Scope and Content Note
The papers of Key Pittman (1872-1940) span the years 1898-1951, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1912-1940 and relating primarily to his position as senator from Nevada. The collection contains files of political, personal, and legal correspondence, speeches and articles, subject files, clippings, and other printed matter pertaining to such subjects as silver, mining and coinage, Boulder Dam, reclamation of lands in Nevada, Alaskan affairs, neutrality, foreign trade, commercial relations with China and Asia, the League of Nations, and women's suffrage. The collection is arranged largely as received and is organized into twenty-two series.
A Legislative File composed of congressional bills, pending and passed, and correspondence pertaining to them covers the period 1913-1940 for the 63rd -76th Congresses. For the same period there is a file of correspondence with the various executive departments of the government.
Pittman's early career as a lawyer, prospector, and miner in Alaska, California, and Nevada is treated by files on legal and business matters and personal correspondence in the period 1898-1912. The correspondence exchanged between Pittman and his wife is revealing of the senator's political career and personal life.
Financial records relating to the Pittman estate, 1940-1950, scrapbooks and photographs complete the collection.
Correspondents include Edwin Sidney Broussard, Herbert Hoover, Cordell Hull, Harold L. Ickes, Breckinridge Long, William Gibbs McAdoo, Pat McCarran, Henry Morgenthau (1891-1967), George Stuart Nixon, Tasker Loundes Oddie, Joseph Taylor Robinson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, James Graves Scrugham, Joseph P. Tumulty, Millard E. Tydings, Oscar Wilder Underwood, and Woodrow Wilson.