Scope and Content Note
The papers of Philander Chase Knox (1853-1921) span the years 1796-1922, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1901-1921. The collection contains a limited amount of material on Knox’s personal life and business activities, but his career as United States attorney general, secretary of state, and United States senator is well documented. The collection is organized into eight series: Bound General Correspondence, Unbound General Correspondence , Letterbooks, State Department File, Speech File, Scrapbooks, Newspaper Clippings, and Miscellany.
The Bound General Correspondence and Unbound General Correspondence series constitute the largest part of the collection. Copies of letters sent by Knox are scattered throughout the series, and numerous memoranda, reports, and briefs provide insights into his official activities while holding public office. Knox’s long political career brought him into contact with many distinguished American political figures, and the correspondence is enriched by numerous letters of historical significance. Prominent correspondents include Presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Warren G. Harding. Other correspondents include Chandler P. Anderson, Newton Diehl Baker, Albert Jeremiah Beveridge, Charles J. Bonaparte,William Edgar Borah, Andrew Carnegie, J. Reuben Clark (1871-1961), George B. Cortelyou, H. M. Daugherty, W. A. Day, Henry Clay Frick, Marcus Alonzo Hanna, John Hay, James Jerome Hill, George Frisbie Hoar, Henry M. Hoyt, Hiram Johnson, William Loeb (1866-1937), Andrew W. Mellon, Andrew W. Mellon, Samuel W. Pennypacker, Boies Penrose, Matthew Stanley Quay, Whitelaw Reid, Elihu Root, John C. Spooner, George W. Wickersham, and Huntington Wilson.
Two letterbooks constitute the largest group of letters written by Knox within the collection. The letters deal with personal, official, and political matters and supplement the correspondence series for the years that Knox served as attorney general.
The State Department File contains correspondence, scrapbooks, and State Department documents dealing with American foreign relations during Knox’s tenure as secretary of state. The correspondence relating to the Chinese Revolution of 1911-1912 provides a vivid account of conditions in China during the revolution as well as an indication of the official American attitude during this period. Knox’s good-will tour through Central America in 1912 is described in the newspaper clippings, copies of speeches, and occasional correspondence that are brought together in scrapbooks and other material relating to the journey. American relations with other parts of the world, particularly Latin America, the Middle East, and East Asia, receive a thorough if incomplete treatment in the numerous printed correspondence that constitute an information series within the State Department File. Subjects include the Panama Canal and Panama toll revision, the Versailles treaty, and League of Nations. This material supplements the Bound General Correspondence and Unbound General Correspondence for the years 1909-1913.
The Speech File, Scrapbooks, and Newspaper Clippings series within the collection help to fill the gaps in Knox’s personal life and business career as well as further documenting his public activities. The speeches, many of which are annotated, are especially complete for the years 1904-1921. The Scrapbooks are organized by subject and elucidate many of the important activities in which Knox was deeply involved. Most of the Newspaper Clippings deal with Knox’s role in the significant events of 1901-1921. Topics include antitrust prosecution of the Northern Securities Company, reorganization of the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission, founding of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor, railroad rate legislation, and efforts to promote Knox as a presidential candidate.
The collection concludes with a Miscellany series that includes notebooks and reports pertaining to Knox’s activities as attorney general and secretary of state.