Arthur W. Mitchell papers

Arthur W. Mitchell papers, 1898-1968, bulk 1934-1942

Descriptive Inventory for the Collection at Chicago History Museum, Research Center

By Diane Asseln, August 26, 1995

Please address questions to:

Chicago History Museum, Research Center

1601 North Clark Street

Chicago, IL 60614-6038

Web-site: http://www.chicagohistory.org/research

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Title:Arthur W. Mitchell papers,1898-1968, bulk 1934-1942

Main entry: Mitchell, Arthur Wergs, 1883-1968.

Inclusive dates:1898-1968, bulk 1934-1942

Size:

30 linear ft. (73 boxes)

3 oversize folders.

1 microfilm reel: copy of scrapbook.

Restrictions: Advance appointment with special permission required to view a small portion of the collection. Photocopies are available for research use for many of these items.

Provenance statement: Gift of Arthur W. Mitchell in 1967 and by his widow Clara Mitchell in 1968 (M1967.0694, M1968.0749).

Terms governing use: Copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.

Please cite this collection as: Arthur W. Mitchell papers (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.

This descriptive inventory contains the following sections:

Historical/biographical note,

Summary description of the collection,

Description of some material related to the collection,

List of online catalog headings about the collection,

Arrangement of the collection,

Detailed description of topics within the collection,

List of contents of the collection.

Historical/biographical note:

Arthur Wergs Mitchell--teacher, lawyer, Congressman and farmer--was born in Roanoke, Alabama, on December 22, 1883, to Taylor and Ammar Mitchell. Both of his parents had been born into slavery, and his father worked as a farmer. From these modest beginnings, Mitchell became the first African American Democrat elected to the United States Congress (on November 6, 1934, representing the First Congressional District in Chicago, Illinois) and remained in office for four terms. He retired in 1942 and moved to Petersburg, Virginia, to work on his farm and to advance racial harmony in the South.

Moving to Washington D.C. in 1919, he read law for three years and founded the Mutual Housing Company of Washington D. C. to help secure better housing conditions for African Americans. He moved to Chicago in 1924 and, despite lacking a law degree, was admitted to practice at the Illinois bar in 1927. After establishing a law office in Chicago in 1928, he began to work for the Republican Party. Within a few years he switched to the Democratic Party, which held positions toward the unemployed and poor more in keeping with his personal views.

Mitchell ran for Congress in the 1934 primary election as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Illinois First Congressional District, losing to a white competitor, Harry Baker. When Baker died soon afterward, however, Mitchell was named to run against Oscar De Priest. De Priest who was a former Chicago alderman, militant Republican, and the first African American elected to Congress since Reconstruction. Mitchell won the race, partly by emphasizing that his duty was to represent all of his constituents, a position which won him the support of many whites.

Mitchell served in Congress less than one month before fulfilling one of his campaign promises by introducing an anti-lynching bill. He joined the Post Office and Post Roads Committee soon after his election and remained a member of the committee throughout his years in Congress. NAACP leaders were dissatisfied with Mitchell's anti-lynching bill, and the rift between Mitchell and leaders of the NAACP became even more pronounced when he supported Senator Hugo L. Black for appointment to the United States Supreme Court despite evidence that Black had previously been associated with the Ku Klux Klan.

Mitchell was elected to a third term in Congress in 1938 and almost immediately introduced a bill to ban discrimination in interstate travel. He also quickly put forth bills against lynching, to reform the United States Civil Service, and to create an industrial commission to help African American businesses. That term, the Gavagan bill passed the House but again died in the Senate.

Following his election to a fourth and final term, Mitchell again offered bills on civil service reform, lynching, a commission on "Negro affairs," and desegregated interstate travel. It was during this term that he also won, in the Supreme Court, what he considered to be his greatest victory.

The congressman had begun his legal battle against Jim Crow in 1937, when he sued the Illinois Central and Rock Island railroads and the Pullman Company under the Interstate Commerce Act of February 4, 1887, which stated that all passengers on railroads were to be given equal and fair treatment. He had been traveling on a train in Arkansas when he was ejected from a first-class seat and put in a "colored" second-class car. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) rejected Mitchell's appeal, ruling that it could not override Arkansas segregation laws. He vowed to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court and, on March 13, 1941, the high court reversed the ICC ruling. In 1955, the ICC finally banned segregation in interstate railroad transportation. The congressman considered his case to be a major step toward the eventual equal treatment of African Americans in interstate travel.

Frustrated over the failure of his bills to be passed and faced with the challenge of a new candidate in his district, Mitchell decided not to run for re-election in 1942. He was succeeded in Congress by Democrat William L. Dawson, who served until his death in November of 1970. Mitchell retired to his farm in Petersburg, Virginia, where his wife, Annie, died in 1947. The former congressman next married Clara Smith, a widowed Danville, Virginia, teacher on March 20, 1948.

He continued work on his farm, returning occasionally to Washington D.C. to work as an advisor to the United States War Department. He also involved himself in the work of the Southern Regional Council, a biracial group that attempted to combat racial problems in unobtrusive ways. Continuing some work in politics, he supported the Adlai E. Stevenson-John J. Sparkman ticket against Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon in the 1952 presidential race.

In his eighties, Arthur W. Mitchell died in his home in Petersburg on May 9, 1968.

Summary descriptions of the collection,

Correspondence, speeches, newsclippings, and other papers of Mitchell, who served as U.S. Congressman from the First Congressional District, Chicago (Ill.), 1935-1943. Mitchell was the first African American Democrat to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and his papers contain many incoming letters from throughout the country on racial issues. Additional topics include Mitchell's election campaigns against Oscar DePriest and others, service in Congress and on the Post Office and Post Roads Committee, anti-lynching legislation, Mitchell's U.S. Supreme Court case concerning racial discrimination against him as a railroad passenger, and his work for the Democratic National Campaign Committee during the 1936 Presidential election. Early materials deal with Armstrong Agricultural School, Mutual Housing Company, personal and family matters; later topics include African Americans at U.S. military and naval academies; African American migration from the South to the North; U.S. Civil Service reform; the establishment of old age and soldiers' pensions; the government of the Virgin Islands in the West Indies; Jake Guzik, one of Mitchell's law clients; and the entry of the United States into World War II. Due to the chronological arrangement of the collection, materials about particular topics often are intermingled throughout the collection.

Description of some material related to the collection:

Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the Arthur W. Mitchell photograph collection (1980.0144) and the Dennis Nordin interviews about Arthur W. Mitchell.

List of online catalog headings about the collection:

The following headings for this collection were placed in the online catalog:

Subjects:

Mitchell, Arthur Wergs, 1883-1968--Archives.

De Priest, Oscar, 1871-1951.

Democratic Party (Chicago, Ill.)

Democratic Party (Ill.)

Democratic Party (U.S.)

United States. Congress. House.

United States. Supreme Court.

American Negro Exposition (1940 : Chicago, Ill.)

African Americans--20th century.

African Americans--Employment--20th century.

African American legislators--United States--20th century.

African American politicians--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

Election districts--United States--1st Congressional District (Ill.)

Lynching--Law and legislation--United States--20th century.

Political campaigns--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

Postal service employees--United States--20th century.

Presidents--United States--Election--1936.

Racism--United States--20th century.

Segregation in transportation--Southern States.

Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government--To 1950.

Form/genre:

Correspondence.

Newspaper clippings.

Speeches.

Added entries:

United States--Illinois--Cook County--Chicago.

Arrangement of the collection:

Organized chronologically.

These topics within the collection are described in more detail on following pages of this descriptive inventory:

Armstrong Agricultural School

Mutual Housing Company

Personal and family correspondence, Arthur W. Mitchell, Jr.

Personal and family correspondence, James McLendon

Personal and family correspondence, Annie Mitchell

Personal and family correspondence, Ammar Mitchell

Personal and family correspondence, John Mitchell

Personal and family correspondence, Other

U.S. House of Representatives bills

Election campaigns

Chicago projects

UnAmerican activities
Military academies and African Americans in the military

African American migration

Virgin Islands and the West Indies

Jack Guzik (Jake Guzik)

Good Will Tours

Jim Crow Railroad Case

Retirement

Other topics.

Detailed description of topics within the collection:

Armstrong Agricultural School:

Shortly after his graduation from Snow Hill Normal and Industrial College, Arthur Mitchell founded the Armstrong Agricultural School in West Butler, Alabama. Materials concerning his involvement in the school from 1910-1919 are in Folders 1 and 2 of Box 1 of the collection. They include mainly correspondence, newspaper clippings, and publicity brochures ranging in dates from 1910 to 1919.

These items include general letters of recommendation for Mitchell from Jno. A. Rogers, who states in them that he donated the land for the Armstrong Agricultural School. Mitchell's letter to Booker T. Washington about the work of the school, and newspaper articles about Mitchell's work at the school and his role is establishing it are of particular interest.

The other materials relate to a fire at the school that damaged several of the buildings on the campus. There are newspaper articles about the fire, publicity brochures describing the damage and appealing for donations money for new buildings, and newspaper articles about the planning and building of new buildings.

Finally, Folder 2 of Box 1 contains a newspaper article about Mitchell's resignation as principal of the Armstrong Agricultural School. Sparse records detailing some of his involvement in activities outside of the School during the time he was principal there (thereby helping to place his work at the School in context with his age/stage of life) are found in Folders 1 and 2 of Box 1. A certificate appointing him as a census enumerator (March of 1910), an invitation to his marriage to Annie H. Harris in 1911, and his draft registration card are among those items. Handbills announcing events Mitchell attended during this period of his life (1910-1914) may be found in the Prints and Photographs Department.

Mutual Housing Company:

Materials on the Mutual Housing Company, Inc. (founded by Mitchell in Washington, D. C. to help secure better housing conditions for African Americans) consist of stock certificates, tax papers, deeds, records involving office rental space, general financial information, court cases involving the Housing Company, minutes from meetings of the Board of Directors, and information about stockholders elections and meetings. These materials are sporadic and incomplete throughout most of the collection. The largest concentration of them occur among records before Mitchell's election to Congress (Nov. 1934, Box 1) and after his retirement from Congress (in 1942, Boxes 64-71).

Much of this material consists of correspondence between Mitchell and lenders of funds to purchase buildings and land. A significant amount of the correspondence also consists of letters between Mitchell and renters of the Company's property. In both cases, many of the letters discuss remaining balances and late payments. An exception is a letter from Mitchell to Mrs. L. W. Sanchez (Box 31, Folder 2) in which he briefly outlines the history of the Mutual Housing Company and provides his view of the financial state of the Company at that time (May 26, 1937).

Personal and family correspondence:

Personal and family correspondence may be found interspersed with other records throughout the collection, especially after his retirement from Congress in 1942. These materials mainly concern Mitchell's son Wergs, his wife Annie, and his mother Ammar.

Personal and family correspondence, Arthur W. Mitchell, Jr.:

A significant amount of material relates to the commitment of Mitchell's son, Arthur W. Mitchell, Jr., (nicknamed "Wergs") to Elgin State Hospital (mental institution) and subsequent care for him. Letters about Wergs begin in Box 14, Folders 4 and 6, with letters from Congressman Mitchell to members of the Emergency Relief Commission in which he asks the his son can be appointed to serve on one of its committees (December 1935). Box 15, Folder 8 contains a similar letter to Mr. Blaine G. Hoover, Director, Division of Personnel, W.P.A., asking if Wergs may be employed in his division.

Information about Wergs' actual commitment to a hospital and life thereafter begins in Box 34, Folder 8, with a newspaper article about his commitment to a psychiatric ward (The Chicago Defender, November 20, 1937). The article does not give any label to Wergs' condition but merely states that he was committed after having an "attack." A letter from Mitchell to Dr. O. B. Williams (Box 36, Folder 7) states that Mitchell believed one of the causes of Wergs' mental breakdown to have been "dissipation, gambling, and drinking" and that he needed to be taken away from the "influences of Chicago" (February 8, 1938).

Much of the information regarding Wergs after he was committed to the Elgin State Hospital is in correspondence between Mitchell and his friend, Chicago Attorney James McLendon (also referred to as "Mac"); and between Mitchell and Wergs' aunt, Dr. Wilma Carmody, Director of the Carmody School of Practical Nursing in San Francisco, California. McLendon and Dr. Carmody apparently spent much time and effort visiting Wergs and taking him supplies while Mitchell was busy with his congressional duties. Interspersed throughout the collection are letters to Congressman Mitchell from McLendon in which he discusses his plans to visit Wergs, tells of his delivering of supplies (such as clothing and toiletries) to Wergs, or updating Mitchell on the condition he found Wergs in on his most recent visit to Elgin.

Letters from Wilma Carmody are found most heavily in Boxes 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 63. Her letters in the "40s" boxes involve her efforts to help Wergs by arranging to take him to San Francisco to live with her and her husband for a time. Though this trip was made, and she felt that it did Wergs some good, some of her letters to Congressman Mitchell in Boxes 47 and 48 indicate that the younger Mitchell eventually decided to return to Chicago in hopes of finding employment there (see Box 47, Folder 10 and Box 48, Folder 3). After his return to Chicago, Wergs was recommitted to the Elgin State Hospital, thus explaining Carmody's letter to Arthur W. Mitchell, Sr., in Box 63, Folder 9 (by then Commander in Chief of the California Women's Cadet Corps) in which she inquires about Wergs' condition and whether or not it is thought he can improve enough to be released (December 12, 1941). Besides the mention of Wergs in this letter, it is also may be of interest to researchers because of its description of the work women in the Corps were doing to prepare themselves for the war as nurses, Red Cross volunteers, ambulance drivers, and first aid workers.

The up-and-down improvement-and-decline in Wergs' condition is also documented in letters interspersed throughout the collection from doctors at the Elgin State Hospital where Wergs was being treated. Most of this correspondence came from Dr. Charles Read, Managing Officer at Elgin. These letters begin in Box 40, Folder 3, with a letter from Read stating that Wergs does not wish to be paroled to his father, and continue throughout much of the collection. Letters from officials at Elgin, regarding Wergs' condition, may be found in Box 41, Folder 2; Box 42, Folder 6; Box 50, Folder 3; Box 61, Folder 9; Box 67, Folder 3; Box 68, Folder 2; Box 68, Folder 7; and Box 68, Folder 8 and interspersed throughout the undated items in the last two boxes of the collection.

Letters are also interspersed throughout the collection with other materials that show Mitchell's concern that Wergs was not being taken care of properly and that show distrust of the reports he and Mac were receiving about Wergs' condition. These begin with Mitchell's letter to Mac in Box 41, Folder 3, calling for an investigation as to why his son had not been better watched and, therefore, had gotten into an altercation with another patient. Also alluding to this mistrust is a letter from Mitchell to Dr. Read in Box 42, Folder 6, in which Mitchell asks to be given a statement of his son's condition as compared with his condition the previous June (February 6, 1939). In a letter to Mac on September 17, 1947 (Box 69, Folder 7), Mitchell states that he believes he and Mac have been given almost opposite reports of Wergs' condition by Elgin doctors/officials and that he hopes he can visit the hospital soon to find out for himself his son's true prognosis.

Several fairly lengthy letters from Wergs himself may also be found primarily in Box 69, Folders 5 and 7, with another letter located earlier on in the collection (Box 46, Folder 10). In the letters found in Box 69, Folder 5, Wergs asks to be visited more frequently by friends and family, and discusses his desire to "make the grade" to be released so he can live with his father on his farm in Virginia. The younger Mitchell's letter in Folder 7 mentions a visit his father recently made to him, expresses to his father that he wishes they could have had a better conversation during that visit, and writes of the great affect he noticed Annie Mitchell's death had on the senior Mitchell. The earlier letter gives some insight into Wergs' daily routine at Elgin, as he experienced it.

Correspondence pertaining to Wergs and his care ends in Box 71, Folder 10 with a letter from Mitchell to Mac in which he states that the younger Mitchell is not doing well, and with correspondence to that effect from officials at the Elgin State Hospital. The death announcement of Arthur W. Mitchell, Jr. is in this same folder (July 14, 1965).

A snapshot of Wergs is located in the materials from the collection which are housed in the Prints and Photographs Department.

Personal and family correspondence, James McLendon:

A small number of letters sent to and from Mitchell and Mac also indicate the changes which occurred in Mac's career as the United States became involved in World War II, and inform the reader of Mitchell's desire to help his friend do well in whatever job he chose to pursue. Box 62, Folder 2, for example, contains a letter from Mitchell to Mac in which he indicates he had received information that Mac would soon be joining the Army and that he would try to visit his friend at boot camp (July 29, 1941). Later on, Mac wrote Mitchell to tell him that he had volunteered to serve the Army for the duration of the war as a part of its Intelligence Unit (Box 63, Folder 9, December 14, 1941). Eventually, Mac was appointed as a Judge Advocate for the War Department - a position Mitchell helped him obtain by sending letters of recommendation praising Mac (see correspondence in Box 68, Folder 5). A portrait of Mac as Lt. McLendon of the Army is housed in the Prints and Photographs Department.

Personal and family correspondence, Annie Mitchell:

Letters from and regarding Mitchell's wife, Annie, are located throughout much of the collection. Her letters begin after she had begun experiencing health complications and moved to a sanitarium in Tennessee to rest while her husband was away at Congress. She usually wrote Mitchell to let him know she was all right and to comment or inquire about the condition of Wergs. She also would tell Mitchell in these letters about what she had read in her local newspapers about his activities in Congress and opposition or support he was reported to be receiving from other politicians. Letters to Congressman Mitchell from his wife, Annie, may be found beginning in Box 46, Folder 10 and in Box 47, Folder 1; Box 47, Folder 7; Box 48, Folder 8; Box 66, Folders 7 and 10; and Box 67, Folder 2. Additionally, photographs of Annie may be found housed in the Prints and Photographs Department's holdings from the collection, along with a portrait of Mitchell signed with a note from Mitchell to his "devoted" wife.

The collection contains a small amount of correspondence regarding Annie that was written to and from Mitchell and others to inform or inquire about her illness. This correspondence begins as early in the collection as Box 42, Folder 6, where there is located a letter from Mitchell to a Dr. Curtis Reese. In this letter, Mitchell apologizes to Reese for having been away from Washington for two weeks, stating that Mrs. Mitchell had been very sick (February 6, 1939). In Box 44, Folder 9, a letter from Dr. Wilma Carmody mentions that Mrs. Mitchell is suffering from high blood pressure (May 4, 1939). A letter from Mitchell's brother, John, found in Box 68, Folder 9, later mentions that Mrs. Mitchell is soon to enter a hospital (March 15, 1945). Foreshadowing Annie's imminent death is a letter in Box 69, Folder 2, from Mitchell to his niece, Louise, in which he asks her to come at once to Virginia because his wife is so ill that he is afraid she will die. This letter is followed by a return one from Louise stating that she cannot come because she must work. News clippings and letters of sympathy in that same folder and in subsequent folders of the same box show that Annie died soon after Louise's letter was sent.

Personal and family correspondence, Ammar Mitchell:

The illness and death of Mitchell's mother are other topics found in the family correspondence of the collection, though they are less well-documented than Wergs' or Annie Mitchell's illness. In Box 16, Folder 9, is correspondence regarding the condition and care of Mitchell's ill mother (including a letter from his brother, John, written on February 16, 1936). Another letter from John, found in Box 21, Folder 1, provides an update on the condition of their mother as of August 17, 1936. Letters of sympathy to Mitchell for the death of his mother are located in Box 22, Folder 4.

Personal and family correspondence, John Mitchell:

Much of the family correspondence in the collection consists of letters between Mitchell and his brother, John W. Mitchell, who kept each other apprised of family events, illnesses, and visits. These are found throughout the collection, but most heavily from Box 62 on. John often wrote to about the illnesses of their other siblings and provided updates of the activities of Mitchell's niece and nephew (Harriette and Tommie).

Personal and family correspondence, others:

Correspondence from Mitchell's sister, Tommie Lou Stilt, are found from Box 68, Folder 8 onward, and are mainly chatty letters about family news, much of which repeats information found in John Mitchell's letters. Amongst the materials in Box 69 onward can also be found similar "newsy" letters from Mitchell's daughter-in-law, Billie and his grandaughter, Melinda; and from his niece, Ammar Louise.

Interesting correspondence showing tension in the family and Mitchell's sterness with other family members can be found in letters from some of Mitchell's nephews and nieces and his return letters to them. For example, in Box 27, Folder 2 is a letter from Mitchell's nephew, Stafford B. Ash asking Mitchell to please help him pay for his next two years at the Tuskegee Institute (February 4, 1937). This letter is followed, in Folder 4 of the same box, by a somewhat angry letter from Mitchell in which he tells his nephew he should be ashamed of himself for asking for aid and telling Stafford that he was much poorer when he was his age and never asked for help (February 10, 1937). A letter from Mitchell's niece, Gloria D. Ash, which is very angry and critical of the rest of the family, is in Box 71, Folder 10 (September 10, 1967).

Finally, a letter to Mitchell from Archie Motley, Curator of Manuscripts at the Chicago Historical Society, can be found in Box 71, Folder 10. In it, Archie thanks Mitchell for donating his scrapbooks and some of his papers to the Historical Society (August 15, 1967). (Items mentioned in that letter were donated by Mitchell prior to his death. The remainder of the collection was donated following Mitchell's death by his surviving wife, Clara.)

U.S. House of Representatives bills:

The largest bulk of correspondence in the Arthur Mitchell Papers are letters and telegrams from people living in Chicago asking him to vote in favor of or against various bills, and Mitchell's responding letters to them. Other papers regarding House bills are copies of speeches made on the House floor, newspaper articles regarding struggles over bills, pamphlets and booklets published in favor of or against bills, and voting records of House members.

Because of Mitchell's service on the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads for most of the time he served in Congress, many of the bills his constituents and others wrote him about involved working conditions and pay for postal employees. Mail pertaining to a bill to restore federal employees' salaries to a previous level was being sent to Mitchell as early on in the collection as January 1st and 2nd, 1935 (Box 3, Folder 10). Additionally, a photograph from the Mitchell Papers of officers from the National Alliance of Postal Employees (Chicago Branch, October 4, 1935, is housed in the Prints and Photographs Department.

Other correspondence, supporting a Longevity Pay Bill (to add additional pay levels lower-ranking postal employees could be promoted to), begin in papers dating from February and March of 1937 (Box 28, Folders 7 and 8) and continue throughout the materials covering Mitchell's work in office (Mitchell supported this bill and it eventually passed. See letter to Mitchell from William Freeman, Chairman, Legislative Committee, Chicago Post Office Clerks' Union No. 1 in Box 62, Folder 2.). Related measures to increase the salaries of postal employees were introduced as the Rampseck Bill and Sweeny Salary Increase Bill, and are supported by constituent mail in the Mitchell Papers (See Box 49, Folder 7 and Box 65, Folders 4 and 6.). Mitchell's responses to his constituents regarding these bills was usually positive. Many of his bills affecting postal employees were also bills he introduced to attempt to enforce more equal treatment of African Americans in the civil service. Those bills, often referred to as Mitchell's "civil service reform bills," will be discussed later in this description.

A large percentage of the materials in the Arthur Mitchell Papers regarding House bills pertain to the lengthy, ongoing battles which insued in Congress over the passage of an anti-lynching bill. The earliest anti-lynching bill represented in this collection is the Costigan-Wagner Bill, a copy of which may be found in Box 1, Folder 12 (March 28, 1934). Other anti-lynching bills represented in the collection include: the Lewis Bill [copy located in Box 9, Folder 10 (May 10, 1935)], the Mitchell Bill (copy from 1935 located in Box 15, Folder 1 and from 1937 in Box 26, Folder 4), the Gavagan Bill [copy located in Box 26, Folder 3 (January 5, 1937)], and the Wagner-Van Nuys Bill (article from The Literary Digest about this bill is located in Box 30, Folder 7).

The battles between supporters of Mitchell's anti-lynching bill and various other bills are fairly well-documented in the collection. Materials regarding the may be found interspersed with other materials throughout the years of Mitchell's work in Congress (1934-1942), with the exception of Boxes 21-24, which deal mainly with campaign work. For example, an article about a Mitchell speech against the Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill and about the NAACP's opposition to Mitchell's position on the anti-lynching bills may be found in Box 14, Folder 1 of the collection (October 1935). Mitchell's bill is criticized in a January 16, 1939 article from the Afro-American, located in Box 26, Folder 7. Materials which help to document Republican moves to defeat the anti-lynching bills include a press release about the Judiciary Committee hearings on anti-lynching legislation and a newspaper article regarding the fears people had that the hearings were set to delay actual voting on any anti-lynching bill (The Northwest Enterprise; March 26, 1937; Box 29, Folder 7). Mitchell's offer to support the Gavagan anti-lynching bill (in return for Gavagan's support for some of Mitchell's civil service bills) is documented by several papers scattered throughout the collection, one of which is a press release (Box 29, Folder 10; April 3, 1937) about the offer.

Other materials regarding the battles over the various anti-lynching bills include: materials from the NAACP comparing Gavagan's bill to Mitchell's (Box 29, Folder 10), a speech Mitchell presented to the House about his concern that all anti-lynching bills would be killed (Box 30, Folder 2; April 7, 1937), and an article about the death of Mitchell's bill and the re-hearing of the Gavagan Bill (Box 30, Folder 2). Mitchell's letter to Joseph Gavagan in which he states he will continue to work to pass Gavagan's bill can be found in Box 48, Folder 6 (December 26, 1939). A photograph of Mitchell with other House members following the passage by the House of the Gavagan Bill may be found with materials from the collection in the Prints and Photographs Department.

General information about the practice of lynching are also interfiled with other materials in the collection. Such items include: an NAACP information packet from July of 1935 (Box 12, Folder 8, includes picture of a lynching); statistics on lynchings which occurred from 1889-1935 (Box 12, Folder 12); an article entitled "Lynchings & Reported Preventions: 1914-1924" located in Box 25, Folder 7; and an article entitled "The South and Lynching" (St. Louis Argus; April 30, 1937; Box 30, Folder 7) - to name just several of the many items on the subject which may be found in the collection.

Materials in the Mitchell Papers about lynchings and the anti-lynching laws do not include much information about the tremendous amount of support the anti-lynching laws received from Eleanor Roosevelt and her efforts to influence Franklin Roosevelt to devote more energy to ending mob violence.

Other bills meant to encourage the equal treatment of African Americans to whites are also represented in this collection. These include two bills regarding the formation of an Industrial Commission to address the issues of African American businesses: the Cellars' Industrial Commission Bill and the Mitchell bill for the formation of an Industrial Commission on Negro Affairs. Copies of the Cellars bill, which recommended the formation of an interracial Industrial Commission, may be found in Box 3, Folder 11 and Box 9, Folder 8. Nearby, in Box 9, Folder 11, may also be found newspaper articles about the Cellars bill.

A copy of the Mitchell Industrial Commission Bill is located with a press release about the bill as early in the collection as February 15, 1935 (Box 5, Folder 7), although a later copy of the bill may also be found in Box 26, Folder 4 (January 1937). As with Mitchell's anti-lynching bill, this bill was one he worked unsuccessfully throughout his Congressional career to get passed, which means that materials regarding the bill may be found interspersed amongst the papers dating from 1934-1942. Of particular interest on this topic, however, are newspaper articles (in Box 15, Folder 3) for and against the Mitchell proposal; newspaper articles about Franklin Roosevelt's support of the bill (in Box 12, Folder 10); an account of the hearing before the House on the bill (Box 12, Folder 5; June 18 & 19, 1935); and an article from the Afro-American criticizing the Mitchell bill (Box 26, Folder 7; January 16, 1937).

Though the majority of the materials in the Mitchell Papers regarding discrimination against African Americans in railroad travel relate directly to Mitchell's "Jim Crow" case with the Illinois and Rock Island Railroad Company (See "Jim Crow Railroad Case" section later in this description.), there is brief mention of a bill he introduced to end the segregation of interstate passengers on account of race, color, or religion. A copy of this bill may be found in Box 26, Folder 3 (January 5, 1937), and letters and news clippings regarding the bill may be found in Box 36, Folders 2 and 3.

Copies of Mitchell's bill to end the requirement that applicants for civil service positions include photographs of themselves with their applications may be found in Box 15, Folder 9 and Box 26, Folder 4 of the collection (copies of the bill as it was introduced in different Congressional terms). Newspaper clippings regarding this bill are located in an issue of The Postal Alliance (February 1936; Box 17, Folder 2), and a letter

from Helen E. Chisholm to Mitchell may be found in Box 25, Folder 3 that explains why she believed the photos attached to applications were not used to discriminate against African Americans. Other materials regarding this bill are interspersed with papers from 1934-1942.

The congressman's bill requiring supervisors to post if they desire a particular gender of person to fill a position may be found in Box 41, Folder 7 (January 3, 1939). Unlike the other civil service reform bills introduced by Mitchell very little material about this bill exists in the Mitchell Papers other than the afore-mentioned copy of the proposal.

Finally, Mitchell's civil service reform bill to prevent supervisors from passing over for hiring those with the highest civil service test scores may be found in Box 27, Folder 3, along with letters supporting the measure. Another later copy may be found in Box 41, Folder 7 (January 3, 1939). While introducing his bill, Mitchell placed an advertisement in the Washington Tribune (February 6, 1937), asking for stories from individuals who had been passed over on the list. A copy of this announcement and the responses he received to the announcement may be found in Box 27, Folders 3 and 4. As with the other civil service bills he introduced, Mitchell continued to attempt to pass this bill throughout his work in Congress, so materials about the bill may be found interfiled amongst the papers dated from 1934-1942.

Mitchell also involved himself in the passage of bills to benefit veterans and the elderly. Throughout the papers spanning the time he was working in Congress may be found correspondence from the elderly and from veterans which ask that Mitchell support pension programs for them. One controversial proposal for payments to the elderly, the Townsend Plan, is discussed quite thoroughly in the Mitchell Papers. Among the items discussing the Townsend plans are a Townsend Weekly (June 3, 1935) article about the plan (Box 11, Folder 1) and a March 13, 1936 letter from Mitchell to Mr. Nick Gentry, Sr. in which he expresses his opposition to the plan, calling it a "big fake" and a "racket" (Box 17, Folder 6). Another significant resource about the plan is a phamplet found in Box 35, Folder 2. These items add to the numerous letters in the collection of support and opposition for plan.

The collection is suprisingly short on materials on the passage of the Social Security Act. It can be assumed Mitchell supported this program because he supported all of Franklin Roosevelts' assistance programs and because he was in favor of providing the elderly and handicapped with needed assistance, but there is almost no correspondence in the Mitchell Papers in which he directly addresses his views on Social Security. Most of the information about the program are reports and articles about it, such as articles about Republican criticisms of Social Security (Chicago Daily Tribune; April 16, 1935; Box 18, Folder 8) and a press release praising the program (Box 25, Folder 5).

As early in the collection as Box 4, Folder 1 (January 1935) are located numerous letters requesting that Mitchell support the establishment of veterans' compensation. Numerous papers regarding the investigation by Mitchell of cases where veterans believed they had been inadequately compensated for injuries they incurred while serving in the armed forces may be found throughout the collection and indicate that Mitchell was supportive of veterans in compensation issues. Also, items in the collection show that Mitchell voted for the Soldiers' Bonus Bill (see newspaper articles in Box 15, Folder 7 and Box 16, Folder 6). General information about the Soldiers' Bonus Bill may be found in Box 17, Folder 7 - in the article entitled "Brief History of the Adjusted Compensation (Soldier Bonus) Campaign."

Some of Franklin Roosevelt's proposals, which were seen by many at the time as fascist, are discussed at length in the materials found in the Mitchell Papers. One of these was FDR's proposal to reform the Supreme Court, which included a measure to prevent men over 70 from serving on the Court and a measure to increase the size of the court from 9 to 15 justices. These recommendations were seen by many as an attempt by Roosevelt to pack the Supreme Court with justices that would support him, a fear revealed in the correspondence that can be found heavily in Boxes 27 and 28 which ask Mitchell to vote against any changes to the Supreme Court. A number of articles about the proposals may also be found in those boxes, including: a newspaper article regarding the proposals and Mitchell's support for them (Box 17, Folder 4) and an article entitled "Should the President's Proposals Regarding the Supreme Court Be Adopted?" by Frederick H. Wood (Constitutional Attorney; article located in Box 27, Folder 5).

FDR's proposal to tax undistributed corporate profits was also heavily opposed by many businessmen who wrote Mitchell, as can be ascertained from mail found in Box 17. A considerable amount of information about this proposal and the reasons many people opposed its adoption may be found in a letter to Mitchell from H. D. Adler, President of the National Acceptance Company (March 6, 1936; Box 17, Folder 4).

Several of the bills discussed in the Mitchell papers were bills directly pertaining to concerns the United States would enter World War II and, once it was engaged in the war, pertaining to the drafting of young men for the U.S. armed forces. American neutrality legislation is discussed in the collection's papers as early on as Box 15, Folder 8 (January 20, 1936), where there can be found a booklet against the legislation. An article about the passage of neutrality legislation in the House may also be found in Folder 9 of that same box (Washington Herald; January 24, 1936). An undated 1936 article regarding U.S. neutrality is in Box 25, Folder 5, and letters supporting U.S. neutrality are in Box 27, Folder 2.

Very few materials about neutrality legislation can then be found in the Mitchell Papers until a letter from John W. Watzek, Jr. to Mitchell about discussion in Congress regarding the Neutrality Act (Box 43, Folder 11; April 7, 1939). Newspaper articles about the Neutrality Act may also be found in Box 47, Folders 1-3. Letters for and against FDR's proposed changes to the act are located in Box 47, Folders 4 and 5, and an article from a Ku Klux Klan paper (The Fiery Cross, September 1939) in support of FDR's plans to change the act may be found in Box 47, Folder 5. Mitchell's letters to constituents about the Neutrality Act usually stated that he did not believe any legislation would keep the U.S. out of the war if it was forced into it by "aggressor nations" (see Box 47, Folder 1). The act was passed (see letter from Mitchell to Prof. E. S. Handy, Chambers County School in Box 49, Folder 9), followed by attempts to repeal it. Numerous letters to Mitchell from constituents asking that he not vote for any repeal of the act may be found in Box 57, Folder 8; Box 62, Folders 8 and 9; and Box 63, Folders 2 and 3.

As the war in Europe escalated, the issue of whether or not the United States should assist other countries with war materials became a major issue. Most of the correspondence Mitchell received about the United States trading of war goods with Japan (during the late 30s and early 40s) indicated that most of his constituents wanted the practice to end (see Box 42, Folders 3-7 and Box 43, Folders 1 and 4). A letter from Mitchell to Mr. J. H. Thronley, President, Western Foundation Company, states that Mitchell was in agreement with such constituent mail (February 5, 1940; Box 50, Folder 3). Later on, numerous letters may be found in the collection for and against the lifting of an arms embargo in place at that time (See Box 47, Folders 4, 5, 7, and 8.), including letters from Mitchell to various constituents in which he states he is for lifting of the embargo (See Box 47, Folder 4). Letters supporting U.S. assistance by to the Allies in the form of planes and munitions may also be found in large number in Box 53, Folders 2 and 3, and in Box 57, Folder 8. Later letters began to oppose the Lend-Lease bill for sending war materials to Britain as people developed fears that aiding other nations would pull the United States into the war (See Box 57, Folder 9 and Box 62, Folder 8.).

FDR's War Bill (H.R. 1776) was called the "Dictator Bill" by many because, though it supported aid to Britain (something many American agreed with), some felt it also gave the President too much power to declare war. Large numbers of letters both for and against this bill are located in Boxes 57 and 58 of the collection.

Plans to draft young men for the armed forces in preparation for a possible U.S. involvement in the war also became the focus of constituent mail Mitchell received. Letters both for and against the Burke-Wadsworth Draft Bill can be found in large numbers, interfiled with other materials, in Boxes 54 through 62. A copy of the Wadsworth Bill for compulsory military training and service (August 29, 1940) is located in Box 54, Folder 9. Political cartoons against the bill are located in Box 54, Folder 4, and a letter discussing Mitchell's support of the measure is located in Box 55, Folder 8 (Letter from Mitchell to Mr. J. J. Long; October 29, 1940).

Other House bills addressed in the collection involved workers' rights, including: the Wagner Labor Relations Act (See copy of act in Box 11, Folder 11); the Wage and Hour Bill (See boxes in the 30s.); amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act (See information about it's 42-hour work week in Box 46, Folder 8 and Box 47, Folders 7 and 9.); and the Smith Bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act (See Boxes 51-53, and letters about the bill's passage in Box 64, Folder 1.). The Vinson "Anti-Strike" Bill is also discussed in letters and telegrams found in Box 61, Folders 5 and 6 and Box 65, Folders 5 and 6. Mitchell responded to much of the correspondence regarding these bills by stating that he would study the legislation and vote on them in ways he believed to be best for his constituents.

Information about bills to regulate housing are also interspersed with other materials in the collection. For example, discussion of the continuation of the Federal Housing Act may be found in Box 15, Folders 6 and Box 45, Folder 7. Mitchell's letters in support of the extension of the Housing Act are located in Box 27, Folder 2. The Wagner-Ellenbogen Bill to provide low-cost housing also is mentioned in Box 19. Folder 3 of that box contains letters from Mitchell's constituents asking that he support the bill, while Folder 6 of the collection contains letters from Mitchell to his constituents saying he will support it. Furthermore, discussion about proposals to declare a moratorium on Home Owners' Loan Corporation loans may be found in Boxes 27 and 28, including letters from Mitchell stating that no foreclosures on such loans will be pursued in the borrowers show an honest effort to repay them.

The papers contain discussion of other bills on a wide variety of issues: the Wheeler-Rayburn Bill to abolish public utility holding companies (See a copy of the bill in Box 10, Folder 1, and information about the measure in Box 11, Folders 9 and 10, and Box 12, Folder 1.); a bill to require the publication of individual income tax information (See materials in Box 6.); the Hobbs Bill to prohibit the use of mails by unauthorized insurance companies (See materials in Box 7.); the Higgins Bill to prohibit the distribution of information on birth control (See materials in Box 8.); the Guffy Coal Bill (See Box 11, Folder 3 and Box 19, Folder 7.); amendments to the Banking Act of 1935 (See box 9, Folders 3, 6, and 7.); and the Walsh Bill to put limits on the hours contractors with the government can work (See Box 13, Folder 1 and Box 15, Folders 4 and 5.). Also included is information on Mitchell's bill to honor Matthew Henson (Admiral Peary's African-American assistant in his trip to the North Pole). A copy of the bill may be found in Box 41, Folder 7, while a copy of a hearing on the bill is located in Box 19, Folder 5.

Election campaigns:

The collection includes materials relative to Mitchell's involvement in presidential and congressional election campaigns between 1936 and 1940. These include materials beginning in Box 1, Folder 7 with items about the Presidential campaign in 1932 (Hoover vs. Roosevelt); cover information about the Mitchell's congressional campaigns in 1934, 1936, 1938, and 1940; cover Mitchell's involvement in the Democratic Presidential campaigns in 1936 and 1940; and end with information about Mitchell endorsements for candidates in 1942. They are newspaper articles, correspondence, financial records, and advertisements. The Prints and Photographs Department also contains broadsides and handbills from both Oscar DePriest's campaign against Mitchell during 1934, 1936, 1938, and 1940 and broadsides and handbills from Mitchell's campaigns against DePriest during those same years. Numerous portraits taken of Mitchell while in office, and no doubt used during his campaigns, may also be found in materials from the collection housed in Prints and Photographs.

Information about Mitchell's own election campaigns begin in Box 1, Folder 11 with newspaper articles announcing that Mitchell was nominated to be the 2nd Ward Democratic Organization's (Chicago) congressional candidate and letters of congratulations to Mitchell for the nomination. Newspaper articles about Mitchell's campaign and predictions that he will win the election are in Folder 12 of Box 1.

Materials in Box 2 involve information about Mitchell's campaign as the Democratic candidate for Illinois congressman for the 1st Ward in Chicago. Folder 1 contains letters recommending Mitchell for the Democratic nomination as a candidate and wishing him luck in being nominated, as well as articles regarding the 1934 election in Chicago in general. Folder 2 contains newspaper clippings announcing Mitchell's nomination. Miscellaneous papers involving the campaign (orders for supplies, records of contributions, newspaper articles regarding the campaign) may be found in Folders 3 and 5. Of particular interest in Folder 5 is a copy of a Mitchell speech regarding the progress of the campaign. Interspersed with other materials in the remaining folders in Box 2 may be found letters congratulating Mitchell on his election to Congress. Papers located in Box 3, Folder 1 complete the materials in the Mitchell Papers about his first congressional race and consist mainly of letters from Mitchell to various others thanking them for their help in his campaign.

Mitchell's preparations for his congressional campaign in 1936 are documented beginning in Box 16 with responses to letters he sent to constituents and fellow-congressmen asking them to comment on his work in Congress. It is apparent that he sent these letters in hopes of getting material for campaign advertisements and endorsements, since some of them appear in publicity supporting Mitchell found filed further on in the collection.

Papers beginning in Box 18 document Mitchell's 1936 congressional campaign, with miscellaneous correspondence about the campaign and letters from people offering to help with the work located in Folder 3. That same folder also contains correspondence regarding the general activities of the Democratic Party in Illinois at that time (early April 1936). Folders 5 and 6 of the box contains newspaper articles stating that Mitchell won the primary election and will face DePriest in the fall election (The Afro-American; April 18, 1936 and The Guardian; April 25, 1936). Box 23, Folder 8 contains a copy of a letter sent to "Friend" that is for Oscar DePriest and against Mitchell. Information in the collection about Mitchell's 1936 campaign to retain his seat in Congress ends with correspondence congratulating Mitchell on his victory in the campaign (See Box 23, Folder 9 and Box 24.) and a copy of a "Mithcell Crusaders" ad for Mitchell which includes a political cartoon of Roosevelt with his arm around Mitchell, with the cartoon FDR telling Mitchell he has done a good job in Congress (Box 24, Folder 1).

Mitchell's work in 1936 for the national Democratic campaign, as the manager of the campaign directed towards African Americans in the Western Division, is mentioned in the Mitchell Papers beginning in Box 20, Folder 7 with letters of congratulations to Mitchell for being chosen for the position. A letter from the congressman to James Farley, Chairman of the National Democratic Committee, about Mitchell's work in the Western Division and a proposed budget for the campaign to gain African American voters for Democratic candidates in the Western Division is in that same folder. Box 21, Folder 5 continues information about the African American campaign in Mitchell's division with a press release about Dr. C. B. Powell (publicity director for the Democrat campaign among African Americans) and his plans to form a Colored Roosevelt Fund to help re-elect the President (September 5, 1936). It also contains a letter from Dr. Powell to Mitchell about the work being done for the Democrats among the African Americans, including the Colored Roosevelt Fund (September 8, 1936). Folder 7 of that same box includes another update from Powell (September 19, 1936). Correspondence found throughout Boxes 21-23 involves selection of managers for the African American campaign in various states, and there is located in these same boxes some financial information about the cost of the African American campaign. Concluding materials regarding Mitchell's position as the manager of the Democrats' Western Division work among African Americans are letters in Box 23, Folder 9 and Box 24 congratulating Mitchell on his work to bring about the Democrat victories that occurred.

Other information about the 1936 Democrat campaign may be found from Boxes 20-24, beginning in Box 20, Folder 3 with a newspaper article about Roosevelt being nominated as a presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention (Daily Times; June 26, 1936) and a copy of the platform adopted by the Convention for 1936. Much of the continuing information about the national campaign involves newspaper articles and campaign literature about the emphasis placed by each party on gaining African American votes. These include: "The Negro As An Issue In Political Campaigns" (Birmingham News; July 12, 1936; Box 20, Folder 4), newspaper articles about Governor Landon (Republican presidential candidate) and the role of African Americans in his campaign (Box 20, Folder 6), a phamplet entitled: "Governor Alfred M. Landon's Message to Colored Citizens" (Box 21, Folder 4), a newspaper article about Governor Landon's position on lynchings (Chicago Daily Tribune; October 5, 1936; Box 22, Folder 5), and newspaper articles about the Jesse Owens' work as a speaker for the Republican campaign (Box 21, Folder 5 and Box 23, Folder 3). More information about Governor Landon's campaign may be found interfiled with other papers in Box 20, Folders 5 and 6; Box 21, Folder 4; Box 22, Folders 5 and 6; and Box 24, Folder 7. Those materials consist mainly of newspaper articles and booklets.

Mitchell's 1938 campaign to be re-elected for is covered in Boxes 36, 38, and 40. Box 36 contains letters showing some of Mitchell's preparation for his upcoming campaign - letters in which he states that he is sending various people packets of speeches he has made in Congress. Box 38, Folder 1 contains the official vote for the State of Illinois primary election (April 12, 1938) and letters of congratulation sent to Mitchell for his renomination (Letters of congratulation may also be found in Folder 3 of that same box.). Folder 2 of Box 38 continues information about the campaign with a newspaper article about winners in the state primary (The Chicago Defender; April 16, 1938) and a copy of a speech Mitchell delivered on the House floor in which he outlines the work he has done as a congressman (in Congressional Record for April 27, 1938; Box 38, Folder 4). Correspondence regarding Mitchell's campaign, including letter he sent to James Farley about the situation for the Democrats in Illinois for the upcoming election (October 28, 1938), may be found in Box 40, Folders 6 and 7. Folder 7 of that box also contains campaign advertisements for Mitchell which include political cartoons of the congressman. Materials about the Mitchell 1938 campaign end in Box 40, Folders 8, 9, and 10, with letters of congratulations to Mitchell for winning his re-election and newspaper articles about Democrats winning a majority of the positions in Illinois and Cook County campaigns.

More information about the 1940 presidential and local campaigns may be found in the Mitchell Papers than about any of the other campaigns covered by the collection, partly due to the fact that the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago that year, and partly due to splits and confusions which occurred that year within the Democratic Party. These materials may be found chiefly in Boxes 40 and Boxes 51-55, beginning with a newspaper article about the start of the Democratic race for 1940 from the Chicago Sunday Herald-American (January 7, 1940; Box 40, Folder 2).

Mitchell's desire to be involved with the Convention is documented beginning with a letter located in Box 40 (Folder 7) in which he asks Mayor Edward J. Kelly whether or not he should become an alternate delegate to the National Convention (February 14, 1940). The congressman's involvement in the Convention is then not further documented until Box 52, Folder 7, where there is located a certificate naming Mitchell as one of its delegates. Materials involving communication between him and Mayor Kelly about plans for the Convention begin in Folder 9 of Box 52, including: a letter from Mitchell to Kelly congratulating him on being appointed Host Mayor to the convention (Box 52, Folder 9); a telegram from Kelly inviting Mitchell to his "dinner for distinguished guests," to be held at the Convention (Box 52, Folder 10); various correspondence involving Mitchell's preparations for his trip to Chicago (Box 52, Folder 10); and invitations from Kelly to a dinner for the Illinois Delegation to the Convention (Box 52, Folder 11). The congressman's actual work at the convention is documented in Box 52, Folder 11 and Box 54, Folder 1 - mostly correspondence praising Mitchell for the speech he delivered at the Convention and newspaper articles about the speech. A copy of his speech at the Convention may be found in a copy of the Congressional Record from July 16, 1940 in Box 52, Folder 11. (Tickets to the floor of the National Democratic Convention of 1940 are also a part of this collection, but are located in a separate folder in the vault.)

Other information in the Mitchell Papers about the Convention involves controversy over a meeting of African American leaders with James Farley, Chairman of the National Democratic Committee. The meeting is first mentioned in a memorandum located in Box 54, Folder 1, which indicates the meeting was to recommend leaders for the African American campaign in the Eastern and Western states. This meeting caused problems for the Democratic Party when people began interpreting it as a move to segregate participants at the Convention, as is indicated by a newspaper article located later in that same folder which discusses rumors that African Americans were "separated into separate rooms" (the Afro-American; July 20, 1940). Mitchell was apparently angry about the meeting, complaining that certain people had met with Farley in a bid to gain control of the Democratic campaign among African Americans (See Mitchell letter to Farley in Box 54, Folder 2; July 23, 1940). Another letter about the conference may be found in Box 54, Folder 5, in which Mitchell states to J. E. Mitchell (Editor of St. Louis Argus) that he has been assured that it did not have an impact on who would be selected to lead the African American campaign.

Many of the materials in the collection about the 1940 national campaign reveal confusion over various people's roles in the work for the Democrats. A letter from Mitchell to Atty. James C. Thomas in Folder 8 of Box 40, in which he stated that there was puzzlement in the Democratic ranks because no one at that time knew for sure who would become the Democratic presidential candidate, is the first letter of this kind found in the collection. He also stated in the letter that he had not been asked to help with the general campaign and did not desire to (February 16, 1940). Mitchell's July 22, 1940 letter to Dr. A. C. Johnson mentions that James Farley would be retiring that August 17th, and that there is much uncertainty among the Democrats about how the 1940 campaign will be organized.

The involvement of Mitchell in this confusion is documented beginning in Box 54, Folder 9 with a newspaper article about the Democrats' choosing of "race leaders." The article names Mitchell as having been chosen head of the African American campaign for the Democrats. In Folder 10 of that same box is another article which discusses Mitchell's appointment to the position (this one, from the Pittsburgh Courier, expressing surprise over the reported appointment). Letters from Mitchell to constituents (Box 54, Folder 12) refute the newspaper reports. He states in them that he is directing no part of the Democratic campaign (September 14, 1940).

Splits which occurred in the local Democratic campaigns in Illinois and, more specifically, in Cook County during 1940 are also repeatedly mentioned in papers found in the Mitchell collection. Materials in the collection indicate that the Democratic Organization for the 2nd Ward in Chicago was split over whom it would support for Congress. The first letter indicating this split can be found in Box 40, Folder 2 - a letter from Mitchell to Mr. P. G. Taylor thanking him for information he sent about the situation in the 2nd Ward and stating that he is glad to hear that he (Mitchell) is in a good position to be re-elected to Congress. In a letter Mitchell wrote Atty. J. Gray Lucas (Box 40, Folder 10; February 26, 1940), he states that there is a split in the State Democratic Organization and that he is concerned about how it will affect his bid to remain in Congress. Apparently, disagreements occurring in the 2nd ward, however, were having little affect on Mitchell's campaign, as is indicated in a letter from Mitchell to Hon. E. J. MacMillan, Director of the Speakers' Bureau for the Democratic National Convention, about the situation in Chicago (Box 51, Folder 7; March 26, 1940). In Box 51, Folder 4, Mitchell writes in a letter to James Farley about his position on the split which occurred between supporters of William Dawson and those of Earl Dickerson for Congress for the 2nd Ward; stating that, though Dawson had recently moved over to the Democratic Party from the Republican, Mitchell had the utmost faith in his work and believed that the voters would also support him (Box 51, Folder 4; March 13, 1940). Another letter of Mitchell's which mentions his support for Dawson may be found in Box 55, Folder 1 - a letter from Mitchell to Mr. Corneal A. Davis (September 19, 1940). Other disagreements must have been brewing in the Democratic ranks, as is indicated in a letter from Mitchell to Mr. Joseph Clark, in which he states that the situation for the Democrats in the 1st Ward of Chicago was better than in other wards of the State (Box 51, Folder 4; March 20, 1940).

More general information about the Illinois and national campaigns in 1940 may be found in Boxes 40 and 51-55 also. Such materials include: a newspaper article discussing those who applied to run congressional races in Chicago (The Chicago Sunday Tribune; March 3, 1940; Box 51, Folder 1); an official list of the candidates for the Illinois primary election (Box 52, Folder 2; April 9, 1940); newspaper articles about the Democratic victories in the state primary vote for Illinois (Box 52, Folder 2; The Chicago Daily News; April 10, 1940); a speech by Hon. T. V. Smith about "Campaign Issues of 1940" (Congressional Record; June 13, 1940; Box 52, Folder 3); a newspaper article about conventions which were broken at the National Democratic Convention (Chicago Bee; July 28, 1940; Box 54, Folder 4); and a newspaper article about Mayor Edward Kelly losing a management position in the Democratic Party to U. S. Senator Scott Lucas (The Pittsburgh Courier; September 7, 1940; Box 54, Folder 12).

Though so much information about the Illinois and national campaigns in 1940 may be found in the Mitchell Papers, very little of it pertains directly to Mitchell's own campaign at the time to be re-elected to Congress. Outside of the mentions about Mitchell's campaign in letters discussing the general state of the Democratic campaigns in Chicago and Illinois (mentioned above in paragraph on party splits), the only other items regarding his own campaign are a letter from Edward J. Flynn of the Democratic National Committee congratulating Mitchell on being renominated for Congress in the 1st District of Illinois (Box 55, Folder 5; October 12, 1940) and letters from Lyndon B. Johnson of the Democratic National Committee in which he offers to help Mitchell with his campaign (See Box 55, Folder 7 and Box 55, Folder 9.). Papers involving Mitchell's re-election to Congress end in Box 55, Folders 9-11 with correspondence congratulating Mitchell on winning his bid for re-election. Additionally, the Prints and Photographs Department is holding photographs from the collection taken at dinners Mitchell attended for the 2nd Ward Democratic Organization.

Though Mitchell decided not to run for Congress again in 1942, there are some papers in the collection regarding his support for other candidates. These are found in Folder 6 of Box 64 and include a letter requesting people write Mayor Kelly recommending Alderman Earl B. Dickerson as the Democratic nominee for Congress and criticizing Mitchell for supporting Committeeman William L. Dawson for Congress (January 27, 1942). Mitchell's telegrams stating that he endorses Dawson as his successor are also in this folder.

Chicago projects:

Several projects and events occurring in Chicago during the years Mitchell was in office are discussed in the Mitchell Papers. One example is the Democratic National Convention, already discussed in this description under "Election Campaigns." Other significant topics, pertaining specifically to Chicago, include: the planning for and construction of the Ida B. Wells Housing project in Chicago's South Side; the planning and holding of an Afro-American Exposition in Chicago (1940); the enlargement of Chicago's Municipal Airport; and concern that was expressed over the affects curtailment of WPA and NYA funds would have on projects in Chicago. Also, issues involving the Chicago postal service are discussed throughout the Mitchell collection.

Information involving the planning and construction of low-income housing in Chicago commences in Box 11, Folder 4, with a newspaper article about the planning for a South Side public housing project in Chicago (Philadelphia Tribune; June 15, 1935). The next document involving the project does not then appear until Box 28, Folder 4: a letter from J. Turner Wall of the Citizens' Trust and Savings Bank, Chicago, to Mitchell about the filling of a position for manager of the project (February 25, 1937). Other letters involving the planned buildings - these two between Mitchell and Mr. Nathan Straus, Administrator, United States Housing Authority - about proposed construction of low-rent housing in Chicago (May 26, 1938) may be found in Box 38, Folder 4, along with a copy of a Congressional Record containing a Mitchell speech entitled, "Low-cost Housing in the First Congressional District of Illinois-Chicago" (May 27, 1938). Interspersed with other papers in Boxes 39-47 are various letters and newspaper articles involving work being done on the housing project, and about controversy over the low number of African Americans being hired as architects and engineers for its construction. Some of these materials mention that the actions of labor unions were blamed, in part, for hold-ups on the work. Letters between Mitchell and Elizabeth Wood, Executive Secretary, Chicago Housing Authority, about the first tenants of the Ida B. wells Homes conclude materials in the collection about the South Side project (Folder 7 and 8).

Correspondence involving concerns over housing availability for servicemen during the war appear in Box 62, Folders 5 and 7, and in Box 64, Folder 6. The United States government wanted to ensure that, as the U.S. became involved in the war, there would be a large enough number of reasonably-priced rentals available in Chicago for servicemen. A copy of a letter sent to Mitchell and other congressmen from Mayor Kelly states that a ceiling had been proposed expenditures for the building of housing to accommodate defense personnel, and that Kelly did not believe the ceiling was high enough (August 19, 1941; Box 62, Folder 5). Another letter in the collection; this one from John K. Galbraith, Assistant Administrator In Charge of Price Division, Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply, to Mr. Herbert B. Jackson (Chicago); states that the government was concerned about stabilizing rents to help the servicemen who would be relocating around the country, and that a survey of rents in the Chicago area was being planned for the near future (September 13, 1941). Finally, telegrams expressing concern over a proposed rent control bill for Illinois may be found in Box 63, Folder 8.

A substantial amount of correspondence and a number of newspaper articles involving the planning for and holding of an American Negro Exposition in Chicago in 1940 may be found interfiled in the Mitchell Papers with other materials in Boxes 51-54. The first mention of the Exposition is in Box 51, Folder 2, in letters from Robert Bishop, Assistant to the Governor, to Mitchell. Bishop emphasizes that the Exposition will be funded through a not-for-profit organization set up for that purpose, and that it will be held in Chicago from July 4th to Labor Day of that year. Folder 3 of that same box contains a copy of a bill Mitchell introduced in the House to obtain congressional funding for the Exposition (March 7, 1940). Correspondence regarding this and a competing bill for a similar exposition in Detroit may be found in Box 51, Folder 4 through Box 53, Folder 1, along with letters of assurances to Mitchell that none of those involved in planning the Exposition would receive money from it. Also related to Mitchell's work to publicize the need for the Exposition is a speech he gave before the House on "The Negro Factor in the History of the World" (Congressional Record; February 7, 1940; Box 50, Folder 5). A letter from Franklin Roosevelt stating that he has appointed Mitchell to head the Commission to oversee the expenditure of the $75,000 appropriated by Congress for the American Negro Exposition (June 5, 1940; Box 53, Folder 1), and a letter from Marguerita Ward (President of Marguerita Ward Fine Cosmetics) complaining to Mitchell that adequate plans are not being made to include African American businesswomen in the American Negro Exposition (May 29, 1940) are of particular interest.

Newspaper articles about preparations for the Negro Exposition and about the Exposition itself are located in Box 53, Folders 9 and 11. These are followed by a letter in Box 54, Folder 5 from Claude A. Barnett to Mitchell, describing the "full quota of disappointments" that had surfaced with the Exposition, which he believed to have been chiefly caused by the activities of union members who were upset over the Exposition hiring non-union workers to save money. That same folder also includes a report about the expenses and distribution of funds for the project.

Though they do not form a large part of the collection, there are a number of papers involving the expansion of the Municipal Airport in Chicago. The first mention in the papers of the Municipal Airport is in a letter in Box 26, Folder 10, from a member of the Naval Post No. 372 American Legion to Mitchell in support of the building of a Municipal Airport of Chicago for use by the National Guard and general public (January 27, 1937). An argument for the expansion of that same airport was made in a letter from W. J. Finn, Chicago Screw Company, which mentions a plane crash in Chicago that killed 10 people and asks Mitchell to support expansion of the size of the landing field at Municipal Airport to prevent further such accidents (December 11, 1940; Box 56, Folder 6). The airport is again mentioned in Box 61, Folder 5, in a report praising work that had been done to expand it and comparing it with the size of airports in other major U.S. cities (June 26, 1941), and in a letter from Mayor Kelly inviting Mitchell to the dedication of the newly enlarged airport (June 26, 1941).

Papers involving the WPA (Works Project Administration) and NYA (National Youth Administration) are found interspersed with other papers throughout the majority of the collection. Some of these items are specifically regarding WPA and NYA funding and projects in Chicago and reflect people's concern over how the gradual curtailment of funding for the programs would affect Chicago-area projects. These materials begin in Box 17, Folder 3 with a letter to Mitchell from H. K. Setzer, Assistant Director for WPA, District No.3 in Chicago, to Mitchell in which he outlines for the congressman information about Chicago-area WPA projects that were underway at that time (March 3, 1936). Box 25, Folder 3 contains letters supporting Mitchell's work to appropriate funds for the continuation of the Federal Adult and Recreation Program in Chicago (a WPA project). Correspondence regarding Roosevelt's efforts to expand the PWA (Public Works Act) and efforts by Chicagoans to procure more projects in Chicago is in Folder 4 of box 38. Apparently, such efforts worked, for in Box 39, Folder 5, is a letter from Charles E. Miner, Administrator for WPA, stating that more money was available for WPA, and that more eligible applicants would be hired in Chicago to work on WPA projects. A list of the projects accepted for Chicago is included in a letter to Mitchell from David K. Niles, Assistant Administrator, WPA, found in Folder 8 of that same box (August 10, 1938) and a report about the Chicago projects is also in located later in Box 61, Folder 4 (May 1941). The NYA is mentioned in a letter from Michael Howlett, Chicago Area Director for the NYA, which describes the NYA Work Experience Center in Chicago and in which Howlett invites Mitchell on a tour of the facilities (November 28, 1940; Box 56, Folder 4).

Indications that the danger of reductions in the funding for WPA and NYA were looming begin to show in papers found in Box 41, Folder 9, with a letter from Mitchell to Mayor Kelly in which he reassures the mayor that he will do everything he can to maintain an appropriate WPA allotment for Chicago (January 10, 1939). No more is mentioned about the WPA in Chicago until Box 51, Folder 3, where there is a letter from Oscar DuPree to Mitchell about an alleged replacement of African American employees with whites in the Land Use Survey of Chicago (WPA project; letter dated March 8, 1940). A newspaper article in Box 54, Folder 2, indicates that a transfer of funds and people from relief roles to WPA projects in Chicago was made in July of 1940. Complaints about actual cuts in funding and fears about how they would affect projects in Chicago are documented beginning in Box 58, Folder 9 with a letter from the staff at the Ryerson Library, The Art Institute of Chicago, which object to the curtailment of a WPA project which had helped the Institute (March 7, 1941). Finally, in Box 66, Folder 5 is a letter from the Chicago Recreation Library expressing concern that the reduction of WPA funds will badly affect that institution (June 12, 1942).

Concerns about jobs and job security in Chicago are also found in papers regarding positions with the Chicago postal service. Numerous letters to the congressman from individuals seeking recommendations from him they hoped would get them jobs with the Chicago postal service are interspersed with other materials throughout the folders covering Mitchell's time in office (1934-1942). Some of these were for permanent, full-time positions, and others were for temporary positions which became available each year with the Christmas rush. Mitchell's usual responses to such letters was either to send brief recommendations to supervisors at the appropriate post offices or to send a letter to the person seeking a job, asking that they first obtain a recommendation from their ward committeeman before asking him for a letter.

A portion of the correspondence found in the Mitchell Papers involving the Chicago postal service have to do with complaints about the working conditions in the new main Chicago Post Office that was built in 1936. Letters complaining about the heat in the building begin in Box 26, Folders 8 and 9. Continuing correspondence between Mitchell and other members of the Post Office and Roads Committee about the poor working conditions caused by the heat may also be found in Box 26, Folders 8 and 9 and Box 27, Folder 2.

Finally, some information about the status of African American workers in the postal service in Chicago may be found in the collection in Box 49, Folders 6 and 7. Folder 6 contains a letter outlining an investigation conducted by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority on African American employment in the Chicago Post Office (January 22, 1940), and Folder 7 contains a letter to Mitchell which outlines the history of African American workers in the Chicago Post Office and asks Mitchell to support the promotion of four African Americans into supervisory positions.

Numerous other papers pertaining specifically to Chicago issues may be found throughout the Mitchell Papers. Among these are: a newspaper article about the National Negro Congress which was held in Chicago in 1936 (Box 16, Folder 1); statements of the Sanitary District of Chicago regarding the purchase by the U.S. Government of canals owned by the Sanitary District of Chicago (Box 4, Folder 4 and Box 14, Folder 3); a letter from Carl D. Thompson, Director of the Public Ownership League of America, regarding cost of the proposed building of subways adjacent to the loop and fears that the businesses in that area would have to pay for much of it (May 25, 1938); and articles about mafia involvement in the building trades in Chicago (in issue of Lightnin in Box 44, Folder 10 and the article "Gangsters Don't Build Homes" in Box 47, Folder 3). Of particular interest regarding the impact of World War II on Chicago citizens is a statement written by the faculty of Northwestern University about what the college was doing to prepare the U.S. for possible entry into the war, and also expressing their opinion the U.S. should do everything in its power to stay out of the war (Box 57, Folder 2).

Un-American activities:

Papers involving "un-American activities" (usually anything deemed to be pro-Communist) in the Mitchell collection fall into three main categories: 1) papers involving suspicions that Howard University had Communist leanings and was indoctrinating its students to support Communism, 2) papers involving the Dies Committee and questions about whether or not it should continue to exist, and 3) articles and pamphlets about Communism in general.

The papers involving accusations that Howard University was pro-Communist may be found in Boxes 10 and 11 of the collection, beginning in Folder 7 of Box 10 with a letter from Kelly Miller to Mordecai W. Johnson complaining of what Miller saw as the University's communist leanings (May 24, 1935). Other correspondence denouncing Mordecai Johnson and Howard U. continue with another letter in Folder 7 and letters in Folder 8. Newspaper clippings regarding the University's alleged involvement in teaching Communism and clippings about Mitchell's call for a congressional investigation of the school are in Box 11, Folder 1.

No further discussion of un-American activities appears in the Mitchell Papers until Box 41, Folder 7, where letters begin appearing regarding the Dies Unamerican Committee and its perceived effectiveness. That folder contains a letter from Mitchell to Mr. O. E. Quinton in which he stated that he was against Communism, Nazism, and Fascism, but also against the Un-American Committee in Congress because he believed they were not doing anything worthwhile (January 3, 1939). Folder 8 of that same box contains a letter from the School of Livable Christianity requesting Mitchell support investigations of the Un-American Activities Committee (January 10, 1939); and a January 12, 1936 letter from Mitchell to Mr. Marvin B. Pool in which he states that he helped to vote for the creation of the Dies Committee on Un-American Activities, but feels the Committee was poorly run is in Folder 9. Correspondence regarding the Committee continue in Box 42 and in Boxes 47-52, with Mitchell changing his mind a couple of times over whether or not he would support the Committee's continuation. Those boxes also contain newspaper clippings, usually supportive of Mitchell's votes to end the Dies Committee and of other congressmen who had voted against its continuation.

Among the correspondence of particular interest regarding the opinions of Chicago groups and officials toward the activities of the Committee are: a letter from Oscar G. Mayer, Office of the President of the Chicago Association of Commerce, requesting Mitchell's support for the Committee (January 17, 1939; Box 42, Folder 1); telegrams from committeeman Earl B. Dickerson (2nd Ward) accusing the Dies Committee of being "prejudiced and disgraceful" and asking Mitchell to vote against bill giving it further appropriations (February 3, 1939; Box 42, Folder 5); letters from Ira Latimer, Executive Secretary of the Chicago Civil Liberties Committee, against the Dies Committee (October 5, 1939; Box 47, Folder 6 and Box 48, Folder 4); and a letter from the Cook County Council of the American Legion stating they have confidence in the Dies Committee and condemn those voting against its continuation (March 11, 1940; Box 51, Folder 5). One item of interest to those studying the views of African American leaders toward the Dies Committee is a form letter from W. E. B. DuBois in which he condemned the practice of labeling anyone Communist that had ideas running counter to those holding power and defending himself from accusations that he was a Communist (February 5, 1952; Box 71, Folder 1).

More general information in the collection about Communism and the attitudes of some Americans toward communist ideas may be found starting in Box 52, Folder 10 with a copy of remarks made by Mitchell to the House in a speech about the Communist Party and its relationship to African Americans in the United States (May 14, 1940). A pamphlet by the Afra-American Council of Good Will, Inc. against "all isms except true Americanism" may be found in Box 48, Folder 8. An article (author?) entitled "Communists" in Box 57, Folder 4 continues documentation about Communism, as does an article with the same title located in Box 72, Folder 4.

Military academies and African Americans in the military:

A significant number of documents in the Mitchell Papers are regarding Mitchell's appointments to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Most of his appointments were of young African American men, and other papers in the collection show his interest in general in the status of African Americans in the U.S. military.

The cases of three appointees to military academies are particularly outlined in the collection: 1) that of Felix J. Kirkpatrick, a African American man who had been appointed to West Point by Oscar DePriest, was expelled from the academy, and later sought help from Mitchell to get reinstated; 2) that of Mithcell's appointee to the Naval Academy, James Lee Johnson, Jr., (first African American admitted to Annapolis since 1879) who was forced to resign from the Academy because he had collected too many demerits; 3) that of another Mitchell appointee to West Point, James D. Fowler, who claimed that he had resigned from the Naval Academy after being discriminated against by other cadets. Other individuals discussed in connection with Mitchell's work to appoint young men to the academies at West Point and Annapolis are: James Gatewood, Jr., a white man who sought Mitchell's help to get appointed to West Point and whom Mitchell agreed to appoint because he believed such an appointment would advance race relations; Mitchell's appointee to the Naval Academy, Midshipman Trivers, who resigned after only three weeks at the Academy and who Mitchell concluded did not have the necessary character needed to make a good Naval officer; and Touissaint Gadsden, Jr., a man Mitchell appointed to Annapolis and who was the first African American man appointed to the Naval Academy whom Mitchell did not have to seek out (Gadsden wrote him and asked to be appointed.). Besides documents involving the above-mentioned men, numerous letters and forms may be found throughout the Mitchell collection from men who sought appointment to one of the military academies, and regarding the testing and admittance or rejection of men Mitchell appointed to the academies. A significant amount of correspondence exists in the collection which also shows that Mitchell appointed a number of cadets to West Point and Annapolis as favors to Mayor Edward J. Kelly.

Information about the case of Felix Kirkpatrick begins in the collection as early on as Box 4, Folder 2, with a newspaper article about Kirkpatrick seeking help from Mitchell to be reinstated at West Point. The next documents involving the case do not then appear until Box 15, Folders 6 and 7 of the collection, where there are located articles about Kirkpatrick's release from West Point and his attempt to be reinstated through the help of Mitchell (dated January 11, 1936 and January 17, 1936). A similar article may also be found in Box 20, Folder 2. The final document in the collection regarding the former cadet is a letter from Kirkpatrick to Mitchell in which he expresses sympathy for Midshipman Johnson and his fight to remain at Annapolis, and asking the congressman if he would send him Johnson's address so he may correspond with the Naval cadet (March 7, 1937).

The fight of Midshipman Johnson to remain at the Naval Academy is much more thoroughly documented in the Mitchell Papers than are either the cases of Kirkpatrick or James Fowler. Though Johnson is mentioned earlier on in the collection (in newspaper articles about Mitchell's appointees to West Point and Annapolis), information about the controversy surrounding his resignation does not begin until Box 26, Folder 10, where there are two letters from Mitchell to officers at the Naval Academy about his concerns that Midshipman Johnson will be forced to resign from the Academy due to demerits unfairly given to him by other cadets. A letter regarding a trip Mitchell made to Annapolis on Johnson's behalf is in Box 27, Folder 2, and a letter from Johnson to Mitchell, explaining the circumstances of his resignation, may be found in Folder 4 of that same box. Documents regarding Mitchell's attempts to obtain a House investigation into the matter of Johnson's ousting begin in Box 27, Folder 5 and continue through Box 29, Folder 1. Also found in these same boxes and folders are letters from Johnson's parents to Mitchell, newspaper articles about Johnson's case, and correspondence to Mitchell from some of his constituents thanking him for his work to help Johnson remain at Annapolis. Additional information about Johnson and his appointment is found in a news release among the undated items in Box 72, Folder 4, and in a newspaper article among the undated items in Box 73, Folder 5. Finally, an article and report about the ousting of Midshipman Johnson is located, separated from the bulk of the folders holding other materials on his case, in Box 35, Folder 2 of the collection. [For a portrait of Johnson (not in uniform), see the materials held in Prints and Photographs.]

The case of James D. Fowler is better documented in the collection than that of Kirkpatrick, but not as well documented as Johnson's case. Information in the Mitchell Papers about Fowler's case begins in Box 39, Folder 3, with a letter Mitchell sent to Brigadier General Jay L. Benedict, Superintendent, Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., about Fowler and reports Mitchell had been hearing that other cadets were trying to make it impossible for the African American cadet to remain at the Academy (June 18, 1938). A letter from Mitchell to Franklin Roosevelt, in which he requests an interview with the President about the alleged harassment of Cadet Fowler, may be found in Folder 4 of Box 39. In Folder 7 of that same box is located a return letter from Brigadier General Benedict to Mitchell stating he has investigated the matter and that he does not believe Fowler has been discriminated against, but rather, shown favor at the Academy (July 15, 1938). The concluding paper in the collection about the Fowler case is located in that same folder. It is a letter from Mitchell to Fowler, in which the congressman scolds him for blaming his dismissal from West Point on discrimination and states that he believes Fowler's own conduct caused him problems at the Academy (July 20, 1938). A portrait of Fowler in his Army uniform may be found located in items from the collection that are housed in the Prints and Photographs Department.

Correspondence regarding Mitchell's consideration of appointing James Gatewood, Jr. to West Point may be found beginning in Box 39, Folder 6, where there is located a letter from Gatewood to Mitchell (along with a photograph of himself) in which he aks the congressman for assistance in getting him appointed to the military academy. Mitchell's responding letter in Folder 7 of that same box indicates his interest in appointing Gatewood (July 20, 1938). Letters regarding Mitchell's continuing efforts to have Gatewood appointed may then be found interspersed with other documents in Box 39, Folder 8 through Box 44, Folder 8. Much of the correspondence involves Mitchell's plans to visit Gatewood's home town, and the younger man's work to make arrangements for the congressman's visit. In a letter located in Box 44, Folder 3, from Mitchell to a fellow congressman, Mitchell states that he thinks such an appointment of him by a white man would help to further better race relations (April 17, 1939). Apparently, however, Mitchell tired of receiving letters from Gatewood inquiring about Mitchell's work to get him appointed and the congressman eventually withdrew his help for the young man (See letter from Mitchell to Gatewood in Box 44, Folder 8.).

Information about the case of Midshipman Trivers begins in Box 31, Folder 8, in a letter (from Mitchell? to ?) which states that Trivers resigned from the Naval Academy after only three weeks there. Newspaper articles about the resignation are located in Folder 9 of that same box and in Box 32, Folder 1, some of them quoting Trivers as saying he had quit Annapolis because of health problems he had which were brought on by harassment he received from white students at the Academy. A letter from Mitchell to P. B. Young, Editor, Journal and Guide, in which he states that he regretted having ever appointed Trivers and that he will appoint another African American man in his place is in Box 31, Folder 9. Concluding information in the collection about Triver's case are copies of letters Mitchell sent various people, in which he states that he believes he made a mistake in appointing Trivers and does not believe Trivers to be fit for the Navy, are located in Box 32, Folder 6 of the collection.

The first correspondence involving the appointment by Mitchell of Touissaint Gadsden, Jr. to the Naval Academy at Annapolis is located in Box 57, Folder 8 in the form of a letter from Gadsden to Mitchell in which he asks Mitchell to please appoint him to the Academy (January 15, 1941). Correspondence about Gadsden continues in Folder 9 of that same box with a letter from Mitchell to a Reverend William S. Bradden, in which Mitchell writes Bradden that Gadsden is the first African American man that Mitchell had not had to "hunt down" to appoint to Annapolis; that Gadsden had written him and asked to be appointed. Facts about Gadsden and an announcement about his appointment by Mitchell to Annapolis are located in Box 58, Folder 3, along with a letter from Mitchell to Bradden in which he states he has definitely decided to appoint the young man. Finally, correspondence about Gadsden's examinations for entrance into the Academy and his rejection from Annapolis because of his failure to pass a mental examination may be found in Box 58, Folder 4 and Box 59, Folder 60.

Appointments made to the military and naval academies at West Point and Annapolis as favors to Mayor Kelly are documented through correspondence found in the collection beginning with a letter from Mitchell to Mr. John Franklin Davis, in which Mitchell informs Davis he has appointed him to the Naval Academy at Annapolis as a favor to Mayor Kelly and that he is "very happy always to do anything" he can do for Kelly (December 1, 1939). Other correspondence regarding such appointments may be found located in Box 56, Folders 4 and 5; Box 60, Folder 5; Box 62, Folder 1; and Box 65, Folders 6 and 7.

In addition to documents about Mitchell's appointments to West Point and Annapolis the Mitchell Papers reveal Mitchell's interest in obtaining better positions for African Americans in the U.S. military. These are seen in letters and correspondence involving the establishment by the War Department of an aviation school at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Information about the establishment of the school begins with Mitchell's letter to President F. D. Patterson of the Tuskegee Institute, in which he states that he will ask for Tuskegee to be one of the schools selected by the War Department as a location for the training of aviation pilots and aviation mechanics (January 9, 1939; Box 41, Folder 9). Another letter located in that same folder (from Mitchell to J.E. Mitchell, Editor, St. Louis Argus) expresses Mitchell's belief that an aviation school should be established at Tuskegee and that he wishes to work toward that end (January 9, 1939). Continuing correspondence about creating an aviation school at Tuskegee may be found in Box 42, Folders 2 and 4. Folder 5 of that same box contains a phamplet entitled "Wings Above Tuskegee" about the resulting school.

Documents showing Mitchell's concern that African Americans in the United States Navy were not being treated fairly are also found in several places in the Mitchell Papers. One example of such an item may be found in Box 40, Folder 11 of the collection in the form of letter to Mitchell from "Colored Sailors, U.S. Navy" in which the writers express their thanks to Mitchell for all he has done for African Americans in the services and discuss some of the discrimination they have received in the Navy (November 1938). Another related letter to Mitchell from Edgar Bordley, Intelligence Officer, Neptune Club (a club for African American ex-Navymen in Philadelphia), may be found in Box 59, Folder 4. In this letter, Bordley asks Mitchell if any plans have been made for African Americans in the Navy to hold positions other than in the culinary branch (March 22, 1941). An NAACP phamplet about discrimination in the Navy against African Americans may be found in Box 63, Folder 7. Letters between Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy, and Mitchell, and between FDR and Mitchell about the treatment of African Americans in the Navy may also be found in Box 66, Folders 10 and 11 and Box 57, Folder 1.

Mitchell's concern over the treatment of African Americans in the other services is also covered in documents located in various places in the collection. Those regarding the Army begin as early in the Mitchell Papers as Box 3, Folder 6, with a copy of a report by E. Reynolds, Captain, U.S. Army, Retired, entitled Colored Soldiers and the Regular Army (December 10, 1934). A letter from a Major General of the War Department (signature illegible) informing him of the "colored troops" in the U.S. Army and where they were stationed (March 4, 1936) is also found in Box 17, Folder 1. A newspaper article quoting Mitchell as saying that the Army was not planning on creating a separate African American division is found in Box 54, Folder 12 (The Washington Afro-American; September 7, 1940). Other documents in the Mitchell Papers about the status of African Americans in the U.S. Army include: a newspaper article claiming Jim Crow was "rampant" in the U.S. Army (Box 56, Folder 5; The Dayton Forum; December 6, 1940); a newspaper article about the reactivation of a African American Army division that was active in World War I (Box 64, Folder 9; February 14, 1942); a copy of Mitchell's remarks before the House about the discrimination of African American soldiers in the U.S. Army (February 18, 1942); and the report "Negro Soldiers Discriminated Against" (Box 67, Folder 10).

Mitchell's concerns over the proper treatment of trainees in both Army and Navy training camps is also a significant topic among the papers in the collection regarding his work with the military. These papers include a history of African Americans in the military academies (The Pittsburgh Courier; February 27, 1937; Box 28, Folder 6); correspondence regarding the work of Mitchell's brother, John, to establish training camps in Alabama for African American servicemen and the opposition of Frank M. Dixon, Governor of Alabama, to such a plan (Box 66, Folder 2); and correspondence regarding attempts by some to establish special officer candidate schools and the debate over whether or not they should be separate from white officer candidate schools (Box 66, Folder 3).

General information about discrimination against African Americans in all of the services may also be found in several places in the Mitchell Papers. These include: a letter from the editor of the Pittsburgh Courier outlining the status of African Americans in the U.S. armed forces and asking Mitchell for his views of their place in the military (Box 37, Folder 1; March 2, 1938); an article entitled "Discrimination Against Negroes" by Robert L. Plummer about the discrimination against African Americans in the U.S. armed forces (Box 57, Folder 8); a Congressional Record containing Mitchell's comments, "The Negro Discriminated Against In Our National Defense Program" (Box 62, Folder 1; July 24, 1941); and a magazine article entitled "Negroes At War" (contains numerous photos, in oversize folder).

African American Migration:

Mitchell's study of the causes of increased African American migration from the South to the North, and his efforts to encourage African American Southerners to stay where they were are documented in papers located in Boxes 42-51 of the Mitchell Papers. Some of the earliest papers in the collection regarding the African American migration are a letter from Mitchell to Dr. Kelly Miller of Howard University discussing the need for African Americans to receive aid to establish themselves as farmers (Box 1, Folder 8); a report ("The Farm, The Negro's Best Hope"; Box 42, Folder 3) by Miller; and a letter from Mitchell to Dr. Miller discussing the migration (February 7, 1939; Box 42, Folder 7). Though it is recorded in some of the biographical sketches published about Mitchell's life that he corresponded much with Miller about the subject and that Miller was influential in shaping Mitchell's belief that African Americans should stay where they were, Dr. Miller is not mentioned again in the Mitchell Papers until Box 49, Folder 4, where there is located a page from a Congressional Record containing a speech Mitchell gave before the House praising Miller following the Howard instructor's death (January 18, 1940).

Two of Mitchell's speeches about the causes and cures of the African American migration are documented in the collection. In Box 42, Folder 7, contains notes for Mitchell's speech, "The Cause Of Negro Migration From The South, The Effect, And The Remedy." Letters of congratulation to Mitchell for this speech may be found in Box 43, Folder 3. The second speech was a Founder's Day speech Mitchell delivered at Tuskegee Institute in which he discouraged African Americans from migrating from the South to the congested cities in the North, and emphasized the need of whites in the South to be fair to African Americans. Mitchell's letter to Mr. H. W. Faron, Associated Press, in which he outlines the speech, are in Box 43, Folder 9, along with an April 2, 1939 copy of the speech. A version of it he gave before the House may be found in Folder 10 of that same box ("Overcoming Difficulties Under Adverse Conditions"; April 5, 1939). Letters congratulating Mitchell on the Founder's Day address are found in Box 43, Folder 11, and a newspaper article about the speech is filed in Box 46, Folder 11.

Papers involving Mitchell's work to encourage African Americans to stay in the South and develop farms there is a major theme in the papers of the collection involving the African American migration. Mitchell's research into African American farming in the South is documented beginning in Box 45, Folder 4, where there is filed a May 29, 1939 press release about WPA statistics showing the extent of the poverty of farm tenants and sharecroppers in the South. Information about confusion over Mitchell's efforts to support resettlement farm projects may also be found in the collection. The press began reporting that Mitchell had introduced a bill in the House that would relocate poor urban African Americans to farmlands in the South. A letter from Mitchell to Mr. W. E. Holden (Box 45, Folder 5; June 9, 1939) refuted these reports, but a newspaper article against the alleged legislation is found in Box 46, Folder 11 (September 1939).

It is clear that Mitchell felt improved farming in the South could greatly help African Americans. Correspondence between the then Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, H. A. Wallace, and Mitchell in Box 47, Folders 1 and 2; Box 50 Folder 11; and Box 51, Folder 5 document Mitchell's belief that an extension of agricultural opportunities and development in the South was the "only hope for African Americans" who had been "crowded out of the manufacturing industry" (quotes from letter from Mitchell to Wallace; Box 50, Folder 11; February 27, 1940). A report supporting this view, "The South's Way to Wealth" by T. M. Campbell, Field Agent, U.S. Department of Agriculture (April 1, 1940) may also be found in Box 51, Folder 10.

Other items in the collection about Mitchell's study of the African American migration include: a letter from Ernest Eugene Akins about his views on the causes and solutions of the African American migration (Box 42, Folder 10; February 16, 1939) and a newspaper article about the interest professors in Bangor, Maine took in Mitchell's reports on the state of African Americans in the South (Box 44, Folder 8; Bangor Daily Commercial; May 3, 1939).

Virgin Islands and the West Indies:

Information about a tour Mitchell took early in his career to the Virgin Islands and the West Indies, his interest in having a African American man appointed to the Judgeship of the Virgin Islands, and his support of self-rule by the people of the Virgin Islands and West Indies is found in Boxes 13-25, Boxes 42-45, and Boxes 56-59.

Documents regarding preparations for Mitchell's trip are in Boxes 13 and 14. Along with correspondence involving planning for the trip, Box 13, Folder 2 contains newspaper articles about Mitchell's talk to the Norfolk and Western Railway Veterans' Association in which he stated, among other things, that he was seeking the appointment of a African American judge for the Virgin Islands. This interest in the Judgeship for the Virgin Islands appears later on in the collection, beginning with a letter from Casper Holstein, President of the Virgin Islands Congressional Council, in which he asks Mitchell to use his influence with the Attorney General and President to get a man appointed to a judgeship in the Virgin Islands (Box 42, Folder 11; February 21, 1939). Continuing correspondence regarding the replacement of the Judge for the Virgin Islands may be found in Box 43, Folder 1, including a letter from Mitchell to Holstein in which he states he will support the election of a Mr. Bough to the position (February 27, 1939; Box 43, Folder 1). Other letters to Mitchell from those seeking to fill the Judgeship may be found in Box 44, Folder 1 and Box 42, Folder 2.

Both Box 13, Folder 12 and Box 14, Folders 1 and 2 contain correspondence from Mitchell's constituents which was sent to him while he was on the tour and return letters to them from his secretary, Claude Holman, indicating that Mitchell was out of the country on a trip to the Virgin Islands and West Indies. Mitchell's responses to correspondence he received while on the trip are found in Box 15, Folder 4. . Box 25, Folder 10 also contains a newspaper article about Mitchell's return from the Virgin Islands and West Indies. These items help to further pinpoint the dates he was away from the country

Reports and correspondence about the proposed Organic Act and Bill of Rights then being proposed for the Virgin Islands form a substantial percentage of the materials in the Mitchell Papers about the Virgin Islands. These items include: a copy of the draft of the Bill of Rights for the Virgin Islands (Box 14, Folder 1); a statement of the Federation of the American Virgin Islands Societies about the Organic Act of the Virgin Islands (Box 15, Folder 4; December 12, 1935); a circular about the proposed Bill of Rights for the Virgin Islands (Box 15, Folder 4; December 14, 1935); and a letter from Lionel Robert, Chairman of the Colonial Council for St. Thomas and St. John, Virgin Islands, stating he is sending Mitchell a copy of the Organic Act for the Islands and would like Mitchell's support in having it pass the House (Box 16, Folder 1). Continuing documents in the collection about legislation involving the governing of the Virgin Islands are chiefly comprised of: a letter from the Secretary of the Interior to Hon. Millard E. Tydings, Chairman, Committee on Territories and Insular Affairs, about a bill to clarify the powers and duties of the various branches of government of the Virgin Islands (Box 17, Folder 5; March 9, 1936); a letter from Lawrence W. Cramer, Governor of the Virgin Islands, to Hon. Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture, asking Wallace to continue on the Advisory council for the Virgin Islands and discussing issues of importance to the establishment of a permanent government for the Virgin Islands (March 13, 1936; Box 17, Folder 6); a letter from Lawrence W. Cramer to Mitchell regarding the status of legislation for the Virgin Islands and "matters that require attention and action" (March 23, 1936; Box 17, Folder 9); and a letter from the Federation of American Virgin Islands Societies asking Mitchell to help their delegate to the hearings for the Organic Act prepare for the meetings (March 28, 1936; Box 17, Folder 11). Other documents in the collection involving such issues include: a copy of the hearings before the Committee on Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, on H. R. 11751 (a bill to provide a civil government for the Virgin Islands; April 3, 1936; Box 18, Folder 2) and letters regarding the work still needed at the time to set up a permanent government in the Virgin Islands, some suggesting that Mitchell continue to support the work as a boost to his campaign to be re-elected to Congress (Box 20, Folder 8; August 8-13, 1936).

Items specific to the impact on the West Indies of the construction of United States air and naval bases on the Islands begin to appear in the Mitchell collection in Box 56. In Folder 6 of that box, for example, may be found a letter from Mitchell to Mr. Ellis A. Williams of the Hampton Institute (Virginia) about a trip Williams plans to make to the West Indies. Mitchell mentions in the letter his own previous trip to the Virgin Islands and West Indies and states that he is glad Williams is going on his "goodwill" trip (December 9, 1940). Newspaper articles about Williams' trip are located in Box 58, Folder 2. Box 57, Folder 1 also contains a letter from W. A. Domingo, President, West Indies National Council, expressing concern that, with the building of U.S. naval and air bases in the Islands, and the accompanying influx of whites, racism and jim-crowism will be transferred to the islands (December 26, 1940). Continuing correspondence between officials in the West Indies and officials in the United States about the planned bases are in Box 58, Folder 6. Those letters contain mentions of the apprehensions inhabitants of the West Indies had about the construction and operation of the bases and the promises made by U.S. officials to the West Indians about their operation. A final letter about the West Indies is located in Box 59, Folder 4 of the collection, from W. A. Domingo, about pressure that was then being applied on the United States by the British to try to force the U.S. to segregate its forces at American naval and air bases in the Islands.

Jack Guzik (Jake Guzik):

Materials regarding Mob-connected businessman, Jack Guzik are found in Box 48, Folder 10 and represent the only major group of papers in the collection not interfiled chronologically with other documents. They consist chiefly of items containing information Mitchell used in attempting to reach a compromise for Guzik with the Internal Revenue Service in a case involving Guzik's alleged tax evasions. Documents in the collection regarding the case include: notices of levy and tax liens against Guzik's property; a letter to Guzik from Attorney Richard L. Tedrow in which he acknowledges his withdrawal by Guzik from the case and asks for the name and address of the businessman's new counsel so he can send him information about the case (June 13, 1939); Statements of Financial Condition and Other Information (IRS Form 433) filed on Guzik's behalf; petitions from the case; notes by the defense for the case (probably Mitchell's notes); letters from Mitchell to Guzik regarding attempts by him to reach a compromise with the IRS; briefs before the Commission of Internal Revenue regarding the case; and offers in compromise (filed with the IRS on Guzik's behalf). The folder also provides February and September 1956 newspaper articles regarding Guzik's death and his connections with Al Capone.

Good Will Tours:

Two "good will tours" Mitchell took of southern states to promote racial good will are documented in the Mitchell Papers, one he took during his second term in Congress and one he took shortly after his retirement from Congress. The first tour is much more thoroughly documented in the collection than the second.

Information about the first tour may be found beginning in Box 32, Folder 9 with a letter from Mitchell to the mayor of Roanoke, Alabama, about Mitchell's upcoming "racial good will tour," in which he states he is interested in speaking to groups of African American leaders while on the trip (September 7, 1937). Attached to the letter is an outline of the route Mitchell planned to take on the tour. Letters from people wanting Mitchell to speak in their home towns on his trip may be found in Box 32, Folder 9 and Box 33, Folder 1. Newspaper articles about the excursion may also be found in Box 33, Folder 1 and Box 33, Folders 3 and 4 - with the articles in Box 33 describing some of the speeches he gave while on the tour. In one speech, described in an article about Mitchell's stop in Oklahoma, Mitchell mentions his plans to work toward purchasing the birthplace of B. T. Washington and building a shrine on the property in honor of African American progress (Box 33, Folder 4; The Oklahoma Eagle; October 16, 1937). (Documents involving Mitchell's continuing work to establish a shrine at the birthplace of Booker T. Washington continue interspersed with other papers throughout the remainder of the collection.)

A couple of interesting letters between Booker T. Washington, Jr. and Mitchell mention the tour. In Box 33, Folder 3 is a letter from Washington to Mitchell in which he expresses regret that he could not see the congressman on his visit to Alabama and refers to favors he believes he and Mitchell have done for each other. Mitchell's return letter to Washington in Folder 4 of that same box is very biting, stating that he does not believe Washington has done anything for him and expressing his belief that the younger man has "misspent what might have been a most valuable life" (October 19, 1937).

The congressman's second good will tour of the South is documented in Box 68, Folders 2, 3, and 4. These begin in Folder 2, with a letter from Mitchell to Governor Colgate W. Darden of Virginia in which Mitchell outlines the work he hopes to do in the South following his retirement from Congress and states that he hopes to tour each of the Southern states in the near future (January 18, 1943). The remainder of documents regarding this tour are letters (in Box 68, Folders 2, 3, and 4) from presidents of technical schools and colleges in the South thanking Mitchell for sending them copies of his speeches, congratulating him on his retirement, and asking him to stop at their institutions on his tour.

Jim Crow Railroad Case:

Numerous documents in the Mitchell Papers provide information regarding court cases Mitchell fought over his ousting from a first class railroad car in Arkansas. The initial case was one he brought before the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) against the Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company. Following that initial case, which ended in a ruling against Mitchell, the congressman requested a rehearing of the case by the ICC. This request was denied and Mitchell filed the case with a Circuit Court. While his case in the Circuit Court (which asked for damages from the railroad of $50,000) was pending, Mitchell filed his case before the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor. His attempt to gain a payment of damages in the Circuit Court case continued following the Supreme Court decision. The process of preparing for the various cases and the hearing of the cases is well-documented in collection. In addition, photographs of Mitchell with his lawyer for the case, Richard Westbrooks, may be found housed in the Prints and Photographs Department.

Papers involving his initial case before the ICC begin in Box 30, Folder 8, where there is a copy of the argument first filed on Mitchell's behalf (May 10, 1937). Items regarding this first hearing of the Jim Crow case continue through Box 38, Folder 8, where there is a newspaper article which states that the ICC threw out the case and that Mitchell had decided to take it to higher courts (The Chicago Defender; May 7, 1938). Other items regarding the initial hearing before the ICC in Boxes 30-38 include: letters wishing Mitchell luck in the case; newspaper articles regarding the case; a letter from Mitchell to Attorney Patrick B. Prescott, Jr., which mentions the case and states he will take the matter before the Supreme Court if necessary (Box 31, Folder 1; May 21, 1937); statements filed in the court case and responses from the other participating parties; notes about the conditions of a second class railroad car such as the one Mitchell was forced to ride (Box 35, Folder 5); correspondence regarding the scheduling of hearing dates and times; and stenographer's minutes of the hearing before the ICC (Box 37, Folder 3; March 7, 1938). Stenographer's minutes of the oral argument before the ICC may also be found in Box 39, Folder 5 (July 6, 1938), and a report on the hearing is located in Folder 9 of that same box (August 31, 1938). Continuing information about this hearing before the ICC and the Commission's final decision may be found through Box 41, Folder 1, where there is located an article entitled "The ICC Wrong" (The Gazette, Cleveland, Ohio; December 10, 1938).

Mention of the attempt to gain a rehearing of the case is first located in Box 41, Folder 9 of the collection, where there is filed a newspaper article about Mitchell's request for such a hearing (January 9, 1939). In Box 42, Folder 2, may also be found "Petition of Arthur W. Mitchell, Complainant, For Rehearing And Reargument" (January 21, 1939). Continuing correspondence and newspaper articles regarding this effort may be found interfiled with other items from Box 41, Folder 9 through Box 43, Folder 3, where there is a notice from W. P. Bartel, Secretary of the ICC, stating that Mitchell's petition for a rehearing of the case was denied (March 6, 1939). A final item of interest about this attempt to gain a rehearing is found in Box 43, Folder 7, where there is located a letter from Mitchell to Richard Westbrooks in which he states that he is glad the ICC refused his request because it opened the way for him to move the case on to the Supreme Court (March 23, 1939)

Information regarding Mitchell's filing of the case with a District Circuit Court begins in Box 38, Folder 9 with newspaper articles about the filing. A letter to Mitchell from Westbrooks, about the procedures they must follow to bring his case before the District Court may be found in Box 43, Folder 10. From that item, little in the collection mentions the Circuit Court case specifically until papers filed following the documents stating that the Supreme Court ruled in Mitchell's favor. In Box 66, Folder 9, continue documents about the District Court case, with a letter from Mitchell to Attorney James Harte Levenson (July 15, 1942), in which Mitchell states that he will push the civil suit to a conclusion, but that his primary objective had always been to have the law regarding segregation of railroad cars reversed (not to be compensated monetarily). Correspondence between Mitchell and Westbrooks in Box 68, Folder 10, about the case for damages completes documents regarding the Circuit Court case.

Correspondence regarding the scheduling of a hearing before the Supreme Court in the case of Mitchell vs. the United States, et. al., may be found as early as Box 44, Folder 1. Continuing papers about the case before the Supreme Court and the Court's decision may be found interfiled with other papers in Boxes 44-66. These items include: newspaper articles about the case; correspondence between Mitchell and Westbrooks regarding preparation for the case and the expense of the case; briefs and dockets from the case; correspondence regarding Mitchell's application to argue the facts of his own case before the Court; letters from various wishing Mitchell luck in the case; a copy of the opinions of the Supreme Court Justices in the case (Box 60, Folder 3); and correspondence regarding Mitchell's and Westbrook's efforts to gain Mitchell financial compensation for the costs involved in the court case.

Also included in the Mitchell collection is a copy of a Congressional Record containing a speech by Mitchell entitled: "My Fight Before the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Courts of the Country for Equal Accommodations for Negro Passengers Traveling Interstate; A Brief History of the Case" (Box 62, Folder 8; September 17, 1941). A newspaper about this speech follows in Folder 9 of that same box.

Finally, information about the changes made to the ICC regulations as a result of the Supreme Court decision in the Mitchell case may be found beginning in Box 62, Folder 2, with an order withdrawing the previous decision made by the ICC in Mitchell's case (July 31, 1941). Documents regarding the intentions of the ICC to change its regulations to conform to the Supreme Court ruling are interfiled with other documents in Boxes 62-64. Box 64, Folder 1 contains a copy of the changes made to the ICC regulations as a result of Mitchell's case.

Other documents, interfiled in the same folders and boxes as documents relating to Mitchell's Jim Crow railroad cases, provide more general information about segregation on the railroads in the South. These items include: an article regarding Jim Crow practices (Box 35, Folder 2); an article about the poor treatment of a African American reporter on a railroad car in Georgia (Journal and Guide, June 11, 1938; Box 39, Folder 2); a letter from Mitchell to Mr. Walter F. Anderson, Kentucky State College, stating he believes all African Americans discriminated against in transportation should file court cases (Box 64, Folder 5; January 20, 1942); a letter from J. B. Hill, President, L & N Railroad Company, to Mr. Frank B. Adair, regarding discrimination against Mr. Adair on one of the L & N cars (Box 66, Folder 4; June 3, 1941); a letter from Miss Aminta McGrew to Mr. H. O. Wagner, Superintendent of the Santa Fe Railway Company, about discrimination she faced on one of the company's lines (Box 67, Folder 1; August 10, 1942); and proceedings of the Henderson vs. U.S. Supreme Court case regarding unequal dining car accommodations provided African Americans and whites on the trains of the Southern Railway Company (Box 70, Folder 3; June 5, 1950). (See "House Bills" earlier in this description for information regarding Mitchell's bill to end segregation in interstate travel.)

Retirement:

Documents in the collection regarding Mitchell's retirement from Congress and his activities following his retirement may be found chiefly in Boxes 64-71. Besides papers concerning the good will tour he took following his retirement from Congress, family correspondence he received during and after his retirement, and documents regarding the Mutual Housing Company (all of which are discussed previously in this description), these boxes also contain information about his work as a consultant to the War Department, his speaking engagements during and following his retirement, his home and farm in Virginia, his involvement in political campaigns following his retirement, his work for the Southern Regional Council, his interest in the repeal of poll taxes and the desegregation of schools, and the sale of some of his real estate. In addition, photographs showing Mitchell's home and farm in Virginia may be found in materials from the collection housed in the Prints and Photographs Department.

Papers discussing his upcoming retirement and involving his retirement from Congress may be found in Box 64, Folders 8 and 9, and Box 67, Folders 6-10. The first of these items are newspaper articles (in Box 64, Folder 8) regarding Mitchell's plans to retire. One interesting item; a letter from Mitchell to Harry M. Englestein and Co.; attests to Mitchell's original plans to possibly settle in Chicago for a while and practice law there following his retirement. However, continuing correspondence and newspaper articles in Box 67, Folders 6-10, show that Mitchell later made plans to move to his farm in Virginia and spend the rest of his life there farming and working for better race relations.

Mitchell's work as a consultant for the War Department is mentioned in papers in Box 68, Folders 6 and 7. The first folder contains a study Mitchell conducted while working as a consultant: "The Treatment of the Negro Trainee." Other papers in the two folders regarding his work for the War Department include: newspaper clippings announcing his appointment as a consultant and regarding a tour he took to study areas with nearby Army and Navy bases; copies of the paperwork used to appoint Mitchell a consultant; orders for Mitchell from the War Department; and correspondence regarding a conference at which Mitchell planned to report the findings he recorded while on his tour for the War Department.

Several newspaper clippings in the collection provide photographs and information about Mitchell's home and farm in Virginia. These begin in Box 67, Folder 6 with the first of a series of articles from the Pittsburgh Courier about Mitchell's life and work. The series continues interfiled with other papers throughout the boxes containing documents about Mitchell's retirement. Box 69, Folder 2 contains other clippings (with numerous pictures) about Mitchell's home in Virginia and his life there.

Mitchell's continuing support of various campaigns is also touched upon in the collection. In Box 70, for example, may be found documents pertaining to Mitchell's work for Remmie L. Arnold, a candidate for Governor of Virginia in 1949. These papers include newspaper articles, campaign literature, and correspondence between Arnold and Mitchell. Box 71, Folder 2 also contains a copy of the text of the Democratic Party's 1952 platform (Richmond Times-Dispatch; July 25, 1952) and correspondence regarding an offer by Mitchell to serve as a speaker that year in support of the Democrats.

Additionally, the former congressman's work for the Southern Regional Council, a biracial group that attempted to combat racism in unobtrusive ways (through publishing a newsletter, informing the public about legislation affecting African Americans, sponsoring speakers at various events, etc.), is covered in the collection. Papers related to this work begins in Box 69, Folder 2, and continue interfiled with other papers through Box 71. These include summaries of proceedings of annual meetings, correspondence, and membership records and copies of the organization's newsletter. Of particular interest regarding the group are an article in an issue of New South about Mitchell agreeing to head the Council (Box 69, Folder 5) and a phamplet in Folder 5 of Box 70 entitled "Southern Regional Council."

Information about attempts to repeal the poll tax and about the battle over the desegregation of schools may also be found among the papers from Mitchell's retirement years. Papers pertaining to the efforts to repeal the poll tax may be found in Box 70, Folders 2 and 4 in the form of newspaper clippings about the struggle. Clippings regarding the desegregation of schools are much more numerous and may be found in Folders 4 and 8 of Box 72. They include articles about the Supreme Court's decision that the segregation of schools was unconstitutional, about the plans of various communities to adjust to the new law that schools must be desegregated, and the reactions of people in those communities to the Supreme Court ruling.

A very small amount of documentation may be found in Box 71, Folder 8 regarding the sale of some of Mitchell's real estate. These papers include advertisements and descriptions of the "Mitchellville Subdivision."

Finally, a couple of items of interest in Boxes 68 and 69 regarding national history are: a letter from Mitchell to Mr. William G. Nunn, Managing Editor of the Pittsburgh Courier, in which he expresses his sadness over the death of President Roosevelt (Box 68, Folder 9; April 15, 1945) and a newspaper article regarding the decision of the United Nations Organization not to locate its headquarters in Virginia because of the Jim Crow laws in place there (Box 69, Folder 1; Richmond Times-Dispatch; January 6, 1946).

Other Topics:

Small amounts of documentation may also be found in the Mitchell Papers regarding: the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini and the reactions of Americans to such actions; the push to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine; the movement by some American African Americans to obtain congressional funding to return to Africa; general information about the Tuskegee Institute; the case of the Scottsboro Boys; and Mitchell's tour of Havana, Cuba. Throughout the collection may also be found numerous copies of speeches by James Farley, Chairman of the National Democratic Committee during the years Mitchell was in Congress.

List of items stored in vault:

Originals of selected letters are stored in a vault (letters signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walt Disney, Helen Keller, etc.). Photocopies are filed in their original chronological positions in the collection files. These items include:

1. Chicago Cubs ticket (1939), signed by Philip K. Wrigley, President of the Chicago National League Ball Club

2. Tickets to the floor of the Democratic National Convention (July 1940)

3. Ticket to the President's Platform (January 20, 1941) for the 1941 inauguration ceremonies for President and Vice President of the United States and accompanying programs to ceremonies and dinner

4. Letter to Mitchell signed by Walt Disney (on Pinocchio letterhead; dated March 21, 1940).

5. Telegram sent to Mitchell from Edna R. Abbot (February 29, 1940) announcing the death of her husband, Robert S. Abbot, Founder, Editor and Publisher of the Chicago Defender and Mitchell's reply telegram of sympathy to her (dated same day).

6. A postcard and two letters signed by Jack Guzik regarding payment to Mitchell for his work on Guzik's tax evasion case and outlining directions to Mitchell regarding the case (September 8, 1941;October 10, 1941; and November 10, 1941).

7. Hand-signed letter from Helen Keller in which she asks Mitchell for financial support for her Committee on the Deaf-blind of America (Department of the Foundation for the Blind; letter dated January 23, 1946).

8. Hand-written and signed letter (October 4, 1937) to Mitchell from Booker T. Washington, Jr. in which he refers to a loan Mitchell made to him and different ways they've helped each other (which Mitchell later denied - see detailed description under "Personal and Family Correspondence").

9. Letter signed by Thurgood Marshall, Special Counsel to the NAACP (October 17, 1941) in which he refers to his desire to meet with Mitchell.

10. Telegram to Mitchell from Arthur M. Carter, Sports Editor for the Afro-American (May 20, 1940), in which he asks Mitchell to throw the season-opening pitch for the newly-organized Interstate Baseball League for Virginia and Maryland.

11. A letter to Mitchell (June 13, 1940), signed by Ivan T. Florsheim, President of The Florsheim Corporation, in which he asks the congressman to help defeat the LaFollette "Oppressive Labor Practices" Bill; and a letter signed by Ivan P. Florsheim, Jr., asking Mitchell for the same (June 13, 1940).

12. Four signed letters to Mitchell from President Franklin Deleano Roosevelt. In one letter, he states he has appointed Mitchell to the committee to oversee the expenditure of federal funds set aside for the American Negro Exposition in Chicago (June 5, 1940) and in another, he responds to Mitchell's suggestion that the Navy may be discriminating against African American sailors (August 4, 1942). A fourth letter contains Roosevelt's expressions of appreciation to Mitchell for a letter the congressman sent the President in which he complimented him on his work (November 18, 1942), and the fifth letter contains Roosevelt's plans for continuing talks with Britain regarding the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine (Undated).

13. Two letters signed by John Edgar Hoover while he was still serving as Director of the United States Department of Justice. One letter is to Mr. J. G. Lemon, Jr., Southside Hospital Service Plan, Inc., in which he informs Mr. Lemon that his application to work for the FBI has been rejected because of low test scores (July 8, 1941). The other letter is to Mr. Troy V. Hudson of Chicago, in which Hoover tells Mr. Hudson he is sending him details of positions open in the FBI (December 8, 1941).

14. Five letters (September 9, 1939-March 22, 1940) to Mitchell, signed by Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture under the Roosevelt Administration. In these letters, he discusses with Mitchell the establishment of an Agricultural Advisory Council and assures the congressman that the African American farmer will be considered in the Department of Agriculture's budget plans.

15. Letter to Mitchell, signed by Senator Richard J. Daley (March 19, 1940) in which Daley asks Mitchell to help him in obtaining a W. P. A. position for one of his constituents.

List of contents of the collection:

Box 1

Folders:

1 November 11, 1898 - January 12, 1913

2 1914 - September 5, 1919

3 July 1920 - July 27, 1926

4 February 24, 1927 - 1929

5 May 1930 - June 1931

6 July 1931 - December 1931

7 February 1932 - December 1932

8 School Census Report (1930), February 3 - March 27, 1933

9 April 1933 - October 1933

10 November 1933 - December 1933

11 January 1934 - February 1934

12 March 1934 - April 1934

Box 2

1 May 1934 - July 1934

2 August 1934

3 September 1934

4 October 1934

5 October 1934

6 November 1-7, 1934

7 November 8, 1934

8 November 9-10, 1934

9 November 11-13, 1934

10 November 14-19, 1934

11 November 20-22, 1934

Box 3

1 November 23-26, 1934

2 November 27-30, 1934

3 December 1-5, 1934

4 December 6-8, 1934

5 December 9-15, 1934

6 December 16-26, 1934

7 December 27-31, 1934

8 Undated 1934

9 Undated 1934

10 January 1-2, 1935

11 January 3-4, 1935

Box 4

1 January 5-8, 1935

2 January 9-10, 1935

3 January 11-12, 1935

4 January 13-15, 1935

5 January 16-17, 1935

6 January 18-20, 1935

7 January 21-22, 1935

8 January 23-24, 1935

9 January 25-27, 1935

10 January 28, 1935

Box 5

1 January 19-30, 1935

2 January 31, 1935

3 February 1-2, 1935

4 February 3-4, 1935

5 February 5, 1935

6 February 6-9, 1935

7 February 15-16, 1935

8 February 17-18, 1935

9 February 19, 1935

10 February 20,1935

Box 6

1 February 21-22, 1935

2 February 23-25, 1935

3 February 26-27, 1935

4 February 28, 1935

5 March 1-2, 1935

6 March 3-4, 1935

7 March 5, 1935

8 March 6, 1935

9 March 7-8, 1935

Box 7

1 March 9-11, 1935

2 March 12-13, 1935

3 March 14-15, 1935

4 March 17, 1935

5 March 18-20, 1935

6 March 21-22, 1935

7 March 23, 1935

8 March 23, 1935

9 March 23, 1935

10 March 24-25, 1935

11 March 26, 1935

Box 8

1 March 26-28, 1935

2 March 29-31, 1935

3 April 1-2, 1935

4 April 3, 1935

5 April 4-5, 1935

6 April 6-7, 1935

7 April 8-9, 1935

8 April 10-11, 1935

9 April 12, 1935

10 April 13, 1935

11 April 14-16, 1935

12 April 17, 1935

Box 9

1 April 18-20, 1935

2 April 21-22, 1935

3 April 23-24, 1935

4 April 25-27, 1935

5 April 28-29, 1935

6 April 30 and Undated April, 1935

7 May 1-3, 1935

8 May 4-6, 1935

9 May 7-8, 1935

10 May 9-10, 1935

11 May 11, 1935

12 May 12-13, 1935

Box 10

1 May 14-15, 1935

2 May 16-17, 1935

3 May 18-19, 1935

4 May 20, 1935

5 May 21, 1935

6 May 22-23, 1935

7 May 24, 1935

8 May 25-27, 1935

9 May 28, 1935

10 May 29-30, 1935

11 May 31 and Undated May, 1935

Box 11

1 June 1-5, 1935

2 June 6-8, 1935

3 June 9-11, 1935

4 June 12-15, 1935

5 June 16-19, 1935

6 June 20-23, 1935

7 June 24, 1935

8 June 24, 1935

9 June 25, 1935

10 June 25, 1935

11 June 26-27, 1935

12 June 28-30, 1935

Box 12

1 July 1-3, 1935

2 July 4-8, 1935

3 July 9, 1935

4 July 9, 1935

5 July 9, 1935

6 July 10-14,1935

7 July 15-17, 1935

8 July 18-20, 1935

9 July 21-23, 1935

10 July 24-26, 1935

11 July 27-29, 1935

12 July 30-31, 1935

Box 13

1 August 1-3, 1935

2 August 5-11, 1935

3 August 12-15, 1935

4 August 16-20, 1935

5 August 21-25, 1935

6 August 26-31, 1935

7 September 1-11, 1935

8 September 12-18, 1935

9 September 19-23, 1935

10 September 24-30, 1935

11 October 1-7, 1935

12 October 8-17, 1935

Box 14

1 October 18-31, 1935

2 November 1-13, 1935

3 November 14-30, 1935

4 December 1-7, 1935

5 December 8-15, 1935

6 December 16-21, 1935

7 December 23-31, 1935

8 1935 Undated

9 1935 Undated

Box 15

1 1935 Undated

2 1935 Undated

3 January 1-4, 1936

4 January 5-7, 1936

5 January 8-9, 1936

6 January 10-14, 1936

7 January 15-18, 1936

8 January 19-21, 1936

9 January 22-24, 1936

Box 16

1 January 25-26, 1936

2 January 27-29, 1936

3 January 30-31, 1936

4 January 1936

5 February 1-3, 1936

6 February 4-5, 1936

7 February 6-10, 1936

8 February 11-13, 1936

9 February 14-17, 1936

10 February 18-20, 1936

11 February 21-24, 1936

Box 17

1 February 25-27, 1936

2 February 28-March 2, 1936

3 March 3-5, 1936

4 March 5-8, 1936

5 March 9-11, 1936

6 March 12-13, 1936

7 March 14-16, 1936

8 March 17-19, 1936

9 March 20-24, 1936

10 March 25-27, 1936

11 March 28-29, 1936

Box 18

1 March 30-31, 1936

2 April 1-3, 1936

3 April 4-8, 1936

4 April 9-14, 1936

5 April 15-18, 1936

6 April 19-22, 1936

7 April 23, 1936

8 April 24, 1936

9 April 25-27, 1936

10 April 28-30, 1936

11 May 1-4, 1936

Box 19

1 May 5-7, 1936

2 May 8-12, 1936

3 May 13-17, 1936

4 May 18-20, 1936

5 May 21-22, 1936

6 May 23-26, 1936

7 May 27-June 3, 1936

8 June 4-8, 1936

Box 20

1 June 9-17, 1936

2 June 18-23, 1936

3 June 25-30, 1936

4 July 1-19, 1936

5 July 20-30, 1936

6 July 31-August 3, 1936

7 August 4-7, 1936

8 August 8-13, 1936

Box 21

1 August 14-22, 1936

2 August 24-26, 1936

3 August 27-31, 1936

4 September 1-3, 1936

5 September 4-8, 1936

6 September 9-11, 1936

7 September 12-15, 1936

8 September 16-20, 1936

Box 22

1 September 21-23, 1936

2 September 24-26, 1936

3 September 27-31, 1936

4 October 1-2, 1936

5 October 3-5, 1936

6 October 6-7, 1936

7 October 8-9, 1936

8 October 10-12, 1936

Box 23

1 October 13-15, 1936

2 October 15-16, 1936

3 October 17-19, 1936

4 October 20-21, 1936

5 October 22-23, 1936

6 October 24-26, 1936

7 October 27-29, 1936

8 October 30-31, 1936

9 November 1-3, 1936

Box 24

1 November 4-5, 1936

2 November 6-8, 1936

3 November 9-11, 1936

4 November 12-14, 1936

5 November 15-21, 1936

6 November 23-27, 1936

7 November 28-30, 1936

8 December 1-4, 1936

Box 25

1 December 5-11, 1936

2 December 12-18, 1936

3 December 19-31, 1936

4 Undated 1936

5 Undated 1936

6 Undated 1936

7 Undated 1936

8 Undated 1936

9 Undated 1936

10 1936?

Box 26

1 1936?

2 January 2-5, 1937

3 January 6-8, 1937

4 January 9-12, 1937

5 January 13-15, 1937

6 January 16-19, 1937

7 January 20-23, 1937

8 January 24-26, 1937

9 January 27-29, 1937

Box 27

1 January 30-February 2, 1937

2 February 3-5, 1937

3 February 6-9, 1937

4 February 10-11, 1937

5 February 12-13, 1937

6 February 14-15, 1937

7 February 16-17, 1937

8 February 17-18, 1937

Box 28

1 February 19-20, 1937

2 February 20, 1937

3 February 21-23, 1937

4 February 24-25, 1937

5 February 26, 1937

6 February 27, 1937

7 February Undated-March 1, 1937

8 March 2-3, 1937

9 March 4-5, 1937

Box 29

1 March 6-8, 1937

2 March 9-10, 1937

3 March 11-12, 1937

4 March 13-15, 1937

5 March 16-18, 1937

6 March 19-23, 1937

7 March 24-28, 1937

8 March 29-30, 1937

9 March 31-April 1, 1937

10 April 2-4, 1937

Box 30

1 April 5-6, 1937

2 April 7-10, 1937

3 April 11-14, 1937

4 April 15-18, 1937

5 April 19-20, 1937

6 April 21-27, 1937

7 April 28-May 2, 1937

8 May 3-11, 1937

9 May 12-14, 1937

10 May 15-18, 1937

Box 31

1 May 19-25, 1937

2 May 26-31, 1937

3 June 1-6, 1937

4 June 7-13, 1937

5 June 14-18, 1937

6 June 19-25, 1937

7 June 26-30, 1937

8 July 1-8, 1937

9 July 9-13, 1937

10 July 14-15, 1937

Box 32

1 July 16-17, 1937

2 July 19-22, 1937

3 July 23-27, 1937

4 July 28-31, 1937

5 August 2-9, 1937

6 August 10-14, 1937

7 August 16-21, 1937

8 August 22-31, 1937

9 September 1-11, 1937

Box 33

1 September 12-18, 1937

2 September 19-30, 1937

3 October 1-9, 1937

4 October 10-19, 1937

5 October 20-27, 1937

6 October 28-November 2, 1937

7 November 3-9, 1937

8 November 10, 1937

9 November 11-16, 1937

Box 34

1 November 17-20, 1937

2 November 21-24, 1937

3 November 25-30, 1937

4 December 1-3, 1937

5 December 4-9, 1937

6 December 10-14, 1937

7 December 15-17, 1937

8 December 18-28, 1937

Box 35

1 December 29-31, 1937

2 Undated 1937

3 Undated 1937

4 Undated 1937

5 Undated 1937

6 January 1-7, 1938

Box 36

1 January 8-10, 1938

2 January 11-14, 1938

3 January 15-18, 1938

4 January 19-25, 1938

5 January 26-31, 1938

6 February 1-5, 1938

7 February 6-10, 1938

8 February 11-16, 1938

9 February 17-21, 1938

10 February 22-24, 1938

11 February 25, 1938

Box 37

1 March 1-4, 1938

2 March 5-7, 1938

3 March 7, 1938

4 March 7, 1938

5 March 8-12, 1938

6 March 13-17, 1938

7 March 18-20, 1938

8 March 21-24, 1938

9 March 25-29, 1938

10 March 30, 1938

11 March 31 & Undated 1938

12 April 1, 1938

13 April 2-10, 1938

Box 38

1 April 11-15, 1938

2 April 16-19, 1938

3 April 20-22, 1938

4 April 23-27, 1938

5 April 28-30, 1938

6 First Quarter 1938

7 May 1-5, 1938

8 May 6-9, 1938

9 May 10-16, 1938

10 May 17-19, 1938

11 May 20-24, 1938

12 May 25-30, 1938

Box 39

1 June 1-7, 1938

2 June 8-13, 1938

3 June 14-18, 1938

4 June 19-28, 1938

5 June 29-July 6, 1938

6 July 7-17, 1938

7 July 18-30, 1938

8 August 1-11, 1938

9 August 12-September 6, 1938

10 September 10-14, 1938

11 September 15-22, 1938

12 September 23-27, 1938

Box 40

1 September 28-October 5, 1938

2 October 6-11, 1938

3 October 12-17, 1938

4 October 17, 1938

5 October 18-23, 1938

6 October 24-30 & Undated October 1938

7 November 1-8, 1938

8 November 9-10, 1938

9 November 11-16, 1938

10 November 17-23, 1938

11 November 24-December 4, 1938

Box 41

1 December 5-10, 1938

2 December 11-20, 1938

3 December 21-28, 1938

4 December 29-31, 1938

5 Undated December 1938 & Undated 1938

6 Undated 1938

7 January 1-3, 1939

8 January 4-7, 1939

9 January 8-11, 1939

10 January 12-13, 1939

Box 42

1 January 14-17, 1939

2 January 18-21, 1939

3 January 22-26, 1939

4 January 27-31, 1939 & Undated January 1939

5 February 1-4, 1939

6 February 5-6, 1939

7 February 7-9, 1939

8 February 10-12, 1939

9 February 13, 1939

10 February 14-17, 1939

11 February 17-22, 1939

Box 43

1 February 23-28, 1939

2 March 1-2, 1939

3 March 3-6, 1939

4 March 7-12, 1939

5 March 13-18, 1939

6 March 19-21, 1939

7 March 22-25, 1939

8 March 26-29, 1939

9 March 30-April 2, 1939

10 April 3-6, 1939

11 April 7-10, 1939

Box 44

1 April 11-12, 1939

2 April 13-14, 1939

3 April 15-17, 1939

4 April 18-21, 1939

5 April 22-24, 1939

6 April 25-27, 1939

7 April 28-30, 1939

8 May 1-3, 1939

9 May 4-6, 1939

10 May 7-10, 1939

Box 45

1 May 11-15, 1939

2 May 16-20, 1939

3 May 21-24, 1939

4 May 25-29, 1939

5 May 30-June 3, 1939

6 June 4-7, 1939

7 June 8-9, 1939

8 June 10-12, 1939

9 June 13-15, 1939

10 June 16-19, 1939

Box 46

1 June 20-24, 1939

2 June 25-27, 1939

3 June 28-July 3, 1939

4 July 4-10, 1939

5 July 11-15, 1939

6 July 17-20, 1939

7 July 21-25, 1939

8 July 26-August 2, 1939

9 August 3-15, 1939

10 August 16-29, 1939

11 August 30-September 8, 1939

Box 47

1 September 9-18, 1939

2 September 19-20, 1939

3 September 21-24, 1939

4 September 25-27, 1939

5 September 28-30, 1939

6 October 1-8, 1939

7 October 9-12, 1939

8 October 14-19, 1939

9 October 20-26, 1939

10 October 27-31, 1939

Box 48

1 November 1-4, 1939

2 November 5-15, 1939

3 November 16-26, 1939

4 November 27-December 7, 1939

5 December 8-15, 1939

6 December 16-27, 1939

7 December 28-21, 1939 & Undated 1939

8 Undated 1939

9 Undated 1939

10 1939-1941 (Jack Guzick Items)

Box 49

1 January 1-6, 1940

2 January 7-10, 1940

3 January 11-15, 1940

4 January 16-18, 1940

5 January 19-20, 1940

6 January 21-24, 1940

7 January 25-26, 1940

8 January 27-30, 1940

9 January 31, 1940 & Undated January 1940

Box 50

1 February 1-2, 1940

2 February 2-3, 1940

3 February 4-5, 1940

4 February 6-7, 1940

5 February 8-9, 1940

6 February 10-13, 1940

7 February 14-15, 1940

8 February 16-19, 1940

9 February 20-22, 1940

10 February 23-26, 1940

11 February 27-28, 1940

Box 51

1 February 29-March 3, 1940

2 March 4-5, 1940

3 March 6-10, 1940

4 March 11-13, 1940

5 March 14-18, 1940

6 March 19-21, 1940

7 March 22-26, 1940

8 March 27-28, 1940

9 March 29-31, 1940

10 April 1-3, 1940

Box 52

1 April 4-8, 1940

2 April 9-11, 1940

3 April 12-15, 1940

4 April 16-18, 1940

5 April 19-22, 1940

6 April 23-25, 1940

7 April 26-30, 1940

8 May 1-6, 1940

9 May 7-13, 1940

10 May 14-17, 1940

11 May 18-23, 1940

12 May 24-31, 1940

Box 53

1 June 1-5, 1940

2 June 6-10, 1940

3 June 11-13, 1940

4 June 14-16, 1940

5 June 17-19, 1940

6 June 20-22, 1940

7 June 23-30, 1940

8 July 1-2, 1940

9 July 3-6, 1940

10 July 9-12, 1940

11 July 13-16, 1940

Box 54

1 July 17-21, 1940

2 July 22-25, 1940

3 July 26-30, 1940

4 July 31-August 5, 1940

5 August 6-9, 1940

6 August 10-14, 1940

7 August 15-20, 1940

8 August 21-26, 1940

9 August 27-30, 1940

10 August 31-September 3, 1940

11 September 4-6, 1940

12 September 7-10, 1940

13 September 11-15, 1940

Box 55

1 September 16-20, 1940

2 September 23-27, 1940

3 September 28-October 2, 1940

4 October 3-7, 1940

5 October 8-12, 1940

6 October 13-18, 1940

7 October 18-24, 1940

8 October 25-31, 1940

9 November 1-7, 1940

10 November 8-12, 1940

11 November 13-16, 1940

12 November 18-19, 1940

Box 56

1 November 18, 1940

2 November 18, 1940

3 November 20-25, 1940

4 November 26-30 & Undated November

5 December 1-6, 1940

6 December 7-11, 1940

7 December 12-16, 1940

8 December 17-20, 1940

Box 57

1 December 20-31, 1940

2 Undated 1940

3 Undated 1940

4 Undated 1940

5 January 1-6, 1941

6 January 7-10, 1941

7 January 11-14, 1941

8 January 15-16, 1941

9 January 17-20, 1941

Box 58

1 January 21-26, 1941

2 January 27-31, 1941

3 February 1-4, 1941

4 February 5-10, 1941

5 February 11-14, 1941

6 February 15-21, 1941

7 February 22-28, 1941

8 March 1-5, 1941

9 March 6-10, 1941

Box 59

1 March 11-13, 1941

2 March 14-17, 1941

3 March 18-19, 1941

4 March 20-22, 1941

5 March 23-25, 1941

6 March 26-28, 1941

7 March 29-31 & Undated March, 1941

8 April 1-5, 1941

9 April 6-14, 1941

Box 60

1 Papers: April 15-18, 1941

2 Papers: April 19-24, 1941

3 Papers: April 25-29, 1941

4 Papers: April 30; June 1- 6, 1941

5 Papers: June 7-13, 1941

6 Papers: June 14-June 20, 1941; May 1, 1941

7 Papers: May 2-5, 1941

8 Papers: May 6-9, 1941

Box 61

1 May 10-15, 1941

2 May 16-21, 1941

3 May 22-26, 1941

4 May 27-31, 1941

5 June 21-29, 1941

6 June 30-July 2, 1941

7 July 2-9, 1941

8 July 10-16, 1941

9 July 18-21, 1941

Box 62

1 July 22-28, 1941

2 July 29-August 3, 1941

3 August 4-12, 1941

4 August 13-18, 1941

5 August 19-24, 1941

6 August 25-31 & Undated August, 1941

7 September 2-16, 1941

8 September 17-26, 1941

9 September 27-October 6, 1941

10 October 7-14, 1941

11 October 15-26, 1941

Box 63

1 October 27-November 1, 1941

2 November 2-9, 1941

3 November 10, 1941

4 November 11-17, 1941

5 November 18-25, 1941

6 November 26-30, 1941

7 Undated November-December 4, 1941

8 December 5-10, 1941

9 December 11-15, 1941

Box 64

1 December 16-31, 1941 & Undated December 1941

2 Undated 1941

3 Undated 1941

4 January 1-12, 1942

5 January 13-17, 1942

6 January 21-28, 1942

7 January 29-February 3, 1942

8 February 4-10, 1942

9 February 11-20, 1942

Box 65

1 February 21-26, 1942

2 February 27-March 4, 1942

3 March 9-17, 1942

4 March 18-25, 1942

5 March 26-31, 1942

6 April 1-10, 1942

7 April 11-20, 1942

8 April 21-30, 1942

9 April 1942

Box 66

1 May 1-9, 1942

2 May 10-19, 1942

3 May 20-31, 1942

4 June 1-10, 1942

5 June 11-13, 1942

6 June 14-19, 1942

7 June 20-30, 1942

8 July 1-10, 1942

9 July 11-15, 1942

10 July 16-24, 1942

11 July 25-31, 1942

Box 67

1 August 1-16, 1942

2 August 17-September 9, 1942

3 September 10-October 6, 1942

4 October 7-15, 1942

5 October 16-25, 1942

6 October 26-November 14, 1942

7 November 16-20, 1942

8 November 21-December 5, 1942

9 December 5-31, 1942

10 December 1942 & Undated 1942

11 Undated 1942

Box 68

1 Undated 1942

2 January 1-February 1, 1942

3 February 2-27, 1943

4 March 1-May 31, 1943

5 June 3-November 24, 1943

6 November 26, 1943-January 31, 1944

7 February 2-August 10, 1944

8 August 12, 1944-February 24, 1945

9 March 16-September 17, 1945

10 September 22-December 18, 1945 & Undated 1945

Box 69

1 January 2-June 27, 1946

2 July 20-December 30, 1946

3 January 7-March 23, 1947

4 March 24-27, 1947 & Undated

5 April 2-July 31, 1947

6 March 1931-March 1947 (Check stubs)

7 September 7, 1947-February 1948

8 March-October 1948

Box 70

1 November 1, 1948-March 31, 1949

2 April 1-September 24, 1949

3 July 1-October 18, 1949

4 October-December, 1949 & Undated 1949

5 Undated 1949

6 January 1-July 13, 1950

7 July 17-December 11, 1950

8 December 13, 1950-January 10, 1951

9 January 12-April 14, 1951

10 April 16-July 19, 1951

11 December 7, 1951 & Undated 1951

Box 71

1 January 12-July 20, 1952

2 July 21-March 30, 1952

3 January-December 1953

4 Undated 1953-May 30, 1954

5 July 1954-January 1955

6 January 12, 1955 (transcript of hearing of court case)

7 January 5, 1954-December 28, 1955

8 Undated 1955 & January 9-July 17, 1956

9 June 1, 1957-May 28, 1965

10 June 15, 1965-May 10, 1968

Box 72

Undated Items

Box 73

Undated Items