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/mm82038133
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 Merritt Austin Edson, major general in the United States Marine Corps, were given to the Library of Congress by his wife, Ethel Robbins Edson, in 1970. Additions to the papers were given by Merritt A. Edson, Jr., Edson's son, in 1992 and by Robert T. Coleman, president of Edson's Raiders Association, Inc., in 2000.
The collection was processed in 1980. The finding aid was revised in 2014. Additional material received in 1992 and 2000 was processed as an addition by Connie L. Cartledge with the assistance of Jake Bozza in 2018. The finding aid was updated in 2023 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Maps have been transferred to the Geography and Maps Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Merritt Austin Edson Papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Raoul Heilbronner is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Merritt Austin Edson 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, Merritt Austin Edson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Merritt Austin Edson (1897-1955) span the years 1905-2000 with the majority concentrated from 1928 to 1955. The collection relates chiefly to his service in the United States Marine Corps, and includes diaries, official memoranda, copies of military correspondence, reports and messages, personal military records, lectures on campaigns in which he participated, speeches and writings, financial papers, and newspaper clippings. The papers are organized into twelve series: Family Correspondence, Private Materials, Personal Correspondence Files, Private Correspondence, Unification File, Speeches and Writings File, Official Materials, General Correspondence, Financial Papers, Miscellany, Oversize, and 2018 Addition.
The collection also treats his years as commissioner of public safety for his native state of Vermont (1947-1951) and as executive director of the National Rife Association of America (1951-1955). The Unification File series relates to the controversy over the reorganization of defense in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Copies of postwar speeches and magazine articles, files of the Marine Corps War Memorial Foundation, and correspondence with veterans organizations, educational institutions, and civic groups are also contained in the collection.
Family correspondence consists mostly of letters to Edson’s sister, parents, and wife. Private correspondence consists chiefly of letters to various officials of the military, government, and National Rifle Association between 1947-1955. Frequent or prominent correspondents include Clifton B. Cates, Paul H. Douglas, Lee E. Emerson, James Forrestal, Ernest William Gibson, Victor H. Krulak, C. B. Lister, Milton A. Reckord, Lemuel C. Shepherd, Gerald C. Thomas, A. A. Vandegrift, Lewis W. Walt, and Charles Erwin Wilson.
The 2018 Addition, 1910 to 2000, supplements the initial portion of the collection and relates mainly to Edson’s early military service, with the Rio Coco patrol during the United States intervention in Nicaragua, 1928-1929, and with the First Vermont Infantry on the Texas-Mexican border, 1916, as well as his childhood and years as a high school and college student. The 2018 Addition is organized into three sections: a book about the First Marine Raider Battalion in World War II, a military file, and a personal file. The bulk of the military file consists mainly of correspondence and orders, field books, and a record of events relating to Edson’s command of marines who engaged in skirmishes with Nicaraguan rebels led by Augusto César Sandino. While in Nicaragua, Edson developed tactics to successfully counter the guerilla style warfare employed by the insurgents that were later utilized in other marine engagements. Also present in the military file is correspondence, 1939-1941, between Edson and William Wallace Ashurst, a marine battalion commander stationed in San Diego, Calif., that documents Edson’s role in the decision by the Marine Corps to adopt the M-1 rifle and discusses the lack of funding for training for team shooting and marksmanship.
Papers in the personal file of the 2018 Addition include family correspondence, personal correspondence, and diaries that provide a glimpse of Edson’s boyhood growing up on a farm. The diary, dated 1916, chronicles Edson's transition as a student at the University of Vermont and documents his activities with the First Vermont Infantry. Edson's letters to his wife, Ethel, and son, Merritt, Jr., provide substantive details about his experiences with the Rio Coco patrol and the tactics utilized to defeat the guerillas.
This collection is arranged in twelve series:
Letters between Edson and members of his family.
Arranged according to family relationship and therein chronologically.
Diaries, appointment books, poems, speech notes and quotations.
Arranged by type of material.
Correspondence and notes relating to military service.
Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence.
Arranged in two parts, the first alphabetically by name of correspondent and the second by type of correspondence.
Correspondence, notes, and printed material relating to the reorganization of the nation’s defense forces and universal military training after World War II.
Arranged by type of material.
Speeches, article and related correspondence.
Arranged by type of material
Correspondence, military records, reports, and notebooks.
Arranged by subject.
Letters received and copies of letters sent.
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent.
Correspondence, accounts, canceled checks, ledger, and bank statements.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Awards, certificates, diplomas, correspondence, clippings, memorabilia, miscellaneous manuscripts, and printed material.
Arranged by subject or type of material.
Correspondence, diaries, orders, field message books, an account book, log books, notebook and notes, a radio talk, writings, newspaper clippings, printed matter, and other material relating to his early military service, his childhood, and his years as a student at the University of Vermont.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein alphabetically.
Awards, certificates, and diplomas.
Described according to the series and container from which they were removed