McDonald, Harry A. Papers

Dates: 1938-1964

Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission, 1949-1952; Administrator, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1952-1953

The papers of Harry A. McDonald relate mostly to his service as a member and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and as administrator of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The collection contains correspondence, biographical information, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, programs, invitations, speeches, and memorabilia.

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

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 10 linear inches (about 1,200 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the United States government all of her copyrights in this collection. Documents created by U. S. government employees in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of the documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Dennis E. Bilger (1979); Molly Chambers (2012).


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1894 (June 17)

 

Born Harry Alexander McDonald, Cherokee, IA

1912-1915

 

Student at Iowa State Teachers College

1917

 

Ph.B., University of Chicago

1917-1919

 

Served in the U.S. Navy

1919-1932

 

Private business, Cleveland, OH and Detroit, MI

1932

 

Co-founded the Detroit investment firm, McDonald, Moore & Hayes, Inc., which became McDonald-Moore & Co. in 1936

1934

 

Founded H. A. McDonald Creamery Co.

1939-1941

 

Chairman, Michigan Unemployment Compensation Commission

1947-1949

 

Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission

1949-1952

 

Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission

1952-1953

 

Administrator, Reconstruction Finance Corporation

1962-1964

 

Chairman of the Board, Allied Capital Corporation

1964 (July 2)

 

Died, Washington, D.C.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Harry A. McDonald relate mostly to his service on the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1947 to 1952 and as administrator of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation from 1952 to 1953. The collection contains correspondence, biographical information, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, programs, invitations, speeches, and memorabilia. The papers are arranged alphabetically in a single series.

The collection includes correspondence, mostly of a personal nature, with such people as President Harry S. Truman, Margaret Truman, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Alben Barkley, along with invitations to several receptions at the White House given by the President and Mrs. Truman.

The collection also contains programs from various dinners and social events, other printed materials, and a transcript of a press conference held by McDonald in 1953.

The collection includes photocopies of a number of photographs of McDonald, and an autographed portrait of his friend, Senator Arthur Vandenberg. The original photographs have been transferred to the Truman Library's audiovisual collection.

Speeches delivered by McDonald as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission and as administrator of the Reconstruction Finance Commission are also included in the collection.

The collection also contains newspaper and magazine clippings from three scrapbooks. They mostly concern McDonald and his careers in business and government.

Related information can be found in the papers of Harry S. Truman, especially in Official File 143 (Securities and Exchange Commission), Official File 210-B (Reconstruction Finance Corporation), and President's Personal File 5996 (Harry A. McDonald).

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-2

  SUBJECT FILE, 1938-1964
Correspondence, biographical information, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, programs, invitations, speeches, and memorabilia. Arranged alphabetically.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1938-1964

Box 1

  • Adams, Sherman
  • Barkley, Alben W.
  • Biffle, Leslie
  • Biographical Information
  • Bridges, Styles
  • Buell, Daniel H.
  • Burroughs, J. Edward Jr.
  • Connelly, Matthew J.
  • Douglas, Paul H.
  • Douglas, William O.
  • Eccles, Mortimer
  • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
  • Guest, Edgar A. (Detroit Free Press)
  • Johnson, Louis
  • Jones, W. Alton
  • Memorabilia
  • Millonzi, Robert J.
  • Moody, Blair
  • Pace, Frank Jr.
  • Pearson, Drew
  • Photographs
  • Pike, Sumner T.
  • Printed Materials
  • Programs and Invitations
  • Rayburn, Sam
  • Scrapbooks, 1938-1953 [1 of 4]
  • Scrapbooks, 1938-1953 [2 of 4]
  • Scrapbooks, 1938-1953 [3 of 4]
  • Scrapbooks, 1938-1953 [4 of 4]

Box 2

  • Short, Mrs. Joseph
  • Speeches
  • Speeches - Securities and Exchange Commission, 1947-1949
  • Speeches - Securities and Exchange Commission, 1948-1951
  • Speeches - Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1952
  • Taft, Robert A.
  • Truman, Harry S.
  • Truman, Margaret
  • Unruh, C.F. (Ford Motor Company)
  • Vandenberg, Arthur Jr.
  • Walters, Chester S.
  • Williams, G. Mennen
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]