William J. Harris Papers, 1905-1913, 1916
9 boxes, 4.25 linear feet

Administrative Information

- Access Restrictions
- User Restrictions
- Copyright Information
- Preferred Citation


Biographical Note

Scope and Content

Home

Organization and Arrangement

Related Collections


Related Collections

- In Russell Library
- In other repositories


Access Points

Folder List


ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

User Restrictions: Library acts as “fair use” reproduction agent.

Processing Notes: Newspaper clippings and acidic letter copies have been copied onto bond paper for protection of content.

Copyright Information: Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permission. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Preferred Citation: William J. Harris Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.


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BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE:

William Julius Harris was born in Cedartown, Georgia (Polk County) on February 3, 1868. The great-grandson of North Carolina Congressman Charles Hooks, Harris attended common schools and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1890. He returned to Cedartown and engaged in general insurance business and banking, marrying Julia Wheeler Knox in 1905. Harris organized and became president of both the Georgia Fire Insurance Company and the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Cedartown in 1907.

Harris served as the private secretary to Georgia Senator Alexander Stephens Clay from 1904 to 1909; Clay died in office in 1910, and the Georgia Legislature voted Hoke Smith to fill the vacancy. Harris successfully campaigned for the Georgia State Senate (38th district) and served one term, 1911-1912. When his term expired in 1913, Harris served as State Democratic Committee Chairman and campaigned in Georgia for Woodrow Wilson's presidential campaign. Although Georgia delegates voted for Wilson's southern opponent Oscar Underwood, as president, Wilson did not forget Harris's support and appointed Harris Director of the United States Census Bureau. On March 15, 1915, Harris resigned to become a member of the Federal Trade Commission where he was Acting Secretary of the Department of Commerce (1913-1915).

In 1918, Harris resigned from the Federal Trade Commission to campaign for the U.S. Senate. He successfully defeated incumbent Thomas Hardwick, and was re-elected in 1924 (again defeating Hardwick) and in 1930. He was also a member of the National Forest Reservation Commission from 1929 to 1932. Harris died in office on April 18, 1932. Then Georgia Governor Richard B. Russell, Jr. announced that he would seek election to Harris's unexpired term and appointed John S. Cohen, publisher of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, to serve until the election of Harris's successor. Despite predications that his opponent, U.S. House of Representatives member Charles R. Crisp, would win, 33-year-old Russell won the election to the Senate and was sworn in the next January as the youngest member of the U.S. Senate.



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SCOPE AND CONTENT:

The William Julius Harris Papers consist of correspondence and materials from Harris's time as private secretary to Senator Alexander S. Clay (1904-1909), his term in the State Senate (1911-1912), and his tenure as State Democratic Committee Chairman (1913). The papers do not contain records from his term in the U.S. Senate (except two speech drafts); however, the papers do include personal records related to business and private matters (1905-1913).



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ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT:

The Papers are divided into three series: I. Political, II. Personal, and III. Related Materials. The arrangement is chronological within each series. The original order of the papers is not known; the collection was part of the conveyance of Harris's successor, Richard B. Russell, Jr., and it is not known how he obtained the papers. This collection was originally housed in the Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscript Library where it was processed and organized. In 2001, alterations were made to the arrangement including the renaming of some series to provide a more clear description and the division and renaming of items at the folder level.



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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN THIS REPOSITORY:

Marcus Wayland Beck Diaries, 1899-1921
Lamartine G. Hardman Collection, 1849-1953
Thomas W. Hardwick Papers, 1908-1944
Dudley M. Hughes Collection, 1806-1927
Richard B. Russell, Sr. Papers, 1888-1938
Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection, 1903-1974
Hoke Smith Papers, 1899-1930
Joseph M. Terrell Papers, 1882-1912



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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN OTHER REPOSITORIES:

Charles R. Crisp Papers, Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, Georgia
Alexander Stephens Clay Papers, Atlanta History Center


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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:

I. Political
6 boxes, 2.75 linear feet
The Political Series begins in 1908, when Harris served as personal secretary to Georgia's U.S. Senator Alexander Stephens Clay, and follows Harris through his 1910 state senate campaign and his term as State Democratic Committee Chairman in 1913.

A. Correspondence
Correspondence materials from 1908 through 1909 reflect Harris's time as personal secretary to Senator Clay and offers a portion of Clay's political (for example, his Chairmanship of the Committee on Women's Suffrage) and personal life as well as some Georgia matters such as political patronage. A few clippings, receipts, and handbills are included.

Records from 1910 deal with the U.S. Senate Campaign to fill the seat vacated at the death of Senator Clay (William G. Brantley vs. Joseph Terrell vs. Hoke Smith) as well as Harris's own successful campaign for the State Senate (38th district). While in office for one term, Harris corresponded with Georgia Legislators John Holder and Charles Northen, Congressmen William G. Brantley, Gordon Lee, William C. Anderson, Charles G. Edwards, Samuel Tribble, and Charles Barlett, and with Senator Augustus O. Bacon about issues of legislation (including the Labor Bureau Bill).

Correspondence from Harris's one year term as State Democratic Committee Chairman reflects his involvement with Woodrow Wilson's presidential campaign in Georgia and subsequent inauguration as well as Georgia political patronage and legislation. Correspondence with Carl Vinson, Charles R. Crisp, Hoke Smith, Thomas Hardwick, Josephus Daniels, William A, McAdoo, among others, is represented.

A name list at the end of this finding aid indexes correspondence within this subseries with key political figures.

B. Speeches
Contains notes and various drafts of two speeches by Harris from his tenure as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (1915-1918) and one speech by his successor, Edward N. Hurley.

II. Personal
3 boxes, 1.5 linear feet
Contains mortgages, receipts, bills, indentures, and correspondence on private and business matters, particularly with regards to Harris's Georgia Fire Insurance Company and his land purchases which range from Cedartown, Georgia to Texas. There is very little family correspondence.

III. Related Materials
In addition to the papers, there are also some of Harris's books: Congressional Records, U.S. House and Senate Journals, various commission reports, and a multi-volume War of the Rebellion. There are also non-governmental publications on history, business, and literature.


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ACCESS POINTS

Clay, Alexander Stephens, 1853-1910.
Bacon, Augustus Octavius, 1839-1914.
McAdoo, William Gibbs, 1863-1941.
Hurley, Edward N., 1864-1933.
Smith, Hoke, 1855-1931.
Vinson, Carl, 1883-1981.
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.
Labor market --United States.
Women --Suffrage --United States.
Georgia. General Assembly. Senate.
United States. Federal Trade Commission.
Democratic Party (Ga.)
Presidents --United States --Election --1912.
Political campaigns --Georgia.
Legislators --United States.
Georgia --Politics and government --1865-1950.


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FOLDER LIST

Not available at this time. Please contact Russell Library for more information.


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