Charles H. Percy, 1967-1970
File — Box: 195, Folder: 12
Identifier: IX
Scope and Contents
From the Collection:
The Marriner S. Eccles papers (1910-1985) chronicles the years when Eccles made his greatest contributions as a national and international fiscal and monetary expert, businessman, and public figure.
There are four distinct periods in the life of Marriner S. Eccles. The first period, his formative years, dates from his birth in 1890 to the death of his father, David Eccles, in 1912. The second period is from 1912 until 1934 when, following in the footsteps of his father, he became the most successful entrepreneur in Utah. During this time he assumed control of several western companies and created the First Security Corporation, the largest bank system in the Intermountain area. Neither of these periods is well documented by his papers, but each is covered by two books: Beckoning Frontiers, his autobiography completed with the assistance of Sidney Hyman in 1951, and his later biography, Marriner S. Eccles: Private Entrepreneur and Public Servant, written by Hyman and published just prior to Eccles' death in 1977.
Background Information
The most significant section of the collection, the Washington Years, boxes 2-112, provides insight into Eccles' activities during the third period in his life, 1934-1951. During these years he served for a brief period in 1934 at the United States Treasury Department in Washington, D. C., and then as both governor and chairman of the nation's bank regulatory agency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. His papers from the Federal Reserve section of his collection, his library, and the accompanying ephemera substantiate the importance of his role in Washington during the New Deal period, World War II, the postwar recovery, and the beginning of the Cold War.
The last period of his life, 1951-1977, is documented under the heading Businessman and Public Figure, boxes 113-240. This section of his papers reflects his role as an international businessman and an outspoken critic of many of the country's economic, social, and foreign policies.
The Federal Reserve papers were originally organized in loose-leaf binders by Va Lois Egbert, secretary to Eccles for almost three decades. Her apparent intention was to place material in order of its apparent subject importance. Correspondence to and from the White House were thus placed first in the collection in chronological order. Several years before the Marriott Library received the material, Eccles permitted Dean May, then a graduate student and now a member of the history faculty at the University of Utah, to microfilm the material in the binders. After the library received the collection and some initial processing had taken place, the decision was made to remove the material from the binders and place it in folders in document boxes. Although some reordering of the material was done, much of the original arrangement has been retained. The original order may be seen by viewing both the microfilm reels and the photocopies of May's "Guide to Marriner S. Eccles Washington Papers," found in box 234.
Box 1, containing Eccles' biographical material, begins the Federal Reserve section. It is followed by six boxes of correspondence between Eccles and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman and their staffs. Federal Reserve Board reorganization materials, 1934-1950, including reports from the Hoover Commission and the Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch, are found in box 8. Many of the experiences Eccles had with the Treasury Department, 1934-1951, are documented in boxes 9-12. The letters, memoranda, and reports in this section reveal some of the friction between the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury which resulted in the Accord of 1951. See boxes 61-62. Materials found in boxes 13-16 describe the drafting and passage of the Banking Act of 1935. Removing control from the Federal Reserve Banks across the country and placing it in the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, this act changed the name and structure of the Board and centralized the power of the Federal Reserve System. Eccles believed the act, for which he was chiefly responsible, was his major accomplishment in Washington. Boxes 17-23 contain additional material about the Banking Act of 1935 and the effect it had on bank-holding companies, including Transamerica, the holding company for Bank of America. Reports published in 1948 speculated that the Giannini family, who controlled Bank of America, may have been responsible for Eccles' demotion as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. During the depression, the chief concern was how to raise sufficient revenues from a still-depressed economy; by the 1940s, the major issue was how best to generate sufficient revenues for national defense and still protect the economy from the inflationary pressures resulting from enormous war-time spending. Reports, memoranda, studies, and other items pertaining to taxation policies, 1934-1951, prepared mostly by Board staff members, are included in boxes 24-26.
One of Eccles' major accomplishments during the early 1930s was to successfully establish the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Boxes 27-29 feature material on housing related issues, 1934-1951, but contain little material about the creation of the FHA.
Economic stabilization during and following World War II was a matter of grave concern to Eccles. He felt that the Truman administration had not taken the measures necessary to combat postwar inflation. Boxes 30-38 contain material about strategies for dealing with the postwar world. Included is some material from the Bretton Woods Conference Eccles attended in 1944.
The next part of the collection, boxes 39-56, represents many issues of importance. Some of the materials include correspondence and addresses, confidential correspondence, the Eccles-Byrd controversy, gold and capital issues, and other miscellaneous correspondence. Correspondence with members of Congress is found in boxes 56-57; information about prospective members of the Federal Reserve Board is located in boxes 58-60; material about the 1951 Accord, when the Board finally asserted its independence from the Treasury, is found in boxes 61-62; Eccles' testimonies, some of which are duplicated in his scrapbooks, are found in boxes 63-71; and Lauchlin Currie memoranda, 1934-1939, are in boxes 72-73. Currie, for whom Eccles had great respect, was long associated with the Board in a staff position. Speeches for the years 1925-1951, some of which is duplicated in Eccles' scrapbooks, are found in boxes 74-86. An abundance of miscellaneous material is contained in boxes 87-112.
Businessman and Public Figure Papers
The second section of the papers, boxes 113-240, covers the fourth period of Eccles' life, from 1951 when he left Washington, D.C., until his death in December 1977. During that period he divided his time between Salt Lake City, where he resumed control of the First Security banking system, and San Francisco, where Utah Construction was headquartered. Eccles was chairman of the board of Utah Construction, a company with world-wide interests in mining and construction. The Stewart Library at Weber State College has Utah Construction records, 1906-1961. His papers do not directly document his role as a businessman, but rather are reflective of his role as a public figure speaking out often against the foreign policy of the US government. He was particularly opposed to its policies in Southeast Asia, where Utah Construction had many interests. Eccles also took a strong stand against over-poplation and was a supporter of groups such as Zero Population and Planned Parenthood.
Personal correspondence and public speeches arranged chronologically from 1951 to May 1972, when Eccles gave his last public address, are located in boxes 113-133. During the early 1950s he usually spoke on monetary and fiscal topics. By 1957 he had begun to question US Cold War policies and believed the United States should recognize Red China. By 1959 over-population was an issue which Eccles addressed often. His next area of interest and the one about which he spoke most vociferously was the involvement of the United States in Vietnam. Speeches on this topic are accompanied by related correspondence. Box 133, folder 1, provides an index to Eccles' speeches, statements, and testimonies.
Eccles' interest in politics continued, and he corresponded frequently with political figures; boxes 134-147 contain material which cover these topics. Boxes 134-135 feature material from Eccles' unsuccessful campaign for the Utah Republican senatorial nomination against incumbent Arthur Watkins in 1952. United States foreign policy, vis-a-vis China, is the topic of material in boxes 146-147, although correspondence with members of Congress is held in boxes 193-196.
The issue of population control, during the 1950s through the 1970s, is the subject matter of boxes 148-159. Included are addresses by Eccles and others, correspondence, reports, and a sampling of published items from various organizations concerned with the problem of over-population.
Eccles was one of the first members of the business community to protest US involvement in Vietnam. Boxes 160-167 contain articles, speeches, newsclippings, reports, publications, and correspondence of Eccles and others who inveighed against America's Asian policy.
The American Assembly, the Commission on Money and Credit, the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, the Atlantic Council, and the Hall of Fame are all organizations with which Eccles was associated in the last two decades of his life. Material reflecting his involvement is found in boxes 168-179.
The largest correspondence section of the collection is located in boxes 180-211. General correspondence is arranged alphabetically in boxes 180-192. Boxes 193-196 hold correspondence with members of Congress; box 197 with Federal Reserve Board members and bank officers; box 198 with universities; boxes 199-203 related to his autobiography and biography. Boxes 204-208 contain invitations; boxes 209-210, Christmas greetings, 1934-1974; and, in box 211, are condolences to Mrs. Sallie Eccles upon the death of her husband.
Most of the materials dealing with corporate interests are found in boxes 212-220. Included are limited correspondence and annual reports from Pet Milk Company, Utah International (formerly Utah Construction), Amalgamated Sugar, and the First Security Corporation. In view of the extent of Eccles' participation in these companies, there is little substantive material.
The final general heading for this section is Miscellanea. Included are manuscripts of Eccles' biography and autobiography and manuscripts of other works related to his career. Journal articles written by and about Eccles are in boxes 228-230. In some cases these duplicate the Eccles scrapbooks retained in the Eccles Room, as well as material found in boxes 90-91.
Papers about Eccles from other repositories-the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, the Harry S. Truman Library, the Library of Congress, the University of Virginia Library, and the National Archives-are found in boxes 231-233.
The final part of this section, boxes 234-240, includes the microfilm by Dean May of the Washington files, cassette and reel-to-reel tape recordings, daybooks from 1966-1977, and materials that have become available since the collection was initially processed.
A second component of the collection is the Eccles library, which consists of approximately 1000 books pertaining to his interests, career, the New Deal, and the 1940s. Government documents relating to the time he spent in Washington, D.C., as well as a number of indexed, bound volumes prepared by Va Lois Egbert, complete the library.
The Eccles Library contains volumes on banking and finance, economic treatises, the Roosevelt years, and a large number of books from the American Assembly series. The library is based on Eccles' original, private collection, which was augmented before the collection was received by the Manuscripts Division. The book collection provides background material for researchers interested not only in Eccles' career, but also the economic and political events occuring during the 1930s and 1940s.
The government documents section of the Eccles Library contains bound copies of the Federal Open Market Committee Minutes, 1936-1975; Federal Reserve Bulletin, 1966-present; annual reports from the Federal Reserve Board and other government agencies; soft-cover reports from the 1940s dealing with post-war recovery; and Proceedings from the Bretton Woods Conference, 1944.
Of the bound volumes of scrapbooks containing newsclippings, magazine articles, testimonies, cartoons, and other items organized by Miss Egbert, the most useful may be the set of newsclippings. The articles begin in 1922, but only ten are dated prior to 1933. These clippings originated from Utah, Washington, D. C., New York, and points between. They provide extensive coverage of Eccles' career from 1933 forward-the period covered by his papers. To ensure their long-term preservation, these clippings were photocopied and placed in archival folders and boxes.
Other scrapbooks include printed copies of Eccles' addresses, 1925-1975; testimonies, 1933-1951; cartoons, 1935-1951; invitations, 1934-1951; magazine articles by and about Eccles; day books, 1937-1951; and miscellaneous memoranda and letters and other assorted material.
Summary
The Marriner S. Eccles collection provides substantial research material about the Federal Reserve System during the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century. It also provides insight into some of the public issues of the 1960s and 1970s with which Eccles was concerned-over-population and US foreign policy, particularly as it applied to Asia. The collection offers little information about his role in the development of banking in the Intermountain West, or his many other business interests, other than minimal correspondence and annual reports from companies with which he was associated. Some of the correspondence with members of Congress, public figures, friends, and acquaintances reveals his views about issues and events in his life. Because there is almost no family correspondence, it is through his general correspondence that part of Eccles' personal life emerges.
Marriner Stoddard Eccles, intelligent, complex, and ambitious, seemed determined to make his mark in the world, and probably succeeded beyond all his expectations. Although his views were often unpopular, time usually proved them to be correct. Unfortunately, these papers do not convey the full measure of the man, but they are an invaluable source of information about the monetary and fiscal systems of the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, and document the significant financial role Eccles played during these turbulent decades.
There are four distinct periods in the life of Marriner S. Eccles. The first period, his formative years, dates from his birth in 1890 to the death of his father, David Eccles, in 1912. The second period is from 1912 until 1934 when, following in the footsteps of his father, he became the most successful entrepreneur in Utah. During this time he assumed control of several western companies and created the First Security Corporation, the largest bank system in the Intermountain area. Neither of these periods is well documented by his papers, but each is covered by two books: Beckoning Frontiers, his autobiography completed with the assistance of Sidney Hyman in 1951, and his later biography, Marriner S. Eccles: Private Entrepreneur and Public Servant, written by Hyman and published just prior to Eccles' death in 1977.
Background Information
The most significant section of the collection, the Washington Years, boxes 2-112, provides insight into Eccles' activities during the third period in his life, 1934-1951. During these years he served for a brief period in 1934 at the United States Treasury Department in Washington, D. C., and then as both governor and chairman of the nation's bank regulatory agency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. His papers from the Federal Reserve section of his collection, his library, and the accompanying ephemera substantiate the importance of his role in Washington during the New Deal period, World War II, the postwar recovery, and the beginning of the Cold War.
The last period of his life, 1951-1977, is documented under the heading Businessman and Public Figure, boxes 113-240. This section of his papers reflects his role as an international businessman and an outspoken critic of many of the country's economic, social, and foreign policies.
The Federal Reserve papers were originally organized in loose-leaf binders by Va Lois Egbert, secretary to Eccles for almost three decades. Her apparent intention was to place material in order of its apparent subject importance. Correspondence to and from the White House were thus placed first in the collection in chronological order. Several years before the Marriott Library received the material, Eccles permitted Dean May, then a graduate student and now a member of the history faculty at the University of Utah, to microfilm the material in the binders. After the library received the collection and some initial processing had taken place, the decision was made to remove the material from the binders and place it in folders in document boxes. Although some reordering of the material was done, much of the original arrangement has been retained. The original order may be seen by viewing both the microfilm reels and the photocopies of May's "Guide to Marriner S. Eccles Washington Papers," found in box 234.
Box 1, containing Eccles' biographical material, begins the Federal Reserve section. It is followed by six boxes of correspondence between Eccles and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman and their staffs. Federal Reserve Board reorganization materials, 1934-1950, including reports from the Hoover Commission and the Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch, are found in box 8. Many of the experiences Eccles had with the Treasury Department, 1934-1951, are documented in boxes 9-12. The letters, memoranda, and reports in this section reveal some of the friction between the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury which resulted in the Accord of 1951. See boxes 61-62. Materials found in boxes 13-16 describe the drafting and passage of the Banking Act of 1935. Removing control from the Federal Reserve Banks across the country and placing it in the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, this act changed the name and structure of the Board and centralized the power of the Federal Reserve System. Eccles believed the act, for which he was chiefly responsible, was his major accomplishment in Washington. Boxes 17-23 contain additional material about the Banking Act of 1935 and the effect it had on bank-holding companies, including Transamerica, the holding company for Bank of America. Reports published in 1948 speculated that the Giannini family, who controlled Bank of America, may have been responsible for Eccles' demotion as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. During the depression, the chief concern was how to raise sufficient revenues from a still-depressed economy; by the 1940s, the major issue was how best to generate sufficient revenues for national defense and still protect the economy from the inflationary pressures resulting from enormous war-time spending. Reports, memoranda, studies, and other items pertaining to taxation policies, 1934-1951, prepared mostly by Board staff members, are included in boxes 24-26.
One of Eccles' major accomplishments during the early 1930s was to successfully establish the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Boxes 27-29 feature material on housing related issues, 1934-1951, but contain little material about the creation of the FHA.
Economic stabilization during and following World War II was a matter of grave concern to Eccles. He felt that the Truman administration had not taken the measures necessary to combat postwar inflation. Boxes 30-38 contain material about strategies for dealing with the postwar world. Included is some material from the Bretton Woods Conference Eccles attended in 1944.
The next part of the collection, boxes 39-56, represents many issues of importance. Some of the materials include correspondence and addresses, confidential correspondence, the Eccles-Byrd controversy, gold and capital issues, and other miscellaneous correspondence. Correspondence with members of Congress is found in boxes 56-57; information about prospective members of the Federal Reserve Board is located in boxes 58-60; material about the 1951 Accord, when the Board finally asserted its independence from the Treasury, is found in boxes 61-62; Eccles' testimonies, some of which are duplicated in his scrapbooks, are found in boxes 63-71; and Lauchlin Currie memoranda, 1934-1939, are in boxes 72-73. Currie, for whom Eccles had great respect, was long associated with the Board in a staff position. Speeches for the years 1925-1951, some of which is duplicated in Eccles' scrapbooks, are found in boxes 74-86. An abundance of miscellaneous material is contained in boxes 87-112.
Businessman and Public Figure Papers
The second section of the papers, boxes 113-240, covers the fourth period of Eccles' life, from 1951 when he left Washington, D.C., until his death in December 1977. During that period he divided his time between Salt Lake City, where he resumed control of the First Security banking system, and San Francisco, where Utah Construction was headquartered. Eccles was chairman of the board of Utah Construction, a company with world-wide interests in mining and construction. The Stewart Library at Weber State College has Utah Construction records, 1906-1961. His papers do not directly document his role as a businessman, but rather are reflective of his role as a public figure speaking out often against the foreign policy of the US government. He was particularly opposed to its policies in Southeast Asia, where Utah Construction had many interests. Eccles also took a strong stand against over-poplation and was a supporter of groups such as Zero Population and Planned Parenthood.
Personal correspondence and public speeches arranged chronologically from 1951 to May 1972, when Eccles gave his last public address, are located in boxes 113-133. During the early 1950s he usually spoke on monetary and fiscal topics. By 1957 he had begun to question US Cold War policies and believed the United States should recognize Red China. By 1959 over-population was an issue which Eccles addressed often. His next area of interest and the one about which he spoke most vociferously was the involvement of the United States in Vietnam. Speeches on this topic are accompanied by related correspondence. Box 133, folder 1, provides an index to Eccles' speeches, statements, and testimonies.
Eccles' interest in politics continued, and he corresponded frequently with political figures; boxes 134-147 contain material which cover these topics. Boxes 134-135 feature material from Eccles' unsuccessful campaign for the Utah Republican senatorial nomination against incumbent Arthur Watkins in 1952. United States foreign policy, vis-a-vis China, is the topic of material in boxes 146-147, although correspondence with members of Congress is held in boxes 193-196.
The issue of population control, during the 1950s through the 1970s, is the subject matter of boxes 148-159. Included are addresses by Eccles and others, correspondence, reports, and a sampling of published items from various organizations concerned with the problem of over-population.
Eccles was one of the first members of the business community to protest US involvement in Vietnam. Boxes 160-167 contain articles, speeches, newsclippings, reports, publications, and correspondence of Eccles and others who inveighed against America's Asian policy.
The American Assembly, the Commission on Money and Credit, the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, the Atlantic Council, and the Hall of Fame are all organizations with which Eccles was associated in the last two decades of his life. Material reflecting his involvement is found in boxes 168-179.
The largest correspondence section of the collection is located in boxes 180-211. General correspondence is arranged alphabetically in boxes 180-192. Boxes 193-196 hold correspondence with members of Congress; box 197 with Federal Reserve Board members and bank officers; box 198 with universities; boxes 199-203 related to his autobiography and biography. Boxes 204-208 contain invitations; boxes 209-210, Christmas greetings, 1934-1974; and, in box 211, are condolences to Mrs. Sallie Eccles upon the death of her husband.
Most of the materials dealing with corporate interests are found in boxes 212-220. Included are limited correspondence and annual reports from Pet Milk Company, Utah International (formerly Utah Construction), Amalgamated Sugar, and the First Security Corporation. In view of the extent of Eccles' participation in these companies, there is little substantive material.
The final general heading for this section is Miscellanea. Included are manuscripts of Eccles' biography and autobiography and manuscripts of other works related to his career. Journal articles written by and about Eccles are in boxes 228-230. In some cases these duplicate the Eccles scrapbooks retained in the Eccles Room, as well as material found in boxes 90-91.
Papers about Eccles from other repositories-the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, the Harry S. Truman Library, the Library of Congress, the University of Virginia Library, and the National Archives-are found in boxes 231-233.
The final part of this section, boxes 234-240, includes the microfilm by Dean May of the Washington files, cassette and reel-to-reel tape recordings, daybooks from 1966-1977, and materials that have become available since the collection was initially processed.
A second component of the collection is the Eccles library, which consists of approximately 1000 books pertaining to his interests, career, the New Deal, and the 1940s. Government documents relating to the time he spent in Washington, D.C., as well as a number of indexed, bound volumes prepared by Va Lois Egbert, complete the library.
The Eccles Library contains volumes on banking and finance, economic treatises, the Roosevelt years, and a large number of books from the American Assembly series. The library is based on Eccles' original, private collection, which was augmented before the collection was received by the Manuscripts Division. The book collection provides background material for researchers interested not only in Eccles' career, but also the economic and political events occuring during the 1930s and 1940s.
The government documents section of the Eccles Library contains bound copies of the Federal Open Market Committee Minutes, 1936-1975; Federal Reserve Bulletin, 1966-present; annual reports from the Federal Reserve Board and other government agencies; soft-cover reports from the 1940s dealing with post-war recovery; and Proceedings from the Bretton Woods Conference, 1944.
Of the bound volumes of scrapbooks containing newsclippings, magazine articles, testimonies, cartoons, and other items organized by Miss Egbert, the most useful may be the set of newsclippings. The articles begin in 1922, but only ten are dated prior to 1933. These clippings originated from Utah, Washington, D. C., New York, and points between. They provide extensive coverage of Eccles' career from 1933 forward-the period covered by his papers. To ensure their long-term preservation, these clippings were photocopied and placed in archival folders and boxes.
Other scrapbooks include printed copies of Eccles' addresses, 1925-1975; testimonies, 1933-1951; cartoons, 1935-1951; invitations, 1934-1951; magazine articles by and about Eccles; day books, 1937-1951; and miscellaneous memoranda and letters and other assorted material.
Summary
The Marriner S. Eccles collection provides substantial research material about the Federal Reserve System during the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century. It also provides insight into some of the public issues of the 1960s and 1970s with which Eccles was concerned-over-population and US foreign policy, particularly as it applied to Asia. The collection offers little information about his role in the development of banking in the Intermountain West, or his many other business interests, other than minimal correspondence and annual reports from companies with which he was associated. Some of the correspondence with members of Congress, public figures, friends, and acquaintances reveals his views about issues and events in his life. Because there is almost no family correspondence, it is through his general correspondence that part of Eccles' personal life emerges.
Marriner Stoddard Eccles, intelligent, complex, and ambitious, seemed determined to make his mark in the world, and probably succeeded beyond all his expectations. Although his views were often unpopular, time usually proved them to be correct. Unfortunately, these papers do not convey the full measure of the man, but they are an invaluable source of information about the monetary and fiscal systems of the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, and document the significant financial role Eccles played during these turbulent decades.
Dates
- 1967-1970
Language of Materials
From the Collection:
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Extent
From the Collection: 120 Linear Feet
Creator
- From the Collection: Eccles, Marriner S. (Marriner Stoddard), 1890-1977 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu