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Vance Criswell McCormick papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 478

Scope and Contents

The McCormick papers comprise material dealing primarily with McCormick's official career during the latter stages of World War I and at the Paris Peace Conference - most of which material is not duplicated in the rich collection of political papers given earlier to the Yale University Library by Colonel E. M. House, Gordon Auchincloss, and Charles Seymour. The collection is divided into five series which are arranged as follows:

I. General Correspondence (3 boxes).

II. The War (1 box). Primarily material dealing with the Inter-Allied Conference of November - December 1917.

III. The Peace Conference (8 boxes). The bulk of the material comprises (a) memoranda and reports on reparations problems and general economic questions; (b) copies of the reports of the Central Bureau of Planning and Statistics; and (c) copies of miscellaneous official cables concerning War Trade Board activities during the period November 1918-July 1919.

IV. Reports of the Engineering Department (4 boxes). A series of 19 volumes prepared for the American Commission to Negotiate Peace entitled "War Damages in Allied Countries."

V. Personal and Memorabilia (2 boxes). This includes a copy of McCormick's personal Diary (printed privately) which describes his participation at the London Inter-Allied Conference and at the Paris Peace Conference.

Dates

  • 1907-1946

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

There is a set of duplicate materials which may not circulate.

Existence and Location of Copies

Diaries of Vance McCormickare available on microfilmfrom Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, at cost. Order no. HM74.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Vance C. McCormick, 1942.

Arrangement

Arranged in five series: I. General Correspondence. II. The War. III. The Peace Conference. IV. Reports of the Engineering Department. V. Personal and Memorabilia.

Extent

7 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0478

Overview

Correspondence, papers relating to World War I and the Paris Peace Conference, and personal memorabilia of Vance C. McCormick, statesman and politician. These papers relate largely to McCormick's participation in the London Inter-Allied Conference (the "House Mission") and the American Commission to Negotiate Peace in Paris. They were formerly a part of the House Collection.

Biographical / Historical

Vance Criswell McCormick was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 19, 1872. He attended Andover and received his Ph. B. from Yale in 1893. After graduation McCormick was associated in various business ventures with his father.

In 1902, he began his serious and lifelong connection with the journalistic and publishing worlds as well as his involvement in state and national Democratic party politics. McCormick was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1914; he was appointed chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1916; and served as chairman of the War Trade Board during the crucial years 1916-1919. In the fall of 1917 President Wilson also sent McCormick to London as a member of Colonel House's special American War Mission to the Inter-Allied Conference; and a year later he appointed him Adviser on Economic Questions to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace.

While in Paris, McCormick served as chairman of the Superior Allied Blockade Council, as a member of the Supreme Economic Council, and as a member of the Commission on Reparations. After the signing of the treaty of peace - and for the better part of the succeeding twenty-five years - McCormick resumed his active participation in Democratic politics, Pennsylvania civic and educational affairs, and Yale University alumni affairs. He died in June 1946.
Title
Guide to the Vance Criswell McCormick Papers
Status
Under Revision
Author
compiled by N. X. Rizopoulos with the assistance of Anne Willard
Date
March 1973
Description rules
Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours