Daniels, Jonathan Papers

Dates: 1949-1962; Bulk Date: 1949

Author; Journalist; Assistant Director, Office of Civil Defense, 1942; Administrative Assistant to President Roosevelt, 1943-1945; Press Secretary to President Roosevelt, 1945; Administrative Assistant to President Truman, April-May, 1945; Editor, Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer, 1948-1970

The papers of Jonathan Daniels consist of the research notes Daniels used in preparing The Man of Independence (1950), a biography of President Truman. The notes were compiled mostly from interviews with Truman's family, friends, and associates, from newspaper articles, and from genealogical records. Miscellaneous reference materials and a chronology of events, 1865 to 1948, make up the remainder of the collection. The collection consists of one series, a Notes File.

See also Oral history

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (approximately 250 pages)
Access: Open
Copyright: Jonathan Daniels donated his copyright interest in writings in this collection to the United States of America. Copyright interest in any other writings in this collection is assumed to remain with the authors of the documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Lori Schwartz as part of the Internship Program at the Truman Library
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and Amy Williams
 

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1902, April 26

 

Born, Raleigh, North Carolina

1921

 

B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

1922

 

M.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

1922 - 1923

 

Columbia University law student, New York City; Admitted to the North Carolina bar

late 1923 - early 1924

 

Reporter, The Louisville Times, Kentucky

1924 - 1928

 

Police Reporter, Washington Correspondent (1925), Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer

1930

 

Authored first novel, Clash of Angels

1930 - 1931

 

Guggenheim fellow

1930 - 1932

 

Editorial staff, Fortune magazine, New York City

1932 - 1942

 

Associate Editor, Editor (1933), Raleigh News and Observer

1942

 

Assistant Director, Office of Civil Defense

1943 - 1945

 

Administrative Assistant to President Roosevelt

1945

 

Press Secretary to President Roosevelt

1947 - 1952

 

Member, Democratic National Committee, North Carolina

1947 - 1953

 

U.S. member, United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

1947 - 1970

 

Executive Editor, Editor (1948), Raleigh News and Observer

1948 - 1953

 

Member, Public Administrative Board, Economic Cooperation Administration, and Mutual Security Agency

1949 - 1953

 

Member, Federal Hospital Council

1950

  The Man of Independence published

1970

 

Editor Emeritus, Raleigh News and Observer

1970s

 

Founder and Columnist, The Island Packet newspaper, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

1981, Nov. 6

 

Died, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Jonathan Daniels consist of the research notes Daniels used to write The Man of Independence (1950), a biography of President Truman. In preparation, Jonathan Daniels visited Kansas City, Missouri, in 1949, to collect material for the book. Included in his research notes is information compiled from interviews with Truman and his family, friends, and associates, as well as from newspaper articles and genealogical records. A chronology of events and some miscellaneous reference materials are also included. In their original form, a three-ring binder held the 260 pages of notes together. The notes now are divided into four parts and a table of contents has been added to each part. The collection consists of one series, a Notes File.

Before and after his trip to Kansas City in 1949, Daniels interviewed President Truman three times. Notes from interviews are included in the collection. Margaret Truman, William Leahy, Clark Clifford, Spencer Salisbury, and Eddie Jacobson are among the family, friends, and associates that Daniels interviewed for the book.

To document lesser-known aspects of Truman's career, particularly his early business dealings, Daniels consulted several published sources and visited the Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post-Dispatch morgues. Notes and extracts from the newspaper articles he found are included in the collection.

The chronology Daniels included in his research notes documents Truman's life, events involving his family members and contemporaries, and selected political and social events dating from 1865 to 1948.

Logs of the Berlin Conference of 1945 and of Truman's vacation trips from 1946 to 1949, information concerning Truman's meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 and 1945, and other miscellaneous reference items can also be found in the Daniels Papers.

Other material at the Truman Library that relates to Jonathan Daniels includes an oral history interview conducted with Daniels (Oral History Interview # 15 ). Correspondence with Daniels can be found in the Harry S. Truman Papers: President's Secretary's Files and in the Eben A. Ayers Papers.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1

  NOTES FILE, 1949-62 (Bulk Date Span, 1949
Research notes used by Daniels in preparing The Man of Independence (1950), compiled from newspaper articles, genealogical records, and interviews with Truman and his family, friends, and associates; along with miscellaneous reference materials and a chronology of events from 1865 to 1948. Arranged in numerical order (Parts I through IV).
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

Box 1

NOTES FILE, 1949-1962 (Bulk Date Span, 1949)
 
 
Page
Part I: Notes of Interviews, July - September, 1949    
 

Harry S. Truman, July 28, 1949

 
2
 

Harry S. Truman, August 30, 1949

 
4
 

Max Lowenthal

 
11
 

Admiral William D. Leahy

 
13
 

Vivian Truman

 
15
 

Grandview, Missouri interviews

 
16
 

Independence, Missouri interviews

 
17
 

William M. Southern, Jr.

 
20
 

Edward Jacobson

 
25
 

Henry Bundschu, September 28, 1949

 
27
 

Spencer Salisbury

 
28
 

Edwin W. Pauley

 
31
 

Harry Vaughan and Edward D. McKim

 
32
 

Harry Jobes and Father L.. Curtis Tiernan

 
34
 

Mary Jane Truman

 
35
 

Holmes family Bible

 
37
 

Henry Bundschu, October 3, 1949

 
38
 

Margaret Truman

 
41
 

William M. Boyle, Jr.

 
42
 

Clark Clifford

 
43
 

Victor R. Messall

 
52
 

Duke Shoop

 
54
 

Harry S. Truman, November 12, 1949


 
 
55
Part II: Newspaper References and Genealogical Records  
 
 

Kansas City Directories (Truman Family), 1889-1935

 
75
  Kansas City Star morgue (Spencer Salisbury), 1914-46  
77
 

Kansas City Directories (David H. Morgan), 1913-24

 
79
  Kansas City Star morgue (Citizens Security Back), 1919-26  
81
  Kansas City Star morgue (Harry S. Truman), 1926-29  
86
  St. Louis Post-Dispatch morgue (Harry S. Truman), 1934-45  
94
  New York Times Index (Harry S. Truman and T.J. Pendergast), 1930-44  
103
 

Records in Office of Register of Deeds, Johnson County, Kansas concerning SW¼ of 32-12-23, 1860-1922

 
107
  Missouri Manual, 1937-38 (Harry S. Truman)  
109
  Vital Historical Records of Jackson County, Missouri (Holmes and Young families)  
110
 

Dr. W.L. Brandon letters to Harry S. Truman

 
113
 

Harry S. Truman's ancestry


 
 
114
Part III: Chronology of Events, 1865-1948  
 
 

Chronology - general, 1865-1948


 
 
117
Part IV: Miscellaneous Reference Materials  
 
 

Truman family finances

 
191
 

State of Kentucky

 
192
 

Barton County, Missouri

 
193
 

Cass County, Missouri

 
194
 

Henry County, Missouri

 
195
 

Jackson County, Missouri

 
196
 

Platte County, Missouri

 
197
 

Henry Bundschu biographical sketch of Harry S. Truman (extracts)

 
198
 

"1880's"

 
205
 

"Ideas"

 
206
 

Logs of the President's vacation trips, 1946-49

 
207
 

Harry S. Truman's meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1944-45 (New York Times)

 
219
 

T.J. Pendergast, 1946 (New York Times Index)

 
220
 

Harry S. Truman bibliography, 1947-49

 
222
 

Articles on Harry S. Truman listed in the Readers Guide, 1945-47

 
225
 

"The Job That Made Truman President," by W. McCune and J.R. Beal, Harpers, June 1945 (extracts)

 
227
 

Berlin (Potsdam) Conference log

 
229
 

Miscellaneous Notes

 
259
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