Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Gift, 1972.
Collection is arranged by subject, document type, or format into sixteen series and retains its original order. Where possible original folder names were retained.
Frederick Moore Vinson was the thirteenth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from 1946 until his death in 1953. Over the course of forty years of public service, Vinson served in all three branches of the federal government, representing Kentucky in the House of Representatives, working in the administrations of both President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, and presiding over seminal cases on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Vinson was born in Louisa, Kentucky on January 22, 1890 and graduated from Kentucky Normal College in 1908. He earned an A.B. degree from Centre College in 1909 and an L.L.B. degree in 1911.
After completing legal training, he opened a private practice in Louisa, where he also served as city attorney for one year. In 1921, Vinson was elected as the Commonwealth Attorney for Kentucky's 32nd Judicial District and served for three years, until his election to the US House of Representatives from the Ninth District. He was re-elected in the next two congressional elections but was defeated in the Republican landslide of 1928. Two years later, he returned to Congress. During the next decade, Vinson represented Kentucky-at-large in the House and then the newly created Eighth District of Kentucky.
In the House, Vinson became an authority on tax and fiscal matters. He served as a member of the Ways and Means Committee from December 1931 through the end of his congressional career in 1937, including as chairman of the Subcommittee on Internal Revenue Taxation and as a member of the Subcommittee on Tax Revision.
In December 1937, President Roosevelt appointed Vinson to become an associate justice on the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He served on this bench from May 1938 to May 1943. During his last year on this Court, Vinson joined the Emergency Court of Appeals as its chief judge.
On May 27, 1943, Vinson resigned from the judiciary to accept President Roosevelt's appointment as the Director of Economic Stabilization, an emergency post created during World War Two. He remained in this position until March 5, 1945, when he became Federal Loan Administrator. Less than a month later, President Roosevelt named Vinson as the Director of War Mobilization and Reconstruction.
Shortly after assuming office, President Truman nominated Vinson to become Secretary of the Treasury. In this position, he supervised the financial operations of the government during the closing months of World War Two. To transition the economy from wartime to peacetime, Vinson recommended and Congress approved substantial tax reductions. Also under Vinson's tenure, the government ended its war bond drives, floating the Victory Loan for the last time in December 1945.
Vinson played a leading role in helping to develop the modern international economic and financial order. In July 1944, he served as vice chairman of the United States delegation to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, and helped draft the agreements establishing the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconversion and Development. In March 1946, Vinson chaired the Savannah Conference, which implemented the provisions of the Bretton Woods Agreements. He was also involved in developing the Anglo-American Loan of 1946, as well as other American loans to reconstruct Britain Europe after the War.
On June 6, 1946, President Truman nominated Vinson to become Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court to succeed Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone. Two weeks later, the Senate unanimously confirmed him. During his tenure as Chief, the Court addressed pivotal questions concerning individual liberties, civil rights, and the relationship between government regulation and private economic enterprise. On September 8, 1953, short months before re-argument of another seminal case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Vinson died suddenly in his Washington, DC home. He was interred in Pine Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Louisa.
72M2: [identification of item], Frederick Moore Vinson papers, 1864-1953, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
The Frederick Moore Vinson papers (dated 1864-1953, bulk 1924-1953; 166 cubic feet; 381 document boxes, seven textile items, three map folders, one artwork) comprise correspondence, memoranda, judicial opinions, case files, speeches, research materials, meeting and appointment files, press releases, newspaper clippings, photographs, and memorabilia documenting his forty years as a public figure in local, state, and national politics. The bulk of the material consists of correspondence documenting Vinson's engagement in Kentucky politics, congressional constituent services, his work in the Roosevelt and Truman Administrations, and the Federal Judiciary. There are also papers related to his social life and personal relationships with family and friends. The majority of materials consist of documents, but formats in the collection also include index cards, photographs, political cartoons, microfilm, audio reel and cassettes, artwork, textiles, plaques, and other three-dimensional objects.
Vinson's correspondents include Dean Acheson, Alben W. Barkley, Hugo Black, Harold Burton, Harry F. Byrd, Albert B.
The collection is divided into sixteen series: House of Representatives; Political files; Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; Emergency Court of Appeals; Office of Economic Stabilization; Bretton Woods Conference; Federal Loan Administrator; Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion; Secretary of the Treasury; Supreme Court; Articles and statements; Newspaper clippings; Personal correspondence; Speeches; Photographs; and Memorabilia.
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
The House of Representatives series primarily consists of correspondence documenting Vinson's constituent services during his five terms representing Kentucky's Eighth and Ninth congressional districts. There are also news clippings, legislative working files, information regarding House committee assignments, and correspondence with Members of Congress, government agencies and political supporters. Also included are legislative bill files, correspondence, memoranda, reports, and published information documenting Vinson's work on the House committees on Appropriations, Military Affairs, and Ways and Means.
The majority of the series dates from Vinson's early years in the House, 1924-1928. The series is divided into six sub-series: Congressional files, Army-Navy files, Military Affairs Committee files, Pension files, Post office files, Veterans Bureau files. The sub-series are interrelated; researchers interested in pension files, for example, should also review the other five sub-series. For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Political files, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
Primarily consists of correspondence documenting constituents' views on public policies and various requests for assistance and/or information, such as farmers' almanacs and congressional directories. There are also newspaper clippings, legislative working files, information regarding House committee assignments, and correspondence with Members of Congress, government agencies and political supporters. Subjects includes fiscal policy, coal and tobacco taxes, and veteran benefits.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically within.
Consists of correspondence documenting appointments to military service academies, requests for headstone applications, locations of servicemen, and service discharge information to file for pay allotments and for dismissal of under-aged recruits. One folder titled
Arranged alphabetically by last name, with one folder of general information at the end of the subseries.
Consists of legislative bill files, correspondence, memoranda, reports, and published information documenting Vinson's work on the House Military Affairs Committee.
Arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically within each subject.
Consists of correspondence regarding pension benefits for veterans and widows of veterans ranging from the Civil War to World War One. Also included are index cards that document pension requests processed by Vinson's office. There is also a microfilm copy of the index cards available for use.
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent name. Correspondents with last names starting with J through "N are not represented in the subseries. One folder titled
Consists of correspondence and forms documenting the management of post offices in Kentucky and the salaries of postal workers.
Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by post office branch or route. One folder titled
Consists of correspondence and other papers regarding compensation and medical services for veterans, primarily veterans of World War I but also of the Spanish-American War and the Civil War. Also included is correspondence related to adjusted compensation or
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent name and date. Adjusted compensation files are organized alphabetically at the end of the sub-series.
This series primarily consists of correspondence related to Kentucky politics, patronage, and elections, particularly Democratic primaries and general elections in the Commonwealth. Also included is correspondence related to delegates to the Democratic National Conventions. Most of the materials concern the role of Vinson's Eighth and Ninth congressional districts, particularly in relation to the election of 1932.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically within.
This series consists of case files, judicial opinions, and administrative files documenting Vinson's judgeship on the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from 1938 to 1943. Papers include draft and final opinions, notes, memoranda, correspondence, and reference materials including volumes of the 1943
This series is arranged into two sub-series: Case files and Subject files.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Political files, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
Arranged chronologically by date of opinion release and then alphabetically by case title.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title and then chronologically by date.
This series consists of case files, judicial opinions, and administrative files documenting Vinson's chief judgeship on the Emergency Court of Appeals. Papers include draft and final opinions, notes, memoranda, correspondence, reference materials, and meeting and appointment calendars.
The series is arranged into two sub-series: Case files and Subject files.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title and then chronologically by date.
This series primarily consists of correspondence, directives, wage and price agreements, and executive orders documenting Vinson's work as Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization. There are also working files, press releases, and reference materials concerning government price regulations and price support on food stuffs, coal and petroleum, and governmental services.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically by date.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
This series consists of correspondence, ephemera, conference minutes, and other files documenting Vinson's role as Vice Chairman of the American delegation at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference convened in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, July 1 through July 22, 1944. Papers relate to conference negotiations and congressional reactions to the event.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically by date.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
This series contains bound and loose correspondence, regulations, and statutes documenting Vinson's brief term as the Federal Loan Administrator. The correspondence consists of carbon copies of letters written by Vinson.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title or correspondent's name.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
This series contains bound correspondence, memoranda, and working files documenting Vinson's brief term as Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. The correspondence consists of carbon copies of letters written by Vinson. Two reels of microfilm also contain correspondence related to the War Mobilization Office.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title or correspondent's name. The microfilm is listed at the end of the series.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
This series consists of bound and loose correspondence, legislative bills, memoranda, press releases, reports, and administrative files documenting Vinson's term as Secretary of the Treasury from July 23, 1945 to June 23, 1946. Correspondence includes a microfilm copy of letters to and from President Harry S. Truman that was provided by the Truman Presidential Library. Also included is the correspondence of Paul Kelley, Vinson's administrative assistant. In addition, there is a set of index cards that list appointments and summarize correspondence, memoranda, and telephone call messages. A microfilm copy of all the papers and index cards in this series is available for use.
Materials relate to the Secretary's work transitioning the economy from a wartime to a peacetime footing, the creation of the International Monetary Fund, and negotiations regarding loans to Europe and the United Kingdom. Subjects include taxation, the National Advisory Council, legislation for full-employment, and wage and price controls.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
The index cards document the administrative staff's processing of Vinsons interactions with federal agencies, Congress, foreign officials, and others. These cards include lists of meetings, logs of telephone calls, and summaries of correspondence and memoranda. A microfilm copy of the index cards is also available for use.
The cards are arranged into six categories: Appointments, Congressional, Official, Personal, Reading copies, and Telephone calls. Within each category, cards are organized chronologically by year and then alphabetically by designated term. The microfilm contains the same order of arrangement as the physical index cards.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title and then chronologically within. The microfilm is listed at the end of the subseries and reflects the same order of arrangement as the paper files.
This series primarily consists of correspondence, logs, case files, working files, and judicial opinions documenting Vinson's work as Chief Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. There are also files documenting his role as the chief administrative officer of the federal courts including: administrative files related to the Supreme Court and to the Judicial Conference of Senior Circuit Judges; and his ex officio roles on the boards of the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Institution. In addition, one roll of microfilm provided by the Truman Presidential Library contains Vinson's letters to and from the President.
The series is arranged into five subseries: Correspondence, Subject files, Chief Justice and Associate Justice's opinions, Chief Justice logs, and Judicial Conference of Senior Circuit Judges.
For more papers related to this period of Vinson's career, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, and Speeches.
Consists of letters from the public regarding court cases, judicial opinions, and public policy issues. There are also several small photographs that correspondents included with their letters. As a policy, the Court refrained from replying to the correspondence in this subseries.
Arranged chronologically by date and then alphabetically within dates.
Contains correspondence and administrative files related to Court operations, proposed changes to the federal rules of civil and criminal procedure, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Marshal's Office and other federal entities with which the Chief Justice was involved. Of particular note is correspondence with associate justices and other federal judges. One reel of microfilm provided by the Truman Presidential Library consists of Vinson's letters to and from the President.
Arranged alphabetically by the folder title and then chronologically by date. The microfilm is listed at the end of the subseries.
Arranged chronologically by year, and then alphabetically by opinion author (
Consists of appointment logs kept by the Chief Justice's chambers documenting Vinson's daily meetings and other activities.
Arranged chronologically by year.
Consists of agenda materials and reports documenting the Judicial Conference of Senior Circuit Judges. Agenda materials are for the Conference's annual meetings and reports relate to the work of Conference committees. Papers include correspondence, draft and final reports, legislation proposed and passed, and research data. Committees represented in the sub-series include the Committee on Bankruptcy Administration, Committee on Court Reporters, and the Committee on Ways and Means of Economy in the Operation of the Courts. The Administrative Office, in the person of Director Henry Chandler, is also prominent in the papers.
Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by folder title.
This series consists of magazine articles and public statements about Vinson or written by Vinson in his various public roles from 1943 to 1953. Arranged into five sub-series: Articles on Vinson, Articles by Vinson, Statements given, Statements requested, and Statement requests denied.
For more of Vinson's articles and statements, please consult the following series: Newspaper clippings, Personal correspondence, Speeches, and series related to particular periods of his career.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged chronologically by year.
This series consists of loose and bound volumes of newspaper clippings documenting Vinson's public career from 1920 to 1953.
Arranged chronologically by date.
For more of Vinson's newspaper clippings, please consult the following series: Articles and statements, Personal correspondence, and series related to particular periods of his career.
Separated from photographs from LIFE magazine issue, see 349:15-16.
Separated from photograph from
This series consists of a broad variety of correspondence documenting Vinson's relationships with family members, friends, public figures, and organizations. Letters relate to Kentucky politics, autograph requests, gifts received, Centre College, trips with President Truman, activities with clubs and organizations, various financial and social affairs of the Vinson family, and congratulations sent to Vinson upon his appointment and/or nomination to various public offices. There are also condolences sent to the family upon Vinson's death in 1953.
The series is arranged into four sub-series: Condolences, Congratulatory letters, General correspondence, and Invitations. The bulk of series consists of general correspondence.
For more of Vinson's correspondence, please consult the Political files series as well as series documenting particular periods of his career.
Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by folder title.
Arranged chronologically by year and then alphabetically by folder title.
This series primarily consists of documents related to Vinson's public addresses at universities, civic and social organizations, and in the House of Representatives.
There is one set of audio materials documenting
Arranged chronologically by date.
For more of Vinson's speeches and statements, please consult the Articles and statements series as well as series documenting particular periods of his career.
This series consists of images of varying sizes that document Vinson's public career and private life.
Photographs are listed chronologically.
Separated from
Separated from Parade magazine issue, see 353:5.
Separated from print, see 351:9.
This series consists of documents, political cartoons, artwork, textiles, plaques, and other three-dimensional objects documenting Vinson's career in the three branches of federal government.
Arranged into six sub-series: Artwork, Commemorative documents, Political cartoons, Prints and posters, Textiles, and Three-dimensional objects.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Separated from photograph, see 340:55.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Arranged alphabetically by title.