Guide to the William Lockhart Clayton papers, 1897-1998 MS 007

William Lockhart Clayton was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on February 7th, 1880. In August 1902 he was married to Susan Vaughan. He was a co-founder of Anderson, Clayton and Company, based in Houston, Texas. In 1918 Clayton was a member of the Committee on Cotton Distribution with the War Industries Board. From 1940 to 1942 he was the Vice President of the Export-Import Bank.

His career in government service began in 1942 with his appointment as Assistant Secretary of Commerce, followed by appointments as Administrator of the Surplus War Property Administration (1944), Assistant Secretary of State (1944-1945), Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs (1945-1947), and as head of the U.S. delegation at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, which took place in Havana, Cuba, in 1947.

Clayton also served in the following capacities: Alternate Governor, World Bank (1946-1949), Vice President, Atlantic Union Committee (1949-1961), member on the National Security Training Commission (1951-1954), Chairman, National Committee on Campaign Contributions and Expenditures (1960), member on the Board of Governors of the Atlantic Institute (1960), and as co-Chairman of the U.S. Citizens Commission on NATO (1961).

In the 1950s Clayton authored a number of books primarily dealing with economics and their political remifications. These included "We Must Trade Sovereignty For Freedom" (1950), "The Road To Peace" (1955), "What Price Oil?" (1958), and "We Are Losing The Cold War" (1958).

Scope and Contents

The Clayton collection, covering the years 1897 to 1966, consists of ninety-nine boxes of originals and photocopies of business and personal correspondence, speeches, reports, photographs, memorabilia, and some oversize material such as certificates of appointment, which document the personal and professional life of Will Clayton and to a lesser degree, the Clayton family. Original materials in the collection relate to Clayton's personal and family life, including family correspondence and photographs, and oral histories by Clayton's daughter, Ellen Clayton Garwood, relating to her father's legacy. This original material is located in Series VI through XI.

The bulk of the collection, in Series II (boxes 2-86), is comprised of photocopies of Clayton correspondence gleaned from numerous other institutions. The photocopied materials in this series were identified, ordered, and purchased by Frederick J. Dobney, Editor, Public Papers of William L. Clayton, Rice University, in the year 1967. The resulting compilation of materials was in 1971 as "Selected Papers of Will Clayton," published by Johns Hopkins University, edited by Dobney. While these materials are not original, they are convenient as a Clayton research collection, especially when used in coordination with the cardfile index which provides author / recipient name access to the chronologically arranged correspondence.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Material is open for research; permission to photocopy must be obtained from Director, WRC.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish materials from William Lockhart Clayton's papers must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

William Lockhart Clayton - Papers, 1897-1966, MS 007, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University

Acquisition Information

Original materials were donated by Ellen Clayton Garwood, daughter of Will Clayton.

The photocopied materials in the collection were identified, ordered, and purchased by Frederick J. Dobney, Editor, Public Papers of William L. Clayton, Rice University, in the year 1967. The resulting compilation of materials was in 1971 as "Selected Papers of Will Clayton," published by Johns Hopkins University, edited by Dobney.

Cardfile Index to Clayton Papers

The bulk of the Clayton materials is comprised of the correspondence and notes in Series II: Papers, which is arranged chronologically and has only a few subject files at the end of the series. To locate specific author/senders, recipients, dates, sources of photocopies in Series II (boxes 2-85), use the 11 box cardfile index as described here.

DATE: Cardfile boxes 1-3. Box 1: no date and 1921-45; Box 2: 1946-June 1959; Box 3:July 1959-1967. Listed chronologically by year, with name of sender at top, name of recipient under sender's name, length of item, brief summary of contents, and at bottom, acronym or abbreviation for repository which owns the original.

AUTHOR / SENDER: Cardfile boxes 4-6. Box 4: A-Clayton (1949); Box 5: Clayton (1950-1966); Box 3: D-Z. These cards give the name of the author / sender; date of correspondence or item; brief summary of contents; and at the bottom, acronym or abbreviation for repository which owns the original.

RECIPIENT: Cardfile boxes 7-9. Box 7: Clayton; Box 8: A-K; Box 9: L-Z. Format of card info is same as for AUTHOR / SENDER cards.

SOURCES OF PHOTOCOPIES: Cardfile boxes 10-11. Repositories listed alphabetically by acronyms or abbreviations, such as:

ACCO: Anderson Clayton Co.
FL: Fondren Library (Rice University)
Nat. Arch.: National Archives
Univ. of Cal.: University of California, Bancroft Library