Scope and Content Note
The papers of Brand Whitlock (1869-1934) span the years circa 1890-1934 and relate to Whitlock's career in writings, politics and diplomacy. The collection contains a wide variety of material and is organized into fifteen series: Journals , General Correspondence , Letterbooks , Family Correspondence , Miscellaneous Correspondence , Subject File , Speeches and Addresses , Literary File , Biographer's Notes , Scrapbooks , Photographs , Printed Matter , Financial Records , Memorabilia , and Oversize .
Included is a journal begun in July 1914 and apparently kept until May 1934 relating to the German occupation of Belgium in World War I. Parts of the journal are not in the collection, however, including accounts Whitlock may have recorded for some of 1915 and most of 1916-1921.
The correspondence in the Whitlock Papers is large, covering 1893-1934, with the heaviest concentration in the years 1907, 1910, 1913, and 1919. Letterbooks in the collection, which are indexed, span the period 1906-1913 and contain carbons of letters sent. Among the prominent correspondents are Newton Diehl Baker, Nicholas Murray Butler, George Creel, Clarence Darrow, Hamlin Garland, Norman Hapgood, Herbert Hoover, Edward Mandell House, William Dean Howells, Tom Loftin Johnson, Albert Bigelow Paine, Louis F. Post, Lincoln Steffens, and Owen Wister.
A Literary File in the collection contains notes and manuscripts of several of Whitlock's writings as well as reviews and comments about him and his work. A Subject File series consists of material relating to Toledo, Ohio, and Belgium, with most headings under Toledo pertaining to city government and reform and the files on Belgium focusing on American relief during the First World War, on conditions relating to the conflict, and on America's entry in the war.
Scrapbooks of clippings in the papers span the years 1889-1934, with the emphasis on the period of Whitlock's mayoralty of Toledo, 1905-1912.