James Clark McReynolds papersMSS.85.1Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections

Arthur J. Morris Law Library580 Massie RoadUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia 22903archives@law.virginia.eduURL:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-08-27 00:00:28 +0000.Description is written in: English, Latin script.Describing Archives: A Content Standard Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections James Clark McReynolds papers McReynolds, James Clark, 1862-1946 MSS.85.1 Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key Previous Archival Resource Key /repositories/4/resources/62 3.5 Cubic Feet 8 archival boxes 1819-1977 English Scope and Contents

This collection includes Justice James Clark McReynolds's professional, financial, personal, and genealogical papers spanning the years 1819-1967. The professional papers contain correspondence, opinions, memoranda, and notes principally from his years in the Justice Department. From the Supreme Court years, there is a relatively small body of correspondence, as well as the printed material and miscellaneous notes regarding the "Gold Clause Cases." In addition to the private correspondence, there are records of financial transactions, newspaper clippings, genealogical records, notebooks, election broadsides, photographs, and printed material about Justice McReynolds.

 Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions.

 Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collections was transferred, with the donor's permission, from Alderman Library to the Arthur J. Morris Law Library in 1985.

 Biographical / Historical

James Clark McReynolds was born on 3 February 1862, in Elkton, Todd County, Kentucky. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Vanderbilt University in 1882, where he was elected valedictorian and served as editor-in-chief of The Vanderbilt Observer. Upon graduation, he commenced the study of law at the University of Virginia, where he obtained a law degree in 1884. His formal education completed, McReynolds embarked upon a lucrative private law practice in Nashville, while teaching law at Vanderbilt University. In 1903, however, he moved to Washington, D.C., and became Assistant Attorney General, a position he held until 1912. During this period, his vigorous prosecution of the "tobacco trust" bolstered his reputation among progressive reform groups. Active in Woodrow Wilson's successful presidential campaign in 1912, he was appointed Attorney General after briefly practicing law in New York City.

In 1914, Wilson appointed McReynolds to the United States Supreme Court, where he served until his retirement in 1941. Justice McReynolds died in 1946.

 Custodial History

The papers were originally given to the University of Virginia Library on October 16, 1950 by the justice's nephew, James O. McReynolds of Los Angeles, California. The donor gave additional materials in 1950, 1951, 1967, and 1969.

 Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions.

 Gold clause Genealogy McReynolds family Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1882-1945 Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 Bonaparte, Charles J., 1851-1921 Stetson, France Lynde, 1846-1920 Harr, William R., 1872-1950 Lane, Franklin K., 1864-1921 Lurton, Horace H., 1844-1914 Tumulty, Joseph P., 1879-1954 Wickersham, George W., 1858-1936 McReynolds, James Clark, 1862-1946 Professional CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36601905-1945, n.d.12 folders1JCM to Mr. S.S. GregoryArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36611905 April 51Opinions, Memoranda and Notes 1911-1914. Primarily anti-trust cases; also includes printed copies of JCM's first four Supreme Court opinions.Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36621911-19141Scope and Contents

Primarily anti-trust cases; also includes printed copies of JCM's first four Supreme Court opinions

Scope and Contents

6 folders

United States v. American Tobacco Company. Memorandum concerning the Plan of Disintegration Filed in United States Circuit Court October 16, 1911, Prepared by J. C. McReynolds for the Attorney General. Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/2012251911-10-24-1911-10-27[Harvester Trust at St. Paul, Minnesota] Closing Argument on Behalf of the Government by Hon. James C, McReynolds, Attorney General. Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/2012261913Enforcement of the Anti-Trust Act (typescript); Comparative Statement of Production, by "U. S. Steel Corporation" and "Indpendent Companies" for the Calendar Years 1901 and 1911; Pipe Manufacturers. Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201227Magnolia Petroleum Company Indictment; notes, n. d., 1912Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201228McReynolds First Four Opinions for the Supreme Court of the United States: C. W. Garrett v. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, 1914-11-30; The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company v. John A. Harrison, as Sheriff of Pittsburg County, 1914-11-30; William R. Hopkins, et al v. Charles Hebard and The Smoky Mountain Land, Lumber and Improvement Company, 1914-11-30; Edward H. Fallows v. Continental & Commercial Trust & Savings Bank, 1914-11-30Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201229Opinions. Norman C. Norman v. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company (McReynolds dissenting), 1935-02-18 Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36631Gold Clause MaterialsArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36641930's-1940's1Revision of McReynolds Report on Gold Clause DecisionArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201233Supreme Court of Judicature. Court of Appeal. Contracts -- British Government Bond Payable in Gold Dollars of the United States -- Amount Payable After Depreciation of Dollar -- Law Governing Construction of Contract (compliment of F. R. Condert), 1936-11-02 Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/2012361935 Congressional Record - Senate 2717Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/2012381935 Congressional Record - Appendix - 2873-2876Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201239Industrial Control Reports issued by The James True Associates, Number 86, "Reactions from the Gold Decision" 1935-02-23Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201241Letter from Constantine E. McGuire to Justice McReynolds, 1943-04-30Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201243English translation of an article entitled "Algunas Consideraciones sobre el Porvenir del Patrón Oro" by Constantine E. McGuire, written at the invitation of the Minister of Finance of Venezuela, and published in the Revista de Hacienda, of the Finance Ministry, Vol. IV, No. 12 (October-December 1941). Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/201245Robert P. McReynolds CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36651898, 1918-1945, n.d.4 folders1Official Records of the Supreme Court Volume 294 U.S. - Number 2 Ernest Knaebel Reporter The Gold Clauses Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/572611935-05-092United States Supreme Court Law ed. Advance Opinions The Gold Cases The Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company Rochester, New York Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/572621934-19352The Gold Standard by W. Redelmeier Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/572631941-062Personal CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36661885-1946, n.d.7 folders2Letters from JCMArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/366725 Oct., 22 Nov.2Correspondence, 1946. Concerns illness and death of JCMArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/366819462Business PapersArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36691885-19272Business PapersArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36701928-1945, n.d.3Address Book and Appointment BooksArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36711946, n.d.3SpeechesArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36721882-18893College PapersArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/367318843Guest ListsArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36741916-19413RecipesArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/3675n.d.3Election BroadsidesArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/367618963Newspaper ClippingsArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36771900-19453Scope and Contents

2 folders

Memorials to JCMArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/367819463Virginia Law Review dedicated to JCM Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36791946 Aug.3Miscellaneous Printed Materials and PapersArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/3680n.d.4McReynolds Family CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36811830-19674Transcripts and Photstats of McReynolds Family CorrespondenceArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36821819-19374Correspondence Concerns the McReynolds Family GenealogyArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36831897-1933, n.d.4Correspondence and Documents Concerns the Edwards FamilyArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36841938-1940, n.d.5McReynolds Genealogical PapersArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/3685n.d.5JCM's Genealogical NotebooksArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/3686n.d.5Correspondence and DocumentsArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36871942-1947, n.d.5Blueprints of the Pearson Memorial TabletArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/368819425Correspondence and Documents 1938-1940, n.d. Concerns the Edwards FamilyArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36891950-19516The Filson Club History Quarterly: A Journal of Kentucky History Vol. 57 No. 1 Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36901983-016Biography of James Clark McReynolds Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America by Stirling Price Gilbert Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/5726419466Scope and Contents

2 duplicate copies

I Dissent: The Legacy of Chief Justice James Clark McReynolds by James E. Bond Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/5726519926RE: Astes Liberales Roosevelt, McReynolds, and the Court Fight by Donald Whisenhunt Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/5726619776Biography by James Bond Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/57267n.d.6Scope and Contents

2 folders

Conservative Influence on Constitutional Development by Ronald F. Howell Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/5726819526Published and unpublished material. Material from John B. McCraw and Donald WhisenhuntArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36917Judicial MemoirsArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36927The Story of Todd Country, Kentucky, 1820-1970, by Marion WilliamsArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36937James Clark McReynolds and the Judicial Process, 1954. Unpublished dissertation by Stephen EarlyArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/369519548Scope and Contents

5 folders

Who's Who in America Form filled out by JCM, with editor's corrections; JCM signature.Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/36941911 September, 13 June8Clippings: The Evening Star Archival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/572691935-02-188OversizedArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/294339Certificate of appointment as US attorney generalArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/2943411913-03-051Certificate of appointment as assistant US attorney generalArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/2943421903-11-172Nashville, KY, Chamber of Commerce resolutionArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/2943431941-02-242James C. McReynolds photographArchival Resource Key/repositories/4/archival_objects/29434719371