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                         Russell Wheeler Davenport

            A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

 Prepared by Donna Ellis with the assistance of Paul Colton, Lisa Madison,
                Susie Moody, and Catherine Wilkins-Susynski
                          Revised by Donna Ellis

                                    2002

                 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:    Papers of Russell Wheeler Davenport , 1899 - 1980 (bulk 1930 -
1954 )
ID No.:    MSS61549
Creator: Davenport, Russell Wheeler, 1899-1954
Extent:    24,530 items ; 102 containers plus 1 oversize ; 40.8 linear feet

Repository:    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Abstract:    Author, editor, and political activist. Correspondence,
memoranda, diaries, writings, speeches, research material, political files,
biographical material, photographs, and other papers relating primarily to
Davenport's career as a writer and editor with Fortune and Life magazines,
his involvement with the Republican Party, his work with the Institute for
Creative Research, New York, N.Y., his writings including The Dignity of
Man (1955), his service in World War I and II, and his personal life.

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:

Davenport, Russell Wheeler, 1899-1954
Bates, Robert Chapman, 1901-1942--Correspondence
Buell, Raymond Leslie, 1896-1946--Correspondence
Cowles, Harriet--Correspondence
Davenport, Cornelia Whipple, 1865-1946--Correspondence
Davenport, Marcia, 1903---Correspondence
Davenport, Natalie Potter--Correspondence
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969--Correspondence.
Hodgins, Eric, 1899- --Correspondence
Hoffman, Paul G. (Paul Gray), 1891-1974--Correspondence
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964--Correspondence
Hopkins, Harry Lloyd, 1890-1946--Correspondence
Johnson, Robert L. (Robert Livingston), b. 1894--Correspondence
Kennedy, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick), 1888-1969--Correspondence
Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974--Correspondence
Lloyd-Smith, Parker--Correspondence
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1902---Correspondence
Luce, Clare Boothe, 1903-1987--Correspondence
Luce, Henry Robinson, 1898-1967--Correspondence
MacLeish, Archibald, 1892---Correspondence
Poor, Henry V.--Correspondence
Putnam, Phelps, 1894-1948--Correspondence
Rockefeller, John D. (John Davison), 1874-1960--Correspondence
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979--Correspondence
Roper, Elmo, 1900-1971--Correspondence
Schlamm, William Siegmund, 1904- --Correspondence
Scribner, Joseph M., 1897-1979--Correspondence
Smith, Blackwell, b. 1904--Correspondence
Walker, Adelaide--Correspondence
Willkie, Wendell L. (Wendell Lewis), 1892-1944
Institute for Creative Research (New York, N.Y.)
Republican Advance (Organization)
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
Simon and Schuster, inc.--Correspondence
Thacher School (Ojai, Calif.)--Correspondence
Davenport, Russell Wheeler, 1899-1954. Dignity of man (1955)

Subjects:

Fortune
Life
American periodicals
Anti-communist movements
Anti-fascist movements
Astrology
Democracy
International organization
Peace
Psychoanalysis
Public policy
World War, 1914-1918
World War, 1939-1945

Occupations:

Authors
Editors
Political activists

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The papers of Russell Wheeler Davenport, author and editor, were given to
the Library of Congress by Natalie Davenport in 1983. Additional material
was given in 1984 by Mrs. Maxwell Foster.

Processing History:

A portion of the papers of Russell Wheeler Davenport was partly arranged
and described in 1985. The papers were arranged and described in 1992 and
this register revised in 2002.

Transfers:

Original compositions and sheet music have been transferred to the
Library's Music Division where they are identified as part of these papers.

Copyright Status:

Copyright in the unpublished writings of Russell Wheeler Davenport in these
papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress
has been dedicated to the public.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: Container number, Russell Wheeler Davenport Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

 Date          Event

 1899 , July
 12            Born, South Bethlehem, Pa.

 1917          Graduated Thacher School, Ojai, Calif.
               Private, American Ambulance Service, 41st French Division

 1923          B.A., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

 1924          Reporter, Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

 1929          Married Marcia Gluck Zimbalist Clarke (divorced 1946)

 1930          Published Through-Traffic (New York: Doubleday, Doran and
               Co. 307 pp.)
               Published The Abominable Branch (London: Victor Gollancz
               Ltd. 286 pp.) British version of Through-Traffic

 1930 - 1937   Staff writer, Fortune magazine

 1931          Published "California Spring," American Caravan, Vol. IV,
               pp. 336-343

 1937 - 1940   Managing editor, Fortune magazine

 1940          Coordinator and speech writer, Wendell Willkie presidential
               campaign

 1941 - 1944   Chairman, board of editors, Fortune magazine

 1942 - 1944   Chief editorial writer, Life magazine

 1944          Published My Country (New York: Simon and Schuster. 62 pp.)

 1945          War correspondent with 11th Armored Division, U. S. Army,
               in Germany

 1947          Director, Experimental Magazine Division, Time, Inc.
               Consultant, Columbia Broadcasting System

 1948 - 1949   Editor and moderator, Life magazine round tables

 1949 - 1951   Special projects editor, Fortune magazine

 1950          Founded Institute For Creative Research, New York, N.Y.

 1951          Editor in charge, U.S.A., The Permanent Revolution (New
               York: Prentice-Hall. 267 pp.), originally published as
               special issue of Fortune, Feb. 1940

 1952          Executive director, Institute For Creative Research, New
               York, N.Y.
               Married Natalie Potter Ladd

 1954 , Apr.
 19            Died, New York, N.Y.

 1955          Published posthumously The Dignity of Man (New York: Harper
               and Brothers. 338 pp.)

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Russell Wheeler Davenport (1899-1954) span the years
1899-1980, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1930-1954.
The collection documents Davenport's personal life as well as his
professional endeavors as an author, editor, and political activist.
Included are diaries, family papers, household data, correspondence,
memoranda, financial papers, political files, speeches, writings,
photographs, research material, and printed matter.

As early as age twenty-six, Davenport knew he had a philosophical purpose
in life. As he wrote Harriet Cowles, "I believe I have a mission. I must
work to express it" (January 5, 1925). That expression was manifested in
his editorial work, political activities, and creative writing. The
Personal File is a rich study of his quest to define this mission.

The correspondence in the Personal File consists of letters between
Davenport and his family and intimate friends, chiefly his mother, Cornelia
Whipple Davenport (1865-1946) and his first fiancee, Harriet Cowles. The
letters and his diaries in this series describe his years at Thacher
School, Ojai, California, and at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut;
his World War I ambulance service in France; his journalistic work on the
Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington; his fiancee's bout with
tuberculosis; experiments with various literary forms, including a 1926
trip to Europe to do research for an historical novel; and the development
of his writing style. In addition, his mother's letters trace the founding
and growth of her wholesale import business in the 1920s and 1930s.
Davenport's correspondence with Harriet Cowles details his creative writing
techniques and his association with the Spokane literary circle, which
included Vachel Lindsay. His correspondence with Phelps Putnam and Robert
(Bob) Bates contains in-depth descriptions and criticisms of each other's
writings. Many of Davenport's letters go beyond recording the events of his
life; they delve into his personal relationships, feelings, philosophies,
goals, and methods. The correspondence includes letters between other
family members and close family associates as well as with Davenport.
Letters that involve Davenport either as a writer or recipient are filed
under his name.

Throughout his life, Davenport recorded his life story. The Biographical
Data file contains notes compiled around the age of twenty-three and
twenty-four detailing his education, family life, friendships, and
character development. Later notes dated around 1940 also list significant
events. Other biographical material consists of association memberships,
certificates, and obituaries.

Other sections of the Personal File document various aspects of Davenport's
life. The legal papers contain his will, a separation agreement with Marcia
Davenport, and guardianship papers for the custody of their daughter,
Cornelia Whipple Davenport (1934- ). The property papers reflect his
life-long interest in maintaining a country place as well as a New York
apartment. The financial papers provide details of Davenport's income,
expenses, and investments, including a 1929 investment in a theater
production called "Harlem." The estate papers primarily concern Davenport's
management of the estate of his first mother-in-law, Alma Gluck Zimbalist.
Davenport had a strong interest in the education of his daughter and three
step-daughters, as reflected in the school papers section. It contains
detailed reports on their progress and includes a 1912 description of
Davenport's own scholastic achievements. There are also several
photographs, primarily of family and friends, including one of Davenport as
a child which has been removed to the Oversize series.

A separate group of material revolves around Davenport's interest in
astrology. He was introduced to the subject in 1927 and eventually took a
course in it. He developed the idea that astrology should reinforce
psychoanalysis and devoted an enormous amount of time trying,
unsuccessfully, to establish a scientific method to that end. The papers
include his charts and calculations for analyzing his associates and
predicting events such as the outcome of World War II, Wendell Willkie's
1940 presidential campaign, and stock market fluctuations. A portion of
this section contains the astrological diaries and worksheets pertaining to
Davenport's self-study. He was meticulously honest about his character
traits, health, moods, motives, relationships, and career. Notations refer
to lying in traffic court, "stealing" the plot of Gentleman King, his
greatest period of artistic activity, and his unfulfilling years at
Fortune. A lengthy 1943 entry details the profound influence of P. D.
Uspenskii's book, A New Model of the Universe, on his thinking.

The General Correspondence series contains Davenport's incoming and
outgoing correspondence with his professional colleagues. Especially
notable is the network among these associates for obtaining services and
favors. Important correspondents are Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eric Hodgins,
Paul G. Hoffman, Herbert Hoover, Harry Hopkins, Robert Johnson, Joseph P.
Kennedy, Walter Lippmann, Henry Cabot Lodge, Clare Boothe Luce, Archibald
MacLeish, John D. Rockefeller, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Elmo Roper, Joseph
Scribner, Simon and Schuster, Inc., Thacher School, and Adelaide Walker.

A significant part of the Political File relates to Davenport's involvement
with Wendell Willkie's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination
in 1940 and 1944. Davenport wrote Willkie's speeches and coordinated
research on such topics as agriculture, foreign policy, national defense,
and taxation. Much of the correspondence is to or from Raymond Buell,
Willkie's foreign policy advisor and political intimate. Buell's papers are
also available in the Manuscript Division. Later letters are from students
and writers inquiring about Willkie's life and achievements. Several card
files contain names of contacts in various fields, such as labor, or in
regional Willkie clubs. Davenport was also instrumental in Edward Corsi's
campaign for mayor of New York (1949-1951) and was an early supporter of
Dwight Eisenhower's 1952 presidential campaign.

The Political File also includes material pertaining to Davenport's role in
several activist groups. Some of the more prominent are: Citizens For
Victory (1941-1943), dedicated to maintaining civilian wartime morale and
working for a just postwar peace; Common Cause (1949-1952), a postwar
organization working for democracy as opposed to fascism and communism;
Union Now (1939-1940), the popular name of the cause adopted by the
Inter-Democracy Federal Unionists who were seeking the unification of the
United States and Great Britain; and World Citizenship Movement
(1947-1950), another postwar group advocating world government as a means
of ensuring peace and unity among all peoples. Related collections are the
papers of Clarence Streit and the Atlantic Union. The largest body of
material in this category relates to the Republican Advance (1949-1951), a
liberal Republican movement initiated by Davenport, Henry V. Poor, and
Arthur J. Goldsmith. The group is well documented by organizational
records, policy statements, membership data, financial records, and state
chapter files.

The Subject File contains correspondence and research material on the
topics of primary importance to Davenport's political and editorial work:
agriculture production and policies, business and industry, labor
relations, the concepts of democracy and freedom, housing, health care,
national defense, social security, and taxation. Much of his research was
performed by long-time associate, Adelaide Walker. Correspondents
throughout this series include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eric Hodgins, Paul G.
Hoffman, Harry Hopkins, Henry R. Luce, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Elmo Roper,
Willi Schlamm, and Blackwell Smith.

Several subseries of the Subject File center on Davenport's work for
various Henry Luce publishing enterprises. For two decades, interspersed
with several leaves of absence, he functioned as a writer, managing editor,
chairman of the board of editors, and special projects editor at Fortune
magazine. He also worked intermittently on Life magazine's editorial staff
and as the director of the Experimental Magazine Division of Time,
Incorporated. These files contain correspondence, interoffice memoranda,
editorial policy statements, financial papers, and research material.
Notable are the papers concerning a number of roundtables where
distinguished panelists discussed timely issues.

Davenport had a brief association with the Columbia Broadcasting System in
1947. CBS had just ventured into broadcasting editorials, a new concept for
the radio field. Material in the file on this subject includes
correspondence and memoranda dealing with editorial policies, drafts,
scripts, and research reports. Another subject file pertains to Davenport's
service as a war correspondent for American Mercury magazine in 1944-1945.

In his later years, Davenport became increasingly concerned with developing
an American ideology to combat fascism and communism. He established the
Institute for Creative Research to study this concept and produce materials
to further American ideals. Under its auspices, he began to write the final
distillation of his theories on freedom and democracy. He died before the
project could be completed, but it was finished by his wife, Natalie Potter
Davenport, with the help of several colleagues, and published as The
Dignity of Man. The Institute existed into the early 1970s. Its records
include correspondence, financial data, research project files, and
material relating to its founding and dissolution.

Davenport's various literary forms are represented in the Writings series.
His early creative efforts were devoted to poetry and fiction. Many of his
poems date from the 1920s, a period when his hopes for a free-lance
literary career conflicted with the necessity of earning a living. Even
after Davenport joined the Fortune staff, he never totally abandoned
poetry, as is evidenced by a large portion of material relating to his
patriotic poem My County (originally titled "American Overture") published
in 1944.

The novels and short stories section contains early drafts of The
Abominable Branch (the British version of his novel Through-Traffic) and
"Prelude to a Career." Other unpublished works, often only rough sketches
or outlines, are autobiographical. "Chris and Dorothy" describes his 1938
relationship with Dorothy Hale; "Martin and Helen" fictionalizes his
romance with Harriet Cowles; and "Oscar's Brood" alludes to Davenport's
association with Jane (Jenny) Norton of Louisville, Kentucky. The material
relating to "Gentleman King" includes Davenport's letter denying a charge
of plagiarism. Two small notebooks contain ideas for plots and characters.

The Writings series also contains drafts of a musical play "So Help Me
God," which Davenport wrote with his wife Marcia, and drafts of Davenport's
numerous speeches. Speeches which Davenport wrote for Wendell Willkie are
located in the Political File series. Also included are several works by
others, such as Marcia Davenport, Natalie Potter Davenport, Parker
Lloyd-Smith, and Phelps Putnam, who were closely associated with Davenport.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in six series:

   * Personal File, 1899-1980, n.d.
   * General Correspondence, 1919-1956, n.d.
   * Political File, 1934-1955, n.d.
   * Subject File, 1903-1972, n.d.
   * Writings, 1913-1968, n.d.
   * Oversize, ca. 1908, n.d.


 November 7, 2003