Guide to the Nelson W. Aldrich papers, 1777-1930

Phillips Memorial Library
Archives and Special Collections
1 Cunningham Square
Providence, RI 02918
Tel: 401-865-2578
Fax: 401-865-1578
Email: pcarchives@providence.edu
Website: https://pml.providence.edu/

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	Nelson W. Aldrich papers
Date range:	1777-1930
Creator:	Aldrich, Nelson W. (Nelson Wilmarth), 1841-1915
Extent:	73 reel(s)
Abstract:	United States representative and senator from Rhode Island, financier, and philanthropist. Collection contains correspondence, journal, appointment books, drafts of speeches, memoranda, financial records, reports, legislative matter, scrapbooks, serial publications, and other printed material relating chiefly to Aldrich's career in Congress. This is the microfilm copy of the collection held by the Library of Congress.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Phillips Memorial Library
Collection number:	aldrich

Scope & content

The papers of Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (1841-1915) span the years 1777-1930, with the bulk of the material concentrated in 1879-1915. The collection is composed primarily of The papers of Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (1841-1915) span the years 1777-1930, with the bulk of the material concentrated in 1879-1915. The collection is composed primarily of correspondence, printed matter, and material relating to tariff legislation and the National Monetary Commission, supplemented by diaries, notebooks, speeches, research notes, serial publications, financial records, and miscellaneous items.

The collection focuses on Aldrich’s service as United States Senator from Rhode Island, 1881-1911 and reflects his involvement with national economic and fiscal policy. Tariff legislation is a recurring theme throughout the Correspondence> series, particularly during the years of major tariff revision in 1890, 1897, and 1909. The correspondence, mainly incoming mail from businessmen representing a wide range of economic interests, reveals the depth of feeling generated by the prospect of tariff revision and the importance of the issue during these years. The letters also provide an insight into American business practices and the economic views of a large segment of the American business community during this era of industrial expansion. Aldrich’s personal attention to the details of rate revision is revealed in the tariff file, while his speeches help document his attitude toward tariff duties as a source of protection for American industry from foreign competition.

Aldrich gave considerable attention during his last years in office to the problems of United States monetary policy. Following the Panic of 1907, with its accompanying rash of bank failures, he cosponsored the Aldrich-Vreeland Act of 1908, providing for the establishment of a National Monetary Commission to study banking and currency operations at home and abroad and to suggest changes in American practices.

The National Monetary Commission’s correspondence for the years 1908-1912 documents its activities and Aldrich’s role as chairman. Much of the commission’s correspondence was with bankers, public officials, financial experts, and academicians employed to prepare special studies, translate documents, and collect statistics on financial operations and monetary systems in foreign nations as well as in the United States. Aldrich and other members of the commissions visited England, France and Germany to consult with experts and collect data, and specialists representing the commission made similar visits to other nations and reported their findings. Hearings were held in selected American cities to solicit opinions from bankers and other interested parties, while numerous individuals sent unsolicited opinions and plans directly to the commission. Most of the letters were sent and received by Abram Piatt Andrew, special assistant to the commission; Arthur B. Shelton, secretary to the commission; and staff members Charles E. Alden, J. William Sheetz, and William A. Slade.

Aldrich’s personal views are reflected in occasional correspondence, speeches delivered to promote monetary reform, and in the final report of the commission soon labeled the “Aldrich Plan.” The commission’s correspondence is also a rich source of information regarding American financial institutions in the early twentieth century and the views of members of the financial community at the time. The National Monetary Commission file contains most of its publications as well as a sampling of the collected data and related material.

After the death of Senator Henry B. Anthony in 1884, Aldrich assumed Anthony’s former position as a powerful figure in Rhode Island politics. Letters in the collection from numerous state political figures, particularly Henry B. Gardner and Charles R. Bryaton, kept Aldrich abreast of local affairs and include requests for favors, advice, and patronage.

Aldrich’s personal affairs and family relations form a relatively small portion of the collection. A series of letters written to his future wife in 1865-1866 offers a glimpse into his personal relations and plans at this time. Letters written to Mrs. Aldrich during his first trip abroad in 1872-1873 describe family relations and reveal his initial impressions of European society and culture. Scattered letters in the Correspondence series and the financial records offer insight into his extensive financial ventures, particularly his investments in the rubber industry.

Principal correspondents include William B. Allison, Henry B. Anthony, Jonathan Bourne (1811-1889), C. R. Brayton, Jonathan Chace, William E. Chandler, Charles A. Conant, Henry Pomeroy Davison, Eugene Hale, Philander C. Knox, Charles Warren Lippitt, Stephen B. Luce, Orville Hitchock Platt, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), William H. Taft, Henry Moore Teller, Paul M. Warburg, and George Peabody Wetmore.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Aldrich, Abby Pearce Chapman, 1845-1917.
• Aldrich, Nelson W. (Nelson Wilmarth), 1841-1915.
• Anthony, Henry B. (Henry Bowen), 1815-1884.
• Camden, J. N.(Johnson Newlon), 1828-1908.
• Cannon, Henry White, 1850-1934.
• Chace, Jonathan, 1829-1917.
• Choate, Charles F. (Charles Francis), 1828-1911.
• Crane, Winthrop Murray, 1853-1920.
• Hale, Eugene, 1836-1918.
• Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924.
• Nichols, Jeannette Paddock, 1890-1982.
• Nicholson, William Thomas, 1834-1893.
• Rockefeller, John D. (John Davison), 1874-1960.
• Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
• Stephenson, Nathaniel W. (Nathaniel Wright), 1867-1935.
• Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930.
• Whitman, William, 1842-1928.

Subject Organizations

• Library of Congress. Manuscript Division

Subject Topics

• Tariff--United States.
• Banks and banking -- United States

Geographical Names

• Rhode Island--Politics and government--1865-1950.

Subject Topics

• Government, Politics and Law

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in ten series.

Biographical note

Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich, (father of Richard Steere Aldrich, cousin of William Aldrich, grandfather of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, and great-grandfather of John Davison Rockefeller), was a Representative and a Senator from Rhode Island; born in Foster, R.I., November 6, 1841. Aldrich attended the public schools of East Killingly, Conn., and the Academy of East Greenwich, R.I.;

In 1862, during the Civil War, Aldrich enlisted as a private in Company D, First Regiment, Rhode Island National Guard. After the war he entered the wholesale grocery business in Providence, RI. In 1869 he was elected as a member of the Providence city council serving until 1874; served as president in 1872 and 1873. Elected as a member of the State house of representatives in 1875 and 1876, elected speaker in 1876.

Aldrich was elected as a Republican to the Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses and served from March 4, 1879, to October 4, 1881, when he resigned to become Senator. Elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ambrose E. Burnside. He was reelected in 1886, 1892, 1898, and 1904, and served from October 5, 1881, to March 3, 1911. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1911.

Aldrich served as chairman of the Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses), Committee on Rules (Fiftieth through Fifty-second, Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses), Select Committee on Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia (Fifty-third Congress), Committee on Finance (Fifty-fifth through Sixty-first Congresses); chairman, National Monetary Commission (1908-1912).

He retired to Providence, R.I. and passed away in New York City, April 16, 1915. He is interred in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, R.I.

Sources:

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress "ALDRICH, Nelson Wilmarth, (1841 - 1915)".

American National Biography.

Stephenson, Nathaniel W. Nelson W. Aldrich, a leader in American politics. 1971. New York: Kennikat Press, 1971.

Sternstein, Jerome L. “Corruption in the Gilded Age Senate: Nelson W. Aldrich and the Sugar Trust.” Capitol Studies 6 (Spring 1978): 13-37. (Copy on file)

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Collection is open for research by appointment. Materials do not circulate. Some materials may be restricted, for further information contact the Archives and Special Collections, Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College.
Use of the materials:	Researchers seeking to publish materials from the Providence College Archives and Special Collections are advised to request written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection. Although Providence College has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Microfilm Collection of the Nelson W. Aldrich papers, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Archives and Special Collections.
Contact information:	Phillips Memorial Library Archives and Special Collections 1 Cunningham Square Providence, RI 02918 Tel: 401-865-2578 Fax: 401-865-1578 Email: pcarchives@providence.edu Website: https://pml.providence.edu/

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The papers of Nelson W. Aldrich, United States representative and senator from Rhode Island, financier, and philanthropist, were given to the Library of Congress in four installments. The first was received in 1944 from Aldrich’s children, Winthrop W. Aldrich and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., donated additions to the collection in 1955 and 1956 from the papers of his late wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. The last installment was given by the Seminary of Our Lady of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1970.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Russell Franks.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Russell Franks 2013 February 28
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:	There are no known related materials.
Separated material:	No materials have been removed from this collection.

Inventory

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