 William J. Harris Papers
Collection DescriptionBiographical NoteWilliam Julius Harris was born in Cedartown, Georgia (Polk County) on February 3, 1868. The great-grandson of North Carolina Congressman Charles Hooks, Harris attended common schools and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1890. He returned to Cedartown and engaged in general insurance business and banking, marrying Julia Wheeler Knox in 1905. Harris organized and became president of both the Georgia Fire Insurance Company and the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Cedartown in 1907. Harris served as the private secretary to Georgia Senator Alexander Stephens Clay from 1904 to 1909; Clay died in office in 1910, and the Georgia Legislature voted Hoke Smith to fill the vacancy. Harris successfully campaigned for the Georgia State Senate (38th district) and served one term, 1911-1912. When his term expired in 1913, Harris served as State Democratic Committee Chairman and campaigned in Georgia for Woodrow Wilson's presidential campaign. Although Georgia delegates voted for Wilson's southern opponent Oscar Underwood, as president, Wilson did not forget Harris's support and appointed Harris Director of the United States Census Bureau. On March 15, 1915, Harris resigned to become a member of the Federal Trade Commission where he was Acting Secretary of the Department of Commerce (1913-1915). In 1918, Harris resigned from the Federal Trade Commission to campaign for the U.S. Senate. He successfully defeated incumbent Thomas Hardwick, and was re-elected in 1924 (again defeating Hardwick) and in 1930. He was also a member of the National Forest Reservation Commission from 1929 to 1932. Harris died in office on April 18, 1932. Then Georgia Governor Richard B. Russell, Jr. announced that he would seek election to Harris's unexpired term and appointed John S. Cohen, publisher of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, to serve until the election of Harris's successor. Despite predications that his opponent, U.S. House of Representatives member Charles R. Crisp, would win, 33-year-old Russell won the election to the Senate and was sworn in the next January as the youngest member of the U.S. Senate. Scope and ContentThe William Julius Harris Papers consist of correspondence and materials from Harris's time as private secretary to Senator Alexander S. Clay (1904-1909), his term in the State Senate (1911-1912), and his tenure as State Democratic Committee Chairman (1913). The papers do not contain records from his term in the U.S. Senate (except two speech drafts); however, the papers do include personal records related to business and private matters (1905-1913). Organization and ArrangementThe Papers are divided into three series: I. Political, II. Personal, and III. Books. The arrangement is chronological within each series. The original order of the papers is not known; the collection was part of the conveyance of Harris's successor, Richard B. Russell, Jr., and it is not known how he obtained the papers. Administrative InformationPreferred CitationWilliam J. Harris Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Processing NotesClippings and acidic letter copies have been copied onto bond paper for protection of content. This collection was originally housed in the Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscript Library where it was processed and organized. In 2001, alterations were made to the arrangement including the renaming of some series to provide a more clear description and the division and renaming of items at the folder level. User RestrictionsLibrary acts as "fair use" reproduction agent. Copyright InformationBefore material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: 2000. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this Repository
Lamartine G. Hardman Collection Richard B. Russell, Sr. Papers Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection Related Collections in Other RepositoriesCharles R. Crisp Papers, Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, Georgia Alexander Stephens Clay Papers, Atlanta History Center | ||||||||||||||||||||