THE HARRY HOPKINS PAPERS (PART III)

Introduction

Harry Lloyd Hopkins was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on August 17, 1890.He was graduated, A.B. Cum Laude from Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1912. Hethen moved to New York City where he was engaged by Christadora House, asocial settlement, to act as counselor at the summer camp in Bound Brook,New Jersey. This was to be the first stage of a distinguished career insocial work. From 1913 to 1915, Hopkins was a work relief agent for the NewYork Association for Improving conditions for the Poor (NYAICP), where he eventually became executive secretary of the Board of Child Welfare. During World War I, he served with the American Red Cross, first as secretary to the general manager in Washington, D.C., then as assistant director of civilian relief and associate manager of the Gulf Division, headquartered in New Orleans, and finally as manager of the Southern Division.

In 1922, Hopkins returned to New York to become assistant director ofthe NYAICP. In 1924, he was appointed director of the New York Tuberculosis (later the NY Tuberculosis and Health) Association. Then in 1931, Franklin D. Roosevelt, governor of New York State at the time, appointed Hopkins to the position of executive director of the New York Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA), which led to his appointment as administrator of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), in May 1933. FERA was later superseded by the Works Projects Administration (WPA) of which Hopkins became administrator in April 1935. (FERA was officially renamedWPA in July 1939.)

Hopkins resigned from the WPA in DEcember 1938 and entered Roosevelt'scabinet as secretary of commerce, which post he filled until September1940. During these years he became one of Roosevelt's most intimate friendsand advisors. He eventually resigned as secretary of commerce and duringthe Second World War resided at the White House performing many importantand confidential political missions on behalf of the president. Among thesewas his heading of the board of strategy at the Democratic NationalConvention held in Chicago, 1940, to re-elect Roosevelt for a third term.In January 1941, Hopkins was U.S. emissary to Great Britain (pending theappointment of an ambassador) prior to taking charge of the lend-leaseprogram. As a personal representative of Roosevelt, he conferred withWinston Churchill and Premier Stalin; and as a member of the president'sinner cabinet, he attended the major war conferences at Washington,Casablanca, Quebec, Cairo, Tehran, and Yalta. After the war, Hopkinsprepared the way to the Potsdam (Berlin) Conference (summer 1945), and wasinstrumental in launching the United Nations Conference in San Francisco(April 1945).

Hopkins retired from a brilliant career in government service in July1945. he died on January 29, 1946, at Memorial Hospital New York.

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This collection constitutes the third accession of the papers of HarryHopkins. Material is grouped into eight series (see Synopsis). Arrangement of the correspondence reflects the successive stages of Hopkins' career. An important aspect of the family correspondence is the letters between Hopkins and his son Robert, which cover the war years (1940 to 1945) during which the latter served in the Army Signal Corps. Letters (of condolence) received by Hopkins regarding the death of his youngest son Stephen (killed in combat during the invasion of Namur in the Marshall Islands, 1944) are also noteworthy.

The collection includes various typescripts of articles by Hopkins, as well as a number of memoranda written by him during his years of service at the White House. Some noteworthy correspondence comprises the series of xeroxed material (for explanation, see Synopsis) and includes Max Beaverbrook, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Dwight Esenhower, J. Edgar Hoover, Charles De Gaulle, and Harry Truman. Xeroxes of Hopkins' memoranda regarding his trips abroad (to London and Moscow) and the Yalta Conference are also included.

The collection is completed by a series of newsclippings covering many important moments in the lives of both Hopkins and his family. Included are magazine pictorial features of Hopkins' career. spotlighting his years as presidential advisor, as well as news articles that follow the experiences of his sons, Robert and Stephen, during World War II.

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Processed by: Lisette C. Matano

Date: March 6, 1990

BULK DATES: 1920 - 1946
SPAN DATES: 1917 - 1979

EXTENT: 3.50 linear feet

SERIES