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L. Lee Layton, Jr. papers

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Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library 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

Call Number:
MSS 0534
Repository:
University of Delaware Library Special Collections
Extent:
  • 23 linear foot
  • 1 oversize box
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
MSS 0534, L. Lee Layton, Jr. papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
Date:
1928-1984 (inclusive)
Creator:
Layton, L. Lee, Jr., 1899-1985
Form:
Letters (correspondence), Business records, Tax records, Financial statements, Clippings (information artifacts), and Prints (visual works)
Abstract:
The L. Lee Layton, Jr., papers include personal and business papers of this well known Sussex countian and Dover-area businessman. Files relate to his business Layton & Company, and landholdings in Layton Farms and Cypress Farms. Mr. Layton maintained topical files on various political and social issues, as well as correspondence and publications related to his opinions. Additional papers belong to Mr. Layton's wife, Marianne Layton.

Landreth Lee Layton, Jr. (1889-1985), was born in Georgetown, Delaware, and later became a resident of Dover, Delaware. He was a grocery executive, businessman, and land developer in the Burnt Cypress area of Sussex County and Layton Farms, near Dover. Mr. Layton was known for his prolific and controversial letters to newspaper editors championing personal causes such as government reform and attacks on Zionism, racial desegregation, communism, and unionism.

The L. Lee Layton, Jr., papers include personal and business papers of this well known Sussex countian and Dover-area businessman. Files relate to his business Layton & Company, and landholdings in Layton Farms and Cypress Farms. Mr. Layton maintained topical files on various political and social issues, as well as correspondence and publications related to his opinions. Additional papers belong to Mr. Layton's wife, Marianne Layton.

Boxes 1-23: Shelved in Library Annex

Box 24: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize boxes (24 inches)

Gift of Alfred Layton, 1998.

Finding aid encoded by Lauren Connolly, September 2015, and Tiffany Saulter, April 2016.

People
Place

Publisher
University of Delaware Library Special Collections
Finding Aid Author
University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
Access Restrictions

Limited pending completion of processing. Material in annex requires 24-hour notice for retrieval.

Use Restrictions

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce isrequired from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec

Collection Inventory

Layton & Company, Inc. business files, A-H.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Includes payroll and tax information, charter, bylaws, accounts payable and receivable

Layton & Company, Inc. business files, I-W.
Box 2
Layton & Company, Inc. financial statements, 1928-1948.
Box 3
Layton & Company, Inc. annual stockholder's reports, 1940-1957.
Box 3
Lee Layton - personal correspondence, 1960s.
Box 3
Lee Layton articles, 1960s-1970s.
Box 4
Scope and Contents

Includes clippings of his letters to the editor and responses (

News Journal, Delaware State News, The Sussex Countian, and the New York Herald Tribune), as well as issues of conservative political publications (The Councilor, The Thunderbolt, Bugle, and Don Bell Reports), correspondence with Senator John Williams, copies of some of Layton's leaflets sent to the Delaware General Assembly, and a copy of Election Laws of Delaware (1972).
Correspondence & publications, 1950s.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Publication files for

The Grapevine (written and published by Layton) Publication files for The Live Wire (written and published by Layton) Newspaper clippings, 1940s-1960s
Desk correspondence, 1960s.
Box 6
Desk correspondence (cont'd), 1960s.
Box 7
Scope and Contents

Correspondence with David W. Burnet, 1961-1976

Correspondence and subject files, 1970s.
Box 8
Correspondence and subject files, 1970s.
Box 9
Correspondence and subject files (A-L), 1980s.
Box 10
Correspondence and subject files (M-Z), 1980s.
Box 11
Office copies of Lee Layton's mailings, 1973-1983.
Box 12
Series of political subject files (numbered 1-45), 1970s.
Box 13
Issues of American Capsule News, 1963-1965.
Box 13
Files of material on railroads, electricity, TVA, 1950s.
Box 13
Files of material on railroads, electricity, TVA, 1950s.
Box 13
File of maps.
Box 13
Miscellaneous files of correspondence, letters to patriots, personal, etc., 1959-1975.
Box 14
Files of letters to Middletown Transcript, Seaford Reader, Delaware Coast Press, 1970s.
Box 14
Miscellaneous correspondence and subject files, 1970s.
Box 15
Scope and Contents

Includes files for Henrickson, Walworth, Conservative Book Club, Cornwell, Bishop, railroads, American Independent Party, Mason, and ministers

Copies of pamphlets, leaflets, pamphlets, and letters composed by Lee Layton for distribution to the Delaware General Assembly, citizens, etc., 1959-1978.
Box 16
Scope and Contents

Topics: taxes, patriotism, Delaware politics, racism, the Holocaust, President Carter, federal spending, Israel, etc., religious and political pamphlets written by others.

Files for and copies of The Epistle (Layton's newsletter for employees), 1950s.
Box 17
Miscellaneous clippings, pamphlets, and correspondence related to political beliefs for possible publication in The Grapevine, 1962.
Box 17
Correspondence and files related to Layton Farms Inc. and Cypress Farms, ca. 1950-1975.
Box 18
Scope and Contents

Includes bank information, contracts, letters to stockholders, vital statistics, and cash flow statements

Layton Farms and Cypress Farms (cont'd).
Box 19
Scope and Contents

Includes photographs and income tax records

Personal correspondence and material related to Marianne Gibbs Layton, 1940s.
Box 20
Scope and Contents

Includes a scrapbook, high school/college notebooks, University of Colorado degree, McConnell School degree (airline stewardess), photographs, issues of

Colorado Alumnus, tour and travel booklets, a program for Fantasia Personal correspondence related to Penelope R. Layton
Personal correspondence of Lee Layton, 1940-1970s.
Box 21
Scope and Contents

Estate settlement of Marianne Layton Miscellaneous personal material related to Lee Layton (photographs, slides, lawsuit)

Lee Layton's personal financial records, 1970-1984.
Box 22
Scope and Contents

Includes bank statements and income tax records Alfred Layton bank book, 1946

Cassette tapes (most of political or religious content, many unidentified).
Box 23
Scope and Contents

Tape recorder, plus pipe and other ephemera

Copy of Our Islands and Their Peoples (2 vols.), 1899.
Box 24
Cypress Farms aerial photographs and maps.
Box 24
Photograph of the stockholders of Layton & Co., 1942.
Box 24
Prints of scenes in U.S. National Parks (belonging to Marianne Layton).
Box 24
Physical Location

OVERSIZE BOX in Spec Coll

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