J.P. Morgan trial scrapbooks

The J.P. Morgan trial scrapbooks document media coverage of the Pecora Investigation which was led by the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The investigation began on March 4, 1932 and the chief counsel was Ferdinand Pecora. Pecora examined many witnesses including Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange; investment bankers Otto H. Kahn, Charles E. Mitchell, Thomas W. Lamont, and Albert H. Wiggin; and commodity market speculators such as Arthur W. Cutten. One of the most widely covered witness testimonies was by the banker J. P. Morgan Jr. coving his connection to the financial crash.

J. P. Morgan Jr. became the head of J.P. Morgan and Co. after the death of his father in 1913. He helped fund World War I by loaning money to the Allies, even before the United States entered the war. He also made his company the munitions and supplies purchaser for the British and French governments. After the war he worked with other foreign bankers to manage finances and was the director of the Foreign Finance Corporation which focused on investing in foreign enterprises.

The Pecora Investigation and hearings began on April 11, 1932. The first three chief counsels were either fired or quit but in January 1933, Ferdinand Pecora, an assistant district attorney for New York County was brought in to finish the report. Pecora noticed that the investigation was incomplete and got permission to hold another month of hearings. Through his investigation he discovered proof of underwriting of unsound securities in order to pay off bad bank loans, as well as "pool operations" to support the price of bank stocks by many in the financial sector.

During his witness examination, J. P. Morgan Jr. admitted under examination that he and many of his partners had not paid any income taxes in 1931 and 1932. This avoidance of income taxes was done legally but caused public anger towards Wall Street (Chernow, 2010). The Pecora Investigation resulted in the Glass–Steagall Banking Act of 1933, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All of these acts put new regulations on Wall Street and banking to avoid another major market crash.

Sources

Chernow, Ron. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance. Grove Press, 2010.

The J.P Morgan trial scrapbooks date from May 21 to June 13, 1933 and contain three bound ledger scrapbooks with newspaper clippings adhered to the pages. It is a complete timeline of the coverage, with publications from every day between May 21 to June 13, 1933. They are arranged chronologically by day and then by publisher location. Each day begins with numerous Philadelphia press publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and The Philadelphia Evening Ledger. Then there are New York press publications including The New York Times and The New York American. Lastly it includes press publications from all over the state of Pennsylvania which are arranged by city in alphabetical order.

The clippings collected all refer to the investigation into J.P Morgan Jr. and other prominent Wall Street bankers. The clippings focus on Morgan with most clippings mentioning his name in the title of the article. Many of the articles cover the proceedings of Morgan's testimony during the investigation, but there are also editorials and reader comments discussing how those in power on Wall Street are making money while to average person is struggling and giving insight to public opinion of Morgan and Wall Street. Almost none of the clippings document other individuals' witness testimonies from the Pecora Investigation.

Some clippings are folded to fit into the volumes and can be fragile, making unfolding difficult.

Use

Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Preferred Citation

J.P Morgan trial scrapbooks, 1933 May 21 –June 13, Ms. Coll. 1610, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Finding aids author

Casper Voca

Date

2024 September 30

Subject

Great Depression, 1929

Banks and banking

Press -- United States

Press coverage

People

Morgan, J. P. (John Pierpont), 1867-1943

Language

English

Form

Clippings