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/mm78018028
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 William R. Day, lawyer, U.S. secretary of state, U.S. Supreme Court justice, and U.S. Court of Appeals judge, were deposited in the Library of Congress in 1960 by Luther Day and Rufus S. Day, sons of William R. Day.
The papers of William R. Day were arranged and described in 1969, and the finding aid was revised in 2011.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of William R. Day is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of William R. Day 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, William R. Day Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of William Rufus Day span the years 1820-1923, with the bulk of the material between the years 1897-1917. The papers are in English and are organized into the following series: Letterpress Books , General Correspondence , Subject File , Scrapbooks , and Bills and Receipts . An 1820 letter written by Day's maternal grandfather Rufus D. Spalding is the only item dated earlier than 1897. Correspondence is especially heavy for the years 1897-1901, the period covering the presidency of William McKinley and including Day's service in the State Department.
Many of the papers are of a personal or routine nature, but also include legal briefs, political patronage requests, foreign affairs material, and papers dealing with the McKinley National Memorial Association, of which Day was president. The General Correspondence is comprised chiefly of incoming correspondence, a few interfiled copies of outgoing letters, and a small group of press copies of outgoing correspondence for the years 1903-1904. Also included in the General Correspondence are items relating to Day’s activities as a federal judge, as a Supreme Court justice, his service with the State Department, and his affiliation with the Republican Party. Correspondents include Clara Barton; Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury; George B. Cortelyou; Charles W. Fairbanks; Marcus Alonzo Hanna; Warren G. Harding; John Hay; William Randolph Hearst; Charles Evans Hughes; Henry Cabot Lodge; William McKinley; John Addison Porter; Theodore Roosevelt; Elihu Root; William H. Taft; Joseph P. Tumulty; and Willis Van Devanter.
Day's close ties with McKinley are reflected in the correspondence through 1901, in the Subject File and in the Scrapbooks . The Subject File also relates to Day’s service as a consular, his tenure with the State Department, the funeral of William McKinley, and diplomatic issues with Spain from 1897-1898. The Subject File , however, contains little material relating to his time as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. A scrapbook, 1900-1919, in the Scrapbook series contains clippings about Day and addresses by him. A second scrapbook consists of photographs relating chiefly to William McKinley and Washington, D.C.
Items in the Bills and Receipts series are routine, although they offer rather extensive documentation of Day's personal financial affairs. There is also little material in the collection relating to Day’s service as an umpire for the Mixed Claims Commission established to pass upon claims of American citizens against Germany, 1922-1923.
This collection is arranged in five series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78018028
Letterpress volumes containing copies of outgoing official, personal, and miscellaneous correspondence.
Arranged chronologically according to beginning date of volume and indexed.
Letters received and a few copies of letters sent relating mainly to personal and family matters. The correspondence provides insight about Day’s activities as a federal judge, a Supreme Court justice, secretary of state, and his affiliation with the Republican Party.
Arranged chronologically and therein alphabetically by name of person, organization, or topic.
Correspondence, reports, memoranda, minutes, newspaper clippings, printed material, and other material pertaining chiefly to consular and State Department matters and foreign affairs.
Arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material and therein chronologically.
Scrapbooks consisting chiefly of newspaper clippings about Day and addresses by him and photographs relating primarily to William McKinley and Washington, D.C.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Bills, receipts, certificates, pay vouchers, and other personal financial material relating to Day.
Arranged chronologically, although some items at the end of the series are unsorted.