D. JOSEPH ST.GERMAIN PAPERS
Scope and Content Note
Although he would proudly remark that he had never been a candidate
for paid political office, D. Joseph St. Germain was an influential leader
of the Republican Party in Massachusetts from the late 1930's through the
early 1960's. During almost all of his adult life he was a resident of
Springfield; but his leadership and influence were not confined to Hampden
County. His correspondence reveals that he was an associate and confidant
of many of the leaders of the Republican Party in Massachusetts. (See the
list of principal correspondents following this note). He declined, on
several occasions, to run for a position in the Republican State Committee
and might have become state chairman in 1947 if he had not insisted on
being drafted.
St. Germain was a successful investment banker, but it was his effecti-
veness as a political fund raiser that brought him to the attention of
Republican leaders in the state. By 1940, many candidates for state offices
and Congress were coming to him for advice, political support, and assis-
tance in financing their campaigns. His reputation for impartiality and
devotion to party welfare caused him to be approached by rival factions for
advice and commiseration. As a result, his correspondence provides many
insights into the inner workings of the Republican Party in Massachusetts.
St. Germain's influence in state politics might have been even greater
if it had not been for his devotion to Herbert Hoover and Robert A. Taft.
Elected as a delegate to the 1940 national convention, St. Germain was one
of the few delegates who held out for Herbert Hoover and refused to join the
Willkie bandwagon. Before the convention, he conducted a poll of all the
national convention delegates to determine who they felt was most qualified
to be President and had the best chance of defeating Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The written responses of the delegates, including a few governors, congressmen,
and potential nominees are preserved in the St. Germain Papers.
Correspondence with Herbert Hoover over the next twenty-four years
attests to the friendship that developed between these two men. In 1946-47,
St. Germain took an active role in the successful effort to restore the name
of Hoover Dam. Two years later he became one of the earliest members of the
Citizen's Committee for the Hoover Report, and spoke to numerous groups
urging the adoption of the Hoover Commission's recommendations.
The 1952 candidacy of Robert A. Taft produced a split in Massachusetts
Republican ranks which appears to have been slow in healing. St. Germain
was an early, outspoken advocate of the Ohio senator; but, unlike many other
Taft partisans, eventually supported Eisenhower and Cabot Lodge's bid for
re-election to the U.S. Senate.
PRINCIPAL CORRESPONDENTS
Alberti, Charles R. Hitchins, Vernon
Bradford, Robert F. Hunt, Jarvis
Brewer, Basil Lawson, Douglas
Bushnell, Robert T. King, Rudolph F.
Clason, Charles Nolan, John
Coolidge, Arthur W. Parker, Frederick Livingston
Curtis, Laurence Phister, Lispenard B.
Fingold, George Rowell, George
Gibbons, Charles Weeks, Sinclair
Herter, Christian A. Jr. Weston, Charles
Whittier, Sumner G.
Biographical Note
1893 July 27
Born in Ellenburgh, N.Y. Son of Dolphus and Adeline (Rivers).
Educated at the New York University School of Commerce and
Columbia University.
1916
Military service in the Mexican border campaign.
1918
Student, Army Training Corps.
1919-24
Securities salesman and manager.
1924
Established firm: D.J. St. Germain and Company, specializing
in New York bank stocks and New York and Hartford insurance
stocks.
Married Dorothy Himmelmann. Seven children: Marjorie Adeline,
Marion Elizabeth, J. Gordon, Dorothy Josephine, Nancy Ruth,
J. Brewster, Mildred Louise.
1939-41
Chairman of Republican Finance Committee for city of Springfield,
Massachusetts and vicinity. Re-elected in 1943 and 1947 and very
active other years.
1940
Elected delegate to Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.
Re-elected as delegate in 1944 and 1948. Unsuccessful candidate
in 1952, 1956 and 1960.
1942-48
Chairman of the City Committee, Springfield, Massachusetts
every year but 1945.
1944
Elected President of the Republican Club of Massachusetts. Also
active as a Vice-President 1939, Secretary 1940-43, Honorary
President 1945-47, and Director 1948-50, 1954.
1949-51
Charter member of the Citizen's Committee for the Hoover Report.
1954-61
Served in various executive capacities with the non-partisan
State Club, Inc.
1980 April
Died at Springfield, Massachusetts.
Folder List
Box Contents
1
Alberti, Charles R.
1942-45
1946
1947-50
Anderson, J. Albin Jr. 1943-48
Barnes, Clarence A.
1940-46
1947-51 and undated
Barone, Amico J. 1947-51
Bell, Floyd 1952
Bradford, Robert F.
1940
1944
1945 Jan-Oct
1945 Nov
1946
1947
1948-50
2
Dinner
1947 Jan
1947 Feb-Mar
Luncheon, 1945
Brewer, Basil
1951
1952 Jan-Feb
1952 Mar-Sept
1953-56
1957-60
Brown, Clarence J. 1950
Brunton, Daniel B. 1947
Bushnell, Robert T.
1940
1941-42
1943-45
3
1948-49 and undated
Cahill, Horace T. 1940-45
Campaign Materials: Miscellaneous
Clason for Congress Committee
General, 1946
General, 1948
Contributions, 1946
Contributions, 1948
Committee of One Million
1953 Oct-Nov
1953 Dec 1-10
1953 Dec 11-23
1954 and undated
Committee on Election Returns, 1942
Cook, Frederick W. 1946-48
Coolidge, Arthur W.
1947-48
1949-52 and undated
4
Cote, Valmore 0. 1947-48
Curtis, Laurence
1942-47
1948-62
Davis, Roy 1947
Doty, Foster W. 1955-56
Easton (C. Clement) for Mayor Committee, 1957
Eisenhower Dinner
1953
1956
Fingold, George
1950-56
1958
Furbush, Richard 1956
Gibbons (Charles) Dinner
1953 Nov-Dec 24
1953 Dec 27-31
1954 and undated
1958
Gray, Thomas T. 1947-58
Haigis, John W.
1940
5
1941-56
Hampden County Republican Club
General
1956 Jan-Apr
1956 May-Nov
1957-58
1959-60 and undated
Dinner
1960 June
1960 July 1-10
1960 July 11-26 and undated
Herter, Christian A. 1956
Herter, (Chris A., Jr.) Campaigns 1958 and undated
Herter, (Chris A., Jr.) Dinner
1958 March
1958 April-July and undated
6
Herter Dinner for Pres. Eisenhower, 1955
Hoover, Herbert 1940-64 and undated
Hoover Commission Broadcasts
1950 Mar-June
1950 July-Sept
Hoover Commission Speeches by D.J. St. Germain
1949
1950-51
Hoover Dam: Restoration of Name
1946 Mar-May 18
1946 May 20-31
1946 June-Sept
1947 and undated
Hutchins, Leon 1955
Lane, Honorable Arthur Bliss 1952
Lawrence Article on Communist Agression, 1954-55
7
Lawson, Douglas
1948
1950-54
1960-61
Lewis, Fulton: Dinner
1954 Feb-Apr
1954 May
1954 June--Dec and undated
Lodge, George: Senate Campaign, 1962
Lodge, Henry Cabot
Dinner, 1951
Luncheon, 1952
Macaulay, William G. 1955
McCarthy, Michael J. 1954
Means, Augustus G. 1954
Parker, Frederick L.
1940
1945-48
1949-50 and undated
Phister, Lispenard B. 1944-45
8
Political
General
1937-40
1941-42
1943
1944 Jan-Mar
1944 Apr-July
1944 Sept-Dec
1945
1946
1947
1948
9
1949-50
1951-52
Rabb, Maxwell M. 1956-60
Recommendations, 1954
Republican Business Women's Club, 1946-48
Republican City Committee
1939
1940-41
1942 Feb-July
1942 Aug-Sept
1942 Oct
1942 Nov-Dec
10
1943 Jan-Aug
1943 Sept-Oct
1943 Nov-Dec
1943 undated
1944
1945
1946 Jan-Sept
1946 Oct
1946 Nov-Dec and undated
1947, Feb-Sept
11
1947 Oct
1947 Nov-Dec
1947 Undated
1949
Republican Club of Massachusetts
See Also:
1. Lawson, Douglas
2. Phister, Lispenard B.
3. State Club, Inc.
1937-39
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944 Jan-Apr
1944 May-July
12
1944 Aug-Oct
1944 Nov-Dec
1945
1946
1947
1948-53
1954 Jan-Feb
1954 Mar-Dec
Republican National Committee, 1943-44
Republican National Convention
See Also: Political: General
1940
Correspondence, 1940 Jan-Apr
1940 May
13
1940 June 1-15
1940 June 17-20
1940 June 21-25
1940 June 26-29
1940 July - Aug and undated
Delegate Lists
Poll of Delegates
1940 May
1940 June 1-10
1940 June 11-24 and undated
Republican National Convention: 1944
Republican National Convention: 1948
Correspondence
1947
1948 Jan-Mar
14
1948 April
1948 May-Nov
1949 and undated
Nominating Petition
Presidential Candidate Literature
Publicity of Opposition Slate
Publicity of St. Germain Slate
Miscellaneous
Republican National Convention: 1956-60
Republican Rally
1942
1946
Republican State Committee
General
1940-41
1942
1943
1944-45
1946
1947
15
Finance Committee
1940
1941-44 and undated
Republican Victory Dinner
1943
1944
Rugg, Charles B. 1948
St. Germain: Biographical Data
Saltonstall-for-President Club, 1942
Speeches by D.J. St. Germain
1943-46
1948-51
1952-55 and undated
State Club, Inc.
1954-55
1956-60
1961 Jan-May
1961 June-Dec
16
Stone, Leland A. 1951-52
Taft, Robert A.
General, 1940-56
Campaign Literature, 1952
Plymouth Rock Speech, 1951
Tilden, Nathaniel 1947
United Nations Trip, 1953-54
Weeks, Hon. Sinclair, 1939-48
Welch, Robert H., Jr. 1952
Weston, Charles J. 1947-48
Whittier, Sumner G.
1951-53
1954
1955