Archives West Finding Aid

The papers of Clarence Daniel Martin, Jr. consist of materials primarily relating to federal transportation policy, also materials relating to his service on the Board of the Panama Canal Company. Earlier papers include letters from his father, Washington Governor C.D. Martin, commenting on state and national events and politics.

The first series, Papers, 1916-1948, has been divided into two subseries: Correspondence, 1930-1941; and General Subject File, 1916-1948. Almost all of the material in the 1930-1941 Correspondence subseries was originally received with the papers of Clarence D. Martin, Sr. The correspondence includes letters written to Dan Martin during the period from 1930 through 1941, which encompasses his high school years, his summers at Culver Military Academy, his undergraduate years at Harvard, his graduate study at the University of Washington Law School in Seattle, and his initial months in the United States Navy. This subseries centers on Dan Martin's letters from his father; during this period, C. D. Martin, Sr., was governor of the State of Washington. (The other half of the correspondence, Dan Martin's letters to his father may be found in the Clarence Daniel Martin Papers, 1896-1954, Cage 336.) This file is unusually complete; despite his busy schedule, Governor Martin wrote to his son on an almost daily basis when Dan was away from home--at camp, vacationing, or during his years at Harvard. The Harvard correspondence from Governor Martin is especially useful because it includes discussions of current political and economic trends, both on the state and national level. Dan Martin also received letters from his mother, Margaret Martin, his brothers William and Frank, his father's secretary and business representative, Elizabeth Goerling, and many of his high school and college friends. The Correspondence subseries is arranged chronologically with the undated material placed at the end of the subseries.

The second subseries, General Subject File, 1916-1945, includes material from all aspects of Dan Martin's early years. Especially prominent is the material on his education: grade school report cards, class notes, papers and letters from Cheney High School, summer sessions at Culver Military Academy (19301932), and from his years at Harvard (1934-1938). Martin was president (1938) and treasurer-secretary (1937) of the National Intercollegiate Flying Club and this is reflected in the Club's correspondence and minutes, as well as in the "Newspaper Clipping" folder. The only hint of Martin's finances while at Harvard rests in his cancelled checks for the period from 1935 to 1939. A folder of "Photographs" consists of primarily undated and unidentified photos of Martin's high school and college classmates.

The period from 1945, the end of his military career, to 1960, when Martin became involved with the Kennedy drive to win the Democratic presidential nomination, is not documented in these papers. During this 15 year period, Martin moved from Seattle to Los Angeles, began his automobile dealership in Santa Monica, and became active in such civic organizations as the Rotary, the Boy Scouts, and the Navy League. This lack of documentation accounts for the sharp chronological break between the first and second series of the Martin papers.

Series II, Papers, 1955-1976, focuses on Martin's years in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations as Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. Martin served in this capacity from February 1961 through May 1965. The second series is divided into two subseries: Official Files, 1955-1965, and Personal Files, 1961-1976. This division reflects Martin's office filing system while serving as Under Secretary. He attempted to segregate his official materials from his personal papers. Such a division is difficult under the best of circumstances; consequently, materials which might well be included in the Official Files (such as appointment books and telephone logs) are arranged in the Personal Files.

The Official Files subseries is arranged in six subseries (which reflects the received order and attempts to recreate the office filing structure used by Under Secretary Martin): Correspondence, 1961-1965; Transportation Subject File, 1958-1965; Transportation Policy File, 1960-1965; Speeches and Testimony, 1961-1965; Maritime Subsidy Board Actions, 1963-1965; and Transportation Reports, 1955-1965.

The Correspondence, 1961-1965, sub-subseries consists of the official daily correspondence of Under Secretary Martin during his years with the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. This correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection, accounting for over two-thirds of the total items, and includes Martin's responses to questions from the public, business, and governmental agencies, Commerce Department memoranda, policy statements, and, in some cases, in-coming correspondence. The correspondence file is arranged chronologically. The second sub-subseries, Transportation Subject File, 1958-1965, consists of material collected on selected transportation topics arranged alphabetically. This material pre-dates Martin's accession to office because relevant material pertaining to transportation topics was retained in the files from the previous administration or collected by Martin during his tenure. The Transportation Subject File includes material on aviation (a large part of which concerns the development of the Supersonic Transport); the development of the nuclear ship N. S. Savannah; the Panama Canal (Martin served both as a director and on the Executive Board); the St. Lawrence Seaway; and the U. S. "Shipping Mission to Moscow." The third sub-subseries, Transportation Policy File, 1960-1964, contains alphabetically arranged material on the formulation of the annual transportation message to the nation, policy planning information, and program development for the Department of Commerce. The fourth sub-subseries, Speeches and Testimony, 1961-1965, includes addresses (before both Houses of Congress) given by Martin during his tenure in office. This sub-subseries also includes some material from conferences and meetings attended by Martin, and also articles by Martin. This material is arranged chronologically by the date on which Martin participated in the event. The fifth sub-subseries, Maritime Subsidy Board Actions, 1963-1965, is arranged alphabetically by the name of the subsidy case involved. The sixth sub-subseries, Transportation Reports, 1955-1965, contains reports arranged alphabetically by title, concerning topics of interest and importance to the department during the period from 1955 through 1965.

The second subseries, Personal Files, 1960-1976, is divided into two additional subseries: Office Subject File, 1961-1965; and General Subject File, 19601976. The Office Subject File consists of the personal material Martin maintained at his office. It includes out-going correspondence to his friends and close associates, photographs, newspaper clippings, appointment calendars, telephone logs, Christmas card lists, and files concerning various individuals, such as: John F. Kennedy, Luther H. Hodges (Secretary of Commerce), Warren G. Magnuson (senior Senator from Washington), and Drew Pearson (newspaper columnist). The files are arranged alphabetically by subject and cover the period of Martin's federal service, 1961-1965.

The General Subject File, 1960-1976, has been assembled by the processor with materials drawn from throughout the collection. It contains some correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs and certificates, and a tape record ing. The majority of the material is from the period after Martin left federal service, from 1965 through 1976.

Series 3, Memorabilia, 1916-1976, contains various material which Martin chose to save over the years, such as: two flags from the Maritime Administration, souvenir programs, tickets and cards (some of which may have been his father's, Governor C. D. Martin), several copies of Martin's official photograph, Harvard football programs, the Lampoon, and alumni magazines, souvenirs of his trip to Japan, Christmas cards for 1964, two naval manuals from Culver Military Academy, and two long-play records of Martin's commencement address to the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy graduating class of 1961.