Scope and Content Note
The papers of George Van Horn Moseley (1874-1960) span the years 1855-1960, with the bulk of the papers concentrated in the period 1916-1959. The collection documents Moseley's military career, 1899-1938, and his interest in politics and international affairs from 1938 until his death in 1960. The papers consist of eight series: Diaries , Correspondence , Military Papers , Subject File , Speeches and Writings File , Printed Matter , Scrapbooks , and Oversize.
The Diaries , 1916-1919, the Correspondence series, 1907-1957, and the Military Papers , 1911-1942, relate primarily to Moseley's military career. The diaries document his activities on the Mexican border, his service in Europe during World War I, and his duties in France immediately after the war. The Correspondence, primarily letters between Moseley and military colleagues, relates principally to administrative matters. The most significant correspondence is in the scrapbooks , particularly Set 1 and the first three volumes of Set 2.
The Military Papers series is comprised chiefly of bound volumes that Moseley compiled about various aspects of his military career. Subjects documented are the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), Armenia, the Mexican Revolution, and the Bonus March of World War I veterans on Washington, D.C. The American Expeditionary Forces files constitute the bulk of the Military Papers. As chief of the Fourth Section of the AEF, Moseley was in charge of preparation for combat, strategic supply, transportation, construction, and evacuation of the American army in France. Items in the Military Papers often include editorial notes by Moseley.
The Subject File , 1855-1958, illustrates Moseley's interests in national and international affairs. Topics featured are communism, military preparedness and manpower, immigration, and world government. The files also reflect Moseley's attitude toward Jews, his dislike of Franklin Roosevelt and New Deal policies, and his opposition to communism and the world government movement.
The Speeches and Writings File , 1915-1958, includes speeches, articles, notes, and other writings by Moseley. His unpublished memoirs, "One Soldier's Journey," comprise the bulk of the series. Written for his three sons, the memoirs chronicle some of Moseley's early days in Evanston, Illinois, his graduation from the United States Military Academy, and his service in the Philippines, 1900-1907, and on the Mexican border, 1916-1917. Also documented in the memoirs are his duties in Europe during World War I and later with the army of occupation, his work with the Harbord Commission, his tenure in the Bureau of the Budget, and his second tour of duty on the Mexican border, 1928-1929, and some of his activities from his retirement in 1938 through 1944, including his testimony in 1939 before the Dies Committee. Questions about his relationship with an anti-Semitic group and some of his speeches led to his appearance before the committee which was investigating un-American activities. After his testimony describing a Jewish-led communist plot to overthrow the government, the committee ordered his evidence stricken from the record.
The Printed Matter series, 1899-1955, is divided into two categories, books and miscellaneous. The majority of the books are army and War Department reports containing annotations by Moseley. The miscellaneous printed matter includes a variety of pamphlets, leaflets, and clippings. Among the prominent subjects featured in the publications are communism, Nazism, and anti-Semitism.
The papers in the Scrapbooks series, 1889-1960, include military and personal correspondence, military orders, writings, notes, and other material relating to Moseley's interests and activities. Scrapbooks in Set 1 contain notes in which Moseley commented on politics and international affairs. Volumes in Set 1 have an index in either the front or back listing the topics and correspondents appearing in each scrapbook. Some of the subjects most frequently documented are communism, immigration, Jews, labor unions, and presidential parties and elections. Some scrapbooks contain correspondence between Moseley and Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower and printed matter about the generals. Moseley served with both officers in his capacity as deputy chief of staff of the army.
Among the most significant and frequent of Moseley's correspondents are Dwight D. Eisenhower, Walter George, James G. Harbord, Herbert Hoover, Douglas MacArthur, Joseph McCarthy, Robert Rutherford McCormick, John J. Pershing, John E. Rankin, Carroll Reece, Walter Bedell Smith, Joseph Warren Stilwell, and Eugene Talmadge.