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/mm82017012
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 Couzens, industrialist and politician, were given to the Library of Congress from 1955 to 1973 by the administrators of the estate of Frank Couzens. One item was lent temporarily by Madeline Kirk and reproduced with her permission for addition to the collection in 1984.
The papers of James Couzens were first arranged and described in 1959. The register was expanded and revised in 1984. The register was further revised in 2005 by Karen Linn Femia.
The original installment of the papers was described in the Library of Congress
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Copyright in the unpublished writings of James Couzens in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.
The papers of James Couzens 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.
Selected speeches from the James Couzens Papers are available on the Library of Congress website at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms006020.001.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, James Couzens Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of James Couzens (1872-1936), industrialist and politician, span the years 1903-1940 and consist of correspondence, articles, speeches, printed matter, lists, subject files, and miscellaneous items arranged in the following series: General Correspondence, Special Correspondence, an Addition, and Scrapbooks which have been placed at the end of the collection.
The General Correspondence is a chronological file and the Special Correspondence is arranged by subject matter. Much of the correspondence, particularly during the Depression years, 1929-1936, consists of requests for financial aid from individuals and charitable institutions and organizations. The earliest correspondence relates to Couzens's work with the Ford Motor Company as general manager and treasurer, 1903-1915. Couzens discussed many of the major issues which arose during his senatorial career in correspondence with his secretary in Washington, D.C., John J. Carson.
Among the correspondents in the papers are James F. Byrnes, Arthur Capper, Roy D. Chapin, Charles E. Coughlin, Glenn Hammond Curtiss, Joseph Edward Davies, Horace E. Dodge, John F. Dodge, Henry Ford, William Green, Edgar A. Guest, Herbert Hoover, Cordell Hull, Jesse H. Jones, Charles Horace Mayo, Frank Murphy, Herbert Bayard Swope, Arthur H. Vandenberg, and William H. Woodin.
The Addition includes subject files concerning Couzens's successful campaign for mayor of Detroit in 1918 and his campaign for reelection as senator from Michigan in 1930. There are papers relating to the management of his farm, "Wabeek," near Pontiac, Michigan, and correspondence, agreements, dividend statements, and other papers concerning the early years of the Ford Motor Company. A miscellany in the Addition contains articles written by Couzens and speeches which he delivered during the years 1920-1926.
The Scrapbooks series contains volumes of newspaper clippings which cover Couzens's career in detail for the period 1911-1928.
The collection is arranged in four series:
Letters sent and received.
Arranged chronologically.
Correspondence and related papers grouped by subject matter.
Arranged alphabetically by name of organization or person or by type of material and chronologically therein.
Correspondence, subject file, and miscellaneous items consisting of articles, speeches, lists of charitable contributions, and printed matter.
The correspondence is arranged chronologically and the subject file and miscellany are organized alphabetically by topic.
Scrapbooks of printed matter, mainly newspaper clippings, pertaining to Couzens's career.
Arranged chronologically.