THE PAPERS OF HERBERT HOOVER
Commerce Papers Series
Scope and Content Note
The Commerce Papers Series (303 linear feet) consists of alphabetically
arranged name and subject files. Correspondence and telegrams predominate, but
a typical file may also contain clippings and a wide variety of other printed matter
which accompanied letters as enclosures. Other record types include memoranda,
reports, statistical tables, maps and charts.
Although closely related to similar materials of the same period in General
Records of the Commerce Department (RG 40) at the National Archives, this series
appears to have been maintained separately from the very earliest days of Mr. Hoover's
secretaryship. This supposition is supported by the very early dates of documents in
many key files and by the absence of the numerical file markings which are found on
RG 40 documents. It is also quite likely that Mr. Hoover ordered that his personal
papers be maintained separately from the central files of the department to facilitate
their donation at a later date to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Originally maintained as two separate sub-series, Mr. Hoover's Official and
Personal Files were combined during the course of definitive processing which began in
the fall of 1973. The distinction between the two files was apparently never very clear
or carefully observed by the clerks in the Commerce Department. This is evident from
the fact that incoming letters and responses were often filed in different sub-series
(in identically titled folders) and that extra carbons of outgoing letters were often used
in lieu of cross references between the sub-series. The existence of two, over-lapping
sub-series made research so inconvenient that it was decided to stamp the documents in
the smaller Personal File with the letters "HHP" and to combine them with the
corresponding files in the Official File.
The Commerce Papers series reflects Mr. Hoover's activities and concerns
as Secretary of Commerce (1921-1928), his interaction with Presidents Harding and
Coolidge, and his participation in a wide range of activities outside the official sphere
of the Department of Commerce. Two such activities were his chairmanship of the
Colorado River Commission and his presidency of the American Child Health
Association. The records of these two organizations are arranged in separate sub-series.
Given his choice by President Harding between the Interior and Commerce
Departments, Hoover felt that the latter offered larger opportunities for service in
post-war America. Under his direction the department was reorganized to provide
more purposeful, effective service to the American business community.
At the end of the First World War America faced stiff competition as her
former allies sought to reclaim and extend their share of the world market. Hoover
reorganized the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (BFDC) to provide
American businesses with the information and means to compete more effectively. In
conjunction with the Bureau of Standards' Building and Housing and Simplified
Commercial Practice divisions, the BFDC helped to make American industries more
competitive by providing a forum for the resolution of important industrial, economic,
and social problems. The Bureau of Standards and BFDC also cooperated to combat
price-fixing by European monopolies in such critical raw materials as phosphates, oil,
nitrates, and rubber.
During the Harding and Coolidge administrations, Hoover was frequently
involved in sensitive and complex projects and issues outside his official sphere as
Secretary of Commerce. He was an influential member of the World War Foreign Debt
Commission, and exerted great influence over loans that American bankers wished to
make to foreign governments. In 1921 he was appointed Chairman of the Colorado
River Commission, an organization created to facilitate interstate cooperation in
developing the power and irrigation resources of the seven-state Colorado River basin.
During the same year he was also called upon to organize a conference on unemployment
to help settle strikes in the rail and coal industries (becoming the key administration
figure with regard to labor and unemployment problems), and to conclude very difficult
negotiations with the Soviet government that paved the way for massive relief efforts
in the Russian famine of 1921-23.
In addition to these problems of postwar readjustment, the technological
advances of the 1920's created several new and uniquely different problems. Hoover's
handling of these problems is interesting not only as social history; but, perhaps more
significantly, as case histories which illustrate his preferred method of dealing with
public issues and his reluctance to resort to direct government intervention. His
approach was to publicize the scope and seriousness of the problem, to convene a
conference of those concerned, and to produce guidelines that could be followed
voluntarily or, as a last resort, provide the basis for regulatory legislation. This pattern
was followed by Hoover in dealing with three new industries that expanded rapidly
during the twenties--radio, aviation, and the automobile.
The proliferation of radio stations created a chaotic situation early in the 1920's.
Hoover called a National Radio Conference in 1922 and proposed a method of
voluntarily allocating wavelengths. This and other proposals were adopted by
subsequent conferences and were later enacted as legislation by Congress.
Although it was temporarily beset with safety and reliability problems, Hoover
regarded aviation as the transportation system of the future. The 1922 Aviation
Conference, which Hoover also convened, produced the basic draft of the Air Commerce
Act of 1926 which established the Aeronautics Branch of the Commerce Department.
Through the Secretary of Commerce, the Aeronautics Branch was authorized to enact
safety regulations, grant registrations and licenses, and construct and improve
navigational aids.
The growing popularity of the automobile had produced a corresponding
increase in accidents and other safety problems on the nation's streets and highways.
Hoover called national and state conferences on Street and Highway Safety which
produced a model code concerning the licensing of drivers, auto registrations, hand
signals and traffic regulations. Hoover's handling of the diverse problems of these three
industries serves as an illustration of another important quality of his public service,
namely, his vision and sense of direction. He may not have been the only public figure
of his day to sense that the World War would bring about dramatic changes in the
existing economic, political and social fabric; but he was one of the few to propose and
implement effective measures to soften the blows that were to come.
Just what form these changes would take and what their impact would be, no
one could predict. However, they were certain to be disruptive, therefore careful study
and handling would be required to minimize their ill effects. Hoover articulated his
concerns in a pamphlet (1920) which was expanded in 1922 into the book, American
Individualism. He was to remain remarkably constant to the principles expressed in this
book throughout the balance of his life.
A continuous theme throughout Mr. Hoover's public career was a faith in
apolitical fact finding as a basis for public policy. From 1920 on, Mr. Hoover initiated
a series of ambitious, privately funded economic and social investigations, and his efforts
in this area are fairly well documented in his papers. They include the work of the
Committee on the Elimination of Waste in Industry, the Committee on Work Periods in
Continuous Industry, the various committees reporting to the 1921 Unemployment
Conference (especially the committees on Business Cycles, Seasonal Operation in the
Construction Industry, and Recent Economic Changes) and the even wider-ranging
Research Committee on Social Trends. Hoover also took the lead in creating two
long-term organizations, the American Child Health Association and Better Homes in
America, Inc., which conducted a continuing series of investigations and educational
efforts in their respective spheres. The activities and findings of these groups have
already been described in their published reports and occasional papers and are too
diverse to attempt to summarize here. Both of these organizations are worthy of further
study by historians.
Hoover was determined to improve the quality of American life and was
convinced that America could not realize its full potential unless government and
industry were reorganized to maximize efficiency and eliminate the wasteful utilization
of raw materials and human resources. From 1921 to 1928, this concept became a
primary element of Commerce Department programming. To reach this goal Hoover
promoted the concept of voluntary cooperation as a means of resolving important
problems in America's basic industries. He advocated the formation of a trade association
in each industry to establish standards and codes of ethics, thus enabling companies to
concentrate on improving the efficiency and productivity of their operations and the
overall quality of their merchandise. These efforts are documented in correspondence
with the Federal Trade Commission and Attorney General Daugherty and in the Trade
Association, file.
Shortly after assuming office in March 1921, Hoover invited twenty-five business,
labor and agriculture leaders to serve on an advisory committee on larger questions. In
his Memoirs he relates that they agreed to "summon an extensive national conference
on reconstruction and development problems" to meet the following September. In the
intervening months, however, the worsening unemployment picture forced a realignment
of priorities. In Hoover's words: "The original purpose of the Conference to deal with
long view reconstruction and development was overshadowed by the need to deal with
the immediate crisis." The general economic conference became a conference on
unemployment. Along with this shift in emphasis came a dramatic enlargement of the
conference to include state branches and local committees. The Commerce Department
became the secretariat of the Conference and Mr. Hoover gave extensive, personal
attention and direction to its efforts in the field of unemployment relief and job
stimulation.
The Unemployment Conference of 1921 stands as a watershed in federal policy
with respect to depressions and unemployment relief. In sharp contrast to the total
inaction and benign neglect that had characterized the response of previous administrations,
the Conference not only conducted studies aimed at preventing future depressions
through better management of the business cycle, but also provided practical assistance
to local committees and encouraged a variety of local actions. These included the
stimulation of public works and clean-up projects, advice on the organization and
techniques of fund raising, and exhorting employers to adopt "work-sharing" plans.
The Conference soon became an effective clearing house, disseminating ideas that local
committees had found effective in providing jobs and temporary relief.
Field representatives were dispatched to assist local committees and to monitor
their progress. Thus they not only facilitated the sharing of ideas, but provided vital
situation reports by which overall progress could be measured. Reports from hundreds
of cities--filed under the subheading "Cities" in the Unemployment section--provide
interesting insights into conditions, responses and attitudes toward relief. In a few
instances, most notably New York City, field representatives discovered that very little
was being done and that city fathers were not interested in cooperation. In such
instances, the realization that their inactivity was being reported usually had the effect
of prodding them into action.
Other reports from the Conference's regional directors, investigators for the
Labor Department and FBI, and local leaders were summarized in two looseleaf binders:
One for cities still experiencing difficulty, and one for those whose situations had
improved. Filed at the end of the "Cities" section, each book is arranged alphabetically
by states and thereunder by names of communities. The reports of field representatives
Arthur L. Bristol, Fred W. Caswell, Sherlock Herrick, and Whiting Williams are filed
under their own names.
The Unemployment files also contain files of Senator William M. Calder's
Committee on Reconstruction and Production (1920). Very little is known of this
Committee, but part of its records appear to have been made available to the
Unemployment Conference in 1921 and were evidently intermingled at a later date.
These files, which can usually be identified by their early (1920) dates, contain additional
insights into the evolution of federal responses to depressions and the stimulation of
employment. A few additional materials may be found in the Hoover Pre-Commerce
Papers (Correspondence: Calder and Subject File: Senate Special Committee on
Reconstruction . . .
A careful examination of Hoover's leadership in the fields of labor relations,
collective bargaining, unemployment relief, and agricultural policy is indicative of his
role as a progressive thinker within the context of his time. Having first convinced
President Harding, Hoover succeeded in mobilizing public opinion to force the steel
industry to abandon the twelve hour, six day workweek. He also opposed the
indiscriminate use of injunctions as strike breaking measures. During the railroad shop
worker's strike of 1922-23 he joined Charles Evans Hughes in denouncing the Daugherty-
Wilkerson injunction as an "obvious transgression of the rights of the men".
Hoover was particularly appalled by the depressed condition of agriculture
throughout the twenties. The promise of prosperity that he foresaw would not be
realized unless all segments of society--and farmers in particular--participated on an
equal footing. Opposed to the McNary-Haugen plan, Hoover supported cooperative
marketing associations, believing that they, rather than subsidies, would help to bring
better farm prices. He felt that the introduction of governmental purchasing and dumping
of agricultural products on European markets would adversely effect our foreign trade
and prospects for world peace. In another effort to aid farmers, Hoover advocated a
vastly improved system of inland waterways. These would not only provide better
transportation routes and access to new markets, but lower freight rates as well.
Hoover's espousal of inland waterways also did much to promote the St. Lawrence
Seaway project. Appointed by President Coolidge to the international commission
considering the project, Hoover and his Canadian colleagues were able to overcome
many of the obstacles facing the project and a treaty was signed during the Hoover
administration. However, objections from various special interest groups and a host of
practical considerations combined to postpone completion until 1959.
A clear recognition of the importance of developing and conserving water
resources emerges as a continuing theme throughout Hoover's public service.
Beginning in 1921 with his chairmanship of the Colorado River Commission, this
concern includes hydroelectric, irrigation, and soil conservation developments along the
Colorado and throughout the southwest into the late 1950's. During the 1920's Hoover
was also one of the foremost advocates of rapid "electrification of the country" through
the development of hydroelectric power plants and "superpower" networks. Due to his
espousal of inland waterways, Hoover was frequently recruited as an advocate for
various flood control measures in the Mississippi basin. Although he continued to insist
that this was more properly the province of the Army Corps of Engineers, the disastrous
1927 floods in Vermont and the Mississippi Valley embroiled him in this issue as well.
Water pollution and overfishing were just beginning to be recognized as national
problems in the twenties and Hoover was one of the first major public figures to
advocate and adopt remedial measures. He initiated discussions which culminated in the
passage of the 1924 Rivers and Harbors Act and led to the conclusion of an international
agreement (1926) aimed at the prevention of oil pollution in our harbors and coastal
areas. Timely action in 1922-24 also saved valuable commercial fishing grounds off our
eastern coasts and Alaska from destruction by pollution and overfishing, respectively.
To insure better management of our fisheries, Hoover replaced the political appointee
in charge of the Bureau of Fisheries with an experienced fish culturalist.
A collection of this size conveys the misleading impression that it contains a
complete record of the thoughts and actions of its creator. This is seldom true of any
collection, and in this instance certain circumstances and omissions should be noted.
Hoover's extensive use of the telephone has certainly produced gaps in the written
record. Marginal notations and receipted telephone bills beat witness to Hoover's use of
the crude long-distance networks available in the twenties.
Other factors inhibiting the production of the written record were Mr. Hoover's
proximity and access to congressmen and other government officials and his role as a
member of the cabinet. His perception of that role--and the etiquette of the situation--
somewhat inhibited his open participation in and comment upon issues that ordinarily
came within the purview of other departments. Although he did participate in the
formation of labor, agricultural and financial policies and even some aspects of foreign
policy there can be little doubt that he did not become as actively involved in these areas
as he would have liked. Numerous instances can be cited from his replies to
correspondence which suggest both restraint and the existence of carefully thought out
attitudes and opinions which he did not fully commit to paper.
To this must be added Hoover's accessability to a wide variety of leading
businessmen, labor leaders, congressmen, and agriculturalists. Not content with
the natural proximity which his office in Washington afforded him, Hoover made
it a point to seek out and enlist the ideas and support of the imaginative, the
informed, and the influential. Refusing to be confined to ordinary working hours,
he entertained constantly and hardly an evening passed without important afterdinner
conversations in his house on S Street. Many of Mr. Hoover's objectives were achieved
within this social environment, and he often deliberately minimized his involvement for
tactical reasons.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing and significant of the resulting information
gaps concerns Hoover's behind-the-scenes attempts to curb stock market speculation.
His Memoirs give the basic outlines of this effort, beginning about 1925; and retrospective
correspondence in 1934 with Senator Irving L. Lenroot confirms Mr. Hoover's account,
but details--particularly of its later phases--are very difficult to obtain.
Finally, because these papers are primarily a record of his official activities, there
are few personal references. Hoover was, essentially, a private person and like many
people who are thrust into the public arena, he came to cherish the privacy of his
personal life and family. Constantly overworked and operating under intense pressures,
his business correspondence was terse--occasionally bordering on being cryptic--and to
the point. Consequently, fewer personal glimpses emerge from a collection of this size
than might be expected. In view of popular myths concerning Hoover's supposed
aloofness and lack of ordinary human emotions and traits, it is regrettable that counter-
balancing impressions and insights are not more readily available.
Key to Symbols
The appearance of an asterik (*) before a folder title
indicates that a folder was orginally part of the pre-
ceeding folder.
The symbol # preceeds some elements of folder titles as
an indication that additional information may be found
under that name or term. For example', the folder title
"Clubs: # Century Association" indicates the existence
of the file "Century Association".
Subject File
Box Contents
1
Aa--Abbott, C.J., 1921-1928 & undated
Abbott, Charles F., 1923-1928 & undated
Abbott, E., 1921-1923
Abbott, Grace, 1921 and undated
See Also:
1. American Child Health Association--Children's Bureau
2. Labor Department--Children's Bureau
Abbott, H--W, 1921-1928 & undated
Abe--Academi, 1921-1928 & undated
Academy of Political Science, 1921-1927
Acar--Acci, 1921-1926
Accomplishments of the Department of Commerce
See A1so: Commerce Department--Achievements
1921-1928 (1)
1921-1928 (2)
Accou--Adami, 1921-1928 & undated
Adams, A--Frank, 1921-1928
Adams, Fred C., 1922
Adams, Frederick--Jessie, 1921-1927 & undated
Adams, John H., 1921-1922
Adams, John L.--Saml, 1921-1928
Adams, Samuel Hopkins, 1921-1924 & undated
Adams, Stephen J., 1921
2
Adams, Stirling--William C., 1921-1927
Adams, William G., 1921-1926
Adams, William H.--Adas, 1921-1927
Addams, Jane, 1921-1926
Adde--Addison, F., 1922-1926
Addison, Thomas, 1921
Addison, W--Adven, 1921-1928
Advertising
See Also: Name--Use of Without Authority
1925
1926
1927
1928 & undated
Advertising Club--Aero, 1921-1928 & undated
Aertsen, Guilliaem, 1921
Afa--Ager, C., 1921-1928
Ager, Dr. Louis C., 1922
Agi--Agnew, John, 1922-1928
Agnew, P.G., 1922-1927
Agnew, W--Agre, 1921-1926
Agricola, 1913-1949 & undated
Agricultural C--Im, 1922-1927
Agricultural Industry, 1921-1922
Agricultural M--S, 1922-1927
3
Agriculture
1919-1922
1923
1924
1925
1926 January--August
1926 September--October
1926 November--December
1927 January--June
1927 July--December
1928-1929
Undated
Addresses by Mr. Hoover,, 1924-1925
See Also: Bible 164
Agriculture Credit Corporation, 1924-1925
American Council of Agriculture.
1924
1925 & undated
Business Conduct Committees, 1926
4
Business Men's Conference on Agriculture
Correspondence & Reports
1927-1929 (1)
1927 (2)
1927 (3)
Colorado Plan, 1926
Conferences
See: Agriculture--Farmers Conference
Cooperative Marketing
See Also:
1. Agriculture--Marketing of Agricultural Products'
2. Conferences--Cooperative Marketing
3. Cooperative Marketing
4. Grain Dealers Conference
5. Grain Marketing
6. Grain Marketing Company
7. Federal Trade Commission
1921-1923
1924 January--September
1924 October--December
1925-1928 & undated
Clippings, 1924
Persons Opposing, Undated
San Francisco Speech Correspondence, 1924-25
Walker, Dr. W.H., 1924
Corn See: Corn
5
Corn Belt: Des Moines Meeting, Answer to Peek, 1926-28
See Also: Agriculture: Department of Commerce . . .
Correspondence
1917-26
1927-28
Cotton See: Cotton
Credits, Loans, etc.
See Also:
1. Agriculture: Legislation--McNary Haugen:
Hearings & Reports--Rural Credits
2. American Liver Stock and Loan Company
3. Conferences: Mortgage Bonds
4. Conferences: Northwestern Agriculture
and Finance
5. Conferences: Northwestern Agriculture
Committee on Mortgage Indebtedness
6. Federal Farm Loan Board
1921-22
1923-24
1926 and undated
Curb Markets, 1926
Department of Agriculture and Department of Commerce, 1924
See Also:
1. Agriculture: Corn Belt: Des Moines . . .
2. Agriculture Dept & Dept of Commerce
3. Commerce Dept: Committees: Dept of
Agriculture and Dept of Commerce, 1925
4. Peek, George N.
Department of Commerce and Department of Commerce
Propaganda
1921
1924
1925 January--March
1925 April--September
1926
1927
Undated
6
Relations of, 1924-25
Drummond, W.I., 1924-27 and undated
See Also:
1. American Farm Congress
2. Drummond, W.T.
Editors Conference, 1923
See Also: Conferences: Agriculture Editors
Electricity
See: Committee on Relations of Electricity to Agriculture
Farm Tenancy See: Farm Tenancy
Farmers
See:
1. American Farm Bureau Federation
2. American Farm Congress
3. Conferences: Better Understanding Between
Industry and Agriculture
4. under Farmers, especially:Export Financing
Corporation Farm and Improvement
Institute Purchasing Power of Farmer's
Dollar Wages
Farmers Conferences (Material Kept Together by
Order of HH), 1923 and undated
See Also:
1. Agriculture: Corn Belt: Des Moines Meeting
2. Agriculture: Editors Conference
3. Agriculture : President's Agricultural Conference
4. Agriculture : St. Louis Conference, 1926
5. Coal: Conferences--Agriculture
6. Conferences: Agricultural Conference
7. Conferences : Agricultural Editors
8. Conferences : Better Understanding Between Industry
and Agriculture
9. Conferences : Cooperative Marketing
10. Conferences: Cotton--New Orleans, Oct 1926
11. Conferences: Des Moines All Iowa Agric Market
12. Conferences: Exhibits, Expositions--Roads
13. Conferences: Fruit and Other Perishables & Transportation
14 . Conferences: Hog
15. Conferences: N.W. Agriculture and Finance
16. Conferences: N.W. Agriculture Committee on Mortgages
and Indebtedness
17. Conferences: World Dairy Conference
18. Federal Farm Board
Farmer's Relief League, 1924-25 and undated
Federal Farm Board, 1921-28
Federal Farm Loan Board See: Federal Farm Loan Board
Federal Marketing Board
1924
Undated
Old Drafts of Bill
1923-24
Undated
Foreign Service, 1928 and undated
Foreign Trade, 1925-27
See Also: Foreign Trade
Foreign Trade in Agricultural Products, Undated
See Also: Agriculture: Investigation of Foreign Trade
in Agricultural Products
Forest Service
1923-25
1926-28
Policy, 1924-25
Grain Marketing Company See: Grain Marketing Company
Herbert Hoover and Secretaryship of Agric Dept, 1924-25 &
undated
Hogs
See:
1. Conferences: Hogs
2. Hogs and Pork Products
How the U.S. Dept of Commerce Serves the Farmer, Undated
7
Idaho Agricultural Production Plan, 1924
Institute of Mountain Agriculture, 1924
Investigation of Foreign Trade in Agricultural Products
1922-24 and undated
Personnel, 1923
Statistical Statement, 1923
Iowa, 1926
See Also:
1. Agriculture: Corn Belt, Des Moines Meeting
2. Conferences: Des Moines All Iowa Agricultural
Marketing Conference
3. Agriculture: Farm Marketing Bd.: Old Drafts of Bill
Legislation
Miscellaneous
1921-24
1925
1926
1927-28
Capper-Williams Bill
See Also:
1. Capper, Arthur
2. House of Representatives: Williams
3. Senate: Capper
1924
1925
1926
Comments, Correspondence, etc. 1924-27 and undated
Dickinson Bill, 1927
See Also: House of Representatives: Dickinson
McFadden Bill, 1927
See Also: House of Representatives: McFadden
8
McNary-Haugen Bill
See Also: Peek, George N.
Miscellaneous
1923-24 April
1924 May--December
1925
1926
1927-28
Undated (1)
Undated (2)
Annotated Copies by HH, 1924-26
Hearings and Reports
1924-28
Farmers' Export Financing Financing
Corporation
See Also: Farmers' Export Financing
Corporation:
Future Trading, 1921
Naval Investigation, 1920
Rural Credits, 1922
See Also: Agriculture: Credits, Loans
9
Material from HH's Desk
Material Kept Together by Order of the Chief (4 folders)
President's Veto, 1927-28
Printed Copies of Bill
1924-28
Undated
Live Stock, 1924-25
See Also: American Live Stock and Loan Co.
Marketing of Agricultural Products, 1021-28 and undated
See Also:
1. Agriculture: Cooperative Marketing
2. Grain Dealers Conference
National Agricultural Products, Sales Agencies, 1926
10
Newspaper Clippings