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                              The Reid Family

            A Register of Its Papers in the Library of Congress

        Prepared by David Mathisen, Grover Batts, and Audrey Walker
                 Revised and expanded by Joseph K. Brooks
           with the assistance of Patricia Craig and Susie Moody

                                    2001

                 Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

                              Washington, D.C.

       Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

                Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress
                         Manuscript Division, 2003

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Collection Summary

Title:    Reid family papers , 1795 - 1970 (bulk 1869 - 1970 )
ID No.:    MSS65491
Creator: Reid family
Extent:    232,000 items ; 850 containers plus 1 oversize ; 340 linear feet
; 239 microfilm reels
Repository:    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Abstract:    Journalists and newspaper publishers. Correspondence,
financial records, office files, household and estate records, subject
files, scrapbooks, printed matter, and miscellaneous papers related to
newspaper publishing and public affairs.

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of
person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and
listed alphabetically therein.

Names:

Adams, Franklin P. (Franklin Pierce), 1881-1960--Correspondence
Alsop, Joseph, 1910- --Correspondence
Andrews, Bert, 1901-1953--Correspondence
Babcock, John V. (John Vincent)--Correspondence
Bagdikian, Ben H.
Barrett, Lois A.--Correspondence
Bing, Andre--Correspondence
Boardman, Mabel Thorp, 1860-1946--Correspondence
Brent, Charles Henry, 1862-1929--Correspondence
Broun, Heywood, 1888-1939--Correspondence
Byrd, Richard Evelyn, 1888-1957--Correspondence
Chiang, Kai-shek, 1887-1975
Conkling, Roscoe, 1829-1888
Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933--Correspondence
Cortissoz, Royal, 1869-1948--Correspondence
Coudert, Frederic R. (Frederic Rene), 1871- --Correspondence
Cowles, Anna Roosevelt, 1855-1931--Correspondence
Draper, Gladys V.--Correspondence
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969--Correspondence
Fitzwater, Fanny Fern--Correspondence
Gildersleeve, Virginia Crocheron, 1877- --Correspondence
Gillett, Frederick Huntington, 1851-1935--Correspondence
Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872
Hawkins, Eric, b. 1888--Correspondence
Hayes, Rutherford Birchard, 1822-1893
Hill, Elsie M. (Elsie Mary), b. 1883--Correspondence
Hills, Laurence, 1879-1941--Correspondence
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1841-1935--Correspondence
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964--Correspondence
Ickes, Harold L. (Harold LeClair), 1874-1952--Correspondence
Lewis, Leon L.--Correspondence
Lezard, Selwyn--Correspondence
Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974 --Correspondence
Longman, Edward G., 1881-1969--Correspondence
MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964
Milholland, John E., 1860-1925--Correspondence
Mills, Darius O. (Darius Ogden), 1825-1910--Correspondence
Mills, Ogden, 1856-1929--Correspondence
Moses, George H. (George Higgins), 1869-1944--Correspondence
Noël, Lucie--Correspondence
Parsons, Geoffrey, 1879-1956--Correspondence
Pershing, John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948--Correspondence
Pitney, Fred B.--Correspondence
Reed family
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945--Correspondence
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919--Correspondence
Root, Elihu, 1845-1937--Correspondence
Sullivan, Mark, 1874-1952--Correspondence
Tallin, Marcel M.--Correspondence
Thompson, Dorothy, 1893-1961--Correspondence
Thorpe, Kay--Correspondence
Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones), 1814-1886
Trudeau, Francis B.--Correspondence
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972--Correspondence
Valera, Purificacion C.--Correspondence
Van Doren, Irita Taylor, 1891-1966--Correspondence
Witcover, Jules
Wood, Leonard, 1860-1927--Correspondence
American Red Cross
Barnard College
Bellevue Hospital. Training School for Nurses
Fresh Air Fund
New York University
Republican Party (N.Y.)
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
United States. President's Commission on the Status of Women
New York Herald Tribune Forum
Reid, Elisabeth Mills, 1858-1931. Papers of Elisabeth Mills Reid
Reid, Helen Rogers, 1882-1970. Papers of Helen Rogers Reid
Reid, Ogden Mills, 1882-1947. Papers of Ogden Mills Reid
Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912. Papers of Whitelaw Reid

Subjects:

New York herald
New York herald tribune
New York herald tribune (European edition)
New York tribune
American newspapers
Charities
Diplomatic and consular service, American--France
Diplomatic and consular service, American--Great Britain
Extradition--France
Extradition--United States
Fisheries--Newfoundland and Labrador
Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871
Homestead Strike, 1892
Journalism--New York (N.Y.)
Labor disputes--Pennsylvania
Linotype
Office buildings--New York (State)--New York
Presidents--United States--Elections--1876
Spanish-American War, 1898
Women--Suffrage
World War, 1939-1945--Journalists
East Asia--Description and travel
France--Commercial treaties--United States
New York (N.Y.)--Politics and government
New York (N.Y.)--Social life and customs
New York (State)--Politics and government
United States--Commercial treaties--France
United States--Politics and government
Washington (D.C.)--Social life and customs

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The Papers of the Reid family, journalists and newspaper publishers, were
given to the Library of Congress by Helen Rogers Reid and her sons,
Whitelaw Reid and Ogden R. Reid, between 1953 and 1987.

Processing History:

Part I of the papers of the Reid Family was processed in four parts between
1958 and 1981. Additional material received in 1987 was processed as Part
II in 1996. Some reprocessing was done on both parts in 2001.

Transfers:

Some photographs and photographic albums have been transferred to the
Library's Print and Photographs Division where they are identified as part
of these papers.

Copyright Status:

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Whitelaw Reid,
Elisabeth Mills Reid, Ogden Mills Reid, and Helen Rogers Reid is governed
by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Microfilm:

A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on 239 reels.
Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning
availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: Roman numeral designating the Part followed by a colon and
container number, or reel number, Reid Family Papers, Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Notes

Whitelaw Reid

 Date          Event

 1837 , Oct.
 27            Born, Xenia, Ohio

 1856          B. A., Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

 1858 - 1859   Editor, Xenia News, Xenia, Ohio

 1860 - 1861   Legislative correspondent, Cincinnati Gazette, Cincinnati,
               Ohio

 1861 - 1862   War correspondent, Cincinnati Gazette

 1862 - 1868   Washington, D.C., correspondent, Cincinnati Gazette

 1866          Published After the War: A Southern Tour, May 1, 1865 to
               May 1, 1866 (Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin. 589
               pp.)

 1868          Member, editorial staff, New York Tribune; Published Ohio
               in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers
               (Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin. 2 vols.)

 1869          Managing editor, New York Tribune

 1872 - 1905   Editor-in-chief and chief proprietor, New York Tribune

 1881          Married Elisabeth Mills

 1889 - 1892   United States minister to France

 1892          Republican nominee for vice president

 1897          Special ambassador, Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria of
               England

 1898          Member, American commission to negotiate peace with Spain

 1902          Special ambassador to the coronation of Edward VII, King of
               England

 1905 - 1912   United States ambassador to Great Britain

 1911          Published The Scot in America and the Ulster Scot (London:
               Harrison and Sons. 56 pp.)

 1912 , Dec.
 15            Died, London, England

Elisabeth Mills Reid

 Date          Event

 1858 , Jan.
 6             Born, New York, N.Y.

 1881          Married Whitelaw Reid

 1898 - 1899   Secretary, Red Cross Society for the Maintenance of Trained
               Nurses
               Chairman, Red Cross Committee on Nursing for the
               Philippines

 1915          Chairman, American Red Cross, London, England, chapter

 1931 , Apr.
 30            Died, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France

Ogden Mills Reid

 Date          Event

 1882 , May
 16            Born, New York, N.Y.

 1904          B.A., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

 1907          LL.B., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

 1911          Married Helen Rogers

 1908 - 1912   Reportorial and editorial staff, New York Tribune

 1912          President of Tribune Association and editor of the New York
               Tribune

 1924          Purchased New York Herald

 1947 , Jan.
 3             Died, New York, N.Y.

Helen Rogers Reid

 Date          Event

 1882 , Nov.
 23            Born, Appleton, Wis.

 1903          B.A., Barnard College, New York, N.Y.

 1903 - 1911   Social secretary to Elisabeth Mills Reid

 1911          Married Ogden Mills Reid

 1918 - 1947   Advertising manager, New York Tribune and New York Herald
               Tribune

 1947 - 1953   President, New York Herald Tribune, Inc.

 1953 - 1955   Chairman, board of directors, New York Herald Tribune, Inc.

 1970 , July
 28            Died, New York, N.Y.

Scope and Content Note

The Reid Family Papers span the years 1795-1973, with the bulk of the
material concentrated between 1869 and 1970. The papers are organized in
two parts. Part I, encompassing material received, arranged, and described
by the Library between 1968-1971 spans the years 1795-1970 and consists of
four series. Part II, consisting of material organized and described in
1996, supplements Part I.

Part I

Series A of Part I includes the papers of Whitelaw Reid (1837-1812)
journalist, Republican party activist, diplomat, and proprietor of the New
York Tribune newspaper. The papers of Reid's wife, Elisabeth Mills Reid
(1858-1931), are arranged in Series B, and material generated by their son,
Ogden Mills Reid (1882-1947), forms Series C. The largest component of the
Reid Papers, Series D, consists of the papers of Helen Rogers Reid
(1882-1970), wife of Ogden Mills Reid and advertising manager of the
Tribune and Herald Tribune.

The papers of Whitelaw Reid span 1795-1961, with the bulk of the material
covering the period 1869-1912. The most extensive correspondence occurs
during the period of Reid's ambassadorship to Great Britain, 1905-1912, and
during presidential election years. There is an appreciable decrease in
correspondence during the years of the Grover Cleveland administration.

Reid's correspondence includes an extensive interchange of letters with
literati and educators as well as with politicians and journalists. Topics
include New York Tribune scoops during the early days of the
Franco-Prussian War; the Tribune building, New York City's first
skyscraper; reports by the Tribune of attempts by the Democratic party to
buy votes during the disputed Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876;
the beginning of the Fresh Air Fund in 1879; the Roscoe Conkling
controversy within the New York Republican party; development of the
Mergenthaler linotype; and the Homestead riots of 1892. Topics of Reid's
diplomatic correspondence include extradition and commercial treaties with
France, negotiations concluding the Spanish-American War, and unsuccessful
Newfoundland fisheries negotiations, 1906-1910.

Whitelaw Reid's papers also include speeches, articles, biographer's notes,
scrapbooks, and clippings. There is a gap in the scrapbooks from 1892 to
1898.

In 1881 Reid married Elisabeth Mills, only daughter of Darius Ogden Mills,
a financier who moved from New York to California during the Gold Rush of
1849 and amassed a fortune organizing the Bank of California at San
Francisco and other business ventures. Series B, the papers of Elisabeth
Mills Reid, consists of family correspondence, general correspondence,
business correspondence, financial papers, a subject file, and
miscellaneous papers, spanning 1880-1931.

Elisabeth Mills Reid's family correspondence includes letters from her
husband, 1880-1911, with intimate glimpses of the social and political
scene in Washington, particularly during James A. Garfield's presidency.
Reports coinciding with her periodic absences from New York City discuss
such matters as Stanford White's decoration of a Madison Avenue residence,
events among the city's social circles, and diplomatic activities after
Whitelaw Reid's appointment as American ambassador to Great Britain in
1905.

Elisabeth Mills Reid's family correspondence also includes letters from her
daughter-in-law, Helen Rogers Reid, discussing day-to-day operations of the
newspaper, prominent figures in politics and other fields, and members of
the Herald Tribune staff, such as Franklin P. Adams, Walter Lippmann, and
Mark Sullivan. Other prominent correspondents include Mabel Thorp Boardman,
Bishop Charles Henry Brent, Anna Roosevelt Cowles, Virginia Crocheron
Gildersleeve, and Frederick H. Gillett. Of special interest are letters of
Royal Cortissoz, art critic for the Herald Tribune, raconteur, and
biographer of Whitelaw Reid, relating to the Reid family.

Elisabeth Mills Reid's business correspondence and financial papers, with
their detailed accounting of the management of the town house on Madison
Avenue and the country estate, "Ophir Farm" near White Plains, New York,
document an opulent life style as well as Reid's work for a variety of
philanthropic causes. Material in both the general correspondence and
subject file record activities related to the Nurses' Training School at
New York's Bellevue Hospital, the D.O. Mills Training School for Nurses,
the construction of a hospital at San Mateo, California, Reid's work with
the American Red Cross, and her assistance to Edward L. Trudeau in founding
his sanatorium at Saranac Lake, New York.

Series C of Part I, the papers of Ogden Mills Reid, covers the years
1900-1947 and consists of a travel journal, family correspondence, general
correspondence, business correspondence, financial records, a subject file,
and miscellaneous papers.

Ogden Mills Reid's journal recounts impressions of Japan, Korea, China, and
the Philippines and interviews with Douglas MacArthur and Chiang Kai-Shek
during a trip Reid made with Wilbur Forrest following the close of World
War II.

Reid's family correspondence includes letters from his father, Whitelaw
Reid, and from his mother, Elisabeth Mills Reid, in which she coaches her
son regarding the Tribune's editorial policies and daily operations during
his early years as head of the paper. Other correspondents include Richard
Evelyn Byrd, John J. Pershing, Fred B. Pitney, Theodore Roosevelt
(1858-1919), and Leonard Wood.

Substantial correspondence is included in the subject file for the European
edition of the New York Herald Tribune in Series C. These letters,
exchanged mainly between Ogden Mills Reid and Laurence Hills, editor of the
European edition, discuss daily operations but also comment on people and
events during World War II. Business correspondence and financial records
relate mainly to the operation of Ophir Farm and other Reid properties.

The largest grouping in the Reid Family collection is Series D, the papers
of Helen Rogers Reid, wife of Ogden Mills Reid. Her papers span the years
1899-1970 and include family correspondence, general correspondence,
business correspondence, financial records, a subject file, a speech and
article file, and miscellaneous papers.

The main focus of Helen Reid's papers is her devotion to the success of the
New York Herald Tribune. Many of the papers relate to her work in the
advertising department of the paper where, in 1918, her ability to secure
new accounts resulted in her being named advertising director. In 1922 she
became vice president of the Tribune and was named president of the Herald
Tribune in 1947 following the death of her husband. Of interest are letters
she exchanged with members of the Herald Tribune staff, such as Joseph
Alsop, Bert Andrews, Heywood Brown, Royal Cortissoz, Fanny Fern Fitzwater,
Walter Lippmann, Geoffrey Parsons, Dorothy Thompson, and Irita Taylor Van
Dornen.

Under Helen Reid's direction, the political philosophy of the Herald
Tribune continued to be Progressive Republicanism. However, there is ample
correspondence with politicians of both parties and many letters exchanged
with presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Her belief that political
thought should have a fair hearing is best illustrated in the Herald
Tribune Forum on Current Problems, which she conceived in 1930 as an
international sounding board where leaders in all fields could speak on
issues of major concern. In both general correspondence and a large subject
file, the activities of the forum are described for the years 1930-1967.
Participants included Grace Abbott, George Washington Carver, Whittaker
Chambers, Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Virginia G. Gildersleeve,
Oveta Culp Hobby, J. Edgar Hoover, Alan G. Kirk, Walter Lippmann, Richard
M. Nixon, Adlai E. Stevenson, Stuart Symington, Charles E. Wilson, and
Arthur Woods.

The subject file also contains papers related to Helen Reid's work on
behalf of her alma mater, Barnard College; the Herald Tribune Fresh Air
Fund which collected money to send inner-city children to summer camps
throughout New York state, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey; the Hall of Fame
of New York University, which she served as a trustee from 1950 until 1969;
the President's Commission on the Status of Women; and woman's suffrage.

Part II

Part II supplements the series comprising Part I but also includes records
of the Reid Foundation, an institution that awarded grants to journalists
for work and study abroad. Voluminous case and correspondence files contain
applications, resumes, sample articles, correspondence, and reports by
grant recipients on conditions in Mexico and countries in Europe, Asia,
South America, and Africa during the post World War II period. Ben H.
Bagdikian and Jules Witcover were among the prominent grant recipients.

Included in the Whitelaw Reid series of Part II is a file on Horace
Greeley, founder of the New York Tribune and Reid's mentor and partner.
Prominent correspondents in the series include Oliver Wendell Holmes, John
E. Milholland, and Elihu Root.

Among the correspondents in the Elisabeth Mills Reid series of Part II are
Elisabeth's father, Darius O. Mills, and brother, Ogden Mills.

Correspondents in the series of Ogden Mills Reid Papers in Part II include
JohnV. Babcock, Royal Cortissoz, Frederic R. Coudert, Harold L. Ickes, Leon
L. Lewis, Edward G. Longman, and George H. Moses.

Helen Rogers Reid corresponded extensively with Herald Tribune staffers
such as Andre Bing, Gladys V. Draper, Eric Hawkins, Selwyn Lezard, Lucie
Noel, Marcel M. Tallin, and Kay Thorpe. Other correspondents include Lois
A. Barrett, Elsie M. Hill, Francis B. Trudeau, and Purificacion C. Valera.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in two parts composed of thirteen series:

   * Part I
        o Whitelaw Reid Papers, 1795-1961, n.d.
        o Elizabeth Mills Reid Papers, 1880-1931, n.d.
        o Ogden Mills Reid Papers, 1900-1947, n.d.
        o Helen Rogers Reid Papers, 1899-1970, n.d.
   * Part II
        o Whitelaw Reid Papers, 1843-1961, n.d.
        o Elisabeth Mills Reid Papers, 1872-1947, n.d.
        o Ogden Mills Reid Papers, 1916-1947, n.d.
        o Helen Rogers Reid Papers, 1912-1971, n.d.
        o New York Herald Tribune, 1913-1973, n.d.
        o Reid Foundation, 1944-1958, n.d.
        o Residences and Land, 1885-1970, n.d.
        o Mills Estate, 1910-1962, n.d.
        o Oversize, 1910
November 7, 2003