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: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78029348
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 James McCauley Landis, government official, lawyer, and educator, were given to the Library of Congress in 1967 to 1972 by his son-in-law, Charles C. McLaughlin and in 1974-1975 from his daughter, Ann Landis McLaughlin. Additional items were obtained from various sources between 1969 and 1977. In 2005, Landis papers which had been part of the Joseph P. Kennedy papers were transferred to the Library of Congress from the John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts. Donald Ritchie, who had gathered papers while working on his biography of Landis, gave additional papers to the Library in 2009.
The papers of James McCauley Landis were arranged and described in 1968. Additional material received between 1972 and 1977 was incorporated into the collection in 1979. The Kennedy Library and Donald Ritchie materials were added and the finding aid revised in 2013.
Some photographs have been transferred to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of James McCauley Landis in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for further information.
The papers of James McCauley Landis 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.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, James McCauley Landis Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of James McCauley Landis (1899-1964) span the years 1916-2004, with the bulk of the material dating from 1927 to 1962. The papers are organized into the following series: Diaries and Family Correspondence; General Correspondence; Office Files; Subject File; Speech, Article and Book File; Miscellany; Addition I; Addition II; and Oversize.
The papers are comprised of correspondence, legal drafts and briefs, memoranda, drafts and copies of Landis's writings, scrapbooks, financial papers, and other material relating to his career as professor at Harvard, dean of the Harvard Law School, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, advisor to both Joseph P. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy, and supervisor for the town of Harrison, New York. The papers document his interest and activities in the regulation, administration, and expansion of civil aviation, economic development of the Middle East, the Federal Power Commission, public administration, the controversy over the plan to reorganize the Supreme Court in 1936, the Harry Bridges case, the election of 1940, the motion picture and television industry, and Landis's New York law practice. Correspondents include Louis Dembitz Brandeis, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Zechariah Chafee, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter, John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy, David Eli Lilienthal, Langdon P. Marvin, Claude Pepper, Roscoe Pound, Richard Manning Russell, and Herbert Bayard Swope.
The Additions include material from Landis's second wife, Dorothy Purdy Brown, items from his State Department position as minister to the Middle East during the final years of World War II, papers from various business pursuits, and material that was gathered by Donald Ritchie for his biography of Landis. The Ritchie collection includes the author's interviews and correspondence with Landis's family and friends, and medical and psychiatric records. The Oversize series consists of certificates, including many that document presidential appointments.
This collection is arranged in seven series:
Diaries, desk book, and letters received and copies of letters sent.
The diaries and desk book are arranged chronologically and the correspondence is arranged by correspondent.
Letters received and letters sent, supplemented by memoranda.
Arranged alphabetically by name of sender.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, supplemented by memoranda, clippings, and printed material.
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, supplemented by printed material and clippings.
Arranged in a chronological reading file of letters sent and an alphabetical file organized by name of correspondent.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, supplemented by memoranda, briefs, clippings, and printed material.
Arranged in a chronological reading file and an alphabetical file organized by name of correspondent.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, with printed material, drafts of briefs, and reports.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Drafts, notes, and printed copies of speeches, articles, and books; law notes; supplemented by correspondence and printed material.
Arranged by type of writing.
Biographical and financial papers, invitations, clippings, printed material, and a scrapbook. .
Arranged by type of material
Family correspondence and related items of Dorothy Purdy Brown Landis.
Arranged by type of material.
Business and legal papers, State Department correspondence as minister to the Middle East, and biographical material collected by Donald Ritchie including Ritchie's interviews and correspondence with Landis's family and friends.
Arranged in an office file and Ritchie file.
Certificates. Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.