James Francis O'Connor Papers

James Francis O'Connor Papers, 1937-1945

Overview of the Collection

Creator: O'Connor, James Francis, 1878-1945
Title: James Francis O'Connor Papers
Dates: 1937-1945
19371945
Quantity: 3 linear feet
Collection Number: Collection 1059, MtBC, us (collection)
Summary: The James Francis O'Connor Papers consists of papers and correspondence from O'Connor's Livingston office. Topics include: O'Connor's ranch properties in Park County, MT, the WPA, Farm Credit Administration, House Committee on Indian Affairs, the America First Committee, the Fort Peck Dam, Senator James E. Murray, and Senator Burton K. Wheeler. The collection also contains newspaper clippings pertaining to O'Connor, speeches both in Montana and in Congress, and photographs of O'Connor, family, and associates.
Repository: Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

James Francis O'Connor was born May 7, 1878, near California Junction, Iowa. He attended public and normal schools in that state and graduated from the Nebraska Law School in 1904. He came to Montana in 1905 and practiced law in Livingston. He began his public career as a judge of the Sixth Judicial District and becoming a member of the Democratic Party. Later he was elected to the Montana House of Representatives and was elected Speaker in his first term. During much of his career he owned a ranch near White Sulphur Springs. In 1936 he was elected to the U.S. Congress from the Second District, representing eastern Montana, and was re-elected in 1938, 1940, 1942, and 1944. He served on several committees and was chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs. He died on January 13, 1945, while serving in Congress. His only son, Miles O'Connor, died the same year.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of 3 linear feet of papers and correspondence from O'Connor's Livingston office. The papers are arranged in topically labeled folders with a general effort to sort the material chronologically. Original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained. Series 1 contains papers pertaining to O'Connor's ranch properties in Park County, MT. Series 2 contains topical files concerning a wide variety of subject matter, including: the WPA, Farm Credit Administration, House Committee on Indian Affairs, the America First Committee, the Fort Peck Dam, Senator James E. Murray, and Senator Burton K. Wheeler. Newspaper clippings pertaining to O'Connor are arranged in Series 3 under broad subject headings. Series 4 contains a number of O'Connor's speeches both in Montana and in Congress arranged chronologically from 1937 to 1944. Series 5 contains 15 photographs of O'Connor, family, and associates.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Series 1 Ranch Papers, 1931-1945

Series 2 Topical Files, 1937-1945

Series 3 Newspaper Clippings, 1942, undated

Series 4 Speeches, 1937-1944

Series 5 Photographs

Acquisition Information

Papers and correspondence from the office of U.S. Representative James Francis O'Connor of Montana were donated to Special Collections by Mrs. Geneva Lott of Livingston, Montana, the Congressman's only daughter, in 1970. The collection consists of office files kept in the Livingston office of Rep. O'Connor during his career in the U.S. House of Representatives. The office was managed by Miles O'Connor, the Congressman's son, who was also his law partner.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2009 May 19

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1: Ranch papers, 1931-1945Return to Top

Handwritten and carbon copies of typed letters relating to O'Connor's ranch properties in Park County, Montana. Includes letters to his hired men during his terms in Washington D.C. regarding management of his ranches.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1/1	2K Ranch, Elmer Dobson correspondence	1942-1943
1/2	2K Ranch, J. Kirchbaum correspondence	1931-1938
1/3	2K Ranch, Kirchbaum correspondence	1939-1940
1/4	2K Ranch, Kirchbaum correspondence	1941-1942
1/5	2K Ranch, Kirchbaum, correspondence	1943-1945

Series 2: Topical files, 1937-1945Return to Top

Papers and correspondence pertaining to a wide range of topics and arranged chronologically by year (whenever possible). Folder titles are, for the most part, original and generally denote the issues which were of interest at different periods of O'Connor's stay in the House of Representatives including the WPA, Farm Credit Administration, the Democratic Party, Indian Affairs, the America First Committee, Senator James E. Murray and Senator Burton K. Wheeler. Folders in Box 5 have been taken out of the chronological sequence since their contents are not restricted to a single year.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1/6	Drought Crisis	1937
1/7	WPA
1/8	WPA and the Drought Crisis	1937
1/9	Henry A. Wallace	1937
1/10	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1937
1/11	Farm Credit Administration	1937
1/12	Farm Credit Administration, Special Cases	1937
1/13	Farmer's Union	1937
1/14	Federal Land Bank	1937
1/15	Fort Peck Dam	1937
1/16	Home Loans	1937
1/17	Labor Unions	1937
1/18	Correspondence	1937
2/1	Department of Agriculture	1937
2/2	Appointments (Requests for)	1937
2/3	Correspondence, Requests	1938
2/4	Great Falls to Receive Federal Crop Ins.	1938
2/5	Public Debt	1938
2/6	Correspondence	1939
2/7	Announcement of Candidacy	1940
2/8	Campaign Appointments	1940
2/9	Correspondence, Democratic Committee, etc.	1940
2/10	Correspondence, Democratic Party
2/11	Correspondence, Individuals	1940
2/12	Campaign Correspondence, Attorneys	1940
2/13	Correspondence, Associations, Agencies	1940
2/14	Form Letters	1940
2/15	Campaign Advertising	1940
2/16	Indian Vote (Rober Yellowtail)	1940
2/17	Lewistown Postmaster Affair	1940
3/1	Labor Unions	1940
3/2	U.S. Cabinet, etc.	1940
3/3	U.S. Congress, Lyndon B. Johnson, John W. McCormack, Sam Rayburn	1940
3/4	Thank You Letters, Campaign	1940
3/5	Election Returns	1940
3/6	Congratulations	1940
3/7	Correspondence	1941
3/8	Criticism of Administration	1941
3/9	Labor Unions	1941
3/10	Announcement and Filing	1942
3/11	Correspondence	1942
3/12	Correspondence, general	July-December 1942
3/13	Form Letters	1942
3/14	Democratic Committees (National)	1942
3/15	Democratic Committees (State)	1942
3/16	Democratic Workers (State)	1942
3/17	Form Letters about campaign announcement	1942
4/1	Correspondence about Candidacy	1942
4/2	Postmasters	1942
4/3	Correspondence from VIPs, Sam Rayburn, etc.	1942
4/4	Government Officials, general correspondence and Papers	1942
4/5	Campaign Materials	1942
4/6	About F.F. Haynes, Campaign Opponent	1942
4/7	James Murray, FDR, etc.	1942
4/8	Campaign Correspondence, Clippings, Jerry O'Connell	1942
4/9	Indian Vote	1942
4/10	Labor Unions	1942
4/11	Correspondence, Congratulations	1942
4/12	Bridger Times Condemns O'Connor	1942
4/13	Controversy over News Stories	1942
4/14	Murray, Sen. James	campaign of 1942
4/15	Voting Record	1942
4/16	Columnists Drew Pearson and Robert Allen attack O'Connor
4/17	Cut Bank Pioneer Press Endorsement of O'Connor, Criticism of Murray
4/18	Letters of Congratulation	1942
4/19	Thank You Letters	1942
4/20	Election Returns	1942
4/21	Certificates of Election
4/22	Correspondence	1943
4/23	Obituaries and Memorials	1945
5/1	Unamerican Activities Smear	1941-1942
5/2	Unamerican Activities Smear, "People's Voice"
5/3	Vocational Education
5/4	Fraser, Willard
5/5	Haynes Fritz	1942
5/6	Melvin Hoiness GOP Opponent	1942
5/7	Murray, Sen. James E.
5/8	O'Connell, Jerry	1940
5/9	America First, Correspondence about
5/10	Crop Loans
5/11	Fish
5/12	Forest Service
5/13	Ft. Harrison Reopenings	1937-1938
5/14	Fort Peck Dam	1937-1938
5/15	Ft. Peck Game Reserve
5/16	Freight Rates, all years
5/17	Housing
6/1	Sugar
6/2	Supreme Court Packing Issue
6/3	Townsend Plan	1937-1942
6/4	Wheeler, Burton K., correspondence

Series 3: Newspaper clippings, 1942, undatedReturn to Top

Newspaper clippings from the period of O'Connor's Congressional terms. Clippings are of both articles and editorials, and are taken from numerous state and national newspapers, including the Great Falls Tribune, the Miles City Star, the Livingston Enterprise, and many others. Topics covered include O'Connor's campaigns, isolationism during the pre-war period, the America First Committee, FDR, the Democratic Party, and others. Clippings are arranged loosely by topic. In some cases, an entire newspaper page is included, and the article of scrutiny is marked. Box 8 contains two scrapbooks of mounted clippings.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
6/5	Roosevelt	1942
6/6	Social Problems	1942
6/7	Labor and the War	1942
6/8	War Effort	1942
6/9	Montana	1942
6/10	O'Connor
6/11	O'Connor
6/12	O'Connor
6/13	Other Democrats
6/14	Roosevelt
6/15	War Effort
6/16	Political Issues-National
7/1	Political Issues-Montana
7/2	Indian Problems
7/3	Lindbergh, Col. Charles A.
Box
8	Scrapbooks 2 volumes

Series 4: Speeches, 1937-1944Return to Top

Speeches delivered by Rep. O'Connor and others between 1937-1944. Some speeches were delivered in the House of Representatives and printed in the Congressional Record. Others are photostatic copies or typed pages. Topics include foreign affairs, farm production, election matters, Lend-Lease and other legislation.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
7/4	"Indians, Their Lands, Rights...Crow Indians of Montana" Congressional Record	June 15, 1937
7/5	"Necessity for General Farm Legislation", "Crop Ins." Congressional Record	August 5, 1937; August 10, 1937
7/6	"My Report..." (O'Connor's Activities in His 1st Session)	August 16, 1937
7/7	"Pending Farm Legislation" Speech on CBS Radio	December 20, 1937
7/8	"General Welfare Act...", "Plight of the Farmer", Congressional Record	May 25, 1938; May 31, 1938
7/9	Speeches to Montanans	1938
7/10	"Our Duty to the Aged" Congressional Record	May 31, 1939
7/11	"Neutrality" Congressional Record	October 31, 1939
7/12	"My Fellow Democrats" Campaign Speeches in Montana	1940
7/13	"Reciprocal Trade", "Reclamation", "Townsend Plan", Congressional Record	February 26, 1940; March 5, 1940; May 6, 1940
7/14	"Sugar Legislation", "National Farm Program", Congressional Record	June 20, 1940; July 1, 1940
7/15	"Manufacturers' Sales Tax", Congressional Record	March 26, 1941
7/16	"Lend-Lease Bill", Congressional Record	February 17, 1941
7/17	"Old-Age Pensions", Congressional Record	February 18, 1941
7/18	Indian Affairs	April 14, 1941
7/19	"Extension of Sugar Act"	December 1, 1941
7/20	"Hon. Charles Leavy", "Sugar...Industrial Alcohol", "Purchasing Power", Congressional Record	February 19, 1942; April 27, 1942; June 1, 1942
7/21	"Nation's Part in War...", "Food Production...in War", Congressional Record	June 25, 1942; September 22, 1942
7/22	Campaign Speeches in Montana Some by Miles O'Connor	1942
7/23	Speeches in Progress, Fragments of Speeches	1942
7/24	"Report to Montana", Congressional Record	September 18, 1944
7/25	Speech to Montana Democratic Party audiotape reel and CD	1944

Series 5: PhotographsReturn to Top

15 black and white photographs of Rep. O'Connor, his home and family, and associates. Size varies from 4" × 5" to 8" × 10". Six autographed photographs of portraits including Sam Rayburn, are included. (Photographs 1-8 have matching negatives included in the folder.)

Container(s)	Description
Box/Folder
7/26
	#1: O'Connor with son Miles at ranch
	#2: O'Connor with wife
	#3: O'Connor's house in Livingston
	#4: O'Connor's house in Livingston
	#5: O'Connor with grandsons
	#6: O'Connor and family
	#7: O'Connor riding horse in Livingston parade
	#8: O'Connor in Livingston parade
	#9: Autographed Portrait of Sam Rayburn
	#10: Group of Men at Office Table
	#11: Autographed Portrait of E. E. Cox
	#12: Autographed Portrait of J. Burrwood Daley
	#13: Autographed Portrait [Raymand Genune?]
	#14: Autographed Portrait [Paul Green?]
	#15: Autographed Portrait [T. Leavy?]

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Dams-Montana
Legislators-United States
Ranchers-Montana-Park County
Ranches-Montana-Park County

Personal Names

Murray, James E.
Wheeler, Burton K. (Burton Kendall), 1882-1975

Corporate Names

America First Committee
United States-Congress-House
United States-Congress-House-Committee on Indian Affairs
United States-Farm Credit Administration
United States-Work Projects Administration
United States-Works Progress Administration

Geographical Names

Fort Peck Dam (Mont.)
Montana-Politics and government-20th century
United States-Politics and government-1933-1945

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