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benjamin_wh
William H. Benjamin Letters
An inventory of his letters
at Syracuse University
KM
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Feb 1989
[Derived from Summit]
12 Mar 2007
English
- 04 Sep 2008 - converted to EAD (LDC)
Overview of the Collection
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Benjamin, William H.
William H. Benjamin Letters
1935-1936
86 items
Papers of the American publisher of the
National Farm News, a publication devoted to the interests of the American farmer; includes incoming correspondence from congressmen, senators, and governors concerning a campaign by the
National Farm News for rural road development.
149172
English
Biographical History
William H. Benjamin is best known for his publication,
National Farm News. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Virginia E. Jenckes, a congresswoman from Indiana writes (20 Jan 1936):
The
National Farm News published at Wisconsin Avenue and M. Street, N. E., Washington, D.C., by Mr. William H. Benjamin, has been rendering a real and genuine service to farmers throughout America for the past ten years. About a year ago Mr. Benjamin acquired the ownership of this publication, and since then it has made great progress in the connection of service rendered to farmers, and in its influence as a national farm publication.
At the height of the era of New Deal legislation, when the nation's farmers were beginning to recognize the need for political organization in an effort to ensure receiving their fair share in an economy already stretched to the breaking point, the
National Farm News led a vigorous campaign for the improvement of rural roads which would enable farmers to more easily transport their goods to markets. In a nod of recognition of the animosity between his urban and rural constituents, Governor Wilbur L. Cross of Connecticut quotes from his 1931 inaugural address (23 Jan 1936):
The time has come to lift the farmer out of the mud! During the winter months many of the rural roads are impassable by automobile and very few of them are ordinarily in good condition. The ideal towards which we should strive is a complete network of good roads from all villages and outlying districts, tied in with the state roads and trunk [sic] lines, so that all parts of the State may be readily accessible to farmers and city dwellers alike.
Recognizing a forum in which to cite his political accomplishments and demonstrate his good will toward farmers, Congressman John W. Gwynne of Iowa offers this typical response (31 Jan 1936):
One of the outstanding accomplishments of my State of Iowa in the past fifteen years has been the building of good primary roads. Due to the splendid efforts of the State Highway Commission, our County Boards of Supervisors and our County Engineers, we now have a network of hard surfaced roads second to none in Union.
In the development of farm-to-market roads, however, we have not made the progress which is to be desired. It would seem that a larger percentage of the federal aid money should go to these roads. Money should not be used for expensive diagonal roads or cutoffs (except in the interest of public safety) until the roads the farmers now use are brot [sic] to a higher degree of usefulness.
In a similar vein, Congressman William Lemke of North Dakota offers this optimistic if irreverent observation (1 Mar 1936):
There is a brighter future ahead for agriculture. The dumbbells in Congress will finally wake up to the fact that the farmer must be refinanced, that he must get cost of production, he must have farm to market roads and that all of these are part of the national welfare and national defense.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The
William H. Benjamin Letters is a group of documents relating to the
National Farm News, a publication devoted to the interests of the American farmer. The collection consists mainly of incoming letters dated 1935 and 1936 from congressmen, senators, and governors to whom Benjamin had sent complimentary issues of the publication.
In response to receipt of the periodical, most of the correspondents include statements about the
National Farm News itself as well as various topics related to agriculture. A number of correspondents also allude to the inclusion of farming-related articles, speeches, and legislation, and grant permission to Benjamin to quote from these items for future issues of the publication.
Also included in the collection are three holograph lists which categorize the correspondents with reference to their governmental positions: congressmen, senators, or governors.
Arrangement of the Collection
The collection contains one series, correspondence, arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Subject and Genre Headings
Publishing, printing and book artsBenjamin, William H.
Bridges, Styles, 1898-1961.
Buck, Clayton Douglass.
Buckler, Richard Thompson.
Cross, Oliver Harlan, 1870-
Cross, Wilbur L. (Wilbur Lucius), 1862-1948.
Earle, George H. (George Howard), 1856-1928.
Gwynne, John W.
Healey, Arthur Daniel, 1889-
Hoffman, Harold Giles, 1896-1954.
Jenckes, Virginia E.
Johnson, Edwin Carl, 1884-1970.
Kahn, Florence Prag, 1866-1948.
Lemke, William, 1878-1950.
Martin, Charles Henry.
Minton, Sherman, 1890-1965.
Mitchell, John R. (John Richard), 1861-1939.
Pierce, Walter Marcus, 1861-1954.
Rogers, Edith Nourse.
Ross, Charles Ben.
Sheppard, Morris, 1875-1941.
Sholtz, David, 1891-1953.
Tingley, Clyde.
Welford, Walter.
National farm news.
Agriculture and politics -- United States.
Farm roads -- United States.
Farmers -- Political activity.
Publishers and publishing -- United States.
Rural roads -- United States.
Correspondence.
Publishers.
Access Restrictions
The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and
all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any
materials in this collection.
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
William H. Benjamin Letters
&su_name;
Inventory
Correspondence
List of correspondents
3 lists organized by governmental office: congressmen, senators, and governors
78
1
Allred, James V.
78
2
1 letter
Bachman, Nathan Lynn
78
2
1 letter
Bell, Charles Jasper
78
2
1 letter
Berry, Tom
78
2
1 letter
Blood, Henry Hooper
78
2
2 letters
Boykin, Frank W.
78
2
1 letter
Bridges, Henry Styles
78
2
1 letter
Buck, Clayton Douglass
78
2
1 letter
Buckbee, John T.
78
2
1 letter
Buckler, Richard Thompson
78
2
4 letters
Burke, Edward Raymond
78
2
1 letter
Caraway, Hattie W.
78
3
1 letter
Carey, Robert Davis
78
3
1 letter
Chandler, Albert Benjamin
78
3
1 letter
Chandler, Walter
78
3
1 letter
Cochran, John J.
78
3
1 letter
Coffee, Harry B.
78
3
1 letter
Cross, Oliver Harlan
78
3
1 letter
Cross, Wilbur Lucius
78
3
1 letter
Earle, George Howard
78
3
1 letter
Ehringhaus, John C. B.
78
3
1 letter
Futrell, Junius Marion
78
3
1 letter
Gillette, Guy Mark
78
3
1 letter
Guffey, Joseph F.
78
3
1 letter
Gwynne, John W.
78
3
1 letter
Healey, Arthur Daniel
78
4
1 letter
Hildebrandt, Fred H.
78
4
1 letter
Hoffman, Harold Giles
78
4
3 letters
Holt, Elmer
78
4
2 letters
Jenckes, Virginia E.
78
4
6 letter
Johnson, Edwin Carl
78
4
1 letter
Kahn, Florence Prag
78
5
2 letters
Kocialkowski, Leo
78
5
1 letter
Kump, Herman Guy
78
5
1 letter
Lemke, William
78
5
2 letters
McNutt, Paul V.
78
5
3 letters
Martin, Charles Henry
78
5
2 letters
Minton, Sherman
78
5
1 letter
Mitchell, John Richard
78
5
2 letters
Nelson, William Lester
78
6
1 letter
Nice, Harry W.
78
6
3 letters
Noe, James Albert
78
6
1 letter
O'Day, Caroline
78
6
1 letter
Peery, George Campbell
78
6
1 letter
Peterson, Hugh
78
6
2 letters
Pierce, Walter Marcus
78
6
1 letter
Pope, James Pinckney
78
6
1 letter
Ramspeck, Robert
78
7
1 letter
Reilly, Michael Kiernan
78
7
1 letter
Rogers, Edith Nourse
78
7
2 letters
Ross, Charles Ben
78
7
1 letter
Sheppard, Morris
78
7
2 letters
Sholtz, David
78
7
2 letters
Talmadge, Eugene
78
7
1 letter
Thomas, Elbert D.
78
7
2 letters
Tingley, Clyde
78
7
1 letter
Welford, Walter
78
7
1 letter
Wilson, Riley J.
78
7
1 letter