Halvorson, H.H. Papers

Dates: 1924-1968

Kansas City, Missouri realtor and business associate of Harry S. Truman in the Community Savings and Loan Association

The papers of H. H. Halvorson primarily relate to his career as vice-president and director of the Community Savings and Loan Association of Missouri (of which Harry S. Truman was president), a founding shareholder in the Rural Investment Company of Missouri, and a realtor involved in industrial and economic development in the Kansas City area. The bulk of the documents consist of correspondence to and from H. H. Halvorson and others regarding the businesses in which he was involved. The collection also includes newspaper clippings, financial records, advertisements, printed material, and a small number of blueprints, maps, and legal documents.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (approximately 600 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The Truman Library has received no donation of copyright from H. H. Halvorson or his heirs. The copyright to documents in this collection presumably belongs to the creators of the documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1975).
Updated by: Darla Hostetler (2004) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and Amy Williams.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1879 (March 9)

 

Born in Butte City, MT.

1902

 

Employed by Denver Gas and Electric Company

1904

 

Employed as a Contract Agent for Kansas City Power and Light Company.

c. 1917

 

Begins his career in industrial real estate.

1926 (April)

 

One of four partners, Harry S. Truman and Company, a stock-selling operation; appointed vice-president, Community Savings and Loan Association when Truman took over management from the same group that had set up Citizens Security Bank to fail; same four partners (Halvorson, Salisbury, Metzger, and Truman) now controlled Harry S. Truman and Company and the Community Savings and Loan which operated in tandem with one another.

1927 (November)

 

Harry S. Truman and Company changed to a limited partnership called Community Investment Company.

1930 (September 30)

 

Community Investment Company partnership dissolved.

late 1930/early 1931

 

Halvorson, Salisbury, and Metzger renewed their partnership without Truman and reestablished the Community Investment Company as the Rural Investment Company, a corporation to manage Community Savings and Loan.

late 1931

 

Resigns as director of Community Savings and Loan and Rural Investment Company.

1934 (November 10)

 

Community Savings and Loan Association converted to a Federal Savings and Loan Association with assets valued at $451,096.

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of H. H. Halvorson mostly relate to his career as an officer and director of the Community Savings and Loan Association of Missouri and several affiliated institutions, and as a realtor involved in industrial and economic development in the Kansas City, Missouri area. The bulk of the documents consist of correspondence to and from H. H. Halvorson and others regarding businesses ventures in which he was involved. The collection also contains newspaper clippings, financial records, printed material, advertisements, and a small number of blueprints, maps, and legal documents.

Most of the documents pertain to Community Savings and such affiliated enterprises as Citizens Security Bank, Harry S. Truman and Company, Community Investment Company, and Rural Investment Company. Truman, Halvorson and Spencer Salisbury were partners in several of these enterprises during the late 1920's, with Truman serving as president of Community Savings and Loan, Halvorson as vice-president, and Salisbury as treasurer. The collection includes general correspondence with Halvorson regarding the day-to-day operations of the businesses, financial statements, partnership agreements, articles of association, contracts, and balance sheets. A few documents refer to Lou E. Holland, a Kansas City business leader who was vice-president and a member of the board of directors of Citizens Security Bank; to an investigation of the Farm and Home Savings and Loan Association; and to the St. Louis - Kansas City Short Line Railroad Company.

An asset of the collection is a file of newspaper clippings devoted to the different stages of industrial and economic development in the Kansas City area from 1934 to 1937. The articles track real estate development, economic growth, and highway construction including the Kansas City-St. Louis Turnpike project.

A file of miscellaneous printed material, newspaper clippings, charts, legal documents, and maps dating from 1927 to 1968 is also of particular interest. Scattered throughout the file are many newspaper articles documenting the arrest, guilty plea, and sentencing of Spencer Salisbury for bank fraud. Halvorson's former business partner was responsible for the eventual failure of Community Savings and Loan. The correspondence does not indicate how Halvorson reacted to this situation.

Other relevant materials at the Truman Library include Halvorson's oral history interview and the Lou E. Holland Papers.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1

  SUBJECT FILE, 1924-1968
Personal and business letters, maps, charts, diagrams, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, reports, minutes, handwritten notes, stock certificates, membership certificates, contracts, financial records, legal documents, and memoranda relating to Halvorson's business career with the Community Savings and Loan Association of Missouri and as a developer of industrial real estate in the Kansas City area. Arranged alphabetically.
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

Box 1

SUBJECT FILE, 1924-1968

  • Collins, Major George R.
  • Community Savings and Loan Association-Complete Correspondence, 1928-1931
  • Community Savings and Loan Association and Personal Business Affairs, 1924-1964
  • Cross Reference Sheets
  • Farm and Home Savings and Loan Association of Missouri, 1932
  • Holland, Lou E.[Holland Engraving Company, Kansas City, Missouri]
  • Miscellaneous-Printed Material, Newspaper Clippings, Charts, Etc.
  • National Benevolent Society, Kansas City, Missouri
  • Newspaper Clippings, Kansas City, Missouri Industries
  • Rural Investment Company of Missouri
  • St. Louis - Kansas City Short Line Railroad Company
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