Nelson W. Aldrich Papers
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm78010389
General International Standard for Archival Description
Manuscript Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2010
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Nelson W. Aldrich Papers 1777-1930 (bulk 1879-1915)
Aldrich, Nelson W. (Nelson Wilmarth), 1841-1915
Biographical History for: Nelson W. Aldrich Papers 1777-1930 (bulk 1879-1915)
Biographical Note Date Event 1841, Nov. 6 Born, Foster, R. I. 1862 Served with tenth Rhode Island Volunteers 1865 Became junior partner in Rhode Island wholesale grocery firm 1866 Married Abby Pearce Chapman (died 1917) 1869-1875 Member, Providence, R.I., common council (president, 1872-1873) 1875-1877 Member, Rhode Island state house of representatives (speaker of the house, 1876-1877) 1876 Delegate, Republican national convention 1879-1881 Member, U.S. House of Representatives 1881-1911 Member, U.S. Senate 1908-1912 Chairman, National Monetary Commission 1915, Apr. 16 Died, New York, N.Y.
Scope and Content Note The papers of Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (1841-1915) span the years 1777-1930, with the bulk of the material concentrated in 1879-1915. The collection is composed primarily of correspondence, printed matter, and material relating to tariff legislation and the National Monetary Commission, supplemented by diaries, notebooks, speeches, research notes, serial publications, financial records, and miscellaneous items. The collection focuses on Aldrich’s service as United States Senator from Rhode Island, 1881-1911 and reflects his involvement with national economic and fiscal policy. Tariff legislation is a recurring theme throughout the Correspondence series, particularly during the years of major tariff revision in 1890, 1897, and 1909. The correspondence, mainly incoming mail from businessmen representing a wide range of economic interests, reveals the depth of feeling generated by the prospect of tariff revision and the importance of the issue during these years. The letters also provide an insight into American business practices and the economic views of a large segment of the American business community during this era of industrial expansion. Aldrich’s personal attention to the details of rate revision is revealed in the tariff file, while his speeches help document his attitude toward tariff duties as a source of protection for American industry from foreign competition. Aldrich gave considerable attention during his last years in office to the problems of United States monetary policy. Following the Panic of 1907, with its accompanying rash of bank failures, he cosponsored the Aldrich-Vreeland Act of 1908, providing for the establishment of a National Monetary Commission to study banking and currency operations at home and abroad and to suggest changes in American practices. The National Monetary Commission’s correspondence for the years 1908-1912 documents its activities and Aldrich’s role as chairman. Much of the commission’s correspondence was with bankers, public officials, financial experts, and academicians employed to prepare special studies, translate documents, and collect statistics on financial operations and monetary systems in foreign nations as well as in the United States. Aldrich and other members of the commissions visited England, France and Germany to consult with experts and collect data, and specialists representing the commission made similar visits to other nations and reported their findings. Hearings were held in selected American cities to solicit opinions from bankers and other interested parties, while numerous individuals sent unsolicited opinions and plans directly to the commission. Most of the letters were sent and received by Abram Piatt Andrew, special assistant to the commission; Arthur B. Shelton, secretary to the commission; and staff members Charles E. Alden, J. William Sheetz, and William A. Slade. Aldrich’s personal views are reflected in occasional correspondence, speeches delivered to promote monetary reform, and in the final report of the commission soon labeled the “Aldrich Plan.” The commission’s correspondence is also a rich source of information regarding American financial institutions in the early twentieth century and the views of members of the financial community at the time. The National Monetary Commission file contains most of its publications as well as a sampling of the collected data and related material. After the death of Senator Henry B. Anthony in 1884, Aldrich assumed Anthony’s former position as a powerful figure in Rhode Island politics. Letters in the collection from numerous state political figures, particularly Henry B. Gardner and Charles R. Bryaton, kept Aldrich abreast of local affairs and include requests for favors, advice, and patronage. Aldrich’s personal affairs and family relations form a relatively small portion of the collection. A series of letters written to his future wife in 1865-1866 offers a glimpse into his personal relations and plans at this time. Letters written to Mrs. Aldrich during his first trip abroad in 1872-1873 describe family relations and reveal his initial impressions of European society and culture. Scattered letters in the Correspondence series and the financial records offer insight into his extensive financial ventures, particularly his investments in the rubber industry. Principal correspondents include William B. Allison, Henry B. Anthony, Jonathan Bourne (1811-1889), C. R. Brayton, Jonathan Chace, William E. Chandler, Charles A. Conant, Henry Pomeroy Davison, Eugene Hale, Philander C. Knox, Charles Warren Lippitt, Stephen B. Luce, Orville Hitchock Platt, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), William H. Taft, Henry Moore Teller, Paul M. Warburg, and George Peabody Wetmore.
series
Diaries and Notebooks, 1863-1927
Diaries and social engagement books of Abby Pearce Chapman Aldrich, bound and unbound shorthand letters and notes of Nelson W. Aldrich, a Civil War company roll book, a fraternal lodge address book, minutes of the Senate Finance Committee for Dec. 1863 to June 1864, and a journal relating to the Hepburn Act of 1906.
file
Aldrich, Abby Pearce Chapman
Diaries, Jan. 1904; Jan.-May 1912
Engagement books, 1905-1910
Hepburn Act journal, no author, 1927
Civil War roll book, 1863
Fraternal lodge address book, undated
Senate Finance Committee minutes, Dec. 1863-June 1864
Bound shorthand letters, circa Dec. 1882-Jan. 1884
Bound shorthand notes, undated
Unbound shorthand letters, circa 1882-1909, undated
General Correspondence, 1777-1915
Mainly letters received and occasional letters sent by Aldrich, and letters sent and received by staff members of the National Monetary Commission.
Dec. 1879, Dec.-May 1880
June 1880-Jan. 1881
Feb.-Dec. 1881 and 1881, no day or month
Jan.-Mar. 1882
Apr.-June 1882
1-14 July 1882
Jan. 20-Feb. 28 1883
Mar.-Aug. 1883
1 Sept.-26 Dec. 1883
1 Mar.-25 Apr. 1884
26 Apr.-30 June 1884
July-Oct. 1884
1 Nov. 1884-21 Jan. 1885
22 Jan.-28 Feb. 1885
Mar.-July 1885
Aug.-Dec. 1885 and 1885, no day or month
Jan.-Feb. 1886
Mar.-Apr. 1886
May-June 1886
July-Dec. 1886 and 1886, no day or month
Jan.-Apr. 1889
May-Sept. 1889
Oct. 1889-Dec. 1890 and 1890, no day or month
Jan. 1891-July 1892
Aug. 1892-June 1897
July 1897-May 1899
June 1899-Sept. 1900
Oct. 1900-Apr. 1902
May 1902-June 1903
July 1903-Sept. 1905
Oct. 1905-Dec. 1906 and 1906, no day or month
Jan. 1907-Jan. 1908
Feb.-Apr. 1908
May-Aug. 1908
Sept.-Dec. 1908 and 1908, no day or month
1 Jan.-8 Feb. 1909
9 Feb.-13 Mar. 1909
20 Apr.-12 May 1909
13 May-11 June 1909
11 July-8 Aug. 1909
9 Aug.-22 Sept. 1909
23 Sept.-15 Nov. 1909
16 Nov.-23 Dec. 1909
1 Feb.-17 Mar. 1910
18 Mar.-30 Apr. 1910
May-June 1910
July-Sept. 1910
1 Oct.-15 Dec. 1910
25 Feb.-31 May 1911
June-Sept. 1911
1 Oct.-13 Dec. 1911
May 1912-Feb. 1914
Mar.-Dec. 1914 and 1914, no day or month
Jan.-June 1915, undated
Tariffs, circa 1880-circa 1915
Bills, amendments, schedules, petitions, resolutions, reports, statements, and miscellaneous items relating to tariff rates and tariff legislation.
Bills, amendments, and schedules
Miscellaneous schedules, petitions, statements, statistics, reports, memoranda, resolutions, and fragments relating to the tariff
National Monetary Commission, 1908-1912
Publications, miscellaneous draft reports, proceedings, statements, statistics, and papers relating to the National Monetary Commission.
Publications Only title pages are available on microfilm edition
Miscellaneous reports, statements, minutes, lists, memoranda, questionnaires, printed matter, and fragments relating to the work of the commission
Biographer's Papers, circa 1860-circa 1930
Research notes collected by Jeannette Paddock Nichols and Nathaniel W. Stephenson for the latter’s biography, Nelson W. Aldrich, a Leader in American Politics (1930), supplemented by related correspondence and a few miscellaneous items.
Correspondence, 1924-1930, undated
General outline
Interviews, memoranda, and miscellaneous
Notes
circa 1860-1886
Financial Records, circa 1880-circa 1915
Checkbooks, checks, statements, bills, receipts, vouchers, occasional correspondence, and miscellaneous items relating to Aldrich’s personal financial affairs and to the financial transactions of the National Monetary Commission.
Checkbooks
Checks
Checks and statements
Miscellaneous bills, receipts, vouchers, statements, and occasional correspondence relating to Aldrich’s personal financial affairs and the financial transactions of the National Monetary Commission
Speech File, 1881-1913
Holograph, typed and printed speeches by Aldrich, including drafts and related research material.
Nov. 1909-Oct. 1911
Nov. 1911-Oct. 1913
Notes for tariff speeches
Notes for monetary speeches
Undated and fragmentary
Serial Publications, circa 1885-circa 1915
Issues of serial publications and miscellaneous journals.
Bankers Magazine
Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical Association, 1899-1905, 1912
Protectionist
Journal of the American Bankers Association
Bradstreet’s Book of Commercial Ratings . . . .
Miscellaneous journals
Printed Matter, circa 1880-circa 1915
Government documents and bound and unbound printed matter.
Government documents
Bound printed matter
Unbound printed matter
Miscellany, circa 1862-circa 1915
Bound facsimile letters, biographical information, material relating to Aldrich’s rubber investments, speeches, articles, memoranda, proceedings, legal briefs and cases, contracts, reports, requests for supplies, cards, tickets, scrapbooks of clippings relating primarily to tariff and banking matters, acknowledgments, invitations, loose clippings, photographs, and miscellaneous items.
Bound facsimiles, 1862-1863
Biographical data
Rubber-business contracts, reports, and miscellany
Speeches and articles
1891-1915, undated
Memoranda
Proceedings
Legal briefs and cases
Contracts
Reports
Requests for supplies
Cards and tickets
Scrapbooks of clippings mainly regarding tariffs
Acknowledgments
Invitations
Clippings
Resolutions, certificates, lists, draft bills, fragments, and miscellaneous items