Arthur Woods

A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Michael Spangler

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2005

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

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2007

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007032

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Names:

Subjects:

Occupations:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Copyright Status:

Microfilm:

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement of the Papers

Container List

Collection Summary

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.

Administrative Information

The papers of Arthur Woods, police commissioner and military officer, were given to the Library of Congress by his son, John Woods, in 1972.

The papers of Arthur Woods were prepared for microfilming in 1987. The finding aid was revised in 2005.

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Arthur Woods is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

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

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Arthur Woods Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Arthur H. Woods (1870-1942) span the years 1884-1938, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1914-1923. The collection focuses primarily on Woods’s work as police commissioner for New York City, his military service, and his activities regarding unemployment and vocational rehabilitation for servicemen immediately after World War I. The papers contain a diary, correspondence, reports, notes, scrapbooks, clippings, and photographs organized by type of material and thereunder alphabetically or chronologically.

The diary is a record of Woods’s adolescence in Boston, Massachusetts, with descriptions of school activities, athletic events, friends, and family. Notable among the documents pertaining to his work as police commissioner are reports with comments by hoteliers, saloon keepers, and pimps regarding Woods and police activities. Correspondence and reports on criminal activities are also contained in the files. Reports and field notes on airplane production and maintenance, pilot training, and military preparedness represent Woods’s service in the Division of Military Aeronautics with the American Expeditionary Forces in France and Great Britain during World War I. Other reports and correspondence in the collection pertain to Woods’s work as assistant to the secretary of war coordinating vocational rehabilitation for returning servicemen and his service with the President’s Conference on Unemployment in 1921-1922. Scrapbooks of clippings relate principally to his activities with the New York City police. They also document his work with John D. Rockefeller (1874-1960) during the 1920s and 1930s, including Rockefeller’s support of the restoration of historic Williamsburg, Virginia.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is organized by type of material and thereunder alphabetically or chronologically.

Container List