William Lockhart Clayton papers
Scope and Contents
The Clayton collection, covering the years 1897 to 1966, consists of ninety-nine boxes of originals and photocopies of business and personal correspondence, speeches, reports, photographs, memorabilia, and some oversize material such as certificates of appointment, which document the personal and professional life of Will Clayton and to a lesser degree, the Clayton family. Original materials in the collection relate to Clayton's personal and family life, including family correspondence and photographs, and oral histories by Clayton's daughter, Ellen Clayton Garwood, relating to her father's legacy. This original material is located in Series VI through XI.
The bulk of the collection, in Series II (boxes 2-86), is comprised of photocopies of Clayton correspondence gleaned from numerous other institutions. The photocopied materials in this series were identified, ordered, and purchased by Frederick J. Dobney, Editor, Public Papers of William L. Clayton, Rice University, in the year 1967. The resulting compilation of materials was in 1971 as "Selected Papers of Will Clayton," published by Johns Hopkins University, edited by Dobney. While these materials are not original, they are convenient as a Clayton research collection, especially when used in coordination with the cardfile index which provides author / recipient name access to the chronologically arranged correspondence.
Dates
- Creation: 1897-1998, Bulk dates 1934-1964
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1934 - 1964
Creator
- Clayton, William Lockhart, 1880-1966 (Person)
Access Restrictions
This material is open for research.
Conditions Governing Access
Stored off-site at the Library Service Center and requires 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials from William Lockhart Clayton's papers must be facilitated through the Woodson Research Center.
Biographical Note
William Lockhart Clayton was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on February 7th, 1880. In August 1902 he was married to Susan Vaughan. He was a co-founder of Anderson, Clayton and Company, based in Houston, Texas. In 1918 Clayton was a member of the Committee on Cotton Distribution with the War Industries Board. From 1940 to 1942 he was the Vice President of the Export-Import Bank.
His career in government service began in 1942 with his appointment as Assistant Secretary of Commerce, followed by appointments as Administrator of the Surplus War Property Administration (1944), Assistant Secretary of State (1944-1945), Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs (1945-1947), and as head of the U.S. delegation at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, which took place in Havana, Cuba, in 1947.
Clayton also served in the following capacities: Alternate Governor, World Bank (1946-1949), Vice President, Atlantic Union Committee (1949-1961), member on the National Security Training Commission (1951-1954), Chairman, National Committee on Campaign Contributions and Expenditures (1960), member on the Board of Governors of the Atlantic Institute (1960), and as co-Chairman of the U.S. Citizens Commission on NATO (1961).
In the 1950s Clayton authored a number of books primarily dealing with economics and their political ramifications. These included "We Must Trade Sovereignty For Freedom" (1950), "The Road To Peace" (1955), "What Price Oil?" (1958), and "We Are Losing The Cold War" (1958).
William L. Clayton died on February 9th, 1966, in Houston, Texas.
Extent
50 Linear Feet (102 boxes, 2 map drawers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Original personal material and photocopied professional materials relating to economist and foreign policy expert Will Clayton and family, dating from 1897-1998. In addition to serving the U.S. government in a number of capacities, Clayton was in cotton business, and a co-founder of Anderson, Clayton and Company, based in Houston, Texas.
Cardfile Index to Clayton Papers
The bulk of the Clayton materials is comprised of the correspondence and notes in Series II: Papers, which is arranged chronologically and has only a few subject files at the end of the series. To locate specific author/senders, recipients, dates, sources of photocopies in Series II (boxes 2-85), use the 11 box cardfile index as described here.
DATE: Cardfile boxes 1-3. Box 1: no date and 1921-45; Box 2: 1946-June 1959; Box 3:July 1959-1967. Listed chronologically by year, with name of sender at top, name of recipient under sender's name, length of item, brief summary of contents, and at bottom, acronym or abbreviation for repository which owns the original.
AUTHOR / SENDER: Cardfile boxes 4-6. Box 4: A-Clayton (1949); Box 5: Clayton (1950-1966); Box 3: D-Z. These cards give the name of the author / sender; date of correspondence or item; brief summary of contents; and at the bottom, acronym or abbreviation for repository which owns the original.
RECIPIENT: Cardfile boxes 7-9. Box 7: Clayton; Box 8: A-K; Box 9: L-Z. Format of card info is same as for AUTHOR / SENDER cards.
SOURCES OF PHOTOCOPIES: Cardfile boxes 10-11. Repositories listed alphabetically by acronyms or abbreviations, such as:
Acquisition Information
Original materials were donated by Ellen Clayton Garwood, daughter of Will Clayton.
The photocopied materials in the collection were identified, ordered, and purchased by Frederick J. Dobney, Editor, Public Papers of William L. Clayton, Rice University, in the year 1967. The resulting compilation of materials was in 1971 as "Selected Papers of Will Clayton," published by Johns Hopkins University, edited by Dobney.
Subject
- Garwood, Ellen, 1903- (Person)
- Garwood, St. John (Person)
- Clayton, Susan Vaughan (Person)
- Clayton family (Family)
- Clayton, Anne Burdine (Person)
- Anderson, Clayton & Co (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the William Lockhart Clayton papers, 1897-1998
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- 2003
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA
713-348-2586
woodson@rice.edu