Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The papers of Felix Frankfurter, law professor, author, and associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, were deeded to the Library of Congress in 1955 by Frankfurter. The Library received the papers from 1967 to 1969. Additions have been made through gift, purchase, and transfer between 1971 and 2020.
Processing History
In 1970, Anita Nolen organized the Frankfurter Papers and prepared a register published by the Library in 1971. In 1972, certain items in the papers were discovered to be missing. Subsequently, some of the missing material was recovered in photocopied form. These items, marked with an X for identification purposes, have been incorporated into the papers in place of the originals. Other items known to be missing and not represented by photocopies are listed in the Appendix to this register. Additional information can be found in the Library's brochure "Material Missing from the Felix Frankfurter Papers."
In 1983, additions to the Frankfurter Papers through that year were appended to the papers as a final series, and the papers and a revised published edition of the register entitled Felix Frankfurter: A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress, were prepared for microfilming. Other additions to the papers since 1983 comprise the 1997 addition and have not been microfilmed.
The original register prepared in 1970 was revised and expanded in 1997 by Connie L. Cartledge. An addition was processed and the finding aid revised in 2023 by Nate Scheible.
Related Material
Related collections in the Manuscript Division include microfilm copies of the Felix Frankfurter Papers (https://lccn.loc.gov/87010467) and Sacco-Vanzetti Case Records (https://lccn.loc.gov/mm80018119) at Harvard University, and the Felix Frankfurter Collection of Zionist Papers at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem (https://lccn.loc.gov/mm80017871).
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on 165 reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Felix Frankfurter Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Appendix: Missing Items NOT Represented by Photocopies
FF-Hugo Black correspondence:
31 Oct. 1939
18 Dec. 1941
2 Jan. 1942
26 May 1942
3 Dec. 1942
4 Nov. 1943
13 Nov. 1943
26 Dec. 1944
11 June 1947
31 Dec. 1948
18 May 1950
4 Nov. 1950
5 Mar. 1952
24 Oct. 1952
19 Feb. 1953
12 Jan. 1954
7 May 1954
15 Dec. 1964
3 memoranda (Oct. 1940; 25 Jan. 1961; undated)
FF-Harold Burton correspondence:
1963-1964
FF-John M. Harlan correspondence:
19 May 1961
FF-Willard Hurst correspondence:
1957-1960; 1963-1964
Frankfurter diaries:
1927-1931; 1937; 1956 (Earlier diaries are typewritten on note paper for 3-ring binder, circa 5" x 8")
Memoranda:
On due process, 1953-1954
Peters v. Hobby, 1955
Miscellaneous:
Material relating to
- Securities Act, 1933
- Frankfurter biography (Max Freedman)
- Papers of Supreme Court justices
Holmes-Laski letters, 1935-1939