James K. Knudson
Papers
Dates: 1931-1963.
Member of the Interstate Commerce Commission and Defense Transportation Administrator, 1950-1954.
The Papers of James K. Knudson consist of correspondence, speeches, legal documents, and other items relating to his work as a government official and private lawyer.
[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description
| Series Descriptions | Folder
Title List]
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Size: 1 linear foot, 4 linear inches (about 2400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor provided that her copyright interest in writings in this collection would pass to the U.S. Government at the time of her death. Documents created by U.S. Government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Harry Clark (1965).
Updated by: Marco A. Ibarra (2008) as part of the Truman Library Internship
Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch
| Collection Description | Series
Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
| 1906 (January 6) | | Born, Brigham City, Utah |
| 1930 | | A.B., University of Utah |
| 1932-1933 | | Head of the Play and Pageant Department, George Washington Bicentennial Commission |
| 1934-1935 | | Chief Hearing Officer, Agricultural Adjustment Administration |
| 1935 | | LL.B., George Washington University |
| 1935-1950 | | Attorney and Commerce Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture |
| 1938 | | LL.M., Harvard University |
| 1950-1954 | | Member, Interstate Commerce Commission and Administrator, Defense Transportation Administration |
| 1954-1963 | | Partner in Law Firms, Eisen and Knudson and Knudson, Sullivan and Badger, Washington, D.C. |
| 1963 (October 13) | | Died, Washington, D.C. |
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch
| Collection Description | Series
Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION
The papers of James K. Knudson mainly consist of correspondence, financial records, legal documents, printed materials, a manuscript, speeches, and other items related to his work in the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), with the Defense Transportation Administration, and as a private lawyer.
Included among the materials in this collection are many documents relating to the ICC and transportation issues, subjects of major concern to Knudson both as a government official and as a private attorney. Also in the collection are newspaper articles concerning Knudson, and many speeches that he delivered to a wide variety of groups.
In this collection, one can also find recommendations in behalf of Knudson from many leaders in industry and government, urging that he be reappointed to the ICC when his term expired, along with Knudson’s letter to President Eisenhower informing him of his decision to retire from government service in 1954. The correspondence in the collection is of a personal and professional nature. Included are letters of gratitude for favors and gifts received, best wishes for new positions and honors received, and correspondence regarding ICC cases. The papers are arranged in two series, a Chronological File and a Subject File.
Other collections at the Truman Library relating to the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Defense Transportation Administration include the papers of William J. Patterson and Harry S. Truman (Official Files 5 and 3100).
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch
| Collection Description | Series
Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
| Container Nos. |
|
Series |
| 1-2 |
|
CHRONOLOGICAL FILE, 1932-1963 |
|
|
Correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, meeting notes, agendas, reports, handwritten notes, financial records, legal documents, and other items relating to Knudson’s work as an official with the Interstate Commerce Commission and Defense Transportation Administration. Arranged chronologically. |
| 2-3 |
|
SUBJECT FILE, 1931-1962 |
|
|
Material urging Knudson’s reappointment to the Interstate Commerce Commission, correspondence, speeches, reports, and a manuscript. Arranged alphabetically. |
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch
| Collection Description |
Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
FOLDER TITLE LIST
Box 1
- 1932, 1939-1949
- 1950-1952
- 1953
- 1954
- 1955
- 1956
- 1957
- 1958 (Jan.-July)
- 1958 (Aug.-Dec.)-1960
Box 2
- George Washington Bicentennial Commission
- Interstate Commerce Commission, Confidential Reappointment Material, Vol. I, Oct.-Nov., 1953
- Interstate Commerce Commission, Confidential Reappointment Material, Vol. II, Dec. 1953-April 1954
Box 3
- Manuscript: “The Problem – One of Words and Mind and Murder”
- Speeches, 1931-1962
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch
| Collection Description | Series
Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
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