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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 300 items) |
| Abstract | Samuel Davis McReynolds (1872-1939) was a criminal judge for the 6th judicial district, Tennessee, 1903-1923; and United States representative from Tennessee, 1923-1939. The collection includes scattered correspondence, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s, including brief letters from Franklin Roosevelt, Cordell Hull, and Sam Rayburn; handwritten and typed versions of speeches by McReynolds; about sixty photographs and drawings, some of prominent early twentieth-century Democrats; five scrapbooks; a diary kept by McReynolds on a Far Eastern cruise in 1925; and miscellaneous other material relating to McReynolds's career as a judge and as a member of Congress. Topics of other correspondence include the 1925 cruise to the Far East, the London Economic Conference in 1933, the establishment of the commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935, and the illness and death of McReynolds. |
| Creator | McReynolds, Samuel Davis, 1872-1939. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical
Information
Samuel Davis McReynolds (1872-1939) was a criminal judge for the 6th judicial district, Tennessee, 1903-1923; and United States representative from Tennessee, 1923-1939. McReynolds was born in Pikeville, Tenn., to Isaac Stephens McReynolds and Virginia Adeline Davis McReynolds. He attended People's College in Pikeville and Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn. He studied law for a year with James B. Frazier of Chattanooga, Tenn., later governor and United States senator.
In 1893, McReynolds practiced law in Pikeville, Tenn., soon becoming assistant district attorney of the old 6th judicial circuit. In 1895, he moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., where he formed a partnership with Judge John H. Cantrell. In 1903, McReynolds's former mentor, James B. Frazier, appointed him judge of the recently established criminal court of the 6th judicial circuit.
McReynolds served as a United States representative from Tennessee, 1923-1939. During his tenure, he served on the Immigration and Naturalization Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee. He was a delegate to the International Monetary and Economic Conference held in London, England, 1933. He also was instrumental in passing the Johnson Debt Default Act, by which the American money market was closed to the securities of nations in default on their debts to the United States or her citizens.
McReynolds's most significant work was that of administation spokesman in the House during the debates over neutrality legislation, 1935-1937. He advocated that a maximum of discretion should be left to the president in any such law. In the 1937 Neutrality Act, McReynolds was largely credited with retaining, over Senate objection, a provision giving the president power to decide whether of not to invoke "cash and carry" requirements on exports of other than war goods to belligerents.
McReynolds was married twice: in 1905 to Jennie Hutchins of Wincester, Tenn., who died in 1908; and in 1910 to Mary Caldwell Davenport, daughter of R. B. Davenport, a wholesale dry goods merchant of Chattanooga, Tenn. By his second marriage he had a daughter, Margaret Henriette.
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Scope and Content
The collection includes scattered correspondence, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s, including brief letters from Franklin Roosevelt, Cordell Hull, and Sam Rayburn; handwritten and typed versions of speeches by McReynolds; about sixty photographs and drawings, some of prominent early twentieth-century Democrats; five scrapbooks; a diary kept by McReynolds on a Far Eastern cruise in 1925; and miscellaneous other material relating to McReynolds's career as a judge and as a member of Congress. Topics of other correspondence include the 1925 cruise to the Far East, the London Economic Conference in 1933, the establishment of the commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935, and the illness and death of McReynolds. Speeches deal with various issues with which McReynolds was concerned, especially problems of foreign policy.
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Samuel Davis McReynolds Papers, 1891-1940 and undated.
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Items Separated
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, August 2010
This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
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