Henry M. Jackson papers, 1912-1987  PDF

Scope and Content: The pre-congressional papers of Henry M. Jackson date primarilyfrom his time as Snohomish County's prosecuting attorney. However, aside fromsome campaign ephemera and a small amount of personal papers, this accessionincludes only materials generated by the private law practice he maintainedwhile he was the prosecuting attorney. The materials consist largely of generalcorrespondence and case files. His correspondence touches on many of the localpolitical issues of the day, including his unsuccessful bid to be namedSnohomish County Superior Court Judge and his decision to run for Congress in1940. The case files consist of seven folders of correspondence relating to avariety of cases. They reveal a small, post-Depression law practice with theusual assortment of wills, deeds, contracts, and collection disputes.

Scope and Content: This accession documents Jackson's six terms in the U.S. House ofRepresentatives. Arrangement of the papers follows that established byJackson's staff and used throughout Jackson's congressional career. The filingcategories include General (personal) Correspondence, DepartmentalCorrespondence, Legislative Correspondence, Legislation-HMJ Sponsored Bills,Campaign Materials, Speeches and Writings, Lists, News Releases, Publications,Clippings, Scrapbooks, Subject Series, and Appointment Books.

General Correspondence consists of the Jackson's correspondencewith friends and associates on a variety of personal and political topics. Theyare arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Some write on issues of nationalor regional importance, such as Edward Allen on fisheries, Oliver Colvin onmerchant marine development, Frank Killien on commodity controls andallocations, Charles Gable on Everett housing problems, and General Mark Clarkthe 5th Army's Rapido River attack during World War II. Other correspondents,such as Nick Bez, Addis Gutmann, Harry Henson and Rogan Jones, touch on avariety of state political issues. Jackson had a network of correspondentsfeeding him information on political activities in his district. Thesecorrespondents included Frank and Leslie Cooper (Snohomish_ County), OrlandIverson (Whatcom County), Axel Nelson (Skagit County), Joseph Pemberton(Bellingham) and Phil Sheridan (Everett).

The Departmental Correspondence includes letters with variousfederal agencies, as well as constituent information and assistance requestsbucked to agencies. They are arranged alphabetically by department or agency.The correspondence reflects a typical range of wartime and postwar problems:commodity shortages and rationing, demobilization, price controls, surplusmilitary property disposition, etc. These files include documentation onJackson's work to help secure funding for federal projects and facilities inthe state, including military bases, Everett shipyards, Columbia Basin dam andirrigation projects, Puget Sound river and harbor improvement projects, andOlympic National Park. There are additional files on state projects among theHouse Rivers and Harbors Committee and the House Flood Control Committeerecords. These topics are also documented in the Subject Series.

The Correspondence with legislative colleagues (filed under "U.S.House" and "U.S. Senate") consists mainly of routine thank yous and birthdaygreetings, but a few letters do touch on the political maneuvering in Congress.The voluminous correspondence with John Salter, his aide, describesCongressional activities, particularly during the time Jackson was in the Armyin 1942-43.

The Legislative Correspondence consists of letters between Jacksonand his constituents on the legislative issues of the day, including education(Borden Bill), housing, Japanese relocation camps, public power, universalmilitary training and un-American activities. Jackson's support of organizedlabor is reflected in a number of files, including those on the Taft-HartleyAct, the Fair Labor Standards Act and assorted other labor and anti-laborbills. His views on many of these legislative topics are further developed inhis Speeches and Writings, which also often contain collected backgroundmaterial on a given topic.

Legislative materials can be found throughout several seriesbesides the Legislative Correspondence series. In fact, materials in theLegislative Correspondence series overlaps topically with material in theLegislation-HMJ Sponsored Bills series, in which Jackson's own legislativeprogram is most evident. Papers related to the drafting and passage oflegislation can be found in the Subject Series, Speeches and Writings, and NewsReleases. These series contain notes, speech drafts, press releases, staffmemoranda and additional correspondence. Legislative materials can also befound in the files of the various committees on which Jackson sat.

Jackson's own legislative program is most evident in the SponsoredBills series and in the committee files. He worker) on a number of regionallysignificant issues. Public power development was one of Jackson's priorities.In 1946 and 1949 he co-sponsored bills to establish a Columbia ValleyAuthority. And although he, Hugh B. Mitchell, Warren G. Magnuson and otherNorthwest Legislators pushed this issue for several years, the CVA was neverestablished. Additional material on the CVA is in the Departmental andLegislative Correspondence and in the Subject Series, as well as in theMitchell (acc. no. 927) and Magnuson (acc. no. 3181-3) papers. Jackson alsodealt with public power issues as a member (after 1947) of the HouseAppropriations Committee Interior Subcommittee. In his campaign literature hetouted the fact that he was the only Western States member of thissubcommittee. .

Jackson represented Washington State natural resources interestsas a member of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee and various ofits subcommittees, where he worked on a variety of fishing and shippingproblems. This committee was Jackson's first choice for assignment when heentered the House.

Jackson's growing interest in atomic energy issues is documentedin the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy sub-series. In 1948 Jackson was namedto the Congressional Joint Atomic Energy Committee, an assignment he kept evenafter his election as Senator in 1952. Although this committee assignmentpresages Jackson's later interest in national security and nuclear weaponry, atthis time he was most interested in the development of the Atomic EnergyCommission's Hanford Site. While much of the material is related toadministrative issues at the Hanford site, the sub-series also containsmaterials outlining Jackson's early views on the role of nuclear arms in thenation's defense policy.

Native American affairs were a particular concern from 1944 to1947 when Jackson served as a member of the House Indian Affairs Committee andco-sponsored the Indian Claims Commission Bill. The Commission was establishedin 1946, providing Native Americans with a means to seek redress for treatyviolations. There was a five year limit on filing claims and a ten year limiton the life of the commission. Prior to the establishment of the commission,Native American had been barred from the federal courts, pursuant to an 1863law.

The Scrapbooks were assembled by Jackson's staff and includemostly clippings on topics of interest. The contents were removed from theiroriginal notebooks, then foldered, labeled, and arranged chronologically andthen alphabetically by subject within each year. Microfilm copies of thescrapbooks from this accession are found in accession 3560-20.

This accession reveals a young, progressive congressman focusedprimarily on issues of local and regional interest. The General Correspondenceincludes letters from Jackson's network of political allies keeping him abreastof developments around the state. Correspondence with his aide, John L. Salter,provides a rich description of congressional activities, particularly duringthe time Jackson was in the army in 1943-1944.

The Campaign Material series contains materials related toJackson's congressional re-election campaigns in 1942, 1944, 1946, 1948, and1950. The materials include correspondence, speeches and writings, newsreleases, clippings, and financial records and are arranged chronologically bycampaign.