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Claudius Osborne Johnson Papers, 1901-1978

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Johnson, Claudius Osborne Papers
Title
Claudius Osborne Johnson Papers
Dates
1901-1978 (inclusive)
Quantity
10 containers., (9.5 linear feet of shelf space.), (11,200 items.)
Collection Number
Cage 214
Summary
Correspondence with William E. Borah, Irvin E. Rockwell, Thomas Stanford and others re: Senator Borah and Rockwell's book manuscript; notes, drafts, correspondence and other papers re: Johnson's Borah of Idaho (1936); also personal and professional correspondence, notes, clippings, and other papers and printed materials. Included are records of Johnson's proposed debate with Will Rogers and his service on the Washington State Department of Social Security Board of Sponsors.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Claudius Osborne Johnson was born in Greenville, Virginia, January 6, l894. He attended the University of Richmond from 1913 to 1917, receiving an A.B. in 1917. His education was interrupted by service overseas with the United States Army in World War I, where he attained the rank of first sergeant of infantry. Upon his return he took his masters degree from the University of Chicago, 1920-1921, and received his doctorate from that institution in l927. Johnson taught at the University of North Dakota from 1921 through 1926 and at the University of Chattanooga from 1926 through 1928. He came to WSU in 1928 as the first full-time political science professor and chairman of the newly formed Department of History and Political Science. At WSU he met Mary Wilson Maxwell, whom he married in 1929. He served as chair of the department until 1951 and retired from the faculty in 1960. He had been described as "one of the most stimulating people who ever entered a classroom at WSU." (Obituary, Idahonian, February 28, 1976.)

In addition to his teaching career at WSU, Johnson was professionally active in several capacities. Governor Clarence D. Martin appointed him to the state Constitutional Revision Committee, 1935-1936. He received a governor's certificate for contributions to the cultural life of the State of Washington in 1967. Johnson served as the Vice-President of the American Political Science Association in 1958. He was honored by his faculty colleagues in being asked to deliver one of the first Invited Addresses at WSU. He traveled widely and was a Fulbright lecturer at the universities of Sydney and Melbourne in Australia in 1953-1954 as well as visiting professor at the universities of Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado and California at Berkeley. He was a Fulbright visiting professor at the University of Athens in 1961-1962.

Johnson authored many books and scholarly articles. His textbooks have been used nationwide. Government in the United States, American National Government, and American State and Local Government all have appeared in several editions. He wrote several monographs, Carter Henry Harrison I: Political Leader (published by the University of Chicago Press, 1928) and Borah of Idaho (published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1936, and reissued by the University of Washington Press, 1967) and scores of articles for scholarly publications.

Dr. Johnson was a frequent speaker on political and international themes and was a delegate to the peace conference at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1926 as a guest of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a number of other professional and honorary groups. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Richmond in 1961. He belonged to Lambda Chi Alpha social fraternity.

Although he retired in 1960, Johnson remained active. He continued to teach on visiting professor appointments and to publish. In 1967, WSU's eight-story Claudius O. Johnson Tower, where the political science department is now located, was dedicated in his honor. Dr. Johnson died in February, 1976.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 214, Claudius Osborne Johnson Papers . Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Claudius O. Johnson papers are arranged in three series. The first series is Borah of Idaho, 1908-1940. This series consists of material related to Johnson's book, Borah of Idaho, and includes correspondence and other information gathered for the book, drafts of the book, and correspondence about the book. The first subseries, Research and Chapter Notes, illustrates the various stages in the creation of the book. It includes research notes, clippings, newspaper articles, speeches, and manuscript notes on file cards. The subseries is arranged by chapter, although the chapter numbering and titles are different from the final book. The second subseries, Subject File, is arranged alphabetically and contains mainly newspaper clippings and correspondence about Borah and the publication of the book. Included are notes about Borah's life that Johnson felt were inappropriate to include in the book. The third subseries, Borah Files, is arranged alphabetically and consists mainly of copies of correspondence by Borah to Irving E. Rockwell, C. O. Johnson, and Thomas C. Stanford and copies of speeches made by Borah.

The second series is Professional and Personal Papers, 1917-1978. Some of the items in this series belonged to his wife, Mary Maxwell Johnson. The first subseries, General, is arranged alphabetically. It consists mainly of correspondence but contains a variety of items, including photographs, sketches, Christmas cards, manuscripts and newpaper clippings. Included are records of Johnson's proposed debate with Will Rogers and his service on the Washington State Department of Social Security Board of Sponsors. The second subseries, Financial Records, is arranged alphabetically and consists mainly of income tax and real estate records. The third subseries, Scrapbook, Awards, and Certificates, contains a scrapbook with material relating to Borah of Idaho, mainly clippings of reviews. The folder of awards and certificates, consisting mainly of diplomas, is arranged by recipient. They are placed together because they are oversized.

The third series, Publications, 1928-1972, consists of Dr. Johnson's file of his books and articles. The series is arranged alphabetically and contains several editions of most of his books. Many items, especially the books, are annotated.

Acquisition Information

The papers of Claudius Osborne Johnson were donated to the Washington State University Libraries by Claudius O. and Mary Johnson in several installments; the most recent being in February, 1980 (MS 80-6). A few C.O. Johnson letters received from the Pi Sigma Alpha honorary through Amy Mazur, Claudius O. and Mary W. Johnson Distinguished Professor in Political Science at Washington State University, were added in September of 2019 as folder 89.5.

Processing Note

The processing of the various accessions into one collection was begun by Steve Balzarini in 1981 and completed by Ann Klavano in 1984.

Bibliography

An unpublished biography of Johnson, Claudius O. Johnson: Author, Biographer, was prepared for History 513 by James L. Ratcliff in 1970. Will Rogers' newspaper debate with Johnson is described in Stephen E. Balzarini's The 50th Anniversary of the Time That Will Rogers Didn't Come to the Palouse. (Bunchgrass Historian, 11:2 (Summer 1983) 3-13).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

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Subject Terms

  • Political science--Study and teaching (Higher)--Washington (State)

Personal Names

  • Johnson, Claudius Osborne, 1894- --Archives (creator)
  • Borah, William Edgar, 1865-1940
  • Rockwell, Irvin E. (Irvin Elmer), 1862-1952
  • Rogers, Will, 1879-1935
  • Stanford, Thomas C.

Corporate Names

  • Washington (State). Dept. of Social Security. Board of Sponsors

Finding aid prepared by Steve Balzarini and completed by Ann Klavano.
1984

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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