FRANK B. KELLOGG:

Frank Billings Kellogg was born in Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York on December 22, 1856. He moved with his parents to Minnesota in 1865 and studied law in Rochester, Minnesota, where he was admitted to the bar in 1877, becoming the city attorney of Rochester from 1878-1881 and county attorney for Olmsted county 1882-1887. In 1887 he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and became a member of the Republican National Committee 1904-1912, and president of the American Bar Association in 1912 and 1913.

Kellogg was elected to the United States Senate in March of 1917 and served until March of 1923. After being appointed in 1922 by Warren G. Harding to be the United States delegate to the Fifth International Conference of American States, held in Santiago, Chile, Kellogg was then appointed United States ambassador to Great Britain by President Coolidge, a position he served until 1925. From 1925-1929 Kellogg was Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Coolidge, coauthoring the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact signed in 1928. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 and served as an associate judge of the Permanent Court for International Justice from 1930-1935.

Kellogg died of pneumonia in St. Paul on December 21, 1937 following a stroke. He and his wife Clara Cook Kellogg are interred at the Washington National Cathedral.

Chronology

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Correspondence, memoranda, speeches, background materials, clippings, memorabilia, and other papers of this U.S. senator from Minnesota (1917-1923), ambassador to Great Britain (1923-1925), secretary of state (1925-1929), and judge on the Permanent Court of International Justice (World Court) (1930-1935).

Besides reflecting the issues and activities associated with these positions, the papers also provide considerable information about state and national Republican party politics, and about U.S. politics in general. Lesser amounts of material document his organizational memberships and activities, business affairs, career as St. Paul (Minn.) lawyer, and family matters. None of his official dispatches as ambassador or secretary of state are present.

Kellogg saved only part of his Senatorial files. They document, among other topics, the Colombian (Panama) and Versailles treaties; post-World War I governments and economic conditions in Europe, including the League of Nations; revision of judicial procedure; railroads; the development and regulation of domestic and international communications systems; protection of aliens residing in the U.S.; and the agricultural depression of the early 1920s.

Papers from Kellogg’s service as ambassador provide information on the European military, diplomatic, social, and economic scene; revision of the schedule of World War I reparations payments by Germany; and the official and social life of an ambassador.

Much of the papers focus on Kellogg’s years as secretary of state (1925-1929). They are particularly valuable for informal or unofficial discussions about international relations and the development and execution of American foreign policy. There is information on State Department administration; departmental and diplomatic appointments and personnel; the Tacna-Arica boundary dispute between Chile and Peru; the Chaco boundary dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay; civil war in Nicaragua; Pan-American relations in general; American policies toward China; relations with Canada and Mexico, particularly the latter’s determination to reduce foreign ownership of land and resources; recognition of Russia; and world peace, world organization, and arms control, especially the 1927 Geneva disarmament conference, the World Court, and the Pact of Paris. Papers from his subsequent service on the World Court continue many of these themes.

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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The microfilmed portion of these papers are described in greater detail in Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Frank B. Kellogg Papers, also filed in the repository as M332.

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Access Restrictions:

Microfilmed originals (23.0 cubic feet) are closed to general use. Consult the reference staff for more information.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]Frank B. Kellogg Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society, 1977.

Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society. Inquiries regarding purchases by non-Minnesota residents and institutions should be directed to LexisNexis.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 4629; 4656; 4886; 5474; 5568; 5782; 6312; 6743; 7317; 7469; 11,191; 16,481; 17,123; 17,283; 17,333

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 990017324820104294

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Correspondence and miscellaneous papers

Volumes

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Access restricted. Microfilmed and closed to general use. Researchers are directed to use the microfilm.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Agriculture -- United States.

Arms control.

Chaco War, 1932-1935.

Courts -- United States.

Depressions -- 1929.

Elections -- Minnesota.

Elections -- United States.

International organization.

Judicial process.

Pan-Americanism.

Peaceful change (International relations)

Political campaigns -- Minnesota.

Political campaigns -- United States.

Railroads -- United States.

Tacna-Arica question.

Telecommunication -- United States.

World War, 1914-1918 -- Reparations.

Persons:

Anderson, Chandler P. (Chandler Parsons), 1866-1936, author.

Astor, Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess, 1879-1964, author.

Beck, James M. (James Montgomery), 1861-1936, author.

Borah, William Edgar, 1865-1940, author.

Bryn-Jones, David, 1882-1976, author.

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947, author.

Butler, Pierce, 1866-1939, author.

Christianson, Theodore, 1883-1948, author.

Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933, author.

Cowling, Donald J. (Donald John), 1880-1965, author.

Davis, Dwight Filley, 1879-1945, author.

Davis, James J. (James John), 1873-1947, author.

Davis, John W. (John William), 1873-1955, author.

Fletcher, Henry Prather, 1873-1959, author.

Frelinghuysen, Joseph S. (Joseph Sherman), 1869-1943, author.

Grew, Joseph C. (Joseph Clark), 1880-1965, author.

Hammond, John Hays, 1855-1936, author.

Hard, William, 1878-1962, author.

Herrick, Myron T. (Myron Timothy), 1854-1929, author.

Hilles, Charles Dewey, 1867-1949, author.

Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964, author.

Houghton, Alanson Bigelow, 1863-1941, author.

Hughes, Charles Evans, 1862-1948, author.

Johnson, Nelson T. (Nelson Trusler), 1887-1954, author.

Kellogg, Clara Cook, 1861-1942, author.

Levinson, Salmon Oliver, 1865-1941, author.

Lilly, Richard C., 1884-1959, author.

Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974, author.

Mackay, Clarence Hungerford, author.

Marcosson, Isaac Frederick, 1876-1961, author.

Mayo, Charles H. (Charles Horace), 1865-1939, author.

Mayo, William James, 1861-1939, author.

Mellon, Andrew W. (Andrew William), 1855-1937, author.

Moos, Charles J., 1880- , author.

Morgan, George W., 1884- , author.

Morrow, Dwight W. (Dwight Whitney), 1873-1931, author.

O'Laughlin, John Callan, 1873-1949, author.

Olds, Robert Edwin, 1875-1932, author.

Ottis, Francis J., 1871-1935, author.

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, author.

Root, Elihu, 1845-1937, author.

Rowe, L. S. (Leo Stanton), 1871-1946, author.

Severance, Cordenio Arnold, 1862-1925, author.

Sheffield, James R. (James Rockwell), 1864-1938, author.

Spencer, George H., author.

Sterling, Frederick, 1876- author.

Stimson, Henry L. (Henry Lewis), 1867-1950, author.

Strawn, Silas Hardy, 1866- , author.

Swenson, Laurits Selmer, 1865-1947, author.

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930, author.

Warren, Charles Beecher, author.

Wickersham, George W. (George Woodward), 1858-1936, author.

Organizations:

American Bar Association, author.

American Peace Society, author.

American Society of International Law, author.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, author.

Citizens' Non-Partisan Committee, author.

Council on Foreign Relations, author.

League of Nations, author.

League of Nations.

Pan American Union, author.

Permanent Court of International Justice.

Republican Party (Minn.)

Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )

Roosevelt Memorial Association, author.

United States. Department of State.

Meetings:

Conference for the Limitation of Naval Armament (1927 : Geneva, Switzerland)

Places:

Europe -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945.

Minnesota -- Politics and government.

Nicaragua -- History -- Revolution, 1926-1929.

United States -- Emigration and immigration.

United States -- Foreign relations -- Canada.

United States -- Foreign relations -- China.

United States -- Foreign relations -- Colombia.

United States -- Foreign relations -- Mexico.

United States -- Foreign relations -- Russia (Federation).

United States -- Foreign relations -- 20th century.

United States -- Politics and government.

Document Types:

Microforms.

Speeches.

Occupations:

Ambassadors -- United States.

Judges.

Lawyers -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Legislators -- United States.

Statesmen -- United States.

Titles:

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928 August 27)

Treaty of Versailles (1919 June 28)

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