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Walter Massey Phillips Papers
Notifications
Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. 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
Walter M. Phillips, Sr. (1912-1985), was active in Philadelphia civic affairs for more than thirty years. A graduate of Episcopal Academy, Princeton, and Harvard Law School, he was an organizer of the City Policy Committee, President of the Citizens' Council on City Planning, Board Member of the Greater Philadelphia Movement, President of the Philadelphia Housing Association, Board Member of the Committee of Seventy, and was a consultant to Penjerdel. He managed Joseph Clark's successful race for Mayor of Philadelphia in 1951, and served in Clark's cabinet as City Representative and Director of Commerce through 1955. From 1952 to 1962, Phillips was Executive Secretary with the Delaware River Basin Advisory Committee, later the Delaware River Basin Commission. Phillips was active in a variety of public and private agencies and was Chairman of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Americans for Democratic Action and a Trustee of Lincoln University. He was the reform candidate against Mayor Tate in the 1963 Democratic primary election. In the 1970s Phillips was Director of the Honey Hollow Watershed Association. After retiring in 1974, Phillips initiated an oral history project, during which he interviewed many of the local government leaders with whom he had worked. These interviews are also held in the Special Collections Research Center.
This collection documents the nature of civic decision making at the policy level in mid-twentieth century Philadelphia. The collection contains personal papers as well as correspondence administrative records, financial records, publications, subject files, clippings, and photographs related to the many Philadelphia organizations and networks in which Phillips was involved.
This collection has been arranged into 3 series:
- Series 1: Accession 527, 1927-1978
- Subseries 1.1: Political and civic career records, 1927-1973
- Subseries 1.2: National and international affairs, 1939-1975
- Subseries 1.3: Conservation and education, 1942-1978
- Subseries 1.4: Personal papers, 1937-1978
- Subseries 1.5: Miscellaneous, 1938-1977
- Series 2: Accession 1001, 1930-1989
- Series 3: Photographs (PC-74), circa 1950-1960
Walter Massey Phillips bequeathed his papers to Temple University in 1974. Accession 1001 donated by Anna Phillips Sofaer, April 2009.
Finding aid revised according to contemporary archival standards in February 2015 by Katy Rawdon, Coordinator of Technical Services.
People
Organization
- Americans for Democratic Action. ǂb Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter
- Citizens' Council on City Planning (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- City Policy Committee (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Committee of Seventy
- Delaware River Basin Commission
- Greater Philadelphia Movement
- Honey Hollow Watershed Association
- Lincoln University (Pa.)
- Penjerdel (Corporation)
- Philadelphia Housing Association
Subject
- Citizens' associations -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- City planning -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Conservation of natural resources -- Pennsylvania
- Delaware River Watershed (N.Y.-Del. and N.J.)
- Honey Hollow Watershed National Historic Landmark (Pa.)
- Political campaigns -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Regional planning -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Urban transportation -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Water resources development
- Civic improvement -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Place
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
- Finding Aid Date
- February 2024
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
The Walter Massey Phillips Papers are the in custody of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.
Collection Inventory
Series 1, Accession 527, 1927-1978, is arranged into 4 subseries: Political and civic career records, 1927-1973, Subseries 1.2: National and international affairs, 1939-1975, Subseries 1.3: Conservation and education, 1942-1978, and Subseries 1.4: Personal papers, 1937-1978.
Subseries 1.1, Political and civic career, 1927-1973, is arranged by groups name or by general subjects: American for Democratic Action, Bicentennial, Bureau of Municipal Research, Citizens Groups/Civic Agencies, City Charter, City Planning, City Policy Committee, City Representative/Director of Commerce in the Clark Administration, Greater Philadelphia Movement, National Policy Committee, Penjerdel, Philadelphia Housing Authority, Political Campaigns, Politics (Local and National), and Work Logs.