Gifts of Holt, Helen F., 1956-2016.
This collection is one of five (see also A&M 1858, 4218, 4039, and 3943) pertaining to Rush Dew Holt, Sr. and his family. The records have been gathered via multiple accruals from 1956 to 2016. Originally, these collections were divided between A&M 873 and A&M 1701, the latter also being composed of thirteen addenda and A&M 1858.
In an attempt to organize the collections in a more coherent fashion for patron use and to reflect the creator(s) in a more concise manner, the material was reevaluated and reorganized into the three sets of papers with distinct series and subseries: A&M 873: Rush Dew Holt (1905-1955) Papers; A&M 1858: Helen Holt (1913-2015) Papers; and A&M 4218: Rush Dew Holt Family Papers.
Because of the 2016-2017 reorganization, the physical arrangement no longer matches the intellectual arrangement and series order. Furthermore, any box and folder citations created prior to the above-mentioned project are likely no longer accurate.
For assistance locating material using an older citation, please ask a staff member of the West Virginia & Regional History Center.
Rush Dew Holt was born in Weston, West Virginia, on June 19, 1905 to parents, Dr. Matthew S. Holt and Chihela (Dew) Holt. From an early age, Holt displayed scholarly potential. By age three, he was able to read first-grade primers, and eventually became interested in numerous topics for which he was able to provide detailed statistics. Among these interests was politics, and by age six, Holt had decided he would become a Democrat.
The potential displayed by Holt as a child continued into his school years. At age five, he began public education in the second grade, and he skipped grades on two more occasions. He attended Weston High School, and after graduating with honors at age fourteen, Holt applied to the University of Cincinnati; however, the register rejected the application because Holt, while academically qualified, was considered too young. Not one to admit defeat, a trait that would prove to be a lifelong characteristic, Holt turned to West Virginia University where he was accepted. As the youngest member of the freshman class, Holt found it difficult to obtain full acceptance as a college student, and his academic record reflected his apparent dissatisfaction. After two years at West Virginia University, Holt transferred to Salem College where the enrollment was smaller (approximately 300 students) and where he was able to live with his uncle, Professor Samuel Dew. It was at Salem College that Holt regained his self-confidence. His academic performance improved, and he maintained a B-plus average. In addition to academics, Holt excelled on the debate team. He was the editor-in-chief of the school paper, and he managed the tennis team.
In 1924, Holt received a Bachelor of Arts Degree and qualification to teach at secondary schools. Shortly after his graduation, he was hired to teach at Bedford High School in Virginia where he taught English and history in addition to serving as the school's athletic director. After one academic year, Holt returned to Weston, West Virginia, where he took a position at St. Patrick's High School as the athletic director. Holt also coached the basketball team with abundant success, leading the team to two national tournaments for Catholic schools. During this time, Holt also taught history as a part-time instructor at Glenville Normal School and Salem College, but his fascination with athletics persisted. In addition to coaching and occasional officiating, Holt also began writing about sports. Eventually, he began to contribute columns to daily West Virginia newspapers.
By the late 1920s, Holt was attracted to the political environment, and he began to contribute to candidates who were friends of and/or who shared the views of his father. In the summer of 1928, Holt went one step further by announcing his candidacy as a Democrat for the West Virginia House of Delegates. Despite Lewis County having been predominately Republican, in addition to not having received significant party backing, Holt still obtained a higher-than-expected amount of support, losing his race by only 500 votes. Once again, however, Holt would not admit defeat. In 1930 Holt again announced his candidacy for the West Virginia House of Delegates. During the campaign, he visited locations all around Lewis County, spoke to anyone who would listen, and ensured that the grievances such as those concerning government cost, increased taxes, and the power of privately owned public utilities would all be addressed. As expected with any campaign, Holt received criticism, and those who opposed him likened the young politician to his father who they declared was a radical, a socialist, and an atheist. Despite the scornful claims, Holt, by a margin of 2,150 votes, was elected to his first public office as a Democrat to the West Virginia Legislature where he served from 1931-1935. During his years as a delegate, as promised during his campaign, Holt spoke out against corrupt practices such as government spending, an issue he addressed not even a week into the 1931 session. In addition to debating issues in the House, Holt also wrote to state supported universities, highway commissioners, and auditors in West Virginia and numerous other states to gather financial figures concerning spending, salaries, and taxes among others. Holt also began an investigation in 1931 to uncover rates, operating costs, and profits of privately and publically owned utility companies. All of these endeavors were only the first chapter in Holt's political career.
By 1934 he had gained the political support and the backing of union workers which was enough to defeat incumbent United States Senator Henry Hatfield. At age twenty-nine, Holt became the youngest person to win a United States Senate seat; however, there was immediate criticism. No sooner had the votes been tallied before a protest was filed concerning Holt's credentials: the fact that he had run for an office when he had not been of the required age. In addition to discontent within his own state, Holt also received overwhelming opposition in Washington, D.C. from Senate Republicans who threatened to object on the grounds of the constitutional age requirement. Despite the criticism, Holt's election was not overturned; however, he had to wait until he turned thirty, over five months after the Seventy-forth Congress had convened, before he could participate in senatorial proceedings.
Just as he had been active in the West Virginia Legislature, Holt did not hesitate to address both major and minor issues on Capitol Hill either. During his time in the Senate, Holt served on several committees including Education and Labor, Immigration, Mines and Mining, Naval Affairs, and Post Offices and Post Roads. He also served as a member of the United States delegation to the 1939 Interparliamentary Conference in Oslo, Norway.
Although Holt had once been referred to as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Golden Boy," such alliances and the policies that had formed them began to dissolve by 1936. He became estranged from fellow Democrat and West Virginian Senator Matthew Neely, and Holt ended his support for the United Mine Workers of America and the Works Progress Administration, the latter of which he claimed was corrupt. Eventually, Holt criticized the Roosevelt administration for its New Deal policies, he adamantly fought Roosevelt's attempt to alter the Supreme Court by changing the number of sitting justices from nine to twelve, and he spoke out against the proposition of allowing a presidential third term. Furthermore, as unrest began in Europe with Germany's invasion of Poland, Holt campaigned against any attempts by the administration to involve the United States in the War. The responses from constituents about Holt's actions were mixed; nevertheless, the young senator's sudden change led to his unsuccessful renomination attempt in 1940. Holt did not even make it past the primary election.
After his Senate term ended, Holt remained in Washington, D.C. and began to support himself as a lecturer and a writer of political issues, particularly neutrality for which he received the support of the America First Committee. It was also during this time that Holt met Helen Louise Froelich, a biology teacher at National Park College near Washington. They were married a year later and moved to West Virginia. The couple had two children: a daughter, Helen Jane Holt (born in 1945) and a son, Rush Dew Holt, Jr. (born in 1948). When Senator Holt's sister, Jane (Holt) Chase, died in 1952, the couple adopted her son, David. After the Holts returned to West Virginia in 1941, Holt stayed involved in politics by accepting speaking engagements.
During the remainder of the 1940s, Holt ran several times for state offices with modest success. He was elected to the State House of Delegates in 1942 and was reelected in 1944 by write-in vote and 1946 without opposition. After a failed attempt to win the West Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1944 and the nomination for United States Senator in 1948, Holt changed political affiliation. Despite this, his lack of success to achieve positions beyond the House of Delegates continued. In 1950, he won the Republican nomination to represent West Virginia's Third District in the United States House of Representatives but lost in the general election, and in 1952 Holt came very close to winning the race for West Virginia governor as the Republican candidate but lost to William Marland by fewer than 30,000 votes. Success returned in 1954 when Holt was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates by the voters of Lewis County, but he was unable to finish his term due to illness.
Holt died on February 8, 1955 after a long, tough campaign against cancer.
June 19, 1905: born
1920: graduated from high school
1920-1922: attended West Virginia University
1922-1924: attended Salem College, received a BA degree
1924-1925: taught English and history and served as athletic director at Bedford High School in Virginia
1925-1928: served as athletic director and basketball coach at St. Patrick's High School (Catholic school) in Weston, West Virginia; taught history as a part-time instructor at Glenville Normal School and Salem College; and contributed sport columns to daily West Virginia newspapers
1928: ran as a Democrat for the West Virginia House of Delegates, lost by 500 votes
1930: ran as a Democrat for the West Virginia House of Delegates, won by 2,150 votes, served from 1931-1935
1934: ran as a Democrat for the United States Senate and won despite being only twenty-nine years old
1939: served as a member of the United States delegation to the Interparliamentary Conference in Oslo, Norway
1940: ran for renomination to the Senate, failed to win the primary election
1941: married Helen Louise Froelich
1942: ran as a Democrat for the West Virginia House of Delegates and won, reelected in 1944, 1946, and 1948, served until 1950.
1944: ran as a Democrat for the West Virginia gubernatorial nomination but was unsuccessful
1945: birth of Helen Jane Holt
1948: birth of Rush Dew Holt, Jr.
1948: ran as a Democrat for the United States Senate nomination but was unsuccessful
1948: switched political affiliation to the Republican Party
1952: ran as the Republican candidate for West Virginia Governor but lost to William Marland by fewer than 30,000 votes
1954: ran as a Republican for the West Virginia House of Delegates and won
February 8, 1955: death
Coffey, William Ellis.
A&M 0873, Rush Dew Holt (1905-1955) Papers, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries.
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Rush Dew Holt (1905-1955) Papers, A&M 0873, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
1858, 3001, 3943, 4039, 4218, 4386
Papers of Rush Dew Holt, Sr. (1905-1955) relating to his personal and political activities. Types of material include publications, clippings, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera, among others. The collection is divided into six series: Personal and Political Papers (1840-2000 and undated) includes correspondence; invitations and cards; material representing campaign activities; and material from college courses, among other material that represents Rush Holt's personal life and political career; and ephemera collected by Rush Holt. Artifacts (1939-1952 and undated) includes personal and political items collected by Rush Holt. Legislative Records (1920-1955 and undated) includes correspondence, reports, publications, clippings, statistics, transcripts, financial records, and project records, among other miscellaneous material relative to Rush Holt's committee-based and general legislative activity. Constituent Services (1923-1954 and undated) includes mail received by Rush Holt during his time in the West Virginia House of Delegates and the United States Senate from constituents providing political opinions to Holt or requesting government publications and bulletins, copies of speeches, educational material, and Rush Holt's recommendation to the United States Military or Naval Academy. Press and Media Activity (1925-2003 and undated) includes original and photocopied articles from newspapers and similar publications, typescripts of press releases, pen-and-ink drawn political cartoons, transcripts of speeches, and sound recordings, among other material representing Rush Holt's involvement with the press and media. Administrative Files (1937-1940) includes material documenting the daily office activities of Rush Holt and his staff during the former's senatorial term.
The collection is divided into six series as follows:
Includes material related to Rush Holt's personal, family, and political life. Additional material related to his work in politics can be found in Series 3 through 6. Types of material include correspondence; invitations and cards; material representing campaign activities; material from college courses; bills for recordings, radio station receipts, and election expenditures; typescripts, newsletters, manuscripts, and photocopies of material written by Rush Holt; publications to which Rush Holt subscribed and collected; photographs that represent Rush Holt's personal life and political career; ephemera collected by Rush Holt; and election results collected by Rush Holt.
Includes personal and political items collected by Rush Holt.
Includes correspondence, reports, publications, clippings, statistics, transcripts, financial records, and project records, among other miscellaneous material relative to Rush Holt's committee-based and general legislative activity.
Includes mail received by Rush Holt during his time in the West Virginia House of Delegates and the United States Senate from constituents requesting government publications and bulletins, copies of speeches, educational material, and Rush Holt's recommendation to the United States Military or Naval Academy. In some cases, this series also includes typescript responses, many of which are generic.
Includes original and photocopied articles from newspapers and similar publications, typescripts of press releases, pen-and-ink drawn political cartoons, transcripts of speeches, and sound recordings, among other material representing Rush Holt's involvement with the press and media.
Includes material documenting the daily office activities of Rush Holt and his staff during the former's senatorial term.
Ephemeral items not specific to Rush Dew Holt were moved to the Printed Ephemera Collection. Several local basketball scorecards were moved to A&M 4216, the Annual West Virginia State High School Basketball Tournament Programs collection.
17 reels of undated sound recordings, chiefly relating to the political career of Rush Dew Holt, were separated to the oral history collection, C432 R699-R715 (17 tapes). These tapes include some personal material as well.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Includes material related to Rush Holt's personal, family, and political life. Additional material related to his work in politics can be found in Series 3 through 6. Types of material include correspondence; invitations and cards; material representing campaign activities; material from college courses; bills for recordings, radio station receipts, and election expenditures; typescripts, newsletters, manuscripts, and photocopies of material written by Rush Holt; publications to which Rush Holt subscribed and collected; photographs that represent Rush Holt's personal life and political career; ephemera collected by Rush Holt; and election results collected by Rush Holt.
Includes correspondence relating to the personal and political issues of Rush Holt's life.
Because of different original series of correspondence, in addition to maintaining this original order, the material of this series, as a whole, is not in chronological order.
Personal correspondence topics include Rush Holt's marriage to Helen Louise Froelich, family matters such as births and deaths, holidays, Rush Holt's illness, and general correspondence with family and friends, among others.
Political correspondence topics include an anti-lynching bill which is represented by letters between Rush Holt and Walter White, former secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; the United Mine Workers of America which is represented by correspondence between Rush Holt and Frank Miley, former president of the United Mine Workers of America, District 31; and the seating issue from when Rush Holt was first elected to the Senate; among others.
Other prominent correspondents/subjects of correspondence include Joe Alderson, former WPA Director in Lewis County, West Virginia; Van A. Bittner, former president of United Mine Workers Association District 12; James A. Farley, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee; and Frank Miley, former president of the United Mine Workers of America, District 31, among others.
Items of note include political-related correspondence with Spencer Bonaventure Tracey (located in box 229, folder 7), Louise B. Mayer (located in box 229, folder 8), Walt Disney (located in box 229, folder 9), and James Cagney (located in box 229, folder 11). Other items of note include a poem titled Rejected (not Holt's) that is set in Hell and portrays President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a sinner (located in box 238, folder 3), and a letter from President Harry S. Truman (located in box 357, folder 1).
For correspondence directly related to Rush Holt's campaigns, please see Series 1. Personal and Political Papers—Campaign Material.
For Utility Investigating Committee-related correspondence, please see Series 3. Legislative Records—West Virginia House of Delegates Utility Investigating Committee
For Government Costs Committee-related correspondence, please see Series 3. Legislative Records—West Virginia House of Delegates State Government Costs Committee.
For Interstate Cooperation Commission-related correspondence, please see Series 3. Legislative Records—West Virginia House of Delegates Interstate Cooperation Commission.
For Works Progress Administration-related correspondence, please see Series 3. Legislative Records—Works Progress Administration.
Includes invitations and cards retained by Rush Holt. Also includes a small subset of Holt's responses.
Invitations represent both public and private events including graduations, weddings, and dinners, among others.
Cards are inclusive of general greeting cards, sympathy cards for the deaths of Rush Holt's parents, and get-well cards.
Significant items include invitations to attend events at the White House (located in box 312, folder 10) and an invitation to attend the 1939 World's Fair (located in box 340, folder 5).
Included in this series are letters and telegrams that are interleaved with cards and that possess a similar theme.
Includes material representing Rush Holt's activities during his political campaigns for West Virginia and national offices.
Types of material include broadsides, correspondence, newspaper mats, publicity releases, and speeches, among others.
Items of note include certificates of election for the West Virginia House of Delegates (located in box 369, folder 1).
Includes Rush Holt's diploma from Weston High School and material from LaSalle Extension University Law and Practical Accounting courses in which Rush Holt enrolled.
Types of material include coursework, examinations, and records of final grades.
An item of note is Rush Holt's high school diploma (located in box 1, folder 6).
Includes bills for recordings, radio station receipts, and election expenditures information that Rush Holt retained.
For the sound recordings mentioned in this material in addition to other recordings by Rush Holt, please see Series 5. Press and Media Activity--Recordings.
Includes typescripts, newsletters, manuscripts, and photocopies of newspaper articles written by Rush Holt.
Typescripts include
Copies of
Manuscripts by Rush Holt include
Includes publications such as magazines, newsletters, bulletins, brochures, and pamphlets, among other types of publications to which Rush Holt subscribed and collected.
Topics include neutrality, war propaganda, taxes, and utilities, among others.
Publications include Uncensored, Social Justice, Public Assistance, West Virginia utility reports, and tax publications from different states, among others.
An item of note is the photocopied section of Sherwood Anderson's Puzzled America that mentions Rush Holt (located in box 370, folder 10). A copy of the whole book is available through West Virginia University's Downtown Library (call number: E806.A652 1970).
Includes photographs that represent Rush Holt's personal life and political career. Photographs depict Rush Holt and his family, among other prominent individuals.
Personal life photographs include Rush Holt's and Helen Louise Froelich's wedding and photographs taken of Rush Holt and his family during holidays and other special occasions.
Political career photographs comprise the majority of this series and represent occasions such as sessions of the West Virginia Legislature, political conventions, and campaign events including Dwight Eisenhower's "Whistle Stop" presidential campaign through West Virginia (located in box 370, folder 13), among others.
Prominent individuals include James Farley, former postmaster general during the first two administrations of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (signed photograph located in box 1, folder 1); individuals involved with WCHS News, including Ron Edwards; and former Vice President John N. Garner (signed photograph located in box 370, folder 16), among other politicians.
For additional photographs of Rush Holt, please see the West Virginia & Regional History Center's digitized OnView collection.
Includes items collected by Rush Holt such as personal nameplates, political and historical ephemera, tickets to events, and personal items, among others.
Political and historical ephemera includes an "America First" ribbon (located in box 341, folder 2), a campaign ribbon from the 1840 Van Buren and Johnson election (located in box 341, folder 2), and a Confederate ten dollar bill (located in box 341, folder 2).
Tickets to events are representative of commencements and sporting events in West Virginia, the premiere of Disney's
Personal items include material from a fraternity to which Rush Holt belonged, items (pictures, cards, licenses) from his wallets, and material from a Bible class Rush Holt taught.
The wallets from which the personal pictures, cards, and licenses were removed are located in Series 2. Artifacts.
Includes miscellaneous material collected by Rush Holt.
Types of material include newspaper clippings, reports, publications, and correspondence, and election-related records, among others.
Topics include other senators (e.g., Joe Guffey of Pennsylvania and H. D. Hatfield of West Virginia), labor, railroads, and the Supreme Court, among others.
Items of note include a certificate confirming Rush Holt's initiation into the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (located in box 1, loose); maps that detail election results for different offices including governor, House of Delegates, etc. in West Virginia (located in box 147, folder 8); Rush Holt's diary (located in box 166, folder 1), material relating to John L. Lewis and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (located in box 151, folders 1 to 3); a list of individuals who have sat in the same Senate desk that Rush Holt did (located in box 369, folder 13); a prayer authored by Rush Holt (located in box 372, folder 7); and material relating to the Rush Holt Endowment at West Virginia University (located in box 372, folder 8).
Includes election material collected by Holt, such as facsimile abstracts of votes, primary election results, lists of voters, and more. The main geographical focus is Lewis County, WV.
Includes personal and political items collected by Rush Holt.
Items of note include a personalized "Holt for Governor" license plate and a senatorial campaign button (located in box 374), a "liberty" embroidered cloth (located in box 4), and a West Virginia state flag (located in box 4).
Includes correspondence, reports, publications, clippings, statistics, transcripts, financial records, and project records, among other miscellaneous material relative to Rush Holt's committee-based and general legislative activity.
For records of speeches delivered in the West Virginia Legislature and the United States Senate, please see Series 5. Press and Media Activity—Speeches.
It should be noted that there exists a gap in the legislative records; thus, Rush Holt's senatorial papers are not represented as completely as those from the West Virginia House of Delegates. For material pertaining to the senatorial years, please refer to the Miscellaneous section of this series, or check the Records of the U.S. Senate at the National Archives and Records Administration.
Includes correspondence, reports, and clippings bearing primarily upon Rush Holt's activities as chairman of the Utility Investigating Committee
The material is representative of Rush Holt's interaction with and study of utility companies throughout West Virginia and the United States.
Topics include gas, electricity, fuel rates, and municipal-owned utilities, among others.
Material of note includes testimonies of utility representatives during special hearings to examine the costs of state utilities. These hearings were held in Charleston, West Virginia between February 6, 1933 and April 11, 1933 (located in box 177, folder 1 to box 180, folder 4).
Includes correspondence, statistics, reports, and transcripts relative to Rush Holt's activity with the Government Costs Committee.
Correspondence includes letters sent and received by Rush Holt regarding expenditures for West Virginia and other states.
Statistics and reports include information sent to and gathered by Rush Holt regarding state-owned cars in West Virginia.
Institutions and departments represented include the Department of Agriculture, West Virginia University, Huntington State Hospital, the Department of Mines, and the State Road Commission, among others.
The transcript document testimonies in the February 5 to March 1, 1943 hearings to investigate the cost of state government for which Rush Holt served as chairman. Entities represented by the testimonies include the Publicity Commission, the Bureau of Negro Welfare, the Road Commission, and the Labor Department, among others.
Includes financial records requested by and maintained by Rush Holt during his time as a member of the Interstate Cooperation Commission.
Types of records include correspondence, financial and payroll statistics, and budgetary reports, among others.
Entities represented include departments of state, governmental offices of state, educational institutions (including West Virginia University), and hospitals, among others.
Includes correspondence, payroll records, project records, and other miscellaneous material relative to the activities of the Works Progress Administration that Rush Holt gathered. It should be noted that while he was not an administrator of the Works Progress Administration, Rush Holt used his legislative position to discover and draw attention to the organization that he believed had been corrupted.
Correspondence is comprised of letters to and from Rush Holt concerning the status of projects in West Virginia counties. Also included are incoming letters from around the United States relating to Holt's speeches, actions, and beliefs concerning the Works Progress Administration.
Payroll records include copies of salaries received for positions of different projects in West Virginia counties. These records include location information, project numbers, position titles, and salary amounts.
Project records include information relating to the cost of rentals, supplies, and bids, among other project expenditures.
Includes typescripts, statistics, publications, reports, and other miscellaneous records pertaining to Rush Holt's legislative activity.
Topics represented by the material include municipal operations, education, neutrality, and immigration, among others.
Records of note include copies of the West
Additional correspondence related to Holt's legislative activity, and more general political topics, can be found in Series 1. Personal and Political Papers—Correspondence and Miscellaneous.
Includes mail received by Rush Holt during his time in the West Virginia House of Delegates and the United States Senate from constituents requesting government publications and bulletins, copies of speeches, educational material, and Rush Holt's recommendation to the United States Military or Naval Academy. In some cases, this series also includes typescript responses, many of which are generic.
Includes constituent mail received and sent by Rush Holt during his time in the West Virginia House of Delegates and the United States Senate.
Because of different original series of correspondence (including general correspondence, second copies, and correspondence sorted by topic), in addition to maintaining this original order, the material of this series, as a whole, is not in chronological order. It should also be noted that the letters that have been sorted by topic are not a complete representation of that subject.
Topics include World War II, neutrality, political issues (such as the Supreme Court proposed alteration, Rush Holt's age at the time of his election to the Senate, presidential third terms, etc.), state construction projects (such as roads and infrastructure), and state programs and relief efforts for issues such as the 1936 silicosis incident in West Virginia, among others.
General correspondence is arranged chronologically, then foldered by first letter of last name. It includes basic requests for material, facts, or brief opinions. Copies of typescript responses are stapled to the original constituent letter.
Second copies correspondence is arranged chronologically, but it contains only the typescript copies of Rush Holt's responses. For some, the first copy typescript and original letter are located in general correspondence; however, others are not.
Supreme Court correspondence is organized into two groups: Individuals for and against the proposed change. Attached to the initial letters from constituents is Rush Holt's response, and for those against the change, there are also form letters offering a publication commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first congressional meeting.
There are also a few boxes of
For an example of a constituent mail log, please see Series 6. Administrative Files.
Additional constituent mail may also be found in Series 1. Personal and Political Papers—Correspondence.
Includes copies of correspondence between Rush Holt and constituents asking for the former's recommendation to the United States Military Academy (West Point) or Naval Academy (Annapolis).
Includes constituent letters asking for government publications and bulletins, copies of speeches, and educational material. The material is generally separated by date and state or correspondent.
Requests for government publications and bulletins include a mixture of educational and personal use requests for publications such as the
Requests for speeches include letters from constituents reflecting their opinions about Rush Holt's speeches in addition to asking for copies. Topics of speeches requested include World War II (particularly the "Youth Faces War" and "Keep America Neutral" speeches), the Works Progress Administration, the Supreme Court issue, the Conscription bill, and the Burke-Wardsworth bill, among others.
Requests for educational material are primarily from teachers and students asking Rush Holt for material to support curriculum activities. Subjects represented include vocational school topics and issues, West Virginia and United States geography, and United States commerce, among others.
Includes original and photocopied articles from newspapers and similar publications, typescripts of press releases, pen-and-ink drawn political cartoons, transcripts of speeches, and sound recordings, among other material representing Rush Holt's involvement with the press and media.
Includes both original and photocopied articles from newspapers and similar publications retained by Rush Holt. Entire issues are also included in this series. Some clippings have been pasted into scrapbooks.
Topics represented are a combination of personal and political interests.
Personal topics include Rush Holt's wedding to Helen Louise Froelich, the Holt family, and the Rush Holt History Conference at West Virginia University (1998-2003), among others.
Political topics include Rush Holt's campaigns and elections, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the Works Progress Administration, and neutrality issues, among others.
Includes copies of typed press releases regarding speeches delivered by Rush Holt, or those with similar opinions, throughout his political career.
Topics addressed include neutrality, foreign policy, social security, and the presidential third term issue, among others.
Includes pen and ink drawings by a variety of artists for political cartoons documenting news issues of the day including the West Virginia politics, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, World War II, and isolationism, among others.
Twenty-three of these cartoons were used for a campaign booklet advocating Rush Holt's candidacy for governor of West Virginia (1952).
To see digitized copies of these Holt political cartoons, please visit the Rush Holt Political Cartoons digital collection: https://holt.lib.wvu.edu/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_field=all_fields&q.
Includes material documenting the daily office activities of Rush Holt and his staff during the former's senatorial term.
Types of material include daily reports, lists of letters received requesting information, and records of work performed by the office staff.
Daily reports document visits, appointments, and calls to Rush Holt's office for the periods of December 6, 1937 to December 31, 1938, the entire year of 1939, and January 3, 1940 to November 9, 1940.
Lists of letters received provide a chronological register of constituents' writings to Rush Holt between 1939 and 1940. It should be noted, however, that these records provide only basic information and do not indicate the subject of the correspondence.
Records of work performed provide documentation of tasks completed by Rush Holt's Senate office employees. It should be noted that these records, while detailed, are limited to the first half of 1940 (January to June).
For an example of outgoing political form letters, mass mailings, and mailing lists, see Series 4. Constituent Services—General Constituent Mail (boxes 291 and 292).