Scope and Content Note
The papers of William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) span the years 1877-1940, with nearly one-third relating to the presidential campaign of 1896 and the greater part of the remainder dated between 1913 and 1925. The collection consists of the following series: General Correspondence ; Special Correspondence ; Subject File , Speech, Article, and Report File ; Miscellany ; Biographer's Papers ; and an Addition .
The correspondence for 1896 and early 1897 relates to public opinion and reaction to Bryan's nomination and campaign. Other items in the General Correspondence reflect his support of the Spanish-American War, his efforts to preserve world peace before the American entry into World War I, his career as a lecturer sponsored primarily by Chautauqua and its affiliates, and his interest in prohibition, political and monetary reform, and religious issues.
The Special Correspondence contains three volumes of letterbooks, 1883-1891, two volumes of carbon copies consisting largely of outgoing correspondence encompassing Bryan's two years as secretary of state, 1913-1915, and namesake and children's letters. The Subject File includes muster rolls and discharge documents from the Spanish-American War as well as material pertaining to the Panama Canal and the evolution trial of John Thomas Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee.
Miscellaneous material, scrapbooks, cartoons, a travel album, and newspaper clippings on Bryan's death, together with addresses, reports, editorials, printed matter, memorabilia, photographs, and an unpublished biography prepared by Bryan's daughter, Grace Bryan Hargreaves, complete the collection.
Most prominent among Bryan's many correspondents is Woodrow Wilson. The Wilson-Bryan correspondence is contained chiefly in the Addition series, but there are also letters between the two men in the General Correspondence and copies of letters in the State Department exchanges of the Special Correspondence . Other correspondents include Newton D. Baker, Bernard M. Baruch, Count Johann von Bernstorff, Edward Bok, Evangeline Booth, William E. Borah, Charles W. Bryan, Albert S. Burleson, Andrew Carnegie, Calvin Coolidge, Josephus Daniels, Paul Fuller, Martin H. Glynn, Gilbert M. Hithcock, Cordell Hull, Ollie M. James, David Starr Jordan, Frank B. Kellogg, George W. Kirchwey, Claude Kitchin, Robert M. La Follette (1855-1925), Robert Lansing, John Lind, David Lloyd George, Boaz Long, William G. McAdoo, Vance McCormick, Aimee Semple McPherson, John R. Mott, George W. Norris, Lee S. Overman, George Foster Peabody, Raymond Robins, James Brown Scott, Charles M. Sheldon, Morris Sheppard, Sir Cecil A. Spring-Rice, Billy Sunday, Huston Thompson, and William Allen White.