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University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

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1150 Beal Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113, USA
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Blair Moody Papers, 1928-1954 (majority within 1934-1952)

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Summary

Creator:
Moody, Blair, 1902-1954
Abstract:
Detroit newspaperman and United States Senator from Michigan. Correspondence chiefly concerning his 1952 senatorial campaign and his newspaper work in the United States and abroad during World War II; scrapbooks of newspaper articles written by Moody and published for the most part in the Detroit News and Barron's; tape recordings of public affairs radio program; photographs and motion pictures of public affairs interview programs.
Extent:
27.5 linear feet (in 29 boxes)
29 film reels
60 phonograph records
37 GB (online)
Language:
English.
Call Number:
8634 Aa 2
Authors:
Finding aid prepared by: Ruth Bordin

Background

Scope and Content:

The Blair Moody collection documents the career of a Washington-based newspaper correspondent and columnist and United States Senator. The collection covers the period 1928 to 1954, though the bulk of materials date since the mid-1940s. Much of the collection pertains to that period of time when Moody was in the Senate or was running for election to the Senate, although his newspaper career is also well documented. The collection has been divided into the following series: Biographical; Correspondence; Personal/Family; Newspaper Career; Gridiron Club; Senatorial Papers; Speeches; Scrapbooks; Sound Recordings; and Visual Materials.

Biographical / Historical:

Arthur Edson Blair Moody was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on February 13, 1902, the son of Arthur Edson Blair and Julia (Downey) Moody. He attended public schools in Providence, Rhode Island, and was graduated from Brown University in 1922, with a B.A. degree in economics. Following graduation from college, he taught and coached for one year at the Moses Brown School in Providence, and in 1923 became an employee of the Detroit News. At first a sportswriter, Moody afterward covered the Detroit City Hall as a reporter during the mayoralty administration of Frank Murphy.

In 1933 Blair Moody became a correspondent in the Washington office of the News, writing the column "The Lowdown on Washington". He also wrote for the Boston Globe, and was correspondent for Barron's from 1934 to 1948 and for the North American Newspaper Alliance since 1936. During World War II Moody served as a war correspondent in North Africa, Italy, Iran, and Britain, and after the war visited the Marshall Plan and North Atlantic Treaty countries to report on economic progress there. Beginning in 1946 he moderated the radio and television program Meet Your Congress, and from 1944 to 1945 he was economic consultant for the Committee for Economic Development.

Appointed to the United States Senate on April 23, 1951, by Michigan's Democratic Governor G. Mennen Williams, Blair Moody filled the vacancy created by the death of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg on April 18, 1951. The late Senator's term would have ended January 3,1953.

On taking his oath of office the new Senator indicated that in 1952 he would be a candidate for a full six-year term. Stating that he hitherto had not belonged to any party, he said he became a Democrat on the day of his appointment to the Senate by Governor Williams. On becoming a Senator, Moody resigned from the Detroit News, but continued for a time his weekly radio program.

In the Senate Moody was named to the Senate Banking and Currency Committee and the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, for which he was deemed well suited because of his background in economics. In July 1951, two months after taking office, Moody was named to head the subcommittee of the Senate Small Business Committee, set up to protect the interests of small business in the defense program. He immediately announced that as its first project the subcommittee would study the problem of steel cutbacks in the automobile industry, steel shortages among small businessmen, and unemployment traceable to plant dispersals. On the subject of controls against inflation the Michigan legislator took a firm stand in supporting the Administration's drive to strengthen and extend controls. In August Moody was appointed to a special subcommittee of the Senate Banking Committee, which conducted hearings on a proposal to restore the Government's power to set slaughtering quotas for livestock.

Moody sought election to the Senate in his own right, but was defeated by Charles E. Potter. In 1954 he again sought the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat held by Homer Ferguson. He died unexpectedly while campaigning July 20, 1954.

Blair Moody was the author of a book Boom or Bust (1941), a discussion of the economic aspects of World War II, in which he proposed a constructive program to prevent inflation and postwar economic collapse. Moody was a member of the Gridiron Club, the organization of Washington correspondents. He also belonged to the National Press Club, the Overseas Writers Club, and the University Club in Washington, DC; to the Detroit Club and to the Cammarian Club in Providence, Rhode Island.

Blair Moody on June 6, 1925, married Mary Williamson, by whom he had one son, Arthur Edson Blair, Jr. His two younger sons, Christopher Sorenson and Robert Orten, were born to his second wife, the former Ruth Curtis Amadon, whom he married on September 14,1940.

Acquisition Information:
The collection was donated by Mrs. Blair Moody and Blair Moody, Jr. (donor 3224 ) in 1956.

Subjects

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Subjects:
American newspapers -- Michigan -- Detroit.
Automobile industry and trade -- United States.
Depressions -- 1929 -- United States.
Elections -- Michigan -- 1942.
Journalists -- Michigan -- Detroit.
Labor unions -- Michigan.
New Deal, 1933-1939 -- Michigan.
Politicians -- Michigan.
Trucking -- United States.
World War, 1939-1945.
Airplane industry -- Michigan -- Willow Run.
Automobile industry -- Michigan -- Willow Run.
Industrial buildings -- Michigan -- Willow Run.
Journalism.
Political elections.
Politics and government -- 1946-1960.
Soldiers -- American.
World War, 1939-1945.
Elections -- United States -- 1940.
Elections -- United States -- 1953.
Formats:
Motion pictures.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Sound recordings.
Names:
B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation (University of Michigan)
Democratic Party (Mich.)
Tennessee Valley Authority.
United States. Congress -- Elections, 1952.
United States. Congress -- Elections, 1954.
United States. Dept. of State.
United States. Economic Cooperation Administration.
United States. Temporary National Economic Committee.
Kaiser-Frazer Corp.
United States. Congress. House.
United States. Congress. Senate.
Moody family.
McCloy, John J. (John Jay), 1895-1989.
Moody, Blair, 1902-1954.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971.
Arnold, Thurman Wesley, 1891-1969.
Ball, Joseph H. (Joseph Hurst), 1905-1993.
Barkley, Alben William, 1877-1956.
Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965.
Benton, William, 1900-1973.
Billington, Ray Allen, 1903-1981.
Bowles, Chester, 1901-1986.
Boyle, William M.
Brewster, Owen, 1884-
Brown, Prentiss M. (Prentiss Marsh), 1889-1973.
Brownell, Herbert, 1904-1996.
Butler, Richard Austen, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, 1902-1982.
Byrnes, James Francis, 1879-1972.
Cain, Harry P. (Harry Pulliam), 1906-1979.
Capehart, Homer E. (Homer Earl), 1897-1979.
Childs, Marquis W. (Marquis William), 1903-1990.
Clapper, Raymond, 1892-1944.
Clardy, Kit Francis, 1892-
Connally, Tom, 1877-1963.
Corcoran, Thomas Gardiner, 1900-
Couzens, Frank, 1902-1950.
Cripps, Richard Stafford, Sir, 1889-1952.
Daniels, Jonathan, 1902-1981.
Davis, Elmer Holmes, 1890-1958.
Dean, Gordon E., 1905-1958.
Diggs, Charles C.
Dingell, John D. (John David), 1894-1955.
DiSalle, Michael V. (Michael Vincent), 1908-1981.
Dondero, George Anthony, 1883-1968.
Douglas, Paul H. (Paul Howard), 1892-1976.
Downey, Sheridan.
Dulles, Allen Welsh, 1893-1969.
Eaton, Cyrus Stephen, 1883-
Eggleston, Arthur Francis, 1890-
Eisenhower, Milton Stover, 1899-1985.
Farley, James A. (James Aloysius), 1888-1976.
Ferguson, Homer, 1889-1982.
Ford, Henry, 1917-1987.
Forrestal, James, 1892-1949.
Frear, Joseph Allen, 1903-
Fruehauf, Harvey Charles, 1893-
Fulbright, J. William (James William), 1905-1995.
Gannett, Frank E. (Frank Ernest), 1876-1957.
George, Walter F. (Walter Franklin), 1878-1957.
Green, Theodore Francis, 1867-1966.
Green, William, 1870-1952.
Griffiths, Hicks G., 1910-
Hannah, John A., 1902-1991.
Harmon, Tom.
Henderson, Leon, 1895-1986.
Herlong, Albert Sydney, 1909-1995.
Hersey, John, 1914-1993.
Herter, Christian Archibald, 1895-1966.
Hill, Norman Llewellyn, 1895-
Hoey, Clyde Roark, 1877-1954.
Hoffman, Clare Eugene, 1875-1967.
Hoffman, Paul G. (Paul Gray), 1891-1974.
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar), 1895-1972.
Hopkins, Harry L. (Harry Lloyd), 1890-1946.
Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978.
Brown, Muriel Buck Humphrey.
Ives, Irving McNeil, 1896-1962.
Johnson, Louis Arthur, 1891-1966.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
Johnson, Pyke.
Johnston, Eric A. (Eric Allen), 1895-1963.
Kaiser, Edgar Fosburg, 1908-
Kefauver, Estes, 1903-1963.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963.
Kerr, Robert S. (Robert Samuel), 1896-1963.
Kirchwey, Freda.
Knowland, Helen Davis Herrick.
Knowland, William F. (William Fife), 1908-1974.
Knudsen, William S., 1879-1948.
Lamont, Thomas Stilwell, 1899-
Langer, William, 1886-1959.
Leahy, William D.
Lehman, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), 1878-1963.
Lenhart, Laurence G., 1893-
Lodge, Henry Cabot, Jr., 1902-1985.
Lovett, Robert A. (Robert Abercrombie), 1895-1986.
Luce, Robert Harding, 1900-
McClellan, John L. (John Little), 1896-1977.
McCormack, John W., 1891-1980.
McFarland, Ernest William, 1894-1984.
McMahon, Brien, 1903-1952.
Mapes, Carl Herbert, 1900-
Martin, John Butlin, 1909-
Martin, Joseph William, 1884-1968.
Monroney, Mike, 1902-
Morse, Wayne L. (Wayne Lyman), 1900-1974.
Murphy, Frank, 1890-1949.
Murphy, George, 1897-1961.
Murphy, Robert F., 1899-
Murray, Philip, 1886-1952.
Nelson, Donald Marr, 1888-1959.
O'Dwyer, William, 1890-1964.
Owens, Henry J.
Pastore, John O. (John Orlando), 1907-2000.
Picard, Frank A., 1889-1963.
Rabaut, Louis Charles, 1886-1961.
Rankin, John Elliott, 1882-1960.
Reuther, Victor G. (Victor George), 1912-2004.
Reuther, Walter, 1907-1970.
Reynolds, Quentin James, 1902-1965.
Romney, George W., 1907-1995.
Roosevelt, Dorothy Kemp, 1899-1985.
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962.
Rosenberg, Anna M., 1902-
Ruml, Beardsley, 1894-1960.
Russell, Richard B. (Richard Brevard), 1897-1971.
Ruthven, Alexander Grant, 1882-1971.
Saltonstall, Leverett, 1892-1979.
Scholle, August, 1904-
Scripps, Edward Wyllis, 1909-
Shields, Francis J.
Sittler, Edward L.
Smith, Harold Dewey, 1898-1947.
Smith, H. Alexander (Howard Alexander), 1880-1966.
Smith, Margaret Chase, 1897-1995.
Snyder, John W. (John Wesley), 1895-1985.
Somervell, Brehon Burke, 1892-1955.
Sparkman, John, 1899-1985.
Staebler, Neil, 1905-2000.
Stettinius, Edward R. (Edward Reilly), 1900-1949.
Symington, Stuart, 1901-1988.
Taft, Charles P. (Charles Phelps), 1897-1983.
Taft, Robert A. (Robert Alphonso), 1889-1953.
Thomas, Elbert Duncan, 1883-1953.
Tito, Josip Broz, 1892-1980.
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
Vandenberg, Arthur H. (Arthur Hendrick), 1884-1951.
Van Wagoner, Murray Delos, 1898-
Voorhis, Jerry, 1901-1984.
Wagner, Robert F. (Robert Ferdinand), 1877-1953.
Warren, Earl, 1891-1974.
Williams, G. Mennen, 1911-1988.
Willkie, Wendell L. (Wendell Lewis), 1892-1944.
Wilson, Charles Erwin, 1890-1961.
Wolcott, Jesse Paine, 1893-1969.
Downey, John.
Moody, Arthur B.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.
Anderson, Clinton Presba, 1895-1975.
Baker, Howard Henry, 1902-1964.
Barrett, Frank Aloysius, 1892-1962.
Bender, George Harrison, 1896-1961.
Blatnik, John Anton, 1911-
Bolling, Richard, 1916-1991.
Brown, Clarence J., 1893-1965.
Burke, Thomas A., 1898-1971.
Carlson, Frank, 1893-1987.
Case, Francis H. (Francis Higbee), 1896-1962.
Cole, Albert M. (Albert McDonald), 1901-1994.
Cole, W. Sterling (William Sterling), 1904-1987.
Cooper, John Sherman, 1901-1991.
Curtis, Carl T. (Carl Thomas), 1905-2000.
Duff, James H. (James Henderson), 1883-1969.
Eberharter, Herman Peter, 1892-1958.
Farrington, Joseph R. (Joseph Rider), 1897-1954.
Felix, Robert Hanna, 1904-
Flanders, Ralph E. (Ralph Edward), 1880-1970.
Frelinghuysen, Peter Hood Ballantine, 1916-
Fulton, James G. (James Grove), 1903-1971.
Gillette, Guy Mark, 1879-1973.
Gore, Albert, 1907-1998.
Heller, John R. (John Roderick), 1905-
Hosmer, Craig, 1915-1982.
Howard, Catherine.
Hunt, Lester Callaway, 1892-1954.
Jackson, Henry M. (Henry Martin), 1912-1983.
Javits, Jacob K. (Jacob Koppel), 1904-1986.
Jonas, Charles R. (Charles Raper), 1904-1988.
Judd, Walter H., 1898-1994.
Kean, Robert Winthrop, 1893-
Magnuson, Warren G. (Warren Grant), 1905-1989.
Mahon, George Herman, 1900-1985.
Mansfield, Mike, 1903-2001.
Martin, Edward, 1879-1967.
Maybank, Burnet Rhett, 1899-1954.
Merrill, D. Bailey, 1912-
Miller, Arthur Lewis, 1892-1967.
Morton, Thruston B. (Thruston Ballard), 1907-1982.
Murray, James E.
Patman, Wright, 1893-1976.
Rains, Albert M., 1902-
Reece, B. Carroll (Brazilla Carroll), 1889-1961.
Richards, James P. (James Prioleau), 1894-1979.
Scott, Hugh, 1900-1994.
Sebrell, W. H. (William Henry), 1901-1992.
Smathers, George A. (George Armistead), 1913-2007.
Velde, Harold Himmel, 1910-1985.
Vorys, John Martin, 1896-1968.
Watt, James, 1911-
Wiley, Alexander, 1884-1967.
Yorty, Samuel William, 1909-
Places:
Detroit (Mich.) -- Newspapers.
Detroit (Mich.) -- Race relations.
Michigan -- Politics and government -- 1929-1938.
Michigan -- Politics and government -- 1939-1945.
Michigan -- Politics and government -- 1946-1960.
Michigan -- Politics and government -- 1837-1950.
Michigan -- Politics and government -- 1951-
Saint Lawrence Seaway.
Soviet Union.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1929-1933.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1933-1945.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1953-1961.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953.
Italy.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
Willow Run (Mich.) -- Airplane industry.
Willow Run (Mich.) -- Automobile industry.
Willow Run (Mich.) -- Industrial buildings.
United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1989.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1933-1953.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1953-1961.

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

The collection contains audio tapes from which digital copies have been made. Source tapes are for staff use only. Audio files are only available in the Bentley Historical Library reading room on designated Bentley Library computers.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Susan B. Moody, a granddaughter of Blair Moody, has transferred any applicable copyright to the Regents of the University of Michigan but the collection may contain third-party materials for which copyright was not transferred. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials.

PREFERRED CITATION:

item, folder title, box no., Blair Moody Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

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Collection

Blair Moody Papers, 1928-1954 (majority within 1934-1952)
Call Number 8634 Aa 2
Total components 467
Items available online Online 41
Last indexed 2023-12-08