Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm75024943
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of John Marshall Harlan, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court and lawyer and politician of Kentucky were given to the Library of Congress by his grandson, John Marshall Harlan, and Mrs. Roger A. Derby, in 1957, and as a bequest of his grandson in 1973-1975.
Part I of the Harlan Papers was preliminarily arranged in 1957 by Bert C. Shaposka and processed in 1973-1974 by Anita L. Nolen and Joseph F. McKeever. Part II was processed in 1977-1978 by Audrey A. Walker. The finding aid was revised in 2009.
In 1980, the Library published
Photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress where they are identified as part of these papers.
The University of Louisville Law School, Louisville, Ky., holds a collection of Marshall papers pertaining largely to his career in the Supreme Court.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of John Marshall Harlan in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public. Copyright in the unpublished writings of Malvina Shanklin Harlan in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for further information.
The John Marshall Harlan Papers 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.
A microfilm edition of these papers is available on thirty-four reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, John Marshall Harlan Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911) span the period 1810-1971, with the bulk of the material from 1861 to 1911. The collection consists of correspondence, subject files, speeches and writings, legal and financial records, and miscellaneous material organized in two parts. Part I contains seven series: Family Correspondence; General Correspondence; Subject File; Speeches, Writings, and, Related Material; Legal File; Financial Papers; and Miscellany. Part II is arranged in General Correspondence, Subject File, Speech File, Legal File, Financial Papers, Miscellany, and Papers of James Harlan (1800-1863).
Most of the family correspondence in the Harlan Papers is found in Part I of the collection, although a few family letters are interfiled in the General Correspondence series of Part II. The majority of these letters were exchanged between Harlan and his wife, Malvina Shanklin Harlan; his sons, James S. Harlan, Richard D. Harlan, and John Maynard Harlan; and his brother-in-law, James G. Hatchitt.
The General Correspondence series in Parts I and II contain information relating to Harlan's legal practice in Kentucky in the early 1870s when he was in partnership with Benjamin Helm Bristow and John Newman, and to his political activities in Kentucky during 1876. Especially significant for information about the Ulysses S. Grant administration are letters from Bristow written between 1867 and 1877. In 1876 Harlan advocated Bristow's candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination and placed his name before the convention in Cincinnati in June of that year. Correspondence relating to Bristow's candidacy and the subsequent election of Rutherford B. Hayes is primarily with local political figures in Kentucky.
Also in the General Correspondence series of both parts are letters concerning Harlan's appointment to the Supreme Court. Part I correspondence contains letters written by Henry Clay to Harlan's father, James, from 1841 to 1850. Other correspondents of prominence in the first part include James Gilllespie Blaine, J. J. Crittenden, David Davis, Walter Quintin Gresham, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Augustus Everett Willson. Frequent or prominent correspondents in Part II include J. B. Bowman, George C. Drane, John William Finnell, William Cassius Goodloe, John Rodman, and Bluford Wilson.
After the presidential election of 1876 Harlan was appointed a member of the electoral commission established by Congress to settle the disputed results in Louisiana. Documents relating to the election and to his later role as American representative in the Bering Sea arbitration in 1892-1893 can be found in the Subject File series of Part I. Material in this series also relates to his service with the 10th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and to his tenure as professor of law at the George Washington University Law School. Further information about his career can also be gleaned from the materials accumulated by his namesake and grandson, John Marshall Harlan (1899-1971).
The Legal File in Part I treats Harlan's law career from its beginning through his years on the Supreme Court, including cases in which he was attorney or judge. In the Legal File of Part II are contracts, notes, receipts, and a few briefs relating to cases or clients.
Copies of memoirs of John Marshall Harlan recalling events dating back to the 1850s constitute most of the Speeches, Writings, and Related Material series of Part I. In the Miscellany of Part I are his “One Day Diary” for August 21, 1877, notebooks, biographical material, photocopies of Harlan family papers collected from other repositories by Alan F. Westin, Harlan's biographer, and Richard D. Harlan's nine-volume compilation of Justice Harlan's published Supreme Court opinions. Included in the Miscellany of Part II is a letter from Harlan to his son, Richard, written in July 1911, describing the relationship between Henry Clay and James Harlan prior to the Civil War and explaining John Marshall Harlan's connection with events bearing on Kentucky's position during the Civil War. This segment also contains a small group of financial papers belonging to Harlan's brother, James Harlan, Jr.
The papers of his father, James Harlan, in Part II of the collection, span the years 1810-1863, and are primarily financial, but include a few legal items. They also contain certificates relating to James Harlan's election to the United States House of Representatives in 1835 and 1837, his appointment by Millard Fillmore as one of the commissioners to ascertain and settle private claims in California in 1851, his commission to prepare an abridged and simplified civil and criminal code of practice for the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, his appointments and elections as attorney general of Kentucky in 1850, 1851, and 1855, and his appointment as secretary of state of Kentucky in 1841. His most prominent correspondent is Alexander H. H. Stuart, secretary of the interior from 1850 to 1853.
The collection is arranged in two parts composed of fourteen series:
Part I:
Part II:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm75024943
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 17,179
Letters received and copies of letters sent to and from members of the Harlan family.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters received and copies of letters sent.
Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence, memoranda, financial papers, printed matter, and miscellaneous material.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Typewritten and printed copies of speeches, reminiscences, and lectures by Harlan.
Arranged alphabetically by title or topic.
Correspondence, briefs, affidavits, memoranda, and printed matter relating to cases in which Harlan had an interest.
Arranged chronologically.
Invoices, receipts, accounts, ledgers, contracts, and routine financial correspondence.
Arranged alphabetically.
Typewritten manuscripts, calling cards, commissions, correspondence, diaries, bibliographical and genealogical material, newspaper clippings and printed matter, including Harlan's Supreme Court opinions.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material or topic.
Letters received and copies of letters sent.
Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence, clippings, account book, canceled checks, and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Speeches.
Arranged by chronologically.
Correspondence, briefs, contracts, notes and bills and receipts.
Arranged alphabetically by name of client or case with miscellaneous material organized by topic or type of material at the end of the file.
Correspondence, bills and receipts, bankbooks, bank notes, canceled checks and insurance, real estate, and tax records.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein chronologically.
Biographical and genealogical material, miscellaneous notes and manuscripts, financial records belonging to James Harlan, Jr., and items relating to other members of the Harlan family.
Arranged by alphabetically by subject or type of material.
Papers of John Marshall Harlan's father, including letters received, legal papers relating to clients, bills and receipts, canceled checks, deeds, bank notes, and certificates and commissions.
Arranged by type of material and therein chronologically.