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William Hard Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers. 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 Hard was born on September 15, 1878 in Painted Post, New York, the son of missionaries Clark Pettengill and Lydia van Someren Hard. Hard received his preliminary education at the Philander Smith Institute, Mussoorie, India and in public school in Lima, New York and at University College, London, England before enrolling at Northwestern University. After receiving a B.A. in history in 1900, he received a fellowship at Northwestern and lectured there in medieval history.
In 1901, Hard moved to the Northwestern University Settlement House. His professional journalism career began in 1902 with Hard's involvement in the production of Settlement House's monthly newsletter. Like many of his colleagues, Hard developed sympathies for the plight of urban workers and ties to the organized labor movement. He was widely acknowledged among his colleagues for the quality of journalistic integrity which characterized Hard's work. In 1906 he worked as a free-lance contributor to many magazines, an activity in which he continued until the end of his life. He was a member of the editorial staffs of Everybody's and Metropolitan magazines; the latter then edited by Theodore Roosevelt.
With the advent of radio, a new career path for Hard opened up. By 1929 he was a regular correspondent and commentator for the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). Between 1930-1935, Hard broadcast reports and interviews from Washington, D.C., the 1932 Republican Convention in Chicago, and Berlin. In February 1937, he was appointed executive assistant to the Chairman of the Republican National Committee and served as secretary of the Republican Program Committee. He resigned his party posts in October 1938, saying he wished to return to "independent political journalism." In the following year, he began writing for Reader's Digest and was roving editor for the magazine until his death in New Caanan, Connecticut in 1962.
He was married in Chicago, November 3, 1903 to Anne Nyhan, adopted daughter of Wiley S. Scribner, and had two children: William, who married Jean Foster and later Rita Setten; and Eleanor Van Someren, who married Gerard Kirsopp Lake.
The collection contains Hard's files for a planned book on the League of Nations fight, which include voluminous correspondence, notes, typescripts, articles, speeches, articles, and supplementary materials. Correspondence files include drafts of conversations with Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and other prominent personalities. Notes and typescripts contain the book outline and typed chapters; reference notes on various issues including the League Fight, Versailles Treaty and the World Court. The remainder of the collection consists of articles and speeches, as well as printed material collected by Hard in support of research for his book.
These papers were donated to the Princeton University in 1964 by William Hard's daughter, Eleanor Van Someren Lake. (AM18294).
This collection was processed by Mei-Yu Tsai in 1995. Finding aid written by Mei-Yu Tsai in 1995. The finding aid was updated by Regine Heberlein on June 29, 2011 to include material from the June 2010 accession.
No information about appraisal is available for this collection. No material was separated from the June 2012 accession to this collection.
People
- Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965.
- Kellogg, Frank B.
- Stimson, Henry L.
- Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Public Policy Papers
- Finding Aid Author
- Mei-Yu Tsai
- Finding Aid Date
- 1998
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. For quotations that are fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For those few instances beyond fair use, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold the copyright and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from the Mudd Library to move forward with their use.
Collection Inventory
Series 1, Correspondence, 1914-1934, contains thirty-eight files detailing exclusive interviews with national and international political figures and discussing economic issues. Correspondence also involves subjects such as the fight over the creation of the League of Nations.
The correspondence in this series is arranged alphabetically by last name of correspondent.
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Series 2, Notes and Typescripts, 1914-1928, includes four chapters of the book and an outline. In addition, specific subject headings reflect Hard's research on how business organizations, the Congress, and public and private organizations viewed the League of Nations.
The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by topic and by chapter of the proposed publication.
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Series 3, Printed Material, 1915-1928, includes pamphlets, articles, and newspaper clippings relating to the League of Nations.
The printed materials in this series are arranged chronologically by date of publication.
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No arrangement action taken or arrangement information not recorded at the time of processing.
Contains one photograph of Pierre Laval inscribed to William Hard.
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