Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

James G. Harbord papers

Call Number

MS 1493

Date

1902-1949, inclusive

Creator

Harbord, James G. (James Guthrie), 1866-1947

Extent

63 Linear feet

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

This collection consists primarily of non-business correspondence to and from Army officer and businessman James G. Harbord during his tenure as President and Chairman of RCA. Correspondents include military associates and friends, as well as a wide range of people and institutions soliciting Harbord's support, endorsement, or participation in various capacities relating to his military and RCA careers. Letters discuss political and military issues, corporate culture, memberships, talks and addresses, social engagements, and travel. Includes many pamphlets and brochures, as well as other ephemera. The collection also includes a smaller amount of military papers from Harbord's service in the Philippines from 1903 to 1913 and in France during WWI.

Biographical/Historical Note

Early life

This collection consists of correspondence and other papers of James Guthrie Harbord, a prominent New Yorker, World War I General, and President of the Radio Corporation of America ("RCA"). Harbord was born in Bloomington, Illinois on March 21, 1866. His family then relocated in a covered wagon to Lyon County, Kansas in 1878. A biographical cartoon published in the January 1930 edition of The American Magazine mentioned that the family moved again so that he and his sisters could attend college. Harbord frequently recounted that during the move, he was personally responsible for leading the family cow 70 miles from the old home in Manhattan, Kansas.

Early Military Career

Harbord graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College in June 1886. He became interested in the military life through his experiences with the college drill squad. Harbord went on to hold every military rank, up to and including major general, and was decorated twelve times.

He enlisted in the United States Army as a Private on January 10, 1889 and retired as Major General on December 29, 1922, and in the meantime participated in both the Spanish American War and World War I. On January 10, 1889, he enlisted in Company A, 4th Infantry, and he served as an enlisted man in Washington Territory and Idaho. Harbord was promoted to second lieutenant on July 31, 1891, as number one of the class appointed from the ranks that year, and was assigned to the Fifth Cavalry. In that unit, he served in Indian Territory, Kansas and Texas. He became a Distinguished Graduate of the Infantry and Cavalry School in 1985. He then served as a Major in the Second U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the Torrey Rough Riders, raised in the Rocky Mountain States in 1889. On July 1, 1898, Harbord was promoted to First Lieutenant for the 10th Cavalry on July 1, 1898, serving in Alabama and Texas. He received his first overseas appointment in Cuba, in the Adjutant General Departments of Santiago, Puerto Príncipe, and Eastern Cuba.

On January 21, 1899, he took an extended leave to marry Emma Yeatman Ovenshine, daughter of Brigadier General Samuel Ovenshine. He also served in the Philippines as Assistant Chief of the Philippines Constabulary from 1903 to 1913, until terminating service with the Philippines Government under the operation of the "Manchu Law" on January 1, 1914. Various papers and articles on the Philippines are included in the collection. In 1914, he commanded the unit defending the California border at Calexico. In 1916, he was on the Mexican border with General John J. Pershing, pursuing Pancho Villa.

Service During World War I

Harbord is perhaps best known for his service in World War I. A significant portion of the correspondence in the collection contains anecdotes about the War as well as personal letters to his wartime colleagues. He attended War College in Washington between 1916-17 and was then selected by Colonel Roosevelt as a Brigade Commander in the division which Roosevelt hoped he would be allowed to raise for World War I. When this plan did not materialize, he accompanied General Pershing to France, at the same receiving a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel on May 15, 1917. He served as such during the period of organization of the American Expeditionary Forces until May, 1918, and received another promotion to Brigadier General, National Army, in August, 1917. Assigned to the Marine Brigade of the 2nd Division in May, 1918, General Harbord commanded it in the Verdun Sector and during the fighting in the Bois de Belleau and at Bouresches, during the stand of the 2nd Division near Chateau Thierry, which stopped the German advance on Paris in June 1918. He was then promoted to Major General, National Army and assigned to the Second Division on July 14, 1918, serving as commander during the Soissons Offensive in the great battles of July 18th and 19th.

In recognition of his ability for organization, General Harbord, on July 29, 1918, was assigned to command the important Services of Supply. His effective work aided materially the efficiency of the A.E.F., and he continued in this command until May, 1919. He was then re-appointed Chief of Staff, A.E.F., and served in this capacity until August, when he was sent by the President of the United States to the Near East as Chief of the American Military Mission to Armenia.

The collection includes correspondence with General MacArthur, General Pershing, General Patton, General Petain of France, as well as other key military figures of the 20th Century.

RCA Years

After several other domestic appointments, Harbord retired from the military on December 29, 1922 to become President of the Radio Corporation of America. This was perhaps a disorienting move for Harbord, because he apparently didn't even know that RCA existed when Owen Young first asked him to become director. He twice declined, but finally accepted the position, thereby giving up any opportunity he may have had to receive the highest military title. He accepted the position after Secretary of War Weeks pointed out the great service he could render by improving the nation's communication facilities. After seven years as President, he was made Chairman of the Board of Directors of RCA on January 3, 1930. Several important developments occurred at RCA while Harbord was Chairman. In 1926, RCA began television broadcasts and formed NBC, and in 1928, RCA was one of four corporations that jointly formed RKO Pictures. In 1929, RCA acquired the Victor Talking Machine Company (maker of the "Victrola") and became RCA-Victor. He held numerous other directorships, including the directorship of New York Life Insurance Company and the Santa Fe Railroad. Harbord also received a lot of attention in the popular press after he joined RCA, and was the subject of numerous magazine articles and biographies. Harbord retired from the position in 1930.

During his years as a civilian, he enjoyed traveling, both abroad and in the western United States, riding, golf, and spending time with extended family. Harbord had no children of his own. While he was Chairman of RCA, Harbord lived on Dogwood Lane in Rye, New York. His first wife died of tuberculosis in 1937, and he married his second wife, Anne Lee Brown, in 1939. In 1925, he wrote a memoir, Leaves From a War Diary, published by Dodd, Mead & Co., 1925, which contains his experiences during the War. He also wrote two other books about his wartime experiences: The American Expeditionary Forces: its Organization and Accomplishments, published by Evanston in 1929, and The American Army in France, published by Little Brown & Co. in 1936. Harbord continued to serve in a consulting role for the military during his years with RCA, often receiving requests for his opinion from high-ranking military officers. Harbord remained as Chairman of the Board for RCA until 1947, retiring shortly before his death. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Arrangement Note

This collection is organized into the following five series:

Series I: General correspondence
Series II: Military papers
Series III: Speeches and addresses
Series IV: Publications: "The American Army in France"
Series V: Certificates and drawings

Scope and Contents Note

The bulk of this collection consists of the personal correspondence, both sent and received, of Lieutenant General James Guthrie Harbord, primarily known for both his military career and position as President and Chairman of the Board of Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

The papers range in date from 1923 to 1947, which roughly spans from the time Harbord accepted his position at RCA to the time he died. The collection was organized and maintained by his secretary, Mary Millea, who worked by his side for nearly 25 years. Though the records were housed in Harbord's office at RCA, the collection does not specifically relate to the business practices or Harbord's employment at RCA.

Instead, the bulk of this collection is comprised of mail sent to Harbord from either his close companions, often politically active former military men themselves, or solicitations for Harbord's support, endorsement, or participation in various capacities related to his military and RCA careers. Frequent correspondents include General Malin Craig, Colonel John Alexander Cocke, Captain Hamilton F. Corbett, Captain John H. Craige, General Charles G. Dawes, Colonel John Bankhead Magruder, Frank E. Mason, Captain Charles Matthews, General George S. Patton, General Philippe Petain, and General John J. Pershing. Harbord's responses mostly appear via carbon copy, though there are many handwritten notes meant to be transcribed at a later point, and generally appearing in tagalog. Also included are several typewritten drafts of articles, manuscripts, speeches, funding and financial reports, project proposals, and testimonials written on behalf of individuals and/or causes advocated for by Harbord.

Among the miscellaneous personal contents among the papers are lawsuits against Harbord in his capacity as investor, chairman, or board member of various associations, and an additional lawsuit filed by a former employee of the Harbords who was injured in their home after a fall downstairs in the dimly-lit servant quarters. Other legal and institutional documents include blueprints; university curricula, initiatives, and degree planning, including that of Trinity College, University of Virginia, and West Point among many others; and legislative bill proposals.

Additionally, a large portion of this correspondence is dedicated to Harbord's extensive involvement in philanthropy, political associations, and extracurricular clubs. His wide ranging areas of interest and commitment are spread across committees as varied as the Senior Golfers Association and the Adventure Society, which sponsored leisure trips and dinners abroad, to the Leprosy Eradication Fund and Moro Educational Foundation, which fundraised for boy schools in the Philippines, as well as the National Republican Club and Sentinels of the Republic, which both sought the incorporation of conservative politico-economic values into U.S. education, government, and military.

Some of the largest categories of correspondence, in fact, are grouped by subject rather than by correspondent. These sections are banks, bank deposits, congratulations, dinner, expense accounts, memberships, miscellaneous, publicity, Republican campaign, and photographs. "Memberships" is the largest category among them with multiple subsections organized by association, but several of the other categories are also subdivided by topic, occasion, or correspondent. "Memberships" in this collection refers to any association, event, fund, committee, or group which Harbord was directly a member, officer, donor, or contributor of some sort, as well as those that solicited his participation.

The sheer volume of correspondence in this collection reflects Harbord's status and fame. In nearly every box are requests for Harbord's autograph, photograph, appearance at an event, or input on political, economic, and social issues, specifically related to the Republican campaign and counter-New Deal. Many solicited his advice on the state of U.S. fiscal and military issues. Clearly a well-known and popular figure, Harbord is referenced regularly in newspapers and journals of the time, which appear in this collection through the many different clippings sent to Harbord.

The correspondence files also contain an array of ephemera from the era including but not limited to poetry; chain letters; dinner menus; hotel, club, gym, and resort brochure; car and travel catalogs; advertisements; postcards; radiograms; Western Unions; photographs; birthday and holiday cards; event invitations; birth announcements; postcards; brochures; political and economic pamphlets often related to war, finance, patriotism, and philanthropy; newspapers; and magazines.

Letters from several significant correspondents, including General Pershing, Brigadier General Charles Dawes, Dwight Morrow and Theodore Roosevelt, are foldered separately.

In addition to general correspondence, the collection includes some military papers (cablegrams, diaries, and materials from the Philippines), copies of Harbord's speeches and addresses, and correspondence and other papers relating to Harbord's book "The American Army in France." There is also a diary Harbord kept during WWI and several travel diaries.

Areas of interest to researchers might include interwar and WWII social milieu; American socialism, nationalism, and imperialism; New York upper class; history of Republican party; development of institutions and philanthropic associations; military culture; and corporate culture and the development of capitalism. There are often frank discussions of cross-class relations, and ethnographic understandings of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and age which might also be of value to those researching the period.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers. Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.

Portions of the collection that have been microfilmed will be brought to the researcher in that format and can be made available by Interlibrary loan. Researchers on site may print out unlimited copies from microfilm reader-printer machines at per-exposure rates. See guidelines in Reading Room for details.

Items that include presidential signatures will be presented to researchers in duplicate form.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation Note

This collection should be cited as the James G. Harbord Papers, MS 1493, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.

Provenance

Gift of James G. Harbord estate, 1950

Related Materials at the New-York Historical Society

An album of photographs from Harbord's time in Cuba, titled "Views of the province of Santiago de Cuba" is held in the Album File, PR 2, Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections.

The library's general collections holds copies of Harbord's books: Leaves from A War Diary, The American Expeditionary Forces: its organization and accomplishments; and The American Army in France. Also in the library's general collections are clippings relating to Harbord's career, and his collected Addresses.

Collection processed by

CUNY fellows Lauren Bailey, Karen Hammer, Jenny LeRoy, and Sophia Natasha Sunseri

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:49:25 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid is written in English

Processing Information

Collection processed in 2016 by CUNY fellows Lauren Bailey, Karen Hammer, Jenny LeRoy, and Sophia Natasha Sunseri.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024