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William W. Lancaster papers
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Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
William Woart Lancaster (1874-?) worked for and with the United States State Department. He received an undergraduate (1897) and law degree (1899) from Harvard University. He was involved with international banking issues and relations with Great Britain and the U.S.S.R. during and after World War II. He worked for National City Bank (he may have served as chairman) as well as serving as the head of Foreign Policy Association and possibly the American-Soviet Friendship Society.
Lancaster married Elizabeth Lansing Greig in 1918, and had at least three children: Stephen Symonds Lancaster, born 1919; Mary Lancaster, born 1921; and William Woart Lancaster II. He was Episcopalian.
Source: internal evidence, Who's Who in New York (City and State), Issue 7, Harvard Class of 1897, Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Report, The Letters of Allen Ginsberg (Ginsberg was the college roommate of William Woart Lancaster II).
This collection includes photographs and memoranda related to a trip taken by William W. Lancaster to Europe in 1948. It covers meetings held by Lancaster with European financial officials, as well as information on the International Sugar Agreement, correspondence regarding Lancaster's experience as a European traveler, personal correspondence, and correspondence regarding Lancaster's business interests.
This collection also includes personal letters and telegrams to Lancaster, as well as copies of letters sent by him on personal matters (though often touching official topics, and often on official stationery); information and correspondence related to the Soviet Union and its relationship with the United States; and correspondence with and about Sir Stafford Cripps, a Labour member of the Atlee government in the United Kingdom who served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Finally, much of the collection is made up of "day notes," which are handwritten accounts of what Lancaster did each day, written on the pages of a daily planner pad which were then torn out. They are as short as a description of where Lancaster went on a given day, or long enough to require several additional stapled pages. Some notes also include memos regarding Lancaster's official activities on that day. During the time period covered by the notes, Lancaster worked for the National City Bank of New York, later Citibank.
The William W. Lancaster papers were donated to Special Collections, haverford College in 1969 by Elmore Jackson.
Processed by Jon Sweitzer-Lamme.
People
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Jon Sweitzer-Lamme
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).
Collection Inventory
1 boxes
Lancaster was in Europe on behalf of the International Banking Committee and/or the National City Bank of New York. Includes photographs, memoranda on meetings held by Lancaster with European financial officials, including Andre Philip and Gaston Cusin in France, James Clement Dunn and one Mr. Benetti in Italy. Also includes information on the International Sugar Agreement and correspondence regarding accommodations, expenses, and Lancaster's experience as a European traveler; personal correspondence; and correspondence regarding Lancaster's business interests.
Physical Description1 folders
Includes personal letters and telegrams to Lancaster, as well as copies of letters sent by him, on personal matters (though often touching official topics, and often on official stationery).
Physical Description1 folders
Includes information and correspondence related to the Soviet Union, including related to an investigation of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship by the House Un-American Activities Committee (a council of which Lancaster served as a sponsor and which resisted the investigation as being itself "un-American"), correspondence with Soviet officials in the United States, invitations to Soviet-hosted events, an intercession on behalf of a group of Mormons in Berlin, a confidential memo by Charles Prince on "Commercial Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union," correspondence related to Lancaster's work for the American Society for Russian Relief, a US-USSR chess match held in 1945, and correspondence regarding American shipments to the Soviet Union.
Physical Description1 folders
Includes information and correspondence related to the Soviet Union. Materials include a document, "A Halt in the Atomic Arms Race;" information on Lancaster's work with the American Friends Service Committee to prevent war between the US and the USSR; correspondence with Clarence Pickett related to his 'interview' with Nelson Rockefeller on the same subject; clippings from the New York Times on Quaker proposals for peace between the US and the USSR and Soviet internal politics; correspondence with Dean Acheson as the Secretary of State; correspondence with Alan G. Kirk regarding his appointment to the American Embassy in Moscow; correspondence with Elmore Jackson; correspondence with Jacob (Yakob) Malik; information about the AFSC asking Lancaster to allow his name to be put forward as Ambassador to Moscow (Lancaster refused); correspondence with Andrei A. Gromkyo; correspondence and documents related to an advertisement taken out by the AFSC opposing an arms race; correspondence with members of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship; correspondence with various Soviet diplomats in the United States; documents related to opposition to American aid to Turkey and Greece; an article "The USSR's role in International Finance;" correspondence and documents related to the American-Soviet Science Society.
Physical Description1 folders
Correspondence with and about Sir Stafford Cripps, a Labour member of the Atlee government in the United Kingdom who served as the President of the Board of Trade and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He and Lancaster began corresponding during World War II when Cripps was the UK Ambassador to the USSR, and were friends until Cripps' death in 1952. The latest letters in this file are letters of condolence to his family after his death.
Physical Description1 folders
Day notes are handwritten accounts of what Lancaster did each day, written on the pages of a daily planner pad which were then torn out. They are as short as a description of where Lancaster went on a given day, or long enough to require several additional stapled pages. Some day notes also included memos regarding Lancaster's official activities on that day. During this time period, Lancaster worked for the National City Bank of New York, later Citibank.
Physical Description1 boxes
During this six-month period, Lancaster traveled to Peru and Argentina. He discussed problems related to international deposits and monetary transfers after World War II, including issues of the Chinese civil war, problems with Argentinean banking, differences between American and Canadian bankruptcy law, the creation of the American Russian Institute, and oil credits for Japan.
Physical Description1 folders
During this time period, Lancaster discussed issues related to international postwar finance, including a treaty with Uruguay, an agreement with Argentina, a loan to South Africa, German bond issues, Irish lotteries, guaranty of Filipino deposits, and a loan of gold to France, as well as domestic issues, such as the financial difficulties of Ruppert's Beer and the estate of one Mr. Noble.
Physical Description1 folders
During this time period, Lancaster discussed international banking issues, such as the state of Argentinean banks, the closure of a bank branch in Shanghai due to the Chinese civil war, registering Philippine stocks on the San Francisco stock exchange, Russian war relief, the Hong Kong and American estate of Joseph W. Noble, the American Russian Institute, a treaty with Uruguay, and the Postal Remittances and Savings Bank of Peking's unexpected shutdown due to the civil war. He also dealt with domestic issues: the estate of Veronica Von Clem, the Fifth Avenue Bus Company, and the National City Bank annual meeting.
Physical Description1 folders
During this time period, Lancaster dealt with issues such as preparations for the National City Bank annual meeting, the estate of James E. Boykin, the Chinese Postal Savings Bank and other issues related to banking in 'Red China,' Russian-American relations, a contract regarding bank wires, issues related to Swiss and Argentinean bank accounts, the legal issues surrounding Swiss banks placing sealed envelopes of their depositors on deposit with the bank, and the Tabalacera bank in the Philippines during World War II.
Physical Description1 folders
Day notes are handwritten accounts of what Lancaster did each day, written on the pages of a daily planner pad which were then torn out. They can be as short as a description of where Lancaster went on a given day, or long enough to require several additional stapled pages. Some day notes also included memos regarding Lancaster's official activities on that day. During this time period, Lancaster worked for the National City Bank of New York, later Citibank.
Physical Description1 boxes
Topics discussed include possibly abandoned Russian accounts in American banks, Lancaster being sued for conspiring to conceal German assets in the United States after World War II, settlement of Russian claims on the United States government, the Tabacalera tobacco company, Amtorg corporation, holding capital in either dollars or pesos in Cuban banks, microfilming the archives of the American Russian Institute, income tax on foreign income by American companies, and the regulation of Chinese-made products.
This folder also includes an account of a meeting between Lancaster, Dean Acheson (the Secretary of State), and Clarence Pickett (the executive secretary of the American Friends Service Committee) regarding a possible trip to Russia by a group of 'industrialists' including Lancaster. This meeting took place on April 20.
Physical Description1 folders
Information in this folder relates to loans made in Puerto Rico, much discussion of amendments to New York laws regulating foreign banks, negotiations between the United States and the USSR for a 'settlement of claims,' the possibility of imposing a mandatory retirement age on members of the Board of Directors of the National City Bank, sending bankers to Shanghai, laws regulating foreign banks in Brazil, the National City Bank pension system, negotiations with "Red China" for the release of assets and an arrested NCB employee, moving the records of foreign NCB affiliates out of New York City to avoid having them available for subpoena, American-Soviet relations, and liquidation of the American Russian Institute headquarters.
Discussions of American-Soviet relations on July 16 involved Clarence Pickett as well as others.
Physical Description1 folders
Contents include discussions of Argentinean banking, loans to Brazil, the purchase of New Jersey Turnpike Bonds, the 'Excess Profits Tax,' construction of a natural gas pipeline between Canada and the Pacific Northwest, liabilities for deposits seized during World War II in Japan, the rescue of NCB representatives in Shanghai, Estonian deposits at the NCB, real estate loans, a possible visit by Quakers and businessmen to the Soviet Union, honorary directorships of the NCB, a loan to Japan,
The visit by Quakers and businessmen to the USSR was discussed by Clarence Pickett and Lancaster, in consultation with the State Department, on January 25, 1952.
Physical Description1 folders