archives.nypl.org -- John H. Finley papers (original) (raw)

The collection contains correspondence, addresses, speeches, writings, diaries, miscellaneous papers, photographs, and printed matter that document Finley's varied career. The correspondence, 1892-ca. 1939, represents the bulk of the collection, and reflects his professional activities, organizational memberships, biography of Grover Cleveland, and recreational interests. There are numerous prominent correspondents. Addresses and speeches, ca. 1902-1940, consist of autograph manuscript and typescript texts of Finley's presentations to groups, such as schools; learned societies, chambers of commerce, and at commencements and patriotic celebrations. Many of the speeches are accompanied by correspondence, clippings, programs, menus, and photographs. Writings include manuscript and typescript drafts of his books, miscellaneous prose writings, poems, and scrapbooks of clippings of editorials by Finley published in the New York Times for the period 1921 to 1940. Diaries consist of personal diaries, 1910-1919, and desk calendars, 1922-1940. Miscellaneous papers include correspondence, letters of introduction, personal notes, travel documents, clippings, and other memorabilia relating to his European trips from 1921 to 1929. There are also postcards, genealogical papers, receipts, menus, programs, and papers relating to railroad arbitration, 1913-1914; New York State Constitutional Convention, 1915; and New York State Agricultural Advisory Board, 1915.

The John H. Finley papers are arranged in eight series:

• There are carbon copies and manuscript drafts of Finley's replies. The Correspondence is reflective of the Finley's varied career. Correspondents include the following individuals and organizations: Edmund Henry Allenby, American Academy of Arts and Letters, American University Union in Europe, American Geographical Society, Brooke Atkinson, Edgar Addison Bancroft, Poultney Bigelow, Robert Bridges, Prince Gelasio Caetani, Gilbert Colgate, Calvin Coolidge, Richard Theodore Ely, Hamlin Garland, Case Gilbert, Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association, James Hazen Hyde, Herbert Clark Hoover, Charles Evans Hughes, Institute for International Education, Institute for Research in Land Economics and Public Utilities, Robert Underwood Johnson, Arthur Krock, Jean Jules Jusserand, Franklin Knight Lane, Adolphus Lewisohn, George Foster Peabody, Phi Beta Kappa, John Sanbum Phillips, Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., Jacob August Riis, Nicholas Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Charles Scribner's Sons, Frederick Starr, Edward Morse Shepard, Vilhfalmur Stefansson, Sir Ronald Storrs, Ida Minerva Tarbell, Henry Van Dyke, and William Allen White.
• The series consists of autograph manuscripts and typescript texts of addresses and speeches by Finley presented before colleges, universities, and secondary schools. Many of the speeches are accompanied by collateral papers such as correspondence, clippings, programs, menus and photographs. Printed copies of the speeches are often available.
• The Writings are manuscript and typescript drafts of his books including The Debt Eternal, and The French in the Heart of America, and miscellaneous prose and poems. The Poems are arranged alphabetically, and indexed by title. The poems are usually accompanied by correspondence.
• There are twenty seven scrapbooks of clippings of editorials by Finley published in the New York Times from 1921 to 1940. These clippings are mounted in diaries on pages that contain the date of their publication. With the exception, of the first two scrapbooks, the scrapbooks contain an index of titles.
• The, Diaries (five vols.) were kept at Albany, New York. A few of the entries covers Finley's activities in France during May 1917, in Palestine, and the Near East, 19181919. The desk calendars, 1922-1940, record brief entries of appointments and engagements (19 vols.). There are some miscellaneous papers, 1915-1940, at the end of this series which consist of correspondence, letters of introduction, personal notes, travel documents, clippings and other memorabilia relating to Finley's European trips for the period covering 1921-1929. The papers also contain post cards, genealogical papers, personal receipts, menus, programs, papers relating to railroad arbitrations (1913-1914), the New York State Constitutional convention of 1915, minutes of meetings of the New York State Agricultural Advisory Board of 1915, and unsorted papers.
• The photographs are unsorted. The images are photographs taken by Finley during his Red Cross mission to the Near East, a trip to the Mississippi, and while at City College. The lantern slides are images of the Near East, c 1919. Some of the slides bear the caption New York State Education Dept., Division of Visual Instruction.
• The Printed Matter consist of published and near printed material such as books, pamphlets, and printed ephemera (unsorted).
• The artifacts consist of a few woodblocks, engraving plates, wallets.