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John M. Hancock Papers, 1903-1956

Collection Overview

Title: John M. Hancock Papers, 1903-1956

ID: OGLMC/0055

Creator: Hancock, John M. (1883-1956)

Extent: 22.0 Linear Feet

Languages: English [eng]

Abstract

1883-1956; UND Class of 1903 and partner in the New York City investment firm of Lehman Brothers. Active in the mobilization effort in World War II, through service on the War Resources Board, and on a special survey of the rubber industry. Also a member of the American delegation to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The John M. Hancock Papers, 1932-1956, consist primarily of records related to Hancock’s service to the United States government. Most of the records were organized into three-ring binders either by Hancock or his secretarial staff. The binder contents, unless otherwise indicated, have been reorganized into folders. Box 9 was eliminated during this reorganization.

Many of the documents relate to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC), which was formed in 1946 following the very first resolution of the United Nations. The UNAEC sought the peaceful use of atomic energy, along with the elimination of atomic weapons. Hancock served as general manager of the United States contingent, which was led by Bernard M. Baruch. Baruch proposed a plan by which the United States would destroy its stockpile of atomic bombs, in exchange for an UN imposed prohibition on the future development of atomic weapons. The “Baruch Plan” passed the commission, but was vetoed by the Soviet Union in the Security Council. UNAEC materials include correspondence and memoranda, meeting minutes, subcommittee documents, press releases, governmental reports, and various subject files. One binder pertained to criticisms of the Baruch Plan by then Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace. Four scrapbooks are included as well.

In 1942, Hancock participated in a special survey of the rubber industry in light of national defense priorities. Materials from this survey include correspondence and memorandum, subject files, governmental reports, and transcripts of meetings. Six binders are found in Boxes 2 and 3, each of which has an index at the beginning. Hancock was also a member of the Office of War Mobilization, formed in 1943. He served in the Office of Contract Settlement, which was charged with the responsibility of settling terminated war contracts. In addition, Hancock was a member of the War Resources Board, which was the first federal agency to analyze mobilization options in light of possible entry into a war in Europe.

Other records reflect Hancock’s career in investment banking and securities. These deal with securities legislation, and include correspondence, governmental reports, and legislative text. Hancock’s service on a subcommittee of the Securities and Exchange Commission is documented. Four scrapbooks contain newspaper and magazine clippings regarding profit and inflation (1947-1954).

Hancock also chaired a special committee on behalf of the American Chemical Society, which sought to determine members’ opinions of the Society. Materials regarding his relationship with the University of North Dakota are found in Box 10, along with texts of some of his speeches. Box 11 also includes an undated history of the U.S. Navy’s purchase division in World War I, written by Hancock.

Five photographs were separated and placed in the Photograph File Cabinets, while the nineteen scrapbooks were placed on the shelves adjacent to the collection.

Administrative Information

Accruals: Additional material was donated by Dan Rylance, Department Head, Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, in August 1989 (89-1675); by Bob and Frances Buckingham, Pharr, Texas, on July 1, 2002 (2003-2605); and by Don Hunger, Bellingham, Washington, in March 2018 (2018-3379).

Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Acquisition Method: Donation; the original acquisition records are unavailable.

Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). John M. Hancock Papers. OGLMC 55, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in September 2014.

Box and Folder Listing

Box 1Add to your cart.
Volume 1: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (A-C)Add to your cart.
Volume 2: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (C-H)Add to your cart.
Volume 3: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (J-M)Add to your cart.
Volume 4: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946, (M-Z)Add to your cart.
Volume 5: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (Henry Wallace)Add to your cart.
Box 2Add to your cart.
Volume 1: Rubber Survey Committee, 1942, Book IAdd to your cart.
Volume 2: Rubber Survey Committee, 1942, Book IIAdd to your cart.
Volume 3: Rubber Survey Committee, 1942, Book IIIAdd to your cart.
Volume 4: Rubber Survey Committee, Book IVAdd to your cart.
Volume 5: Rubber Survey Committee, Book VAdd to your cart.
Box 3Add to your cart.
Volume 1: Rubber Survey Committee, Book VIAdd to your cart.
Volume 2: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement BookAdd to your cart.
Volume 3: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement BookAdd to your cart.
Volume 4: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement BookAdd to your cart.
Volume 5: Office of War Mobilization, History of Contract SettlementAdd to your cart.
Volume 6: Office of War Mobilization, Joint Army-Navy Termination RegulationAdd to your cart.
Volume 7: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement Action by CommitteeAdd to your cart.
Box 4Add to your cart.
Volume 1: Banking Act of 1935Add to your cart.
Volume 2: Securities Act and Exchange Bills, 1934-1940Add to your cart.
Volume 3: Securities Act and Exchange Bills, 1934-1940Add to your cart.
Volume 4: Securities Act and Exchange Bills, 1934-1940Add to your cart.
Box 5Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Folder 9: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 10: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 11: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 12: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 13: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 14: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 15: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 16: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 17: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission Official Records, nos. 1-5Add to your cart.
Folder 18: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Public Comment and Press Reaction to Public Comment, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 19: Journal of the United Nations, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 20: Publications - Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and Atomic Information, 1946Add to your cart.
Box 6Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Securities Act and Exchange Bill, 1934-1935Add to your cart.

Folder subdivisions:

Committee Members; Rayburn Correspondence; Addenda to Testimony; JMH Pamphlet: "National Securities Exchange Bill"; Memorandum re: JMH Testimony; Securities Act Amendment; ”Brain Trust Talks"; Notes for Hearing; First Draft Memorandum; National Securities Act of 1934; Memorandum to President; Hartley Withers; Eustace Seligman Article; Alexander Sachs Article

Folder 2: Securities Act and Exchange Bill, 1934-1935Add to your cart.

Folder subdivisions:

N.Y.S.E. Bulletin; I.B.A.; Greene Memorandum (Sullivan & Cromwell); Accountant Report; Twentieth Century Fund; George May Article; I.B.A. Memorandum; Association of Stock Exchange Firms; Frank Altschul; Richard Whitney

Folder 3: Securities Act and Exchange Bill, 1934-1935Add to your cart.

Folder subdivisions:

New York Stock Exchange; CURB Exhange; Chicago Stock Exchange; Baltimore Stock Exchange; Brookmire; U.S. Chamber Commerce; Balto. Assoc. Commerce; Committee for Nation; Memo Given to Tom Smith (Treasury); Comment re H.R. 8720; Winfeld Riefler; “Puts and Calls” (Follette & Filer)

Folder 4: Securities Act and Exchange Bill, 1934-1935Add to your cart.

Folder subdivisions:

Oliver J. Troster & N.Y. Security Dealers; Bulwinkle Bill; G. Hermann Kinnicutt (Investment House Group); Nat’l Securities Exch. Act - H.R. 8720; Accounting Standards; Boston Stock Exchange

Folder 5: Securities Act and Exchange Bill, 1934-1935Add to your cart.

Folder subdivisions:

Final Bill; Summary of Securities Exchange Act; Judge Burns Speech (May 25, 1935); “Planned Economy for Wall Street”

Folder 6: Export-Import Bank, 1932-1934Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Export-Import Bank, 1932-1934Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Committee on Atomic Energy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 9: Committee on Atomic Energy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Army Industrial College, 1945Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Army Industrial College, 1945Add to your cart.
Folder 12: Army Industrial College, 1945Add to your cart.
Folder 13: United Nations News, December 1947-September 1949Add to your cart.
Folder 14: American Export Lines, Inc., 1938-1942Add to your cart.
Folder 15: War Resources Board, 1939Add to your cart.
Folder 16: War Resources Board, 1939Add to your cart.
Folder 17: War Resources Board, 1939Add to your cart.
Folder 18: War Resources Board, 1939Add to your cart.
Folder 19: War Resources Board, 1939Add to your cart.
Folder 20: War Resources Board, 1940-1943Add to your cart.
Box 7Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Correspondence related to Atomic EnergyAdd to your cart.
Folder 2: Atomic Energy Government Reports and PublicationsAdd to your cart.
Folder 3: Atomic Energy Government Reports and PublicationsAdd to your cart.
Folder 4: Atomic Energy Government Reports and PublicationsAdd to your cart.
Folder 5: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946Add to your cart.
Folder 9: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 12: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 14: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 15: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 16: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 17: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 18: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)Add to your cart.
Folder 19: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 20: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 21: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 22: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Folder 23: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935Add to your cart.
Folder 24: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935Add to your cart.
Folder 25: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935Add to your cart.
Folder 26: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935Add to your cart.
Folder 27: Office of War Mobilization, May-October 1943Add to your cart.
Folder 28: Office of War Mobilization, May-October 1943Add to your cart.
Folder 29: Office of War Mobilization, May-October 1943Add to your cart.
Box 8Add to your cart.
Volume 1: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Volume 2: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Volume 3: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Sub-Committee No. 1, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Volume 4: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Sub-Committee No. 2, Meeting Minutes, 1946Add to your cart.
Box 10Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Speeches and Publications of John M. Hancock, 1944-1953Add to your cart.
Folder 2: “History of the Purchase Division, Navy Department, Washington D.C., During the World War, 1917-1918,” written by Commander John M. Hancock, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 3: UND and Wesley College Correspondence, 1936-1949Add to your cart.
Folder 4: UND and Wesley College Correspondence, 1950-1956Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Miscellaneous Materials - UNDAdd to your cart.
Folder 6: “Man and the Atom: A Report by the Mayor’s Committee for the Commemoration of the Golden Anniversary of the City of New York, 1949Add to your cart.
Folder 7: MedalsAdd to your cart.
Item 1: North Dakota Interscholastic Championship, 1903Add to your cart.
Item 2: North Dakota Interscholastic Championship, 1903Add to your cart.
Item 3: U.S. Navy Departmental Tennis League, 1915Add to your cart.
Item 4: U.S. Navy, 2nd place in Men’s Singles, 1922Add to your cart.
Item 5: U.S. Navy, "District Patriotic Tennis Tournament Doubles Won by Doyle and Hancock", undatedAdd to your cart.
Item 6: Citizens of the District of Columbia for Service in the First World War, undatedAdd to your cart.
Item 7: War Industries Board, 1920Add to your cart.
Item 8: War Industries Board, 1926Add to your cart.
Folder 8: “Mr. Hancock and the Bomb”, Fortune, February 1947Add to your cart.
Folder 9: Journal articles printed from JSTORAdd to your cart.
Item 1: “Price-Fixing as Seen by a Price-Fixer,” by F.W. Taussig, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 33:2, February 1919Add to your cart.
Item 2: “Renegotiation of War Contract Prices,” by Norman C. Parkin, The Journal of Business of the University of Chicago, 17:2, April 1944Add to your cart.
Item 3: "The Reconversion Phase of Demobilization,” by V.O. Key, Jr., The American Political Science Review, 38:6, December 1944Add to your cart.
Item 4: “Some Economic Concepts Affecting the Renegotiation of War Contracts,” by Norman C. Parkin, The Journal of Business of the University of Chicago, 19:1, January 1946Add to your cart.
Item 5: “The Navy, the War Industries Board, and the Industrial Mobilization for War, 1917-1918,” by John K. Ohl, Military Affairs, 40:1, February 1976Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Correspondence, 1941Add to your cart.
Folder 11: "To John M. Hancock on his retirement from the Board of Directors of Sears, Roebuck and Co.", 1955Add to your cart.
Folder 12: CertificatesAdd to your cart.
Item 1: Membership in Delta Sigma Pi, 1931Add to your cart.
Item 2: Membership in Sigma Chi, 1931Add to your cart.
Item 3: Sig Medal from Sigma Chi, 1946Add to your cart.
Item 4: Membership in the Business Advisory Council for the Department of Commerce, 1951Add to your cart.
Item 5: Distinguished Service Citation from the UND Alumni Association, 1956Add to your cart.
Item 6: Membership in the National Air Council, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 13: War Industries Board: 1. Letter to President Wilson 2. Cartoons of Hancock and his service on the Board, 1918Add to your cart.
Box 11Add to your cart.
Item 1: Photograph AlbumAdd to your cart.
This photograph album is untitled, undated, and contains numerous sepia-tone photographs of tanks and other armored vehicles from the time following the First World War. John Hancock worked for the U.S. Navy during this conflict and his connection to this album in unclear.
Scrapbook 1-21Add to your cart.
Separated and placed on the shelves adjacent to the collection
Scrapbook 1: Profit and Inflation, 1947Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 2: Profit and Inflation, 1948-1949Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 3: Profit and Inflation, 1950-1951Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 4: Profit and Inflation, 1952-1954Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 5: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.1), 1945-1946Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 6: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.2), 1946-1947Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 7: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.3), 1947-1949Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 8: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.4), 1950-1954Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 9: General Scrapbook, January-June 1946Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 10: General Scrapbook, July-December 1946Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 11: General Scrapbook, 1947 and SpecialAdd to your cart.
Scrapbook 12: General Scrapbook, January-June 1948Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 13: General Scrapbook, July-December 1948Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 14: General Scrapbook, January-June 1949Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 15: General Scrapbook, July-December 1949Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 16: General Scrapbook, January-June 1950Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 17: General Scrapbook, July-December 1950Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 18: General Scrapbook, January-December 1951Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 19: General Scrapbook, 1952-1954Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 20: General Scrapbook, 1945-1946Add to your cart.
Scrapbook 21: General Scrapbook, 1952Add to your cart.
Photographs 1-9Add to your cart.
Separated and placed in the Photograph File Cabinets.
Photograph 1: Portrait of Hancock, undated (for possible use in The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography)Add to your cart.
Photograph 2: UND Alumni Board, June 1953Add to your cart.
Photograph 3: Hancock and choir, Emerado, North Dakota, June 7, 1953Add to your cart.
Photograph 4: Hancock and group of women, Emerado, North Dakota, June 7, 1953Add to your cart.
Photograph 5: Banquet, Emerado, North Dakota, June 7, 1953Add to your cart.
Photograph 6: Hancock while at UND, 1903Add to your cart.
Photograph 7: Hancock at meeting of UND Alumni, 1952Add to your cart.
Photograph 8: M. Beatrice Johnstone, Joseph Bridston, and Hancock at UND Memorial Union, 1952Add to your cart.
Photograph 9: M. Beatrice Johnstone and Hancock at reception in Johnstone Hall, 1952Add to your cart.
Oversize Folder 1: Oversize Documents, 1903-1918Add to your cart.
Separated and placed in the Oversize File Cabinets.
Item 1: Bachelor of Arts Diploma from UND, June 18, 1903Add to your cart.
Item 2: Commission: Ensign and Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, June 6, 1904Add to your cart.
Item 3: Commission: Ensign and Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, February 10, 1905Add to your cart.
Item 4: Commission: Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, March 9, 1908Add to your cart.
Item 5: Commission: Lieutenant and Passed Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, September 30, 1908Add to your cart.
Item 6: Commission: Lieutenant and Passed Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, December 8, 1908Add to your cart.
Item 7: Commission: Commission: Lieutenant and Paymaster in the Navy, June 15, 1914Add to your cart.
Item 8: Commission: Commander and Pay Inspector in the Navy, December 18, 1918Add to your cart.