John M. Hancock Papers, 1903-1956

John M. Hancock Papers

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Collection Overview

Title: John M. Hancock Papers, 1903-1956

ID: OGLMC0055

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

Extent: 22.0 Linear Feet

Subjects: Business and Industry, Cold War, Great Depression, Military History - World War II (WW2), University of North Dakota - Alumni

Languages: English

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.

Collection Historical Note

John Milton Hancock was born February 2, 1883, in Emerado, North Dakota, to North Dakota pioneers, Henry and Isabel (Irvine) Hancock. His father was a farmer, who came from Canada in 1878 and founded the town in which his son was born. Henry Hancock was also a partner in the local hardware store and a realtor in the township. John Hancock’s immediate family included three sisters and a brother: Ethel, Edna, Maude, and Harry. In 1897, the family moved to Grand Forks where Hancock took preparatory college courses at the University of North Dakota (UND).

Once Hancock enrolled at UND, he was quick to involve himself in many of the activities available to him. He was a varsity football player for three years until injuries forced him from a game in the fall of 1902. Even though football and track absorbed much of his time, Hancock still found time to be active in A.D.T, a newly founded literary society, and editor-in-chief of The Student. He graduated in 1903 with an A.B. degree.

After graduation, Hancock served as high school principal in Tower City, North Dakota. In 1904, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. That same year, Hancock married Ida Mary Buckingham in Grand Forks on June 23. The couple had two children: Ruth Laura and Ralph Henry. Hancock entered the U.S. Navy as an ensign, serving as assistant paymaster in the Supply Corps. After training at the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, he served as general storekeeper at the Olongapo Naval Station in the Philippine Islands. Soon after, Hancock went out to sea with the USS Galveston.

From October 1909 to March 1914, he did accounting tours at Navy yards in Boston, Philadelphia, and Puget Sound, and then returned to the Philippines at the Cavite Naval Station. When World War I broke out, Hancock was on patrol duty aboard the USS Helena on the Yangtze River in China. He was soon ordered back to the United States, where he was placed in charge of the purchasing division of the Navy's Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. In this capacity, he obtained the rank of lieutenant commander in October 1916. This was followed by promotion to commander in January 1918.

As head of the purchasing division, Hancock made purchases of Navy supplies in excess of $2 million per day. He designed a system based on commodity sections: estimates were made to reflect as closely as possible the Navy’s material needs, and contact was maintained with the country’s industries. The Navy's newly legalized authority to award contracts based on profitability prompted the War Industries Board to form a price-fixing committee, of which Hancock was a member. From April to August 1917, he served on the General Munitions Board and, in 1919, accompanied Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, to dispose of accumulated naval equipment overseas. Hancock also established organizations to settle claims against the Navy. Finally, in 1919, lured by challenges in the private sector, Hancock resigned from the Navy at the rank of commander.

His accomplishments in the Navy resounded through the business world, generating numerous attractive offers, all of which Hancock turned down while still waiting for a challenge that befitted his skills and talents. A challenge did finally present itself when Herbert H. Lehman, a very good friend of Hancock’s, offered him a position with Lehman Brothers investment bankers in New York City.

In October 1919, Lehman Brothers asked Hancock to undertake the reorganization of the Jewel Tea Company in Chicago, which had been financed by them and was now deep in debt. The company had been operating at an annual loss of $2 million, along with a substantial debt of $4.5 million. Hancock came on board as vice-president and under his watch implemented corrective strategies: unprofitable branches were closed, low-volume routes were dropped, inventories were substantially reduced to provide badly needed cash, common dividends were canceled, and preferred dividends were deferred. After these changes were implemented, the result was a complete turnaround for the company. By 1924, the company's annual profit was $750,000. During Jewel Tea Company’s transition, Hancock was promoted to president in 1922. In 1924, the same year the Jewel Tea Company changed its financial course, Hancock became a partner in Lehman Brothers, a milestone since he was the first partner not to be a Lehman family member. In March, Hancock surrendered the presidency of the Jewel Tea Company to Maurice H. Karker. The Jewel Tea Company’s new fortunes were an immense accomplishment from which Hancock reaped a reputation. He became director of many different corporations, including Sears Roebuck, Florsheim Shoe, Cluett, Peabody, Brunswick-Balke Collender, International Silver, Kroger Grocery & Baking Company, and American Stories.

Hancock was also involved in civil affairs, often serving the federal government in an advisory capacity. In 1933, he was an executive officer of the National Recovery Administration and, in 1939, was a member of the War Resources Board. In 1942, he and Bernard Baruch participated in a survey of the rubber industry. In 1943, following an appointment by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hancock assisted the director of the Office of War Mobilization in developing reconversion and post-war adjustment policies. He again worked with Baruch in 1946-1947, when he served as general manager of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. He helped formulate an American proposal on international control of atomic energy.

Hancock has often been recognized for his achievements and contributions. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross by the U.S. Navy in 1919 and the U.S. Army Medal of Merit in 1948. In 1945, he was awarded the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for “distinguished achievement in industrial management.” He was also a recipient of honorary degrees from Hamilton College, New York (1950), and New York University (1950).

Hancock was also an active alumnus of UND. He served as a director of the UND Alumni Association and led the efforts to build Memorial Stadium. During this process, he donated $25,000 to the cause. In 1932, the University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Hancock Hall was dedicated in his honor on October 24, 1952. Even though Hancock was a distinguished alumnus of UND, he spent most of his life outside North Dakota. John Milton Hancock died September 25, 1956, in White Plains, New York. He is buried in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.

Sources:

“Mr. Hancock and the Bomb,” Fortune: February 1947

Who Was Who in America, 1951-1960

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. 46, 1967

Various articles from the Dakota Student and the UND Alumni Review

Subject/Index Terms

Business and Industry
Cold War
Great Depression
Military History - World War II (WW2)
University of North Dakota - Alumni

Administrative Information

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

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

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[Box 10],
[Box 11],
[Scrapbook 1-21],
[Photographs 1-9],
[Oversize Folder 1: Oversize Documents, 1903-1918],
[All]

Box 1

Volume 1: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (A-C)
Volume 2: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (C-H)
Volume 3: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (J-M)
Volume 4: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946, (M-Z)
Volume 5: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1946 (Henry Wallace)

Box 2

Volume 1: Rubber Survey Committee, 1942, Book I
Volume 2: Rubber Survey Committee, 1942, Book II
Volume 3: Rubber Survey Committee, 1942, Book III
Volume 4: Rubber Survey Committee, Book IV
Volume 5: Rubber Survey Committee, Book V

Box 3

Volume 1: Rubber Survey Committee, Book VI
Volume 2: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement Book
Volume 3: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement Book
Volume 4: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement Book
Volume 5: Office of War Mobilization, History of Contract Settlement
Volume 6: Office of War Mobilization, Joint Army-Navy Termination Regulation
Volume 7: Office of War Mobilization, Contract Settlement Action by Committee

Box 4

Volume 1: Banking Act of 1935
Volume 2: Securities Act and Exchange Bills, 1934-1940
Volume 3: Securities Act and Exchange Bills, 1934-1940
Volume 4: Securities Act and Exchange Bills, 1934-1940

Box 5

Folder 1: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 2: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 3: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 4: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 5: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 6: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 7: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 8: Hancock Committee Report to the American Chemical Society, 1946-1947
Folder 9: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 10: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 11: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 12: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 13: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 14: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 15: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 16: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission - Subject Files, 1946
Folder 17: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission Official Records, nos. 1-5
Folder 18: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Public Comment and Press Reaction to Public Comment, 1946
Folder 19: Journal of the United Nations, 1946
Folder 20: Publications - Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and Atomic Information, 1946

Box 6

Folder 1: Securities Act and Exchange Bill, 1934-1935

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, 1934-1935

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, 1934-1935

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, 1934-1935

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, 1934-1935

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, 1932-1934

Folder 7: Export-Import Bank, 1932-1934

Folder 8: Committee on Atomic Energy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1946

Folder 9: Committee on Atomic Energy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1946

Folder 10: Army Industrial College, 1945

Folder 11: Army Industrial College, 1945

Folder 12: Army Industrial College, 1945

Folder 13: United Nations News, December 1947-September 1949

Folder 14: American Export Lines, Inc., 1938-1942

Folder 15: War Resources Board, 1939

Folder 16: War Resources Board, 1939

Folder 17: War Resources Board, 1939

Folder 18: War Resources Board, 1939

Folder 19: War Resources Board, 1939

Folder 20: War Resources Board, 1940-1943

Box 7

Folder 1: Correspondence related to Atomic Energy
Folder 2: Atomic Energy Government Reports and Publications
Folder 3: Atomic Energy Government Reports and Publications
Folder 4: Atomic Energy Government Reports and Publications
Folder 5: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946
Folder 6: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946
Folder 7: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946
Folder 8: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946
Folder 9: Navy Special Committee Regarding the Supply System, 1945-1946
Folder 10: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 11: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 12: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 13: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 14: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 15: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 16: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 17: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 18: Miscellaneous, 1943 (probably related to the Office of War Mobilization)
Folder 19: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946
Folder 20: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946
Folder 21: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946
Folder 22: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946
Folder 23: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935
Folder 24: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935
Folder 25: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935
Folder 26: Securities and Exchange Commission, Sub-Committee of the Law Committee on the Segregation of the Functions of Broker and Dealer, 1935
Folder 27: Office of War Mobilization, May-October 1943
Folder 28: Office of War Mobilization, May-October 1943
Folder 29: Office of War Mobilization, May-October 1943

Box 8

Volume 1: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946
Volume 2: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Meeting Minutes, 1946
Volume 3: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Sub-Committee No. 1, Meeting Minutes, 1946
Volume 4: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, Sub-Committee No. 2, Meeting Minutes, 1946

Box 10

Folder 1: Speeches and Publications of John M. Hancock, 1944-1953

Folder 2: “History of the Purchase Division, Navy Department, Washington D.C., During the World War, 1917-1918,” written by Commander John M. Hancock, undated

Folder 3: UND and Wesley College Correspondence, 1936-1949

Folder 4: UND and Wesley College Correspondence, 1950-1956

Folder 5: Miscellaneous Materials - UND

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, 1949

Folder 7: Medals

Item 1: North Dakota Interscholastic Championship, 1903
Item 2: North Dakota Interscholastic Championship, 1903
Item 3: U.S. Navy Departmental Tennis League, 1915
Item 4: U.S. Navy, 2nd place in Men’s Singles, 1922
Item 5: U.S. Navy, "District Patriotic Tennis Tournament Doubles Won by Doyle and Hancock", undated
Item 6: Citizens of the District of Columbia for Service in the First World War, undated
Item 7: War Industries Board, 1920
Item 8: War Industries Board, 1926

Folder 8: “Mr. Hancock and the Bomb”, Fortune, February 1947

Folder 9: Journal articles printed from JSTOR

Item 1: “Price-Fixing as Seen by a Price-Fixer,” by F.W. Taussig, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 33:2, February 1919
Item 2: “Renegotiation of War Contract Prices,” by Norman C. Parkin, The Journal of Business of the University of Chicago, 17:2, April 1944
Item 3: "The Reconversion Phase of Demobilization,” by V.O. Key, Jr., The American Political Science Review, 38:6, December 1944
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 1946
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 1976

Folder 10: Correspondence, 1941

Folder 11: "To John M. Hancock on his retirement from the Board of Directors of Sears, Roebuck and Co.", 1955

Folder 12: Certificates

Item 1: Membership in Delta Sigma Pi, 1931
Item 2: Membership in Sigma Chi, 1931
Item 3: Sig Medal from Sigma Chi, 1946
Item 4: Membership in the Business Advisory Council for the Department of Commerce, 1951
Item 5: Distinguished Service Citation from the UND Alumni Association, 1956
Item 6: Membership in the National Air Council, undated

Folder 13: War Industries Board: 1. Letter to President Wilson 2. Cartoons of Hancock and his service on the Board, 1918

Box 11

Item 1: Photograph Album: 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 1-21

Separated and placed on the shelves adjacent to the collection

Scrapbook 1: Profit and Inflation, 1947
Scrapbook 2: Profit and Inflation, 1948-1949
Scrapbook 3: Profit and Inflation, 1950-1951
Scrapbook 4: Profit and Inflation, 1952-1954
Scrapbook 5: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.1), 1945-1946
Scrapbook 6: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.2), 1946-1947
Scrapbook 7: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.3), 1947-1949
Scrapbook 8: United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (v.4), 1950-1954
Scrapbook 9: General Scrapbook, January-June 1946
Scrapbook 10: General Scrapbook, July-December 1946
Scrapbook 11: General Scrapbook, 1947 and Special
Scrapbook 12: General Scrapbook, January-June 1948
Scrapbook 13: General Scrapbook, July-December 1948
Scrapbook 14: General Scrapbook, January-June 1949
Scrapbook 15: General Scrapbook, July-December 1949
Scrapbook 16: General Scrapbook, January-June 1950
Scrapbook 17: General Scrapbook, July-December 1950
Scrapbook 18: General Scrapbook, January-December 1951
Scrapbook 19: General Scrapbook, 1952-1954
Scrapbook 20: General Scrapbook, 1945-1946
Scrapbook 21: General Scrapbook, 1952

Photographs 1-9

Separated and placed in the Photograph File Cabinets.

Photograph 1: Portrait of Hancock, undated (for possible use in The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography)
Photograph 2: UND Alumni Board, June 1953
Photograph 3: Hancock and choir, Emerado, North Dakota, June 7, 1953
Photograph 4: Hancock and group of women, Emerado, North Dakota, June 7, 1953
Photograph 5: Banquet, Emerado, North Dakota, June 7, 1953
Photograph 6: Hancock while at UND, 1903
Photograph 7: Hancock at meeting of UND Alumni, 1952
Photograph 8: M. Beatrice Johnstone, Joseph Bridston, and Hancock at UND Memorial Union, 1952
Photograph 9: M. Beatrice Johnstone and Hancock at reception in Johnstone Hall, 1952

Oversize Folder 1: Oversize Documents, 1903-1918

Separated and placed in the Oversize File Cabinets.

Item 1: Bachelor of Arts Diploma from UND, June 18, 1903
Item 2: Commission: Ensign and Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, June 6, 1904
Item 3: Commission: Ensign and Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, February 10, 1905
Item 4: Commission: Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, March 9, 1908
Item 5: Commission: Lieutenant and Passed Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, September 30, 1908
Item 6: Commission: Lieutenant and Passed Assistant Paymaster in the Navy, December 8, 1908
Item 7: Commission: Commission: Lieutenant and Paymaster in the Navy, June 15, 1914
Item 8: Commission: Commander and Pay Inspector in the Navy, December 18, 1918

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