Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The papers of W. Averell Harriman, diplomat, entrepreneur, politician, and philanthropist, were deposited in the Library of Congress in 1985. Small additions were received in 1990, 1991, and 1992. In 1991 Harriman's widow, Pamela Harriman, converted to a gift all material formerly on deposit. The Alaska expedition journal of Edward Henry Harriman was given by W. Averell Harriman's daughters, Kathleen Lanier Harriman Mortimer and Mary Averell Harriman Fisk, in 1992. In 1998 a further addition was given to the Library by the estate of Pamela Harriman. The third addition of the W. Averell Harriman Papers contains material from several separate donations. The book A Study of Transportation by Airway as Related to Competition with Rail Carriers in Continental United States was purchased by the Library in 2004. The audio interview of Averell Harriman concerning suffragist and diplomat Florence Harriman was given to the Library by Patricia Romero in 2014. The Mark Lincoln Chadwin files were donated by Chadwin's wife, Adrienne Chadwin, in 2009. The reprint of the article concerning paratyphoid and accompanying letter signed by President Bill Clinton were given to the Library by the article’s author, John Hedley-White. The remaining material in the third addition was removed during processing from the Pamela Harriman Papers, donated by the estate of Pamela Harriman 1998-2001.
Processing History
The papers of W. Averell Harriman were arranged and described in 1988 by Allan Teichroew with the assistance of Marie Friendly, Connie L. Cartledge, Paul Colton, Patrick Holyfield, Sherralyn McCoy, and Thelma Queen and a printed guide published in 1991. Subsequent material received from 1990 through 1992 was processed as Addition I by Connie L. Cartledge and Allyson H. Jackson in 1993. Additional revisions were made to the register in 1997 and 1998 by Mary A. Lacy, Patrick Kerwin, and Sheri Shepherd. Classified material in the collection was systematically reviewed in 1998 and a large portion of it declassified and subsequently filed in the series, containers, and folders from which it had been removed. Addition II, consisting of items received in 1998, was processed in 1999 by Connie L. Cartledge with the assistance of Haley Barnett, Patrick Kerwin, Sherralyn McCoy, John R. Monagle, and Susie H. Moody. Addition III, consisting of items received 1998-2014, was processed in 2016 by Michael Folkerts. Many of the items in Addition III originated with the Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman Papers and were removed during the processing of that collection in 2016 due to their pertinence to W. Averell Harriman.
Transfers
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Motion picture films and sound and video recordings have been transferred to the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. Artistic prints have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the W. Averell Harriman Papers. Patrons are encouraged to contact these divisions in advance of a research visit.
Related Material
Related collections in the Manuscript Division include the papers of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman. (see https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms018013).
Microfilm
A microfilm copy of the Alaska expedition album is available on one reel of microfilm from the Library's Photoduplication Service for purchase subject to the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). This microfilm edition may also be requested on interlibrary loan through the Library's Loan Division for a period of one month. Fifty-three reels of microfilm of the World War II Files may be used in the Manuscript Reading Room but are not available through interlibrary loan.
Online Content
A digital version of the Alaska expedition album is available on the Library of Congress website at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss61911.0001.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, W. Averell Harriman Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.