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Title: A. Piatt Andrew papers
Dates: 1832-1950
Collection Number: 2006C26
Creator: Andrew, A. Piatt (Abram Piatt)
Collection Size:
49 manuscript boxes, 11 oversize boxes
(33.4 linear feet linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: The A. Piatt Andrew papers provide a record of the life and work of a prominent American who achieved distinction in a number
of fields in the first part of the 20th century. Andrew taught economics at Harvard before being appointed to government office,
first as Director of the United States Mint and then as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Leaving the Treasury Department,
he then acted on his own initiative as the founder and director of the American Field Service, a volunteer ambulance corps
that operated with the French army on the battlefields of Europe during World War I. Following service in the United States
Army, Andrew was elected to Congress in 1921 and remained a representative from Massachusetts until his death in 1936. All
phases of his career in public service are documented in the papers.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
English
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], A. Piatt Andrew papers, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 2006.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog Socrates at
http://library.stanford.edu/webcat . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in Socrates is larger than the number of boxes
listed in this finding aid.
| 1873 | Born, La Porte, Indiana |
| 1893 | Bachelor of Arts, Princeton College |
| 1900 | Doctor of Philosophy, Harvard University |
| 1900-1909 | Instructor and assistant professor of economics, Harvard University |
| 1909-1910 | Director, United States Mint |
| 1910-1912 | Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury |
| 1914-1917 | Organizes and directs the American Field Service, a volunteer ambulance corps serving in France |
| 1917 | Commissioned as major, United States Army |
| 1917 | Awarded the Légion d'Honneur and Croix de Guerre by the French government |
| 1918 | Promoted to lieutenant colonel, United States Army |
| 1921-1936 | Member, United States House of Representatives |
| 1936 | Died |
Scope and Content of Collection
The A. Piatt Andrew papers provide a record of the life and work of a prominent American who achieved distinction in a number
of fields in the first part of the 20th century. Andrew taught economics at Harvard before being appointed to government
office, first as Director of the United States Mint and then as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Leaving the Treasury
Department, he then acted on his own initiative as the founder and director of the American Field Service, a volunteer ambulance
corps that operated with the French army on the battlefields of Europe during World War I. Following service in the United
States Army, Andrew was elected to Congress in 1921 and remained a representative from Massachusetts until his death in 1936.
All phases of his career in public service are documented in the papers.
The
Correspondence series in the papers reflects the wide compass of Andrew's professional and personal relationships. There are exchanges
of letters with important political figures-among these, Henry Cabot Lodge, Calvin Coolidge, William Howard Taft, Woodrow
Wilson, and Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt-as well as academics such as the philosopher William James and the economist Frank
William Taussig. There is extensive correspondence with Boston socialite and art collector Isabella Stuart Gardner, and with
Andrew's friend and fellow American Field Service volunteer, Henry Davis Sleeper. The series also includes a large quantity
of correspondence with members of Andrew's family, including his sister, Helen Andrew Patch, and parents, Abram P. and Helen
M. Andrew. These span the time from Andrew's early years as a student in private schools until his later career as a politician,
and provide insight into family life and education in this period. They also chart the social progress of a banker's son
from Indiana who became part of New England's cultural and political establishment.
The
Speeches and Writings series contains a considerable number of articles and addresses concerning banking and currency issues, as well as many speeches
made during the course of his political career. These include numerous campaign speeches, often to Republican audiences,
and many talks to veterans at American Legion meetings and Memorial Day gatherings.
For the most part, the remainder of the collection is organized chronologically, according to the various stages of Andrew's
public career. The
Treasury Department file series is comprised of materials pertaining to Andrew's service as Director of the United States Mint and as Assistant Secretary
of the Treasury. The
Political campaign file series contains correspondence and other documents relating to Andrew's first, unsuccessful campaign for Congress. The
American Field Service file series contains correspondence and other documents relating to Andrew's time as head of the volunteer ambulance corps in
France. It also includes materials from the American Field Service's postwar activities in providing scholarships for American
and French students.
The large
Congressional file series has an extensive amount of routine correspondence, organized chronologically, as well as a subject file encompassing
Andrew's major legislative concerns during his time in Congress. These include the issue of Allied war debts after World
War I, especially as they pertained to France, whose debt burden Andrew, a confirmed Francophile, sought to ease, and Prohibition,
whose repeal was a goal that Andrew endorsed. The fishing industry, of great importance to Andrew's constituents, and immigration
are other topics covered in the subject file.
Additionally, the papers contain separate materials pertaining to the Andrew family without reference to A. Piatt Andrew.
The
Andrew family materials series includes correspondence relating to A. Piatt Andrew's grandfather, Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr., and his father, Abram
Piatt Andrew III. There is also correspondence relating to his sister, Helen Andrew Patch, as well as documents pertaining
to her involvement in civil defense efforts during World War II and her activities on behalf of the Wendell Willkie presidential
campaign in 1940.
There are a large number of scrapbooks in the
Oversize materials series. These contain clippings that detail Andrew's experiences in the Treasury Department, his time in France with the
American Field Service, and his subsequent Congressional career.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
American Field Service.
United States. Congress. House.
United States. Dept. of the Treasury.
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
Finance, Public--United States.
World War, 1914-1918--United States.
World War, 1914-1918--Medical care.
United States--Politics and government--1901-1953.
Massachusetts--Politics and government--1865-1950.