Divers, William K. Papers

Dates: 1934-1994

Chairman, Home Loan Bank Board, 1947-1953

The William K. Divers Papers include correspondence, printed materials, photographs, articles, reports, speeches, pamphlets, brochures, maps, scrapbooks, and other items relating to Divers's life and career as a government official and corporate officer.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 1 linear foot, 4 linear inches (about 3,200 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave its copyrights in this collection to the U.S. government. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. It must be assumed that copyright interest in other documents belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Pamela Anderson (2012).


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1905 (April 12)

 

Born William Keeveny Divers in Cincinnati, Ohio

1923-1928

 

Attended the University of Cincinnati and earned a Bachelor of Laws degree

1928

 

Admitted to the Ohio bar

1928-1930

 

Attended the University of Cincinnati and earned a Master of Laws degree

1928-1933

 

Partner in the firm Divers & Warm

1931-1932

 

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Hamilton County, Ohio

1933-1938

 

Member of legal staff, Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works

1935 (August 27)

 

Married Minna Rosenbaum

1938-1939

 

Member of legal staff, U.S. Housing Authority

1939-1941

 

Regional Director of the U.S. Housing Authority for fifteen Midwestern states

1941

 

Assistant General Counsel, U.S. Housing Authority, and Special Assistant to the Director of the Defense Housing Division, Federal Works Agency

1942-1944

 

Regional representative, National Housing Agency

1945

 

Assistant Administrator, National Housing Agency

1946

 

Special Assistant to the National Housing Expediter

1947

 

Assistant Administrator, Housing and Home Finance Agency

1947

 

Appointed by President Truman to the Home Loan Bank Board, as Chairman.

1951

 

Appointed by President Truman for a second term on the Home Loan Bank Board, as Chairman

1953

 

Stepped down as Chairman of the Home Loan Bank Board

1954

 

Resigned from the Home Loan Bank Board

1955

 

Became President of the Savings and Loan Foundation

1968

 

Became Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Savings and Loan Foundation.

1998 (April 19)

 

Died in Fayetteville, Arkansas

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The Papers of William K. Divers contain material relating to his life and career as a government official, a corporate officer, and a private citizen. The papers include correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, articles, speeches, reports, pamphlets, brochures, photographs, maps, invitations, programs, and other items.

The Divers Papers are arranged in one series, a Subject File. This series contains correspondence with banking officials across the country congratulating him on his two Presidential appointments to the Home Loan Bank Board (HLBB), as well as their regret when he left the HLBB. Newspaper and magazine clippings chronicle not only his attendance and participation at numerous conferences, conventions, and meetings, but also various statements and decisions he made throughout his career. Also included in the series are speeches Divers gave while on the HLBB and during his tenure as President of the Savings and Loan Foundation. Outside of correspondence and speeches, the bulk of the material regarding his work with the HLBB can be found in the two scrapbooks in this series, including the report, "Home Loan Bank Board, Summary of Operations for 1951," which is in Scrapbook # 2.

A large portion of the papers pertain to the many international trips Drivers took in his work to promote savings and loan societies in developed and developing countries. Divers often traveled with his wife and one of them usually wrote a detailed summary of the trip. Accompanying these trip summaries are many brochures, pamphlets, photographs, and maps of the areas they visited. When Divers traveled alone, the letters he wrote home to his wife and children are included. Also included with these trip papers are copies of speeches Divers gave at the international conferences he attended.

These papers arrived at the Truman Library unarranged. They are now arranged in alphabetical order according to subject and thereunder in chronological order.

Related materials at the Truman Library include the William K. Divers Oral History Interview and the Papers of Raymond M. Foley, Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, 1947-1953.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

 

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-4

  SUBJECT FILE, 1934-1994
Correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, other printed materials, speeches, photographs, articles, reports, pamphlets, brochures, maps, scrapbooks, and other items. Arranged alphabetically.
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1934-1994

Box 1

  • Africa - Trip, 1961
  • Africa - Trip, 1966
  • Alaska
  • Bermuda - Trip, 1956
  • Certificates and Awards
  • Clippings [1 of 2]
  • Clippings [2 of 2]
  • Correspondence [1 of 4]
  • Correspondence [2 of 4]

Box 2

  • Correspondence [3 of 4]
  • Correspondence [4 of 4]
  • Cosmos Club
  • Geneva - Trip
  • Guatemala - Trip, 1974
  • Hawaii, Philippines, Australia - Trip, 1968
  • Ireland - Trips
  • Lima, Peru and Santiago, Chile - Trip, 1964
  • London - Trips
  • Nicaragua - Trip, 1970

Box 3

  • Panama - Trip, 1971
  • Personal
  • Peru - Trip, 1963
  • Photographs [1 of 2]
  • Photographs [2 of 2]
  • Printed Materials
  • Reports
  • Rio de Janeiro - Trip, 1968
  • Santo Domingo - Trip, 1969

Box 4

  • Scrapbook # 1 [1 of 2]
  • Scrapbook # 1 [2 of 2]
  • Scrapbook # 2
  • South Africa - Trips
  • Speeches
  • Travel
  • Vienna - Trip, 1976
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]