The papers of Harry Barnard include correspondence of Harry Barnard and his family as well as selected correspondence of Steven A. Mitchell, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Materials from and relating to the Harry S. Truman Library are included as well. The majority of documents in this collection are clippings from newspapers or magazines, and typewritten notes.

Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (approximately 800 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government her copyrights in this material and in any other material received and maintained in a depository administered by the U. S. government. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Dennis Bilger (1984).
Updated by: Anna Geselbracht (2007) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

1906 (September 5)		Born Pueblo, Colorado
1923-1925		Attended the University of Denver
1928		Ph.B. cum laude, University of Chicago
1928-1934		Member, editorial staff, Chicago Herald-Examiner
1935-1942		Director of Research, Chicago Law Department
1937-1938		Attended John Marshall Law School
1938		Eagle Forgotten, his biography of John Peter Altgeld, published
1943-1947		Staff member and editorial writer, Detroit Times, Chicago Times, Chicago Sun
1954		Publication of Rutherford B. Hayes and His America
1958		Publication of Independent Man: The Life of Senator James Couzens
1974		Publication of The Forging of an American Jew: The Life and Times of Judge Julian W. Mack
1982 (August 26)		Died

The papers of Harry Barnard are arranged in one series. The papers consist in large part of newspaper clippings and magazine excerpts collected by Barnard, possibly as research material for future biographies he considered writing. The periodical excerpts cover issues as diverse in scope as reactions to the deployment of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to sentimental retrospectives on Truman’s life written shortly after his death. The dates of this material span World War II and the Truman administration through Truman’s death and the deaths of some of his Cabinet members.

Another major portion of the collection, concentrated in the “Research Notes” folder but scattered throughout, comprises typewritten notes presumably prepared by Barnard to aid with his current work or to plan future biographies and articles. The bulk of these notes refer to other biographies and reference books. Most of these notes are fragmentary in form.

The collection also includes correspondence to and from Steven A. Mitchell, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Barnard and Mitchell were close friends, so some of their correspondence involves personal topics. In much of their correspondence, however, Mitchell and Barnard converse about politics and which candidates deserve their support. For instance, a few letters are devoted to the choice between Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Besides personal correspondence, Barnard also kept many letters and invitations sent to him by the Truman Library. The letters between Ruth Barnard and Library personnel that provided for the donation of the Barnard papers are also included.

In addition to periodical excerpts, research notes, and correspondence, Barnard’s papers also contain the announcement of the formation of the Harry Barnard Research Associates of Chicago, a 1950 publication from the State Department entitled Our Foreign Policy, and the transcript of a 1965 NBC television documentary about the atomic bomb and the dawn of the atomic age.

Related collections at the Truman Library include the papers of Steven A. Mitchell.

Container Nos.		Series
1		SUBJECT FILE, 1939-1984
		Correspondence, newspaper clippings and other periodical excerpts, research notes, and other material mostly relating to Harry S. Truman. Arranged alphabetically.

SUBJECT FILE, 1939-1984

• Atomic Bomb--NBC White Paper, January 5, 1965
• Barnard, Harry -- Announcement of Founding of Harry Barnard Research Associates of Chicago
• Mitchell, Steven A. -- Correspondence, 1952-1984
• Mitchell, Steven A. -- Newspaper Clippings and Notes
• Newspaper Clippings -- Clark M. Clifford and Other Presidential Aides
• Newspaper Clippings -- Death of Harry S. Truman
• Newspaper Clippings -- Harry S. Truman
• Newspaper Clippings -- Harry S. Truman and Israel
• Newspaper Clippings -- 1952 Election
• Newspaper Clippings -- Postwar Tensions, 1946
• Research Notes -- Harry S. Truman
• State Department Publication -- Our Foreign Policy, 1950
• Truman Library -- Correspondence and Materials

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