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Alpheus Thomas Mason 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

Mason

Alpheus Thomas Mason (1899-1989), McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Princeton University, was born in a small farming and fishing village two miles outside of Snow Hill, Maryland. At age fifteen he gained a reputation as a speaker, and at age sixteen he entered Dickinson College and receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1920 (and a Master of Arts degree in 1921, plus a Doctor of Philosophy in 1923 from Princeton University).

In 1923 Alpheus Thomas Mason became a professor at Trinity College (now Duke University) a small Methodist coeducational institution. In 1925 he accepted a teaching position at Princeton University where he became a distinguished Constitutional scholar in the Politics Department. He remained at Princeton University for forty three years until he retired to emeritus status in 1968. After his retirement from Princeton University, Mason went on to teach at fifteen different universities in the United States, Japan and Israel.:

Alpheus Thomas Mason was the author of twenty-two books and numerous articles relating to the Supreme Court and its Justices including:

He was awarded the American Library Association's Liberty and Justice Award and the Francis Parkman Prize in history for Harlan Fiske Stone: Pillar of the Law. In the 1930's, he was one of the few political scientists to hold a visiting membership at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Political Science Association.

At the time of his death on October 31, 1989, Mason was survived by his wife Christine, daughter Louise Bachelder, three granddaughters and two great-grandchildren.

Consists of papers of Mason, including material relating to Supreme Court justices Harlan Fiske Stone and Louis D. Brandeis and to Woodrow Wilson.

This is an unprocessed collection and remains in its original arrangement.

Most of the collection was the gift of Christine Mason in 1992. The accession number associated with this gift is ML1992-7. The material that comprises Box 30 was donated by Louise Mason Bachelder in 1998. The accession number associated with this gift is ML1998-6. The material that comprises Box 29 was donated by John Fatherley in 2011. The accession number associated with this gift is ML.2011.030.

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

This is an unprocessed collection. The contents list provided is a preliminary inventory. A box accessioned in 1998 that was not included in the inventory was found in the repository in 2014 and added to the collection as Box 30.

No information about appraisal is available for this collection.

Publisher
Public Policy Papers
Finding Aid Date
2001
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

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Collection Inventory

Physical Description

6 boxes

Physical Description

3 boxes

General Correspondence-Student Recommendations, dates not examined. 3 boxes.
Physical Description

3 boxes

Letters to students, dates not examined. 3 boxes.
Physical Description

3 boxes

Publishers and Editors, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Law Schools-Universities-Faculty etc; Lawyers, Judges and Graduate Schools, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Correspondence A-Z student files, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Physical Description

8 boxes

General Correspondence, Salary, degrees; Notes, clippings and Princeton Alumni Weekly, dates not examined. 4 boxes.
Physical Description

4 boxes

NEH Seminar-America's continuing revolution, 1979. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Supreme Court Material-Relating to P.U. Notes on Philosophers- Mills, Hobbes & Burke, unexamined. 1 box.
Scope and Contents

The folder labeled "Goldmark--Josephine" contains two original photographs of Alice Goldmark, the wife of Louis Brandeis (Josephine Goldmark's sister), some correspondence with Brandeis, and two of his daily diaries for 1899 and 1906.

Physical Description

1 box

Politics-course material. Other colleges- Yale, Harvard, Pomona centre, Yugoslavia and Israel, unexamined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Political Philosophy; Pamphlets, Reports, clippings & Watergate, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Physical Description

6 boxes

Brandeis-Philosophy of L.B.-Pamphlets, clippings, notes from L.B. diary & correspondence, dates not examined. 2 boxes.
Physical Description

2 boxes

Original Harlan Fiske Stone documents: Correspondence, clippings, notes and briefs, circa 1910-1929. 3 boxes.
Physical Description

3 boxes

Various Justices: Chase, Fuller, Hughes, Marshall, Taft, Warren and Frankfurter, circa 1940-1985. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Physical Description

2 boxes

Pamphlets, reports, official reports and statements, dates not examined. 2 boxes.
Physical Description

2 boxes

Physical Description

4 boxes

Relating to Supreme Court, dates not examined. 3 boxes.
Physical Description

3 boxes

Book Manuscripts, circa 1950. 1 box.
Scope and Contents

Consists of one, possibly two, book manuscripts, including a biography of Louis Brandeis.

Physical Description

1 box

Physical Description

1 box

Letters and two copies of an autobiography, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Physical Description

1 box

A. Mason-wife Christine-daughter Louise, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Album of photographs taken in Japan, 1953. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Physical Description

1 box

Three Radio Recordings, 1966 March 13. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

A. Mason-Free Gov't in the Making, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

September 2011 Accession: Correspondence between Claude F. Walker, Charles Swan Walker, Ray Stannard Baker, and Alpheus Thomas Mason, 1932-1964. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

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