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  Manuscript Division  Charles Linza McNary Papers

Charles Linza McNary Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MSS32391

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Charles L. McNary (1874-1944) span the years 1921-1944, with the focus on his career as senator from Oregon, including as Republican minority leader from 1933 to 1944. Included are correspondence, memoranda, legislative bills and resolutions, index cards, typed speeches with handwritten emendations, printed matter, and miscellaneous material. The papers are organized into six series: Family Letters , General Correspondence , Speeches and Statements , Legislative File , Biographical Material , and Printed Matter .

The General Correspondence provides a cross-section view of public opinion directed at McNary while he was the Republican leader in the Senate. Topics include United States neutrality in 1939-1941, Lend-Lease legislation, the United States Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (Burke-Wadsworth Bill), and McNary's answers to these issues. There is some correspondence regarding his nomination as the Republican candidate for the vice presidency in 1940. Other topics in the collection relate to agriculture, conservation, Indian affairs, tariffs, and the McNary-Haugen Bill.

Correspondents include Ralph H. Cake, James Couzens, Thomas E. Dewey, Herbert Hoover, Hiram Johnson, Richard L. Neuberger, Gerald P. Nye, Ben Peterson, Joseph P. Tumulty, Wallace H. White, and Wendell L. Willkie.

Dates

  • Creation: 1921-1944

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Access and Restrictions

The papers of Charles Linza McNary are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.

Copyright Status

Copyright in the unpublished writings of Charles Linza McNary in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.

Biographical Note

Biographical Note

1874, June 12
Born, Salem, Ore.
1896 - 1898
Attended Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
1898
Admitted to Oregon bar
1898 - 1913
Practiced law with John H. McNary
1902
Married Jessie Breyman (died 1918)
1908 - 1913
Dean of the law school, Willamette University, Salem, Ore.
1913 - 1915
Justice, supreme court of Oregon
1916 - 1917
Chairman, Republican State Central Committee
1917 - 1919
Appointed United States senator for unexpired term of Harry Lane
1919 - 1944
Elected to United States Senate and served five terms
1923
Married Cornelia W. Morton
1926
Became chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
1928
Considered for Republican vice-presidential nomination
1933 - 1944
Republican minority leader, United States Senate
1940
Republican vice-presidential candidate
1944, Feb. 25
Died, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Extent

20,000 items
64 containers
24.8 linear feet

Abstract

Justice of the Oregon supreme court and U.S. senator from Oregon. Correspondence, speeches, memoranda, legislative files, notebooks, pamphlets, clippings, and other material relating to McNary's career as a judge and legislator.

Provenance

The papers of Charles Linza McNary, justice of the Oregon supreme court and U.S. senator from Oregon, were given to the Library of Congress by his widow, Mrs. Charles L. McNary, and by his niece, Margaret Stolz Marshall, from 1952 to 1953.

Processing History

The papers of Charles Linza McNary were arranged and described in 1953. The finding aid was revised in 2012.

Title
Charles Linza McNary Papers
Subtitle
A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress
Author
Prepared by Manuscript Division Staff
Date
2012
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Part of the Manuscript Division Repository

Contact:
Manuscript Reading Room
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James Madison Building, LM 101
Washington, DC 20540-4683
(202) 707-5387