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/mm78024844
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 G. Harbord, army officer and business executive, were given to the Library of Congress by Harbord in 1945. An earlier gift had been received in 1923.
The collection was processed prior to 1960. The finding aid was revised in 2014.
Photographs have been transferred to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of James G. Harbord is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of James G. Harbord 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 G. Harbord Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of James Guthrie Harbord (1866-1947) span the years 1886-1938, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1917-1919. The collection consists of correspondence, personal diary, confidential cables, administrative memoranda of General John J. Pershing, records of conversations, clippings, scrapbooks, operational maps, barrage charts, sketches, a portrait, records of the United States Army 2nd Division, a portrait, translations of war diaries of the German army, and other papers pertaining to Harbord's career in the United States Army. Featured are Harbord’s service as Pershing's chief of staff during World War I; as commander of a marine brigade during the battle of Chateau-Thierry, France, in 1918; commander of the 2nd Division in the Soissons offensive; and commander of the American Expeditionary Forces Service of Supply, 1918-1919. Also documented is Harbord’s service as chief of the American Military Mission to Armenia in 1919 as well as his postings prior to World War I, especially as assistant chief of the Philippine Constabulary. The papers are organized by topic or type of material.
Subjects include political and administrative issues within the military, Newton Diehl Baker's activities as secretary of war during World War I, and the relationship between Harbord and Baker until the latter’s death in 1938. Secretary Baker’s two visits to Europe, one during the war in 1918 and one in 1919 while the Peace Conference was in session at Paris, are briefly described, with accounts by Harbord on his conversations with the secretary. Contained in a volume of Harbord-Pershing correspondence are copies of Pershing’s administrative memoranda as well as Harbord’s own letters and communications. A volume of personal miscellany contains a note from J. C. Grew, enclosing to Harbord a ticket of admission to the Salle des Glaces in the Palace at Versailles, to witness the signing of the treaty of pace with Germany on June 28, 1919.
Correspondents in addition to Baker and Pershing include Harry Hill Bandholtz, Tasker Howard Bliss, Jean Degoutte, Earl Douglas Haig, W. W. Harts, Herbert Hoover, Hugh S. Johnson, Peyton Conway March, Frank Ross McCoy, Frank McIntyre, John McAuley Palmer, Philippe Pétain, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Leonard Wood.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78024844
Letters sent and received. Vol. 1 includes a typewritten diary of a trip by Harbord through parts of Russia and Europe, June 2, 1906- Sept. 8, 1906. The correspondence is arranged in chronologically. Included are letters from Leonard Wood, John J. Pershing, William H. Taft,and Frank McIntryre. The largest body of correspondence is with Harry Hill Bandholtz.
Scrapbook containing newspaper and magazine clippings, original letters, commissions, certificates, orders, etc.
Congratulatory letters and official notices on the promotions of Harbord. Arranged alphabetically.
Scrapbook containing pictures, memoranda, menus, programs, invitations, etc.
Preface, dated Dec. 1936, by Eleanor Kay Abrams. Included are letters or telegrams from Tasker Howard Bliss, John McAuley Palmer, John J. Pershing, and others. A typewritten copy of Newton Diehl Baker’s letter of Feb. 25, 1919 constitutes the introduction. Letters arranged alphabetically with index at the beginning.
Letters, telegrams, memoranda exchanged by John J. Pershing and Harboard. Harbord’s letters being for the most part in the form of carbon copies.
Letters, telegrams, and related matter exchanged by Baker and Harbord. Harbord’s letters being for the most part in the form of typewritten copies signed. The last letter, Jan. 12, 1938, is from Mrs. Baker.
Six books of cables, bound as one volume. Largely from Pershing to adjutant general, War Department, or the adjutant general for the chief of staff, secretary of war, etc. (marked “3rd copy”)
Largely addressed to Pershing Amexforces (marked “3rd copy”) Five books of cables bound as one volume.
Carbon copies of orders sent by messenger, summaries of intelligence, resumes of activities, handwritten reports and memoranda, signed papers. Arranged in general chronological order with maps at the front of the volume. Includes General Order No. 1, June 6, 1919, mistakenly bound as part of this volume.
Operation maps, barrage charts and sketches. Index at front.
Typewritten material. A foreword, June 20, 1930, bearing the heading “Second Division Historical Section, Army War College, Washington, D.C.,” signed by Captain C.O. Mattfeldt, explains the preparation and handling of the material in the volume. Includes a word of appreciation to the Deutsches Reicharchiv, Potsdam, Germany, for its courtesy in making available to the section the original war dairies of the German units that engaged the 2nd Division.
Typewritten material “copied literally from original documents and most carefully compared,” according to a note at the front of vol. 1 by Brigadier General Preston Brown. This series was done under the direction of Captain C. O. Mattfeldt.
Personal telegrams sent, 1918-1919. Carbon copies. Arranged chronologically.
Pictures, clippings, menus, articles, etc. Pocket of loose material at the back of the volume.
Map room G-3, General Headquarters. Includes loose material consisting of maps, commissions, a portrait, a report, and a memorial of women of Armenia to Harbord, 1919.