justice Department, and the Supreme Court. There is printed material and miscellaneous notes regarding theThe "Gold Clause Cases."
Dates |
1819-1967 [Inclusive] |
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Extents |
3.5 Cubic Feet (8 archival boxes) |
Scope & Contents
This collection consists of about 3.1 shelf feet (ca. 2800 items), and includes Justice McReynolds' professional, financial, personal, and genealogical papers spanning the years 1819-1967. The professional papers contain correspondence, opinions, memoranda, and notes principally from McReynolds' years in the Justice Department. From the Supreme Court years, there is a relatively small body of correspondence, as well as the printed material and miscellaneous notes regarding the "Gold Clause Cases." In addition to the private correspondence, there are records of financial transactions, newspaper clippings, genealogical records, notebooks, election broadsides, photographs, and printed material about Justice McReynolds.
Collection Description
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Physical Description
This collection consists of about 3.1 shelf feet (ca. 2800 items) in 8 boxes.<extent>1 arbitrary_unit</extent>
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Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions.
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Conditions Governing Use
There are no restrictions.
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Preferred Citation
Inventory of the Papers of Justice James Clark Reynolds, Mss 85-1, University of Virginia Law Library, Charlottesville, VA 22903
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Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were originally given to the University of Virginia Library on October 16, 1950 by the justice's nephew, James O. McReynolds of Los Angeles, California.
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Immediate Source of Acquisition
The donor gave additional materials in 1950, 1951, 1967, and 1969. and continues to add to the collection when documents become available.
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Processing Information
In 1985 the collection was transferred with the donor's permission to the University of Virginia Law Library.
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Biographical / Historical
James Clark McReynolds was born on 3 February 1862, in Elkton, Todd County, Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University in 1882, where he was elected valedictorian and served as editor-in-chief of <em>The Vanderbilt Observer</em>. Upon graduation, he commenced the study of law at the University of Virginia, where he obtained a law degree in 1884. His formal education completed, McReynolds embarked upon a lucrative private law practice in Nashville, while teaching law at Vanderbilt University. In 1903, however, he moved to Washington, D.C., and became Assistant Attorney General, a position he held until 1912. During this period, his vigorous prosecution of the "tobacco trust" bolstered his reputation among progressive reform groups. Active in Woodrow Wilson's successful presidential campaign in 1912, he was appointed Attorney General after briefly practicing law in New York City.
In 1914, Wilson appointed McReynolds to the United States Supreme Court, where he served until his retirement in 1941. Justice McReynolds died in 1946.
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Arrangement
The papers have been arranged in the following order: professional correspondence and papers, including opinions and memoranda; personal correspondence and papers including speeches, business papers, newspaper clippings, photographs, guest lists, recipes, and miscellaneous papers and printed material; family correspondence and genealogical material concerning the McReynolds and Edwards families; and printed material about Justice McReynolds.
| fileProfessional Correspondence, 1905-1945, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 1 |
| McReynolds, James C. and family | |
| McReynolds, Justice James Clark | |
| fileJCM to Mr. S.S. Gregory, 1905 April 5 | MSS 85-1, Box 1 |
| fileOpinions, Memoranda and Notes 1911-1914. Primarily anti-trust cases; also includes printed copies of JCM's first four Supreme Court opinions., 1911-1914 | MSS 85-1, Box 1 |
| fileUnited States v. American Tobacco Company. Memorandum concerning the Plan of Disintegration Filed in United States Circuit Court October 16, 1911, Prepared by J. C. McReynolds for the Attorney General. , 1911-10-24 - 1911-10-27 | |
| file[Harvester Trust at St. Paul, Minnesota] Closing Argument on Behalf of the Government by Hon. James C, McReynolds, Attorney General. , 1913 | |
| fileEnforcement of the Anti-Trust Act (typescript); Comparative Statement of Production, by "U. S. Steel Corporation" and "Indpendent Companies" for the Calendar Years 1901 and 1911; Pipe Manufacturers. | |
| fileMagnolia Petroleum Company Indictment; notes, n. d., 1912 | |
| fileMcReynolds First Four Opinions for the Supreme Court of the United States: C. W. Garrett v. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, 1914-11-30; The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company v. John A. Harrison, as Sheriff of Pittsburg County, 1914- | |
| fileOpinions. Norman C. Norman v. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company (McReynolds dissenting), 1935-02-18 | MSS 85-1, Box 1 |
| fileGold Clause Materials, 1930's-1940's | MSS 85-1, Box 1 |
| itemRevision of McReynolds Report on Gold Clause Decision | |
| itemSupreme Court of Judicature. Court of Appeal. Contracts -- British Government Bond Payable in Gold Dollars of the United States -- Amount Payable After Depreciation of Dollar -- Law Governing Construction of Contract (compliment of F. R. Condert), 1936-11 | |
| item1935 Congressional Record - Senate 2717 | |
| item1935 Congressional Record - Appendix - 2873-2876 | |
| itemIndustrial Control Reports issued by The James True Associates, Number 86, "Reactions from the Gold Decision" 1935-02-23 | |
| itemLetter from Constantine E. McGuire to Justice McReynolds, 1943-04-30 | |
| itemEnglish translation of an article entitled "Algunas Consideraciones sobre el Porvenir del Patrón Oro" by Constantine E. McGuire, written at the invitation of the Minister of Finance of Venezuela, and published in the Revista de Hacienda, of the Finance Mi | |
| fileRobert P. McReynolds Correspondence, 1898, 1918-1945, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 1 |
| itemOfficial Records of the Supreme Court Volume 294 U.S. - Number 2 Ernest Knaebel Reporter The Gold Clauses , 1935-05-09 | MSS 85-1, Box 2 |
| itemUnited States Supreme Court Law ed. Advance Opinions The Gold Cases The Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company Rochester, New York , 1934-1935 | MSS 85-1, Box 2 |
| itemThe Gold Standard by W. Redelmeier , 1941-06 | MSS 85-1, Box 2 |
| filePersonal Correspondence, 1885-1946, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 2 |
| fileLetters from JCM, 25 Oct., 22 Nov. | MSS 85-1, Box 2 |
| fileCorrespondence, 1946. Concerns illness and death of JCM, 1946 | MSS 85-1, Box 2 |
| fileBusiness Papers, 1885-1927 | MSS 85-1, Box 2 |
| fileBusiness Papers, 1928-1945, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileAddress Book and Appointment Books, 1946, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileSpeeches, 1882-1889 | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileCollege Papers, 1884 | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileGuest Lists, 1916-1941 | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileRecipes, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileElection Broadsides, 1896 | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileNewspaper Clippings, 1900-1945 | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| itemMemorials to JCM, 1946 | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| itemVirginia Law Review dedicated to JCM , 1946 Aug. | MSS 85-1, Box 3 |
| fileMiscellaneous Printed Materials and Papers, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 4 |
| fileMcReynolds Family Correspondence, 1830-1967 | MSS 85-1, Box 4 |
| fileTranscripts and Photstats of McReynolds Family Correspondence, 1819-1937 | MSS 85-1, Box 4 |
| fileCorrespondence Concerns the McReynolds Family Genealogy, 1897-1933, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 4 |
| fileCorrespondence and Documents Concerns the Edwards Family, 1938-1940, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 5 |
| fileMcReynolds Genealogical Papers, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 5 |
| itemJCM's Genealogical Notebooks, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 5 |
| fileCorrespondence and Documents, 1942-1947, n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 5 |
| fileBlueprints of the Pearson Memorial Tablet, 1942 | MSS 85-1, Box 5 |
| fileCorrespondence and Documents 1938-1940, n.d. Concerns the Edwards Family, 1950-1951 | MSS 85-1, Box 6 |
| itemThe Filson Club History Quarterly: A Journal of Kentucky History Vol. 57 No. 1 , 1983-01 | MSS 85-1, Box 6 |
| itemBiography of James Clark McReynolds Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America by Stirling Price Gilbert , 1946 | MSS 85-1, Box 6 |
| itemI Dissent: The Legacy of Chief Justice James Clark McReynolds by James E. Bond , 1992 | MSS 85-1, Box 6 |
| itemRE: Astes Liberales Roosevelt, McReynolds, and the Court Fight by Donald Whisenhunt , 1977 | MSS 85-1, Box 6 |
| fileBiography by James Bond , n.d. | MSS 85-1, Box 6 |
| fileConservative Influence on Constitutional Development by Ronald F. Howell , 1952 | MSS 85-1, Box 6 |
| itemPublished and unpublished material. Material from John B. McCraw and Donald Whisenhunt | MSS 85-1, Box 7 |
| itemJudicial Memoirs | MSS 85-1, Box 7 |
| itemThe Story of Todd Country, Kentucky, 1820-1970, by Marion Williams | MSS 85-1, Box 7 |
| fileJames Clark McReynolds and the Judicial Process, 1954. Unpublished dissertation by Stephen Early, 1954 | MSS 85-1, Box 8 |
| fileWho's Who in America Form filled out by JCM, with editor's corrections; JCM signature., 1911 September, 13 June | MSS 85-1, Box 8 |
| fileClippings: The Evening Star , 1935-02-18 | MSS 85-1, Box 8 |