Scope and Content Note
The papers of Hilary Pollard Jones (1863-1938) span the years 1889-1937, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the years 1920-1930. The collection consists of orders to duty, general correspondence, a subject file, a speech file, and other papers which document Jones’s naval career, including his services in World War I, his command of the Atlantic Fleet, his services on the General Board, and his role in naval aviation. The greater part of the material, however, is concerned with the conferences on limitation of armaments, which Jones attended as an adviser or a delegate, and the Presidential Oil Commission and Naval Oil Reserve Commission, on which he served as a member.
The material concerning the armament conferences includes Jones’s statements or testimony before the various sessions, correspondence, reports and memoranda. While Jones was attending the London Naval Conference in 1930, he wrote day-by-day reports of negotiations with the conference delegates. There are letters concerning the conference from Hugh Gibson, Joseph C. Grew, Frank B. Kellogg, and Henry L. Stimson.
The purpose of the Presidential Oil Commission, formed by Calvin Coolidge in 1924, was to investigate and study the oil resources in the United States. Material relating to the commission includes articles, reports, photographs, and printed matter, as well as letters from Colby Mitchell Chester, George West Holland, George Otis Smith, and Curtis Dwight Wilbur.
Attached to Richard Stockton’s letter of request for criticism prior to the publication of his book Inevitable War (New York, Perth Co., 1932) are Jones’s comments on the chapters relating to the armament conferences. The collection is rounded out by miscellaneous material such as invitations, newspaper clippings, photographs, and printed matter concerning Jones’s tours of duty.