Descriptive SummaryMSS 1503Kenneth D. Wells Collection,
1920-1976Wells, Kenneth D. (Kenneth Dale),
1908-L. Tom Perry Special Collections68 BoxesWells was a businessman,
industrialist, and one of the founders of the Freedoms Foundation at Vally
Forge.The Kenneth D. Wells Collection consists
of the papers, literary memorabilia, library and arifacts of Kenneth D. Wells.
The papers and literary memorabilia include correspondence, speeches, research
files, notes, clippings, photographs, writings, minutes, financial records,
administrative files, sound recordings and motion pictures. The artifacts
include medals, medallions, plaques, statuettes, and related mementos presented
to Wells, along with souvenirs he collected. The correspondence section fo the
collection includes letters by several U.S. Presidents and other prominent
political leaders. The collection includes a lengthy interview with Wells
conducted by LeGrand Baker in 1986.ProvenanceThis collection was donated to the Harold B. Lee Library by Kenneth D.
Wells in installments from 1978 to 1983. Where ascertainable, the original
order of the collection was retained. In most other instance, an arrangement
was imposed by the staff of Archives and Manuscripts. In a few instances, such
as the selection of some vault materials, files were arranged in accordance
with donor specifications.
AccessThe copyright of the Wells collection is owned jointly by the donor
and the Harold B. Library, and, in some instances by the creator of the item or
his heirs, if different than Kenneth D. Wells. The Harold B. Lee Library
usually will grant permission to publish upon receipt of a written request by a
qualified scholar but it is the responsibility of the user of the Wells
Collection to obtain permission to publish from all copyright holders other
than Kenneth D. Wells and the Lee Library. There are no general restrictions on
research use of the collection. Some items within the collection were sealed or
restricted by the donor. Such restrictions are designated on the container
list.
Conditions of UseIt is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary
copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from Kenneth D. Wells Collection must
be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry
Special Collections Board of Curators.
Preferred CitationInitial Citation:MSS 1503; Kenneth D.
Wells Collection; 20th & 21st Century Western and Mormon Americana; L. Tom
Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
Following Citations:MSS 1503, LTPSC.
Biographical HistoryKenneth Dale Wells was born on June 23, 1908, in Akron, Ohio, the
second son of Alfred Richard Wells and Lonia Idelle Dales. His father was also
born and raised in Akron and was employed by the B.F. Goodrich Company as a
clerk-accountant. His mother was a talented musician who taught piano. Alfred
and Della Wells were Methodists, but they also attended nearby Congregational
and Universalist churches. One branch of the Wells family came from Wales,
while the Dales family originated in France and migrated through England and
Scotland to New England. According to family tradition, an early ancestor, the
Reverend Billy Wells, was expelled from England because he persisted in the use
of a serum which he had made from the blood of horses for the prevention of
smallpox. With his family he founded the town of Wells, Vermont. Later part of
the family moved west and established the village of Wells, New York. From
Vermont other family members spread down the coast to the eastern shore of
Virginia, then west into northwestern Ohio. Other maternal ancestors settled in
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, then moved to Portage County, Ohio, settling in
Ravenna, Rootstown, and Hiram.
Frank A. Wells, Kenneth's paternal grandfather, was a skilled metal
craftsman who invented a process for turning the corners of sheet material. He
was employed by B.F. Goodrich Company, but also did work in his own shop after
hours and when work was slack at the factory. He married Flora Dole, an
extraordinary woman who raised $30,000 in the 1890s for the use of Methodist
missionaries who established the Flora Dole Wells School for orphans outside
Peking, China. During the course of nearly fifty years, several thousand
children studied there until the Communist regime closed the school.
Kenneth Wells spent his early life in Akron and vicinity. His father
owned a little cottage a short distance away on Springfield Lake, where the
family spent leisure time in the summer and on weekends. Early camping
experiences awakened an interest in Scouting which he never lost. Among his
early heroes was Will Rogers, whose newspaper column he read with religious
devotion. He attended Akron's West High School, where he set a city
broadjumping record which stood for 25 years. After his graduation in 1926,
Wells attended the University of Akron and Northwestern University, receiving a
B.S. degree from the latter in 1930. He did graduate work at the University of
Southern California and the California Institute of Technology. He later became
a leader in civic and educational organizations, such as the Optimist Club of
Akron and the alumni Association of Akron University.
Wells began his working career at age fourteen as a grocery clerk. At
sixteen he was unloading freight cars for a wholesale grocery company. Later he
was a rubber worker and a brick yard laborer. On entering college, he worked as
a financial reporter for Bradstreet and Company in Chicago.
On April 19, 1930, while still a student at Northwestern University,
he secretly married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Van Allen. University
rules then forbade students to marry. A few weeks later, after his graduation,
the couple were married a second time, on June 9 in Lakewood Methodist Church
in Akron, Ohio. They could not bear to disappoint their mothers, who had long
anticipated a church wedding. To their union were born two sons, Kenneth Dale
II, and Richard James. They later adopted four foster children, three
daughters, Christa, Jane, and Sherry, and a son, Hal.
Married, and with his university degree in economics, Wells
established his own business in Akron, serving the public as a financial
reporter and title abstracter. Wells and Company was such a success by 1938,
that he sold out and took his family on an extended vacation in the
Southwest.
Upon reaching the west coast, Wells was hired as office manager by the
Boston Wholesale Shoe Company of Los Angeles. Eleven months later he resigned
and formed a partnership with the cowboy movie star, Roy Rogers. Decking
himself out in full western regalia, he managed the two Roy Rogers Ranger Post
stores in Hollywood, supplying authentic cowboy outfits to the Hollywood
studios, dude ranches, and school children. This partnership continued happily
until interrupted by the nation's entrance into World War II. On October 10,
1941 Wells' commission as a First Lieutenant in the Army Reserve was activated.
After several months of training and a transfer to the Army Air Corps, he was
given a medical discharge because of a bad heart.
Wells next invested six years with the Union Oil Company of
California, beginning as an oil field roustabout, and working his way up to
become the Supervisor of Safety and Training for the company. It was here that
he combined his expertise in business management with a special quality of
personal leadership. Having been injured in an accident, he was especially
concerned with improving safety in the dangerous work on drill outfits,
derricks, and pipelines. Being given charge of the Service and Maintenance
Department of the company, he established an entirely new safety program for
the oil fields. At first the new program met great resistance from top
management, but in later years it was credited with avoiding many serious
accidents and saving lives. Wells held that management was responsible for
workers injured through lack of knowledge or carelessness even if the company
had perfect working conditions, because management was responsible for proper
safety training.
During this period, Wells taught night classes at the University of
Southern California while also finding time to sell war bonds to employees of
Union Oil. In the Third War Bond Drive, he and his crew sold ten times their
projected quota. Through evening classes he also completed a special war
training course in Labor Relations for Supervisory Personnel at the California
Institute of Technology, and two courses in Advanced Industrial Safety
Engineering under the War Training Program of the University of Southern
California. In addition, he continued his graduate studies in the field of
economics.
In August 1945, Wells took a leave of absence from Union Oil and
accepted a special assignment as west coast vice-president for the National
Association of Foremen of Dayton, Ohio, a new group planning management
training for supervisors. This proved to be a permanent leave, and he later
became Vice-president and Manager of Organization. Foremen in general had not
felt that they were part of management. The new organization was an educational
program which sought to attract foremen from all parts of the United States and
train them in the functions of management, while also protecting and promoting
their interests. In speeches and pamphlets promoting the aims of the
association, Wells stressed that management was a team from top to bottom. He
began his work on the west coast by organizing management training clubs in
forty companies from San Diego to Seattle and later carried his message on the
economics of dynamic capitalism to the campuses of forty of the nation's
colleges and universities. As the Association sought increasing recognition of
America's foremen as an intrinsic part of management, Wells insisted that
corporate executives were duty bound to raise the standards of managements as a
profession at all levels. Wells drafted and helped implement formal training
standards for the National Association of Foremen. The decline in the need for
foremen's unions which followed and the increasingly solid status of foremen as
inherent elements of the industrial management team became a tribute to him and
the N.A.F. Finally, in September 1947, at the climax of the 24th Annual
Convention of the N.A.F., Wells inaugurated American Management Day with
ceremonies which were held in the Hollywood Bowl and broadcast over national
radio.
In January 1948, Wells resigned from the National Association of
Foremen to accept a more responsible post in New York City with the Association
of National Advertisers, who had established a joint committee with the
American Association of Advertising Agencies for the purpose of "improving
public understanding of our economic system." Under chairman Don Belding,
west coast advertising wizard and Chairman of the Board of Foote, Cone and
Belding, the Join Committee sought a full-time director capable of taking
charge of their educational program for the entire advertising industry. In
accepting the appointment as Director of National Operations, Wells became
personally acquainted with more management men, from president to foremen, than
possibly any other businessman in the nation. He became well known as an
industrial consultant on economic education. He believed that if management was
to get along with Americans in the working force, management must know
first-hand how they think. Consequently, he put on overalls for two weeks each
year and took a laborer's job in a factory or with a construction gang,
"to keep his thinking straight."
As the educational program of the Joint Committee was being completed,
Don Belding consulted with Wells and General Dwight D. Eisenhower, then
President of Columbia University, and composed an American Credo of rights and
privileges guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. With this Credo as his keystone,
Wells originated the idea of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. In the
pursuit of its ideals, he embarked upon what he later described as the greatest
project of his career. With the aid of outstanding educational, business,
industrial, and political leaders, the foundation was organized as the Joint
Committee's effort to give the public a better understanding of America's free
enterprise system, through use of the natural incentives which are inherent in
that system. Wells raised the money, wrote the charter (with the aid of Herbert
Hoover and Dwight D. Eisenhower) and invited Don Belding to be president of the
foundation. Belding and Edward F. Hutton, Wall Street broker and former General
Foods Board Chairman, helped set the mold of the new organization. They
enlisted the aid and support of such people as Charles Seymour, President of
Yale University, Fred Dow Fagg, Jr., President of the University of Southern
California, James F. O'Neil, National Commander of the American Legion and his
wife, Ruth, served as the incorporators. When the foundation was organized,
late in the year 1949, Wells became its executive vice-president, and in March
1950 he was elected president, serving in that capacity until his retirement in
1970.
To give Freedoms Foundations a suitable geographic and historical
basis, Edward F. Hutton purchased Hillview Farm, a fifty-three acre dairy farm
adjacent to Valley Forge National park in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and
rented it to the foundation for one dollar a year. Later, Hutton contributed
the farm to the foundation. From this location, which became its permanent
headquarters, Freedoms Foundation pursued its objectives by giving medals and
cash awards to Americans from many walks of life, in recognition of outstanding
service in extending and defending the American way of life against all
destructive forces and perceived enemies. During the first year cash prizes
were awarded totaling $84,000 and over 200 medals were given. The policy of the
foundation was to disburse its annual fund in the form of 144 cash awards and
hundreds of medals. There were awards for outstanding high school commencement
addresses, for the best employee publications, and for every major category of
public information--sermons, newspaper editorials, magazine articles, radio
programs, advertising campaigns, etc. This approach put millions of Americans
within reach of an award, without regard for race, creed, color, or political
party. On Washington's birthday each year, scores of Americans from all walks
of life went to the foundation's campus at Valley Forge to receive awards for
their contributions in preserving and fostering freedom in America.
Moreover, it was Wells' additional objective to make the new American
Freedom Center at Valley Forge a marshalling point for the active forces of
freedom as well as a center for study, research, and training in the principles
and responsibilities of the American way of life. In pursuit of this goal he
crisscrossed the nation scores of times, encouraging academic projects,
courses, and programs to teach the American Credo and the freedoms, privileges
and opportunities guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Each summer,
hundreds of teachers from all parts of the country came to the Valley Forge
campus to complete intensive courses on Americanism and the foreign
"isms" which threatened the American way of life. Hundreds of
visitors passed through the center's halls, library and gardens daily, where
they heard the story of how applied opportunity made the United States of
America a great nation and where they saw exhibits and works of art devoted to
the theme of American Freedom. Among them was the heroic size statue of
Washington at prayer in Valley Forge, which was dedicated in 1966 as a result
of Wells' personal leadership in soliciting contributions.
Wells believed that a spiritual foundation was indispensable to the
American way of life. That foundation was first laid in the opening words of
the Mayflower Compact: "IN THE NAME OF GOD. AMEN." building from that
basic assumption, Wells expressed his economic philosophy in four points.
First, individual freedom and the free economic system had to be based on the
private ownership of property and the free right to work at gainful employment.
A free people had to control their goods and their labor. Second, individual
freedom and the free economic system had to be directly correlated with the
free market. "The best and most democratic institution ever developed by
man is the free market process," Wells declared, "where every man has
to take his own chance of succeeding or failing." This did not mean that
society should not "put a floor underneath people who are in
difficulty." The disabled, the ill, the mentally retarded, etc., should
have claim on society and be aided and sustained as their lot requires. Third,
a free economy had to be established upon the principle of profit-making and
wage incentives. The word "profit," Wells stressed, "is one of
the most beautiful words in the world." There had to be strong incentives
which encouraged the taking of risk in order that there might be profits.
Thereby a free people could create the means of production, and subsequently,
surpluses. People could be free only when there were surpluses, and competition
laid the foundation for surpluses. There also had to be real wage incentives so
that people would produce high quality products in sufficient quantity.
Citizens at work had to have a fair piece of the action. And fourth, Wells
believed in the need for government guidelines--but not government control--for
industry and the free market. He saw a vital difference between regulation and
control. With regulation, government would not be a direct participant in the
economic ball game, but would serve as an umpire or a referee, enforcing the
rules of the game.
Wells also viewed America's social and political problems from a moral
and spiritual perspective. He held that family was the fundamental cornerstone
of American society. He stated his position in the words: "I believe
deeply that the essence of man's future and of happiness and joy in this atomic
age, and the safety and liberty of our land, is based on happy, responsible
family life, with members devoted to each other and to the idea that man is a
child of God, and by virtue of that fact responsible for his own
actions."
By the 1970s, Wells was convinced that America was in "dire
trouble" as a nation. The reforms necessary to rescue it from the social
and political morass into which it had sunk included as follows, first, the
elimination of selfish laws. Wells believed that "the people are asking
for and getting too many laws for the selfish purposes of the few."
Second, there was a great need for an increasing number of Americans to accept
the responsibility of being moral leaders of their fellow Americans. Third,
Wells believed that the power to tax was being greatly abused. "The Income
Tax Amendment was the most unfortunate law ever passed," he declared. It
robbed production of its incentive as Americans had known it, and it set up a
system of contention and dishonor, according to Wells. He calculated that a
third of the cost of building a new home was expended in taxes. Fourth, Wells
felt that the government bureaucracy had grown to such proportions that
American freedom was in peril. America's position of world leader toward a free
universal order was ended unless serious remedial measures were taken to
eliminate some of the "hoard of bureaucrats." And finally, Wells
contended that true and lasting freedom and peace could be established and
maintained only when each individual assumed his or her responsibility for good
citizenship and became consciously aware of the historic principles upon which
free society had been developed in the modern world.
After his 1970 retirement as president of FFVF Well's characteristic
energy and enthusiasm kept him involved in many activities. He was a candidate
for U.S. Congress in 1972 from the First District in Virginia, losing to Thomas
N. Downing. Later he and Ruth engaged in humanitarian work in Vietnam, El
Salvador and Honduras, actually visiting all three countries and assisting in
efforts to gather food, clothing and other essentials for refugees. Also, they
established the Family Foundation of America and published a variety of
literature to promote family unity and solidarity in America, reflecting in
part, their newly embraced faith as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
Many awards and honors were bestowed upon Wells during his career. He
was made a trustee of the American Humanic Foundation, a member of the National
Court of Honor and National Explorer Committee of the Boy Scouts of America,
and a trustee of the National Scholarship Foundation. He also was a member of
the following: the President's Advisory Committee on Youth, the National
Advisory Board of Invest in America, the Newcomen Society, the Metropolitan
Club of new York, the New York Advertising Club, and the Union League of
Philadelphia. Eight honorary degrees were conferred upon Wells during his life,
including the Doctor of Humane Letters, the Doctor of Laws, and the Doctor of
Public Service, the latter by Brigham Young University. More than 100 medals,
citations, and awards were presented to him for propagation of constitutional
principles and for service to mankind. Among them were the National Shrine
Citation in 1955, the Good Citizenship Medal of the National Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution in 1956, and the Distinguished Service Medal by
the United States in 1960. West Germany, Vietnam and Honduras decorated him for
humanitarian assistance.
Scope and Content NoteThe Kenneth D. Wells Collection consists of the papers, literary
memorabilia, library and artifacts of Kenneth D. and ruth Wells. The papers and
literary memorabilia include correspondence, speeches, research files, notes,
clippings, photographs, writings, minutes, financial records, administrative
files, sound recordings and motion pictures. The artifacts include medals,
medallions, plaques, statuettes, and related mementos presented to Wells, along
with souvenirs he collected. The collection comprises fifty document cases and
seventeen oversize containers and is arranged in seven series for convenient
access and use, as listed below. (See the Table of Contents and the Container
List for a detailed list of the contents of each series.)
Series 1. Biographical and Personal
Series 2. Early Career, 1939-1949
Series 3. Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, 1949-1970
Series 4. Retirement Years, post 1970
Series 5. Research and Reference File
Series 6. Ruth Wells Memorabilia
Series 7. Vault Materials
This overall arrangement is intended to reflect the major segments of
Wells' career but it is also a partial reflection of the manner in which Wells
created and filed the papers. With chronologically determined series, material
on some individuals (such as President Eisenhower) and subjects (such as
communism or Vietnam) will naturally be found in more than one place. The
researcher should keep this in mind and make a thorough check of the entire
container list on every name or subject of interest.
The nature and content of some of the series, such as Series 1,
Biographical and Personal, are simple and self-evident. Others are more complex
and require further comment. For example, the filing order of the categories is
roughly the same in Series 3 and 4. This was done primarily for researcher
convenience. In both series, correspondence is filed first by name for selected
individuals and then as general correspondence. The former names were selected
from Dr. Wells' designations of the large number of letters exchanged with an
individual. For the most part, general correspondence provides chronological
documentation of the ongoing and more routine work of the Freedoms
Foundation--in Series 3, and of Wells' continuing efforts along the same lines
and themes after his retirement--in Series 4. Regarding speeches, all available
information is given in the container list, including title, date, occasion,
and place. If the speech was untitled, the subject, if readily apparent, was
given, as in "On freedom." The speeches are arranged in an overall
chronological sequence, with the undated materials filed at the end. Most
speeches are typescripts of texts but a few are rough notes or outlines.
The writings--articles, books, plays and poetry--of Wells have been
provided a category of their own within Series 3 and 4, but it has been
virtually impossible to group them all together. As a writer, Wells' influence
was felt in virtually all aspects of the work of Freedoms Foundation at Valley
Forge, in their leaflets and brochures, in their booklets and publicity, in
their awards ceremonies, and in the thousands of speeches given by Wells and
his staff. Filed under "writings" are those more formal items which
bear his name as author, as many of the FFVF items do not. Included are
handwritten as well as typescript drafts.
In order not to disturb the overall sense of the arrangement of each
series, the photographs pertaining to that time period have been listed within
each series container list. However, they are filed physically in the
Photoarchives and can only be retrieved by using the separate catalog number
provided, namely MSSP 221. Please note that all photograph box and folder
numbers have reference to that separate catalog number and are not a part of
the sequence of box and folder numbers within each series. Within each series
the photographs are filed in general chronological order with the undated items
at the end.
A large segment of this collection consists of research and reference
materials preserved by Wells for use in preparing speeches, compiling writings,
and administering Freedoms Foundation. This type of material is gathered in
Series 5, along with general memorabilia and collectibles. Also, any materials
that would not fit in any of the other series and would normally fall in the
miscellaneous category, has been placed in this series. The series is arranged
into a Personality File, a Subject File, Other Collected Materials, and Three
Dimensional Artifacts.
The Personality File and the Subject File contain clippings,
pamphlets, booklets, programs, leaflets, brochures, press releases, speeches,
newsletters, handwritten and typescript notes, and related mimeographed,
dittoed, or photocopied ephemera. There is an occasional transmittal letter.
The most readily available items, such as entire issues of popular magazines
like Time or Fortune, entire newspapers or partial runs of
publications of associations or institutions, were removed from the collection
and transferred to the library. All are readily available in any large research
library either directly, through interlibrary loan, or on microfilm. However,
if an item had been heavily annotated by Dr. Wells, it was retained, even if
readily available in the library. Also, partial runs of some newsletters were
retained because they did not fit within the collecting scope of the pertinent
printed materials section of the Harold B. Lee Library.
Since most of the material in these files is printed and published, it
is not unique. However, it is archival, and of significance in understanding
Dr. Wells, the times in which he lived, and his reaction to those times. These
files are a representative sample of the information network, as it were, of
which he was an integral part. He wrote comments on many items and drew upon
the file regularly and heavily in compiling his speeches. The files are
arranged alphabetically by name and under broad subject headings. See the
container list.
The Personality File differs from the Subject File primarily in its
arrangement solely by name of individual and in its purpose. It documents
Wells' interaction with some of the people named as well as his apparent high
regard for all of them, as evidenced by his creation of a separate and distinct
file for each of them. Many of the people named were given awards by Freedoms
Foundation. In some instances, the file partially documents that process, from
nomination to acceptance of the award.
Series 7, VAult Materials, lists those items stored in the vault.
These were designated for such storage by the donor or placed there by the
library staff because of their probably market value. An example of the latter
is a signature of a U.S. President. Vault materials are listed twice in the
container list, once under their respective series location and again in Series
7, which is merely a vault shelf list.
The researcher will note that throughout all series Dr. Wells has made
extensive and abundant annotations on the archival materials preserved in his
collection. Most of these marginal comments, which are both handwritten and
typescript, appear to have been done as Wells was preparing the materials for
transfer to BYU and reflect his seasoned judgment on the issue years after the
creation of the document. Many items in the collection are marked with the word
"keep," an indication that a weeding process occurred at some point,
probably prior to Dr. Wells' retirement in 1970. Some early items (see Series
2, Early Career) were once pasted in scrapbooks and subsequently removed and
sent to the library. Overall, it is apparent that Dr. Wells screened his
collection prior to its arrival in the library. In addition, apparently he has
retained some items as keepsakes, or given the originals to someone else at or
near the time of creation, as evidenced by the significant quantity of
photocopies, of letters from prominent people for example, preserved in the
collection.
Kenneth D. Wells came to his full maturity as a dynamic leader and a
successful businessman during the immediate post-World War II years. Those were
the cold war years and in America there was a sense of danger, urgency and
crisis. It was a time of growing confrontation with international communism.
Combined with this were social changes occurring with increasing tempo at home,
all of which "stimulated confusion, fear, uprootedness and malaise that
provided a favorable atmosphere for suspicion, charges and countercharges, and
demagoguery." 1 One historian has called those
years of uncertainty during the age of Truman and Eisenhower, "The Great
Fear," and indeed, many Americans were profoundly afraid, of the future,
of each other, simply of uncertainty itself. 2
In this collection of papers and literary memorabilia is documented
one American's continuing response to that crucial and important time of change
in America. Wells was eager to help his country through its time of difficulty
and strove to convince Americans of the wisdom of the tenets of free
enterprise. Literally, he was a man with a mission, and his brainchild, the
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, was conceived and brought to dynamic life
in direct response to the cross currents of the postwar years. As president of
the foundation, Wells touched the lives of millions of Americans. He convinced
many to go on in the face of their growing uncertainties and frustrations. He
urged others, with a fervor akin to his spiritual antecedents, the Populists,
to attempt to redefine and revitalize America, and he led the way with nearly
matchless energy. With courage and resolution, and in ringing tones, he carried
his message of conservatism and free enterprise to every ear that would listen.
The papers are a partial testament, along with the continued viability of
Freedoms Foundation, of the nature and degree of his success.
The collection focuses on his career at Valley Forge, and the work of
the Freedoms Foundation. Documented are the giving of awards, the process of
selecting awardees (to a limited extent), fundraising, and spreading the word
in a variety of ways, interacting with associations and institutions as well as
individuals. However, the collection does not contain a complete set of any of
the official FFVF documents and publications, such as minutes and newsletters.
For access to a complete set, the researcher must contact the foundation. The
collection also documents Wells' early life, education and early business
career, and his post-retirement years, during which he ran for a seat in the
U.S. Congress and engaged in humanitarian work in Asia and Central America.
Also briefly documented are Ruth Wells' hostess duties at FFVF and her
humanitarian, civic and religious activities in conjunction with her husband
and in her own right.
The Wells Collection also goes beyond the man and his creation, the
Freedoms Foundation, to document a significant cross section of America during
the postwar years. According to David Caute, it was a time of
". . . straining and striving for social cohesion and national
unity. In 1951, for example, the American Heritage Foundation summoned
delegates from the forty-eight states to gather and draft a Re-Declaration of
Faith in the American Dream. Bells were to peal not only as a symbol of high
morale, but also as a 'gesture of defiance to the Enemy'--the Alien, the
Nonconformist, the Critical Force." 3
In the collection is preserved abundant, significant evidence of the
"straining and striving" of many of America's prominent business and
governmental leaders as they sought answers to the age old questions of the
nature of freedom and its meaning. There is an excellent cross section of
opinions from many of the nation's leading conservatives, giving their thoughts
about America, the state of freedom in the nation, and the meaning of freedom
in their lives. In the correspondence, in the research materials, and in the
speeches, their concern, sense of urgency and fear are evident, as are also
their hope, determination and dreams for the future.
For a listing of Wells' chief correspondents, see the name
correspondence file in Series 3 and 4.
Endnotes
1. Merle Curti, The Roots of American
Loyalty, New York: Columbia University Press, 1946; reprint by Atheneum,
1968, p. ix.
2. David Caute, The Great Fear. The
Anti-Communist Purge Under Truman and Eisenhower.New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1978.
3. David Caute, The Great Fear, p.
21.
Notes on ArrangementThe following materials came to the Department of Archives and
Manuscripts as a part of the Kenneth D. Wells Collection and were subsequently
transferred to other sections of the Lee Library or the Department of ARchives
& Manuscripts. All duplicates of manuscripts, either photocopied or other
type of facsimile, were transferred to Collection Development. Wells' library,
consisting primarily of books, along with pamphlets, newsletters, government
documents, magazines, and other serial publications removed from Series
5-Research & Reference, were transferred to Collection Development. A
detailed list of library items transferred is available on request. Photocopies
were made of the title pages and inscriptions of all books inscribed to Wells.
They are filed in Series 5, Box 12, Folders 8-9. Among the significant books
transferred to Collection Development were the following two books. Included
are the call numbers assigned to them by the library. Americana Quarto E 312.81
1838
"Monuments of Washington's Patriotism: Containing a Facsimile of
His Publick Accounts Kept During The Revolutionary War; and Some of the Most
Interesting Documents Connected With His Military Command and Civil
Administration; Embracing, Among Others, The Farewell Address To The People of
The United States. Together With an Eulogium On The Character of Washington, By
Major W. Jackson, One of His Aids-De-Camp. An earlier reproduction of the
accounts, without the accompanying documents of the present edition, was
published at Washington, 1833, under the title: Facsimile of Washington's
Accounts." 94 pp, with autograph letters of Wells laid in--Published for
the benefit of Washington's Manual Labour School and Male Orphan Asylum. City
of Washington, P. Force, Printer, 1838. QUARTO E 312.81 1857
Accounts, G. Washington with the United States, Commencing June 1775,
and ending June 1783, Comprehending a Trace of 8 Years. Facsimile edition, U.S.
Congress, 1857. All photographs were transferred to the Photoarchives where
they are available for research use under catalog number MSSP 221. A
descriptive list of photographs is included in each series on the container
list. Motion pictures were transferred to the Film and Video Archives and tape
recordings and phonograph discs were transferred to the Archives of Recorded
Sound. Motion pictures, tape recordings, and phonograph discs are listed on the
container list under their appropriate series.
Subject TracingsPeopleArmstrong, Anthony, 1897-1976Genre/FormPapers (Document genres)SubjectAuthors, English--20th century--Biography--SourcesAuthors, English--ManuscriptsEnglish literature--20th century--History--SourcesEnglish literature--ManuscriptsContainer ListBiographical and Personal SeriesBiographical and PersonalBoxFolderContent
11Athletic scrapbook,
1926-37(see also
Photoarchives 1 1 Mss P221, Box 1, Folder 1) Includes photocopies of originals
filed in Oversize12Student Expense Book, Northwestern University
1928-2913Resume and biographical information,
1947-84.14Autobiography,
198315Pencil sketches of Wells,
197021Our Friend: Kenneth D.
Wells(biography written by five of Wells' secretaries),
1981Kenneth D. Wells Freedom Archives at
Brigham Young University Library(modified edition of above auto-
biography for use at Freedom Archives opening)
1981
Early Career (1939-49) SeriesEarly Career (
1939-49)BoxFolderContent
11Union Oil Company (
1939-46), Superintendent
Guidelines, "Leadership is a Profession,"
May 194312Union Oil Company (
1939-46), Speeches by
Wells,
1942-46. 5
items13Union Oil Company (
1939-46), Job
Classification Exams, prepared by Wells and John Greer, n.d.14National Association of Foremen (
1940-48)Vault fd. 9 30National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Correspondence,
1946-48. 26 items
Including Douglas MacArthur,
May 1947. 2 vault
items15National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Speech by Wells,
1945-48. 27
itemsSound ArchivesNational Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Wells' speech
to Los Angeles Breakfast Club,
Sept. 17, 1947(10'
phonograph disc)16National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Speeches by
others,
1946-48. 18
items17National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Newsclippings,
publicity and notes,
1941-4818National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Press releases,
1946-4819National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Materials from a
management course taught by Wells at the University of Southern California,
1947-48110National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Conferences and
conventions, Programs and agendas,
1945-48111National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Conferences and
conventions, "New Horizons for Industry Through Unified Management,"
2nd Annual Regional Conference of Southern California Foremen's Clubs, Los
Angeles,
Feb. 16, 1946112National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Conferences and
conventions, American Management Day, Los Angeles,
Sept. 20, 194721National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Conferences and
conventions, "New Vistas in Human Relations," Employee-Employer
Relations Conference of the Merchants and Manu- facturers Association of Los
Angeles,
Oct. 20, 194722National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Conferences and
conventions,Manual for Conference Leaders on the NAF Code
of Ethics 2 for Foremen,
194423National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Conferences and
conventions, "A Summary of the Conference Procedures and the Leader's
Function in Each Step," n.d.Sound ArchivesNational Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Conferences and
conventions, NAF Hollywood Bowl Convention,
1947(16" phonograph
discs)24National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Management
practices25National Association of Foremen (
1940-48), Committee
reports26-8Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), Correspondence,
1947-49. 123
items29Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), Speeches by
Wells,
1948-49. 15
items210Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), Speeches by
others,
1948-49. 10
items211Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), Newsclippings,
1948-49212Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), Publicity,
194831Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), Seminar and
conference programs32Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), "This Is Our
Problem," JANA-AAAA presentation,
194833Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), Freedom Forum,
Harding College, Searcy, Arkansas
194934Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), "Suggested
Training Program for the Refining Division of the Petroleum industry of
Oklahoma," by Wells, H. J. Pout, and John Greer, n.d.35Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49), "The
American Way of Life," training program by Cluett, Peabody and Co.,
Sept. 194836Joint Association of National Advertisers and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies (
1947-49),Armco (Steel Corporation) Policies,
Dec. 12, 1919Photographs (To request photographs use catalog number Mss P221
followed by box and folder numbers)
11Wells in High School and College, Sporting Events,
1928. 5 items12War Bond Rally,
1943. 2 items13Wells working in California oil fields,
194414Dinner meeting,
1944. 2 items.15Management Men of California Conference,
1945. 8 items16Wells at a high school scholarship ceremony,
1946. 1 item17Seminar at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles,
1946. 1 item18Wells with NAF officers,
1946. 1 item19Wells speaking to aviation executives,
1946. 1 item110American Management Day, Hollywood Bowl Theatre,
1947. 10 items111Wells at Chicagoland Management Conference,
1947. 1 item112Portrait of Wells,
1948. 3 items113Wells lecturing on advertising,
1948. 1 item114Wells and friends at College Inn, Chicago. 1
item115Unidentified photographs. 20 itemsFreedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (1949-70) SeriesFreedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (
1949-70)BoxFolderContent
11Administrative, Purpose and mission12Administrative, Bylaws and Certificate of
Incorporation13Administrative, Meeting minutesBoard of Directors,
1952-56and
1964-69
Trustees,
1955, 1965-67, 1969
Board of Visitors,
1965
Executive Committee,
1969
Nomination Committee,
1963
Assignments,
1965and
1968
14Administrative, Officials of FFVFOrganizational Chart, n.d.
Officers and Trustees,
1957-66and
1968-70
Board of Directors,
1949-55and
1965-72
Board of Visitors,
1963-70
Nominating Committee,
1963-69
Delaware Valley Committee,
1964
Volunteer Regional Vice Presidents,
1970
15Administrative, Reports, Awards Committee,
1951-52and
196316Administrative, Reports,Public Relations Committee,
1941-52and
1964
Publicity Committee,
1960and
1966
American Freedom Center Committee,
1964-65
Report on FFVF by Research Group Inc.,
1963
17Administrative, Plans and goals,
1962-7018-9Administrative, Interoffice memos,
1949-70, See also
President's File: General Correspondence and Correspondence21Administrative, Newsletters,
1951-7022Administrative,Handbook for
Affiliated City Committees of FFVF,
196023-4Administrative, Programs for ceremonial occasions,
1952-7025Administrative, Staff list,
1956, 1965, and
1969-7026Administrative, Grounds and buildings27Administrative, Music programs and scores28Administrative, Printed material, Valley Forge
tourbooks,
1911, 1950, 1960,
196829Administrative, Printed material, Pamphlets,
1949-70210Administrative, Printed material, Booklets,
1957-64211Administrative, Printed material, Letterhead/logo
designs31-3Administrative, Projects, "Alert America,"
1951-5234Administrative, Projects, "Get Out the Vote,"
Boy Scouts of America,
1952-6535Administrative, Projects, Educational projects,
1949-7036Administrative, Projects, Eisenhower tribute,
196937Administrative, Projects, "The Executive Reserve of
America,"
196438Administrative, Projects, Family Reunion Day,
196941Administrative, Projects, "What You Can Do for
Freedom,@
196542-3Administrative, Projects, Freedom Shrine,
1952-58, (See also Vault
fd. 5 and oversize boxes 22-23)44Administrative, Projects, "Freedoms Roll
Call,"
1963-7045Administrative, Projects, German Youth Tour of America,
195146Administrative, Projects, Gimbels exhibits,
1967-6847-8Administrative, Projects, Academic Awards Program,
1951-5249Administrative, Projects, Lecture Series,
1964-65410Administrative, Projects, "Love of Liberty,"
1950411Administrative, Projects, Panorama exhibit,
1955412-13Administrative, Projects, "Preservation of the
Principles of Freedom,"
1965-7051Administrative, Projects, "Project Alert,"
1960-6152Administrative, Projects, "Call Me Freedom,"
radio program n.d.53Administrative, Projects, Santa Ana College American
Credo Freedom Monument,
196954Administrative, Projects, "A Harvest for Freedom,:
197055Administrative, Projects,Guidelines to Teaching the American Way of Life,
n.d.56Administrative, Projects, Television
projects57Administrative, Projects, Theatre projects58Administrative, Projects, Lists of films, slides, tapes,
and phonograph discs on freedom59Administrative, Projects, Workshops and seminars for
teachers,
1959-70510-13Administrative, Publicity, News releases,
1949-70514Administrative, Publicity, Advertisements,
1952-7061-3Administrative, Publicity, Articles written about FFVF,
1949-6864Administrative, Women's Division materials,
1965-70, Includes some
correspondence65Administrative, Financial records, Reports,
1964-6966Administrative, Financial records, Employees salaries
and benefits,
1956-7067Administrative, Financial records, Fundraising,
1949-6671-9Administrative, Awards given by FFVF. Includes some
press releases and speeches,
1949-5781-11Administrative, Awards given by FFVF. Includes some
press releases and speeches,
1958-6891-6Administrative, Awards given by FFVF. Includes some
press releases and speeches,
1969-75and n.d.97Administrative, Awards given by FFVF. Includes some
press releases and speeches, Honors received by FFVF,
1958, 1963-66,
196998President's File, Correspondence, Spiro T. Agnew,
1968-70. 5
items99President's File, Correspondence, William R. Anderson,
1960-64. 4 items, Alden G.
Barber,
1969. 1 item, Don Belding,
1949-50, 1955, 1964, 1967.
23 items910President's File, Correspondence, Wolfgang Bernhardt,
1950-54, 1958-59, 1961. 47
items911President's File, Correspondence, Mary Lou Bond,
1960-61. 9
items912President's File, Correspondence, Omar N. Bradley,
1950, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1963-64,
1968-70. 25 itemsVault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, Ellsworth Bunker,
1969-70. 31 items Winston
Churchill,
1958. 1 item913President's File, Correspondence, Bruce C. Clarke,
1965and
1969. 5 items914President's File, Correspondence, Charles de Gaulle,
1963-64. 4
items915President's File, Correspondence, David Eisenhower,
1963. 1 item916President's File, Correspondence, Dwight D. Eisenhower,
1949-69. 126
items101-2President's File, Correspondence, Dwight D. Eisenhower,
(Eisenhower cont'd)Vault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, 59 vault items103President's File, Correspondence, John S. D. Eisenhower,
1963-65, 1967, 1969. 20
items104President's File, Correspondence, Julie Nixon
Eisenhower,
1969. 1 item, Mamie
Eisenhower,
1955, 1966-71. 12
items105President's File, Correspondence, Milton S. Eisenhower,
1952, 1955-59, 1961, 1964,
1968. 34 items106President's File, Correspondence, Sue Eisenhower,
1968, n.d. 3 items, John
Glenn,
1963-66, 1977, 1980. 13
itemsVault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, John Glenn, 10 vault
items107President's File, Correspondence, Billy Graham,
1961, 1964, 1967, 1970.5
items108President's File, Correspondence, Frederick Brown
Harris,
1952, 1956-57, 1959-62. 10
items.109President's File, Correspondence, Albert W. Hawkes,
1964. 7 items, Herbert Hoover,
1948-50and
1953-64. 27
itemsVault fd. 8President's File, Correspondence, Herbert Hoover, 21
vault items1010President's File, Correspondence, Herbert Hoover, Jr.,
1949, 1959, 1964, 1969.6
itemsVault fd. 8President's File, Correspondence, J. Edgar Hoover,
1957-63, 1966, 1968,
1970. 19 vault itemsVault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, Bob Hope,
1975. 1 item1011President's File, Correspondence, Hubert H. Humphrey,
1965and
1968. 2 items1012President's File, Correspondence, E.F. Hutton,
1949-51. 10
items1013President's File, Correspondence, Lyndon B. Johnson,
1965-68. 9
items1014President's File, Correspondence, Douglas MacArthur,
1950. 1 itemVault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, Douglas MacArthur, 2
vault items1015-16President's File, Correspondence, John J.S. Mead,
1951-56. 89 items, See also
General Correspondence111President's File, Correspondence, Richard M. Nixon,
1957, 1960, 1963-64, 1967-72,
1973-74.42 itemsVault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, Richard M. Nixon, 10
vault items112President's File, Correspondence, Norman Vincent Peale,
1959. 1 item113President's File, Correspondence, Ronald Reagan,
1968-69. 3
items114-4aPresident's File, Correspondence, W.C. "Tom"
Sawyer,
1950-53, 1965, 1967. 174
items, See also, General Correspondence115President's File, Correspondence, Harry S. Truman,
1957and
1967. 7 itemsVault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, William C.
Westmoreland,
1968. 2 items 3 vault
itemsVault fd. 9President's File, Correspondence, Otto Van Habsburg,
1964and
1977. 2 items116President's File, General Correspondence,
1949. 16 items117President's File, General Correspondence,
1950. 16 items118-10President's File, General Correspondence,
1951. 75 items1111-14President's File, General Correspondence,
1952. 123 items1115President's File, General Correspondence,
1953. 48 items1116President's File, General Correspondence,
1954. 6 items1117President's File, General Correspondence,
1955. 23 items1118President's File, General Correspondence,
1956. 13 items1119President's File, General Correspondence,
1957. 36 items121President's File, General Correspondence,
1958. 22 items122President's File, General Correspondence,
1959. 56 items123President's File, General Correspondence,
1960. 47 items124President's File, General Correspondence,
1961. 13 items125President's File, General Correspondence,
1962. 21 items126President's File, General Correspondence,
1963. 31 items127President's File, General Correspondence,
1964. 34 items128President's File, General Correspondence,
1965. 49 items129President's File, General Correspondence,
1966. 51 items1210President's File, General Correspondence,
1967. 45 items1211-12President's File, General Correspondence,
1968. 118 items131-2President's File, General Correspondence,
1969. 86 items133-5President's File, General Correspondence,
1970. 105 items136President's File, General Correspondence, Undated. 16
items137President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Selling Yourself,"
April 27, 1949
On the Bill of Rights,
May 13, 1949
On the Bill of Rights, to the Investment Bankers Association,
Louisville, Kentucky,
May 19, 1949
"Definition of Our Economic System,"
1949
"What, No Incentive?,"
1949
"The Odds Are Against Us!,"
1949
Excerpts on freedom, n.d.
138President's File, Speeches by Wells,On freedom, given in New York City,
1950
"Freedom Calls for Responsibility,"
1950
139President's File, Speeches by Wells,On freedom, at the Illinois College Dean Conference, Rockford,
Illinois
"The Best Is Yet to Come," commencement address,
College of Steubenville,
June 7, 1951
On freedom, to the Faculty Club of Columbia University,
1951
1310President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Freedom Calls for Responsibility " at Parkersburg
West Virginia,
Jan. 16, 1952
"Valley Forge--1777," Pearl Harbor Anniversary Day
Program at the George Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania,
Dec. 7, 1952
On property rights, in the Governors Room, the New York Stock
Exchange,
1952
On freedom, to the Women's Clubs of Florida,
1952
1311President's File, Speeches by Wells,On freedom, for the National Freedom Day celebrations at FFVF,
February 1, 1953
"America's Brightest Star," to the District and County
Attorneys of the Texas Bar Association, For Worth, Texas,
July 2, 1953
"The Great Dilemmas and the Great Hope,"
1953
"The Battle of Men's Minds," to the Advertising
Federation, at Virginia Beach and New York City,
1953
"Courage, Conscience and the Constitution,"
Constitution Day, Boston, Mass.,
1953
1312President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Straight From the Shoulder to the Boys and Girls of
America," at the Valley Forge Pilgrimage and Freedom Research Library
dedication ceremonies,
Sept. 17, 1954.
"Daughters of the New Revolution," to the Pennsylvania
Daughters of the American Revolution,
Oct. 5, 1954
"Courage, Conscience and the Constitution," Wichita,
Kan.,
Dec. 1954
1313President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Turn the Page, America, to Chapter Two of the American
Dream," concluding address at the annual meeting of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, in Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C.,
April 21, 1955
1314President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Individual Conscience and the Law of the Land," at
the Maryland State Bar Association annual banquet, Atlantic City, New Jersey,
June 25, 1955
"Straight From the Shoulder to American Boy Scouts,"
at the Grand Parade, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania,
1955
"Flag Day," 1956 On freedom, at the Valley Forge
Methodist Church,
Oct. 22, 1956
On freedom, at Baltimore College,
1956
"A Resolute Foe Through Four Decades of Deceit," to
the National Association of Corporate Secretaries,
1956
1315President's File, Speeches by Wells,Presentation of award to J. Edgar Hoover at the Washington's
Birthday Celebrations at FFVF,
Feb. 22, 1957
Civitan International Convention, Montreal, Canada,
June 25, 1957
At opening Executive Session, Fourth National Jamboree, Boy
Scouts of America, Philadelphia,
1957
At Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio,
1957
"This I Believe," Boston,
1957
On the Republican Party,
1957
On teaching patriotism, to the Masons, Philadelphia,
1957
1316President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Today's Part in Tomorrow's World,"
1958
On economics, tot he New York Metropolitan Club,
1958
"Foremanship--`Ivan' Style," to the National
Management Association, Dayton, Ohio,
1958
141President's File, Speeches by Wells,On freedom, to the Texas Bureau for Economic Understanding,
Abilene, Texas,
Jan. 29, 1959
On economics at the 56th annual meeting of the Philadelphia
Chapter of the American Institute of Banking, Philadelphia,
March 21, 1959
The Sadler Freedom Lecture, at Texas Christian University, Forth
Worth, Texas,
April 7, 1959
"The Citizen's Moral Responsibilities," Freedom Forum
XX, Harding College
April 23, 1959
On flags, at the Flag Day observance, Xavier University,
Cincinnati, Ohio,
June 14, 1959
On Communism, at the Altrusa International Convention, Chicago,
July 20, 1959
On patriotism, at the Central Atlantic Regional Conference of
the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
Sept. 21, 1959
To the Georgia School Board Association, University of Georgia,
Athens, Georgia,
Sept. 25, 1959
On `flag-waving', to the Los Angeles Breakfast Club,
1959
On American education, to the English Department faculty, at the
University of Mississippi,
1959
"The Citizen's Moral Responsibilities,"
1959
142President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Ideological Background of the American Way of Life,"
at St. John's University, Long Island, New York,
Feb. 13, 1960
At the Washington's Birthday ceremonies, Valley Forge Series 3
cont'd Box Folder Military Academy,
Feb. 22, 1960
At Christ Church, Philadelphia,
March 9, 1960
On freedom,
April 5,
1960"Psychiatry`s Place in Meeting the Communist
Challenge," at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association,
Atlantic City, New Jersey,
May 9, 1960
"How Much Does Freedom Cost?," to the Pennsylvania
Bankers Association, Philadelphia,
May 17, 1960
"Morals, Money, and Materialism," at the U.S. Naval
Air Station, South Weymouth, Mass.,
June 28, 1960
On the American flag, Union Religious Service at Christ Church,
Philadelphia, Independence Day,
1960
"Food, Freedom, and Fundamentals," to the American
Food School Service Association, Washington, D.C.,
Sept. 5, 1960
On food and freedom, to the American Food Administrators
Association, Washington, D.C.,
Oct. 6, 1960
Introducing Don Belding,
1960
On socialism and freedom,
1960
143President's File, Speeches by Wells,"The New Battle Liens for Freedom," to the
Philadelphia Rotary Club,
February 13, 1961
"Freedom--The Priceless Ingredient of Advertising," to
the Milwaukee Advertising Club,
June 22, 1961
Introducing Eisenhower at awards ceremonies, Valley Forge
Military Academy,
Dec. 11, 1961
"Patriotism's Three R's--Responsibility, Resolute, and
Reverent," at the School of Anti-Communism, Los Angeles,
Dec. 5, 1961
On FFVF,
1961"The Credo of the
American Way of LIfe,"
1961
144President's File, Speeches by Wells,"Who Is We?," at the Women's National Defense Forum,
Washington, D.C.,
Feb. 9, 1962
On Communism,
Mar. 13, 1962
"Inner Man and Outer Space," convocation address,
Salem College, Salem, West Virginia,
Mar. 26, 1962
"Inner Man and Outer Space," Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah,
Apr. 30, 1962
"One Nation Victorious," to the Daughters of the
American Revolution, Washington, D.C.,
Apr. 18, 1962
"How Business Can Help Meet the Challenge to Free
Enterprise," to the Premium Advertising Association of America, New York
City,
Oct. 16, 1962
To the Daughters of the American Revolution, Baltimore,
Maryland,
1962
145President's File, Speeches by Wells,At the chapter meeting of the Reserve Officers of the U.S.,
Washington, D.C.,
Jan. 1963
"The Whole World and You," Class Night, Graham- Eckes
School, Palm Beach, 5 Florida,
Mar. 17, 1963
To Civitan International, Indianapolis, Indiana,
June 25, 1963
On Communism, at the National Exchange Club Box Folder National
Convention, San Juan, Puerto Rico,
Oct. 8,1963
On Americanism vs. Communism, to AUSA chapter, Fort Eustis,
Virginia,
Nov. 8, 1963
At the Conference on Cold War Education,
1963Commencement address,
University of Connecticut,
1963
On Communism,
1963
146President's File, Speeches by Wells,On FFVF,
Jan. 30, 1964
"Reverent! Resolute! Responsible Americanism," at the
dedication of the Veterans Memorial Room, Ohio University,
Feb. 17, 1964
On FFVF at Washington College,
Apr. 14, 1964
At the World's Fair,
Apr. 25, 1965
"Can the World Be Fed and Free?," at the Annual
Conference of Central Ohio Teachers Association, Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio,
Sept. 28, 1964
At the dedication of land for Congressional Medal of Honor
Grove,
Oct. 1, 1964
To Town Hall, New York City,
1964
On Vietnam,
1964
"The Odds Are Against Us!"
1964
"The Thunder of Violence Approaches!"
1964
147President's File, Speeches by Wells,On patriotism, to the editors of Copley Press,
Jan. 9, 1965
"Individual Consequences and the Law of the Land,"
Recognition Banquet, Transatlantic Council, Boy Scouts of American, Garmisch,
Germany,
May 1, 1965
Introduction of President Eisenhower at the unveiling of the
Credo Shrine,
May 31, 1965
"The Opportunity for Aggressive Capitalism in the
USA,"
1965
Dedication of Pennsylvania Pavilion at the World's Fair, New
York,
June 14, 1965
On FFVF, at the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce Forum,
Buffalo, New York,
June 22, 1965
Dedication of gates at FFVF,
Aug. 28, 1965
At ceremonies in honor of General Bruce C. Clarke, New York,
Sept. 25, 1965
"The World Conspiracy AGinst Voluntary Life," at U.S.
Army Ar College,
Oct. 5, 1965
"Resurgence of Free Enterprise in America," at the
National Management Association Convention, San Diego, Calif.,
Oct. 29, 1965
148President's File, Speeches by Wells,To Massachusetts Federation of Women's Clubs, Boston,
Jan. 31, 1966
149President's File, Speeches by Wells,At dedication of George Washington Prayer Statue, FFVF,
Sept. 9, 1967
At Kiwanis International Council Meeting, Chicago,
Oct. 6, 1967To U.S. Savings
& Loan League, San Francisco
, Nov. 3, 1967
"This I Believe!" 1967
1410President's File, Speeches by Wells,For God and Country," at First Congregational Church of Los
Angeles On Communism, to the Palm Desert Rotary Club,
Jan. 19, 1968
On the cold war, at the American Bankers Meeting, Palm Beach,
Calif.,
Feb. 1, n.d.
On patriotism, for the Biennial Convention of the Congressional
Medal of Honor Society assembled at Seattle, Washington,
Oct. 13, 1968
1411President's File, Speeches by Wells,On the American credo, at the Women's Forum on National
Security, Washington, D.C.,
Feb. 3, 1969
"Thoughts on Vietnam and Other Matters,"
Mar. 10, 1969
"Goals for 1976," at the Veteran's Summit Conference,
FFVF,
Apr. 18, 1969
"Go On Or Go Under," concluding remarks at the
Veteran's Summit Conference, FFVF,
Apr. 19, 1969
To the General Federation of Women's Clubs,
1969On Vietnam,
Nov. 8, 1969
1412President's File, Speeches by Wells,At the University of Mississippi, Mar. 15, 1970
"Are We Good Workmen for America?," at Secretary of
State Ted W. Brown's Conference on Elections, Cleveland, Ohio,
July 24, 1970
1413President's File, Undated speeches by Wells"America at a Crossroads"
"Citizenship Challenges You"
"Is the Communist Offensive Receding?"
"Summary of Methods--Written Communications"
"Telegram...Freedom Forum..."
On Communist aggression
On socialism Fund presentation
On Russia
On freedom
On the 4th of July
On the Constitution
151-2President's File, Writings by Wells,
Articles153President's File, Writings by Wells,Awake Throughout the Land(publisher's proof
copy)154President's File, Writings by Wells, Correspondence
re:Awake Throughout the Land,
1967155-7President's File, Writings by Wells, Contributions
toAwake Throughout the Land,
1967Vault ft. 1President's File, Writings by Wells,Awake Throughout the Land45 vault items158President's File, Writings by Wells, Miscellaneous
writings, Part 1161President's File, Writings by Wells, Miscellaneous
writings, Part 2161aPresident's File, Writings by Wells,The Making of George Washingtonby William H. Wilbur,
foreword by WellsFaith Is A Star, by Ronald Gammon,
with a chapter by Wells
162President's File, Notes171-8President's File, Notes179President's File, Transcript of interview in
1972with Wells By Robert
Henle, Director of Hoover Library regarding Wells' memories of Herbert
Hoover(To request photographs use catalog number MSSP 221 followed by
box and folder numbers).
116President's File, Photographs, FFVF first press meeting,
1948. 1 item117President's File, Photographs, Ceremony,
1949. 1 item118President's File, Photographs, First flag raising,
1949. 1 item119President's File, Photographs, Wells with Omar Bradley,
1950s. 1 item.120President's File, Photographs, Barn dinner,
1950. 1 item121President's File, Photographs, German students visit
America,
1950-52. 1 item122President's File, Photographs, Luncheon at Wells home,
1951. 1 item123President's File, Photographs, Wells with VFW Gold Medal
of Merit Certificate,
1951. 1 item124President's File, Photographs, Wells speaking at
"Know Your America," New York,
1951. 1 item125President's File, Photographs, Ruth Wells, Mamie
Eisenhower, and MRs. Roger Firestone,
1952. 1 item126President's File, Photographs, Awards Day luncheon,
1952. 1 item127President's File, Photographs, R.W. Berry, Don Belding,
and Wells,
1952. 1 item128President's File, Photographs, Guests at Wells home,
1952-53. 3
items129President's File, Photographs, BSA "Get Out and
Vote" campaign,
1952. 1 item1OversizePresident's File, Photographs, Wells with President
Eisenhower,
1953. 1 item130President's File, Photographs, Wells with Richard Nixon,
1953. 3 items131President's File, Photographs, Richard Nixon, Bishop
Fulton Sheen, Frederick Brown Harris, and Don Belding at awards ceremony,
1953. 4 items132President's File, Photographs, Cecil B. DeMille,
1953. 1 item133President's File, Photographs, Defiance College,
1953. 1 item134President's File, Photographs, Wells and President
Eisenhower with the
1953Armed Forces award
recipients,
1954. 2 items135President's File, Photographs, Wells with Albert Jacobs,
1954. 1 item136President's File, Photographs, Wells at Beech Aircraft
Company,
1954. 1 item137President's File, Photographs, Select committee
preparing report on the activities of Joseph McCarthy, including Senators
Arthur Watkins (Utah), Francis Case (South Dakota), Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (North
Caroline), Frank Carlson (Kansas), Edwin C. Johnson (Colorado), and John C.
Stennis (Mississippi,)
1954. 1 item138President's File, Photographs, Wells with Charles E.
Wilson,
1955. 2 items.139President's File, Photographs, Wells with his sons, Port
Washington, New York,
1955. 1 item140President's File, Photographs, Panorama Exhibit,
1955. 2 items141President's File, Photographs, Billy Graham, Don
Belding, Wells and others at awards ceremony,
1955. 13 items142President's File, Photographs, Visitors to FFVF,
1953. 3 items143President's File, Photographs, George Washington Honor
Medal awarded to Our Lady of Lourdes School
1956. 1 item144President's File, Photographs, Board of Directors of
FFVF at White House,
1956. 3 items145President's File, Photographs, Fort Myer Ladies Club
luncheon,
1956. 13 items146President's File, Photographs, Flag raising ceremony,
1957. 2 items147President's File, Photographs, J. Edgar Hoover and other
award winners,
1957. 16 items148President's File, Photographs, U.S. Army Band,
1957. 2 items149President's File, Photographs, Proposed Freedom Shrine,
1957. 4 items150President's File, Photographs, Portrait of Cdr. William
Robert Anderson, USN,
1957. 1 item151President's File, Photographs, President Hoover
addressing award recipients,
1958. 6 items152President's File, Photographs, Wells at Navy League
dinner,
1958. 2 items153President's File, Photographs, Luncheon at Wells home,
1959. 2 items154President's File, Photographs, Wells and others in the
office of the Vice President, White House,
1959. 1 item155President's File, Photographs, Wells receiving award
from the state of Texas,
1959. 1 item156President's File, Photographs, Valley Forge Lion's Club
Thanksgiving Award plaque presented to Wells,
1959. 1 item157President's File, Photographs, Jess Raley receiving
award from Wells at annual George Washington's Birthday ceremonies,
1960. 1 item158President's File, Photographs, Wells and Raymond Burr at
awards ceremony,
1960. 1 item159President's File, Photographs, FFVF leaders discussing
plans for the proposed American Freedom Center,
1960. 2 items160President's File, Photographs, Wells aboard nuclear
submarine Scorpion
1960, 7 items161President's File, Photographs, Wells with Robert J.
Smith (in Confederate uniform),
1960s. 1 item162President's File, Photographs, Wells receiving first
edition ofFounders of Freedom,
1961163President's File, Photographs, Groundbreaking for the
Martha Washington Building,
1961. 1 item164President's File, Photographs, Wells laying brick for
the Flag Plaza Wall,
1961. 2 items165President's File, Photographs, Wells with Dwight D.
Eisenhower following the cornerstone ceremony for the American Freedom Center,
1961. 3 items166President's File, Photographs, Ruth Wells guest of honor
at Union League dinner,
1961. 1 item167President's File, Photographs, Portrait of Bruce C.
Clarke,
1961. 1 item168President's File, Photographs, Wells giving away Miss
Jane Shirley at her wedding, 68
1962. 1 item169President's File, Photographs, Ruth Wells with School
Award recipients visiting the Liberty Bell, Philadelphia,
1962. 1 item170President's File, Photographs, The Eisenhowers at the
dedication of the Martha Washington Building,
1963. 8 items171President's File, Photographs, John Glenn at FFVF,
1963-64. 7
items172President's File, Photographs, Don Belding and Admiral
Arthur Radford,
1964. 1 item173President's File, Photographs, Portrait of Dwight D.
Eisenhower,
1964. 1 item21President's File, Photographs, Medal of Honor banquet at
New York Waldorf-Astoria,
1964, 12 items22President's File, Photographs, Union League of
Philadelphia plaque awarded to Wells,
1964, 1 item23President's File, Photographs, Wells, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, John Glenn, and Joe Brunton at Palm Springs, California,
1964, 6 items23President's File, Photographs, Wells presenting an award
to Washington College,
1964.24President's File, Photographs, Women's Division
officers,
1965. 1 item25President's File, Photographs, Wells presenting award to
Bob Hope,
1965. 1 item26President's File, Photographs, Wells receiving American
Farm Bureau Award,
1965. 1 item27President's File, Photographs, Dwight D. Eisenhower's
75th birthday party,
1965. 1 item28President's File, Photographs, Wells with Albert Hawkes,
1965. 1 item29President's File, Photographs, Portrait of Major General
John Franklin,
1965. 1 item210President's File, Photographs, Ronald and Nancy Reagan,
1966. 1 item211President's File, Photographs, FFVF Trustees/Directors,
1966. 1 item212President's File, Photographs, Brigham young University
group at FFVF,
1966. 1 item213President's File, Photographs, Negro History Week,
1966. 1 item214President's File, Photographs, Henry Ford II and J.
Edgar Hoover receiving the George Washington Honor Medal,
1966. 1 item215President's File, Photographs, American Veterans of
World Wars Citation to Wells to receive their Americanism Award,
1966. 1 item216President's File, Photographs, John F. Reed, Colonel
F.B. Nihart, and Wells at a Banquet of the company of Military Historians,
1966. 1 item217President's File, Photographs, Citizen's Forum of
Indianapolis Plaque awarded to Wells,
1966, 1 item218President's File, Photographs, Medal of Honor banquet,
1967. 8 items219President's File, Photographs, Dedication of the
"Faith of Our Fathers" chapel by Billy Graham,
1967. 7 items220President's File, Photographs, Wells at the Hughes
Fullerton Management Club,
1967. 1 item221President's File, Photographs, Wells with Delaware
educators,
1967. 3 items222President's File, Photographs, Wells with Katherine
Hook, Senator Strom Thurmond, and Anita Bryant, Waldorf-Astoria, New York,
1968. 1 item223President's File, Photographs, Wells' Constitution Day
address, Washington, D.C.,
1968. 1 item224President's File, Photographs, West Virginia Key Club
award presented to Wells,
1968. 1 item225President's File, Photographs, Wells with
"Operation Understanding" group,
1968. 7 items226President's File, Photographs, Optimist Club Award
presented to Wells,
1968. 1 item227President's File, Photographs, Wells receiving degree of
Doctor of Business Administration, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate,
Tennessee,
1968. 3 items228President's File, Photographs, Portrait of Richard M.
Nixon,
1969. 1 item229President's File, Photographs, Pennsylvania Music Award
presented to Ruth Wells,
1969. 1 item230-32President's File, Photographs, Vietnam trip,
1969. 55 items233President's File, Photographs, Wells with Lawrence Welk
on FFVF grounds,
1969. 1 item234President's File, Photographs, Wells in
1969National Strategy
Seminar,
1969. 1 item2OversizePresident's File, Photographs, South Vietnamese
President Thieu,
1969. 1 item235President's File, Photographs, Catholic War Veterans
plaque awarded to Wells,
1970. 1 item236President's File, Photographs, Wells at White House
reporting to President Oversize and Nixon about Vietnam trip,
1970. 6 items237President's File, Undated Photographs, Wells receiving
handpainted portrait. 1 item238President's File, Undated Photographs, BSA awards
received by Wells. 2 items239President's File, Undated Photographs, Poor Richards
Club medal presented to Wells. 1 item240President's File, Undated Photographs, Amvets
Americanism Awards presented to Wells and others. 4 items241President's File, Undated Photographs, Dwight D.
Eisenhower and family. 2 items242President's File, Undated Photographs, Portraits of Rev.
Frederick Brown Harris. 2 items243President's File, Undated Photographs, Portraits of Mr.
and Mrs. Herbert Hoover. 8 items244President's File, Undated Photographs, Sketch of Joseph
Fugitt (FFVF librarian). 1 item245President's File, Undated Photographs, The Berlin Wall.
(55 negatives, 12 prints)246President's File, Undated Photographs, Statue of George
Washington in Prayer. 10 items247President's File, Undated Photographs, "Our Bill of
Rights" display. 5 items248 and OversizedPresident's File, Undated Photographs, Building at FFVF.
8 items249-52President's File, Undated Photographs, Miscellaneous
undated photographs. 142 items31-2President's File, Undated Photographs, Miscellaneous
undated photographs.Sound ArchivesPresident's File, Recordings,Phonograph Discs, Awards ceremony,
Oct. 28, 1950
Phonograph Discs, Awards ceremony,
Feb. 22, 1952
Phonograph Discs, "Freedom Sings" awards presentation,
1950s
Phonograph Discs, Keynote address by Wells, Altrusa
International Convention,
1959
Tapes, Wells speech, Pulaski, Virginia,
1958
Tapes, Wells speech, Lampasa, Texas,
1958
Tapes, George Washington's birthday,
1958
Tapes, Speeches,
1964
Tapes, ACTT luncheon, Philadelphia,
Dec. 7, 1965
Tapes, Wells speech, Kiwanis West Coast Regional Meeting, San
Diego,
Sept. 1965
Tapes, Opening Session,
March 24, 1966
Tapes, Wells speech, 7th Annual Service Club leaders Convention,
Toledo, Ohio,
Nov. 10, 1966
Tapes, Wells speech, Germany,
May 12, 1966
Tapes, U.S. Army Band and Chorus,
Aug. 1967
Tapes, Eisenhower at Ohio University,
1969
Tapes, Eisenhower Tribute,
1969
Tapes, Speeches by Wells and others,
1969
Tapes, Interview with Wells, Philadelphia news program,
Oct. 14, 1969
Tapes, FFVF radio spots, n.d.
Tapes, "Voice of the Bill of Rights," n.d.
Tapes, Omar Bradley,
1970(cassette)
Film/Video ArchivesPresident's File, Recordings,Motion Pictures, Wells and Harry Truman,
1952
Awards (contained in Box 18, folders 1-20, are paper
certificates only. Three dimensional awards, plaques, or medals as well as
larger certificates are contained in boxes 24-26 and oversize box 27.)
181President's File, Awards,
1951Military Order of the
Purple Heart182President's File, Awards,
1952Certificate of
Appreciation, New Orleans Area Council, Boy Scouts of America; Appreciation of
Service to Youth, Winnebago County, Illinois183President's File, Awards,
1953Certificate of Merit,
American Veterans of World War II; Honorary Doctor of humane Letters, Temple
University; Gold Medal of Merit, Veterans of Foreign Wars; Doctor of Laws,
Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Florida184President's File, Awards,
1954Distinguished American
Citizen, Harding College185President's File, Awards,
1955Honorary Citizen of
Maryland; Honorary Doctor of Laws, Trinity College186President's File, Awards,
1956Good Citizenship Medal,
Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the American Revolution187President's File, Awards,
1957Silver Buffalo Award,
Boy Scouts of America;Valley Forge SentinelFront
Page Achievement188President's File, Awards,
1958Citation for
Distinguished Service, Norman College, Norman Park, Georgia; Certificate of
Appreciation, Kiwanis Club of San Diego, California; appointment as Imperial
Potentate's Aide, the Imperial Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine for North America; Certificate of Appreciation,
Philadelphia Civil Defense Council; Membership, TWA Ambassadors
Club189President's File, Awards,
1959Honorary Citizen of
Texas; Speaker of the Jonathan Breakfast Club; Certificate of Appreciation,
Kiwanis Club of Wilmington, Delaware; Noble of the Mystic Shrine, The Imperial
Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the nobles of the Mystic Shrine for
North America; Thanksgiving Award, Valley Forge Lions Club; Doctor of Laws,
Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas1810President's File, Awards,
1960Participant in the
Global Strategy Discussions, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island; Youth
Leadership, U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce; Distinguished Service Medal,
Veterans of Foreign Wars1811President's File, Awards,
1961Certificate of
Appreciation, Circle K International; Certificate of Appreciation, Rotary
International; Membership, The Newcomen Society of North America; Perpetual
Member of the Association, Pontifical Association of the Holy Childhood;
Certificate of Appreciation, Kiwanis International1812President's File, Awards,
1962Doctor of Humane
Letters, Salem College, Salem, West Virginia1813President's File, Awards,
1963Resolution Expressing
Thanks and Appreciation, National Exchange Club; Appreciation for Exceptional
Contributions, Legion of Valor; Citation for Outstanding Service, National
Retired Teachers Association, American Association of Retired Persons;
Sovereign Grand Inspector General 33rd Degree and Honorable Member Supreme
Council, Masons1814President's File, Awards,
1964Presidential Medal of
Freedom; Rank of Colonel Etowah Rifels, Etowah County, Alabama; Salute to a
Guardian of Scouting, Boy Scouts of America; Eagle Scout Recognition Program,
Allegheny Council, Boy Scouts of America1815President's File, Awards,
1965Exceptionally
Meritorious Achievement, National Sojourners; Exemplary Patriotic Service, The
Women World War Veterans; Leadership Award, The National Management
Association; Liberty Bell Award, Pennsylvania Bar Association1816President's File, Awards,
1966Outstanding
Achievement, National Sojourners Certification of Appreciation, Kiwanis
International; The Freedom Sword, Honorary Innkeepers of the 13 Colonies;
Congressional Medal of Honor Society of the U.S.; Citizens Forum Inc. Award,
1967For outstanding
contributions to human freedom, Kiwanis International; Great Salt Lake Council,
Boy Scouts of America; Good Citizenship Medal, The National Society of the Sons
of the American Revolution; Americanism Award, AMVETS1817President's File, Awards,
1968Ambassador of Air
Defense, U.S. Army Air Defense Command; Honorary Life Membership, Improved
Order of Red Men; Resolution Expressing Thanks and Appreciation, National
Exchange Club; Service to Mankind, Sertoma International; The 24-Hour Expert
Oozlefinchling, Ancient and Honorable Order of the Oozelfinch; certificate for
offering prayer at the opening session of the Senate; West Virginia Key Club;
Optimist International; Doctor of Business Administration, Lincoln Memorial
University, Harrogate, Tennessee1818President's File, Awards,
1969Honorary
"Blackhorse Trooper," Eleventh Armored Cavalry Regiment; Meritorious
Service, Vietnam Council on Foreign Relations; American Artificer's Award Flag,
Plaza Foundation, Pittsburgh' Degree of Doctor of Public Service, Brigham Young
University; American War Mothers; Honor Medal, Society of Lafayette1819President's File, Awards,
1970Resolution of
Appreciation, Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge; Liberty Award, Congress of
Freedom; Honorary Life Member of the Order of Davy Crockett, David Crockett
Elementary School, San Antonio, Texas; Good Citizenship Award, Pennsylvania
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution; Distinguished Citizens Award,
United Veterans Council of Philadelphia; Admiral, the Great Navy of the State
of Nebraska; Humanitarian Award, lions International; Outstanding American,
Catholic War Vets; Independence Award, Hillsdale College; Silver Medal of
Honor, Union League of Philadelphia; Meritorious Service, Vietnam Council on
Foreign Relations1820President's File, Undated Awards, Exceptionally
Meritorious Achievement, National Sojourners; Member of Eminent Distinction,
The National Register of Prominent Americans; Honorary member, U.S. Army Band;
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge; Recognition for Meritorious Service to
4-H; Shrine Citation, Masons; Member of United Air Lines 100,000 Mile Club;
Distinguished Service Medal, Veterans of Foreign Wars; keys from various
American cities1821Affiliations, Northwestern University1822Affiliations, Boy Scouts of America1823Affiliations, The Baronial Order of Magna
Carta1824Affiliations, Invest-In-America, Moral Re-Armament,
Inc., The Metropolitan Club191-3Affiliations, Masons194Affiliations, The Penn Club195Affiliations, American Heritage Foundation, Better
Living Foundation, National Freedom Day Association, Medal of Honor
Society196Affiliations, The Institute for Liberty and Community,
Church League of America, The Heritage FoundationVault fd. 3Miscellaneous Personal, Handwritten tribute to Wells
from Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Nov. 20, 1949Vault fd. 6Miscellaneous Personal, Handwritten notes of address
given by Dwight D. Eisenhower at the first FFVF awards ceremony,
Nov. 21, 1949197-8Miscellaneous Personal, Articles written about
Wells201-5Miscellaneous Personal, Schedules and
itineraries206Miscellaneous Personal,207-9Miscellaneous Personal, Social engagements2010Miscellaneous Personal, Memorabilia211Miscellaneous Personal, Address book212-6Miscellaneous Personal, Programs of speaking
engagements217Miscellaneous Personal, Vietnam trip,
1969218Ruth Wells' Hostess Duties,
1952-62Retirement Years SeriesRetirement YearsBoxFolderContent
11Correspondence, Spiro T. Agnew,
1972and
1975. 7 items12Correspondence, Ezra T. Benson,
1974-78. 9 items, Ellsworth
Bunker,
1973-76. 6
items13Correspondence, Vincent Godfrey Burns,
1969-75. 53
items14Correspondence, Bruce C. Clarke,
1971and
1975-78. 10
items15Correspondence, John G. Connally,
1975-76and
1979-80. 7
items16Correspondence, Eisenhower family,
1970-79. 5
items17Correspondence, Gerald R. Ford,
1975-76. 2
items18Correspondence, John Glenn,
1981. 1 item, Billy Graham,
1971. 1 item, J. Edgar
Hoover,
1972. 1 item, Spencer W.
Kimball,
1981. 1 item19Correspondence, Richard M. Nixon,
1971, 1974-75, 1978. 4
itemsVault fd. 9Correspondence, Richard M. Nixon, 2 vault
items19Correspondence, Norman Vincent Peale,
1972-82. 3
items110Correspondence, Ronald Reagan,
1973, 1975-79, 1981-82. 24
itemsVault fd. 9Correspondence, Ronald Reagan, 2 vault
items111Correspondence, W.C. "Tom" Sawyer,
1970-71and
1977-78. 5
items112Correspondence, William H. Wilbur,
1970-78and
1980. 41 items113Correspondence, William C. Westmoreland,
1972. 3 items, Ernest L.
Wilkinson,
1972and
1974-78. 15
items114-16General Correspondence,
1971. 62 items1,217-18,1-2General Correspondence,
1972. 197 items23General Correspondence,
1973. 18 items24General Correspondence,
1974. 32 items25General Correspondence,
1975. 57 items26General Correspondence,
1976. 37 items27General Correspondence,
1977. 9 items28General Correspondence,
1978. 12 items29General Correspondence,
1979. 7 items210General Correspondence,
1980-84. 39
items211General Correspondence, Undated. 17 items212General Correspondence, Correspondence from Honduras,
Nicaragua, and Costa Rica,
1984. 21 items31Speeches by Wells,On Constitution Day, Washington Monument grounds,
Sept. 17, 1970
At the funeral of Albert W. Hawkes,
1971
"George Washington's Birthday:
Feb. 22, 1732,"
Fairfield Methodist Church, Burgess, Virginia,
Feb. 1972
To the National Association of Business Economists, Washington,
D.C.,
Oct. 1973
On the National Dividend Plan,
Oct. 1973
"Our Nation is Stumbling Along,"
1974
To the National Association of Republican County Chairmen,
1975
To the Institute of Political Studies, Bendern, Liechtenstein,
Oct. 10, 1976
To the members of the CIty Commission of London and American
guests,
Fall 1976
At the University of Florida, Orlando,
1978
To the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daytona Beach,
Florida,
Feb. 25, 1976
To the Chamber of Commerce of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Winter
1979
To the Ladies of the Henry Navarre Chapter of the Huguenot
Society of America, Naples, Florida,
Feb. 7, 1984
"Here are the Horrid, Sad, Dangerous Facts About Central
America," Brannon Library Lecture Series, New Smyrna Beach, Florida,
Mar. 11, 1985
32Congressional campaign,
1972, Speeches by Wells. 17
itemsSee also, Series 4, General Correspondence
33Congressional campaign,
1972, Expenses34Congressional campaign,
1972, Publicity35Congressional campaign,
1972, Democratic opponent
Thomas N. Downing36-7Congressional campaign,
1972,Republican National
Convention38Congressional campaign,
1972, Republican Party
materialsOversizeCongressional campaign,
1972,
Scrapbook41Writings, "The Church Faces the Third Century of
the USA,"
June 6, 1974, On Communist
methods,
197942Writings,Excerpt from unpublished bookOne Lifetime
is Not Enough! or I Tried to Be a Catalyst For Freedom's Cause,
Jan. 1981
Sunrise and Sunset, poems by Wells,
1982
"Your A-Tension
Please"essays by Wells,
1982
"Meet Martha Washington," play by Wells,
1981
43-4Notes,
1970-82(To request photographs use catalog number MSSP 221 followed by
box and folder numbers.)
See also, Miscellaneous Personal, Family trip, Series 4, Box
7
34Photographs, Miscellaneous personal photographs of
Wells,
1970s. 18 items35Photographs, Photograph of fine art portrait of
President Eisenhower,
1970. 1 item36Photographs, Wells campaigning for Congress,
1972. 11 items37Photographs, National Dividend Plan presentation,
1972. 12 items38Photographs, Wells meeting with the U.S. Organization to
Vietnam,
1974. 1 item39 and OversizePhotographs, Portrait of Wells,
1974. 5 items310Photographs, Wells at Mack Truck Company, Allentown,
Pennsylvania, Salt Lake City, Utah,
1976. 1 item311Photographs, Bruce C. Clarke,
1975. 1 item312Photographs, Wells and John Connally at L.D.S. Church
Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah,
1976. 1 item313Photographs, Wells with Ronald Reagan,
1976. 2 items, Wells with
Pres. Spencer W. Kimball,
1981. 1 item314Photographs, Cast of Wells' play "Council of
Generals,"
1981. 2 items315Photographs, Ruth Wells in "Meet Martha
Washington,"
1982. 1 item316Photographs, Miss Indian America, All American Indian
Days,
n.d. 3 itemsSound ArchivesRecordings, Freedom Archives Opening, Brigham Young
University
1978.Film/Video Archives "Motion Pictures, "National Dividend Plan,"
n.d., "Wells Vistis Than Thien, Vietnam," n.d.Awards and Honors (Contained in Box 4, Folders 5-12, are paper
certificates only. Three dimensional awards such as plaques or medals, as well
as larger certificates are contained in Series 3 boxes 24-26 and oversize box
27.)
45Awards and Honors,
1971Rating of Commodore,
Powder River Navy; Service to Mankind Award, Sertoma International46Awards and Honors,
1972Key Tone Salute,
Pennsylvania Federation of Music Clubs, Inc.47Awards and Honors,
1973Instructors
Certificate, The American Boys State of Virginia48Awards and Honors,
1974Honorary Lieutenant
Colonel Aide-de-Camp Alabama State Militia; Distinguished Patriot Award,
Religious Heritage of America49Awards and Honors,
1975Honorary Lieutenant
Colonel Aide-de-Camp, Alabama State Militia,
1979Patriotic Education
Award, Patriotic Education, Inc.410Awards and Honors,
1980Life Membership,
Reserve Officers Association of the United States; Magna Carta Day Award, The
Baronial Order of Magna Carta411Awards and Honors,
1981Subject of a
biographical record inWho's Who in America, The
MarquisWho's WhoPublications Board412Awards and Honors,
1983Honor Medal,
certificate and published entry, National Society of Daughters of the American
Revolution413Affiliations, All American Indian Days
Association414-15 (15 is Oversize)Affiliations, Freedom Archives, Brigham Young
University51-2Affiliations, Family Foundation of America53-7Affiliations, Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge,
Mainly newsletters, press releases, and printed matter58Affiliations, Institute for Political
Studies59Affiliations, LDS Church510Affiliations, Masons61-6Affiliations, National Dividend Plan67Affiliations, Republican Party of Virginia
Committee71Miscellaneous Personal, Articles about Wells72Miscellaneous Personal, Social engagements73Family trip, summer
1982Research and Reference File SeriesResearch and Reference FileBoxFolderContent
11Personality File, Adams, Arthur G.12Personality File, Agnew, Spiro T.13Personality File, Allen, Raymond B.14Personality File, Anderson, john W.15Personality File, Applegate, Joseph M.16Personality File, Ashbrook, John17Personality File, Ayars, Erling E.18Personality File, Balaban, Barney19Personality File, Banowsky, William110Personality File, Barnett, Frank R.111Personality File, Barradas, Gerald112Personality File, Beall, Jack113Personality File, Belding, Alice114-17Personality File, Belding, Don118Personality File, Benson, Ezra Taft119Personality File, Bernhardt, Wolfgang120Personality File, Besse, Ralph M.121Personality File, Blaine, William C.122Personality File, Boone, Joel T.123Personality File, Braden, Spruille124Personality File, Bradley, Gene E.125Personality File, Broger, John C.126Personality File, Brown, Lewis H.21Personality File, Brucker, Wilber M.22Personality File, Buckley, James L.23Personality File, Buckley, William F., Jr.24Personality File, Bukovsky, Vladimir25Personality File, Burns, Vincent Godfrey26Personality File, Butz, Earl L.27Personality File, Caldwell, Oliver J.28Personality File, Calkins, Robert D.29Personality File, Callaway, Howard H.210Personality File, Camelon, D.211Personality File, Cannon, Mark W.212Personality File, Camp, W.B.213Personality File, Carroll, Joseph F.214Personality File, Carter, Jimmy215Personality File, Chamberlain, William Henry216Personality File, Champion, George217Personality File, Chase, Howard218Personality File, Chodorow, Frank219-21Personality File, Clarke, Bruce C.222-23Personality File, Clinton, Clifford E.224Personality File, Coates, Charles B.225Personality File, Coney, Mattie Rice226Personality File, Connally, John227Personality File, Copley, James S.31Personality File, Cotter, William S.P.32Personality File, Creaghead, Robert M.33Personality File, Davidson, Carl34Personality File, Davis, William Carlton35Personality File, Davis, Charles H.36Personality File, Dean, R.N.37Personality File, DeGaulle, Charles38Personality File, DeJaegher, Raymond J.39Personality File, Demarcellus, Robert X.310Personality File, Dexter, Seymour311Personality File, Dulles, john Foster312-15Personality File, Eisenhower, Dwight David316Personality File, Eisenhower, Mamie317Personality File, Eisenhower, Milton S.318Personality File, Elson, Edward L.R.319Personality File, Erteszek, Jan J.320Personality File, Erzigkeit, Olga R.321Personality File, Farley, James A.41Personality File, Flickinger, Max R.42Personality File, Flumiani, C.M.43Personality File, Ford, Gerald R.44Personality File, Forman, James45Personality File, Fowler, Henry H.46Personality File, Francis, Clarence47Personality File, Gannon, Robert I.48Personality File, Garrett, Paul49Personality File, Gibson, Charles C.410Personality File, Giffin, Sidney F.411Personality File, Gilbert, Mitchell412Personality File, Glenn, John, Jr413Personality File, Graham, Billy414Personality File, Grant, Jane415Personality File, Greenberg, Leon416Personality File, Groetsema, Frederic417Personality File, Gross, H.R.418Personality File, Guenther, J. Jarden419Personality File, Harris, Frederick Brown420Personality File, Harriss, C. Lowell421Personality File, Harvey, Paul422Personality File, Harvey, Richard423Personality File, Hauge, Gabriel424Personality File, Hawkes, Albert W.425Personality File, Hayes, Charlie426Personality File, Head, T. Grady427Personality File, Hess, Karl428Personality File, Hicks, Hamilton429Personality File, Hiles, Ed W. 29430Personality File, Hoover, Herbert431-32Personality File, Hoover, J. Edgar433Personality File, Horst, George C.434Personality File, Howard, John A.435Personality File, Humphrey, Hubert H.51Personality File, Hutchins, Maurine52Personality File, Hutton, Edward F.53Personality File, Igleheart, Austin S.54Personality File, Ingebretsen, J.C.55Personality File, Jackson, C.D.56Personality File, Jameson, Frank Gard57Personality File, Johnson, Harold K.58Personality File, Johnson, Lyndon B.59Personality File, Johnson, Robert L.510Personality File, Jones, Sarra Roddis511Personality File, Kai-shek, Madame Chiang512Personality File, Kaznacheyev, Aleksandr
Yurievich513Personality File, Kennedy, John F.514Personality File, Kennedy, Ted515Personality File, Kimball, Spencer W.516Personality File, Knost, Peter Noel517Personality File, Laboda, Samuel R.518Personality File, Lee, Henry519Personality File, Lemnitzer, Lyman L.520Personality File, Lowry, Charles W.521Personality File, Lyons, Eugene522Personality File, MacKeand, Charles523Personality File, Manion, Charles524Personality File, Manne, Henry G.525Personality File, Marcus, J. Anthony526Personality File, Marshall, James527Personality File, Marshall, Peter528Personality File, Martin, Joseph W., Jr.529Personality File, Masens, Vilis530Personality File, Matkin, Harold531Personality File, Mayo, Robert H.532Personality File, McCann, Kevin533Personality File, McClaughry, John534Personality File, McGorrill, Milton M.535Personality File, McGovern, George536Personality File, McNamara, Robert S.537Personality File, Medina, Harold R.538Personality File, Miller, Raymond W.539Personality File, Miller, Thornton C.540Personality File, Moore, E.E.541Personality File, Morris Robert542Personality File, Munske, Charles R.543Personality File, Muskie, Edmund544Personality File, Nagy, Denes61Personality File, Nance, E.C.62-3Personality File, Nixon, Richard M.64Personality File, Norton, Patrick J.65Personality File, Oaks, Dallin H.66Personality File, Parsons, C.W.S.67Personality File, Paschall, Davis Y.68Personality File, Perry, John H.69Personality File, Pew, J. Howard610Personality File, Philbrick, Herbert A.611Personality File, Phillips, Lyle G.612Personality File, Poling, Daniel Alfred613Personality File, Powell, Daniel Alfred614Personality File, Prentis, H.W., Jr.615Personality File, Putnam, George616Personality File, Rast, L.E.617Personality File, Reagan, Ronald618Personality File, Rhoads, C. Brewster619Personality File, Rickenbacker, Eddie620Personality File, Rickover, H.G.621Personality File, Russell, R.W.622Personality File, Russell, William F.623Personality File, Ruthenburg, Louis624Personality File, Sawyer, W.C.
"Tom"625Personality File, Schaaf, Oscar F.626Personality File, Schreiber, Jack627Personality File, Seaver, Mrs. Frank Rogers628Personality File, Shuster, "Max"629Personality File, Smith, Alfred E.630Personality File, Smith, James Roy631Personality File, Smock, Jack632Personality File, Snyder, Colyer633Personality File, Spates, Thomas G.634Personality File, Spellman, Francis Cardinal635Personality File, Spurr, Aimee636Personality File, Stanley, John Paul637Personality File, Strunk, Norman638Personality File, Stump, Felix B.71Personality File, Sullivan, Lawrence72Personality File, Sulzberger, Arthur H.73Personality File, Taylor, David74Personality File, Taylor, Maxwell D.75Personality File, Taylor, Reese H.76Personality File, Tenney, Jack B.77Personality File, Terry, Paul A.78Personality File, Terzian, Carl R.79Personality File, Tomshany, A.T.710Personality File, Trickett, J.M.711Personality File, Trudeau, Pierre712Personality File, Udall, Levi S.713Personality File, Untereiner, Ray E.714Personality File, Vance, Cyrus R.715Personality File, Von Hayek, Friedrick A.716Personality File, Waldeck, L.E.717Personality File, Walker, DeLoss718Personality File, Wallin, Homer N.719Personality File, Wanger, Walter720Personality File, Watts, Robert721Personality File, Weidner, C. Ken722Personality File, Wheeler, Earle G.723Personality File, White, Charles M.724Personality File, Whittaker, Charles E.725Personality File, Widener, Alice726Personality File, Wilbur, William Hale727Personality File, Wilkinson, Ernest L.728Personality File, Williams, W.D.729Personality File, Wilmeth, James D.730Personality File, Wilson, Howard E.731Personality File, Woodhead, Harry732Personality File, Wylie, Chalmers P.733Personality File, Yost, Charles734Personality File, Young, Arthur C.81-2Subject File, American History and Culture,
Politics83Subject File, American History and Culture,
Business/Labor84-7Subject File, American History and Culture,
Economics91-3Subject File, American History and Culture, National
Defense94Subject File, American History and Culture,
Education,95-7Subject File, American History and Culture, Religions,
Social Issues98Subject File, American History and Culture, Social
Issues, General99Subject File, American History and Culture, Social
Issues, Juvenile Delinquency910Subject File, American History and Culture, Social
Issues, Racial Discrimination101Subject File, American History and Culture, Social
Issues, Campus Unrest102-4Subject File, American History and Culture, History,
General105Subject File, American History and Culture, History,
Personalities106Subject File, American History and Culture, History,
Sites107-9Subject File, The Meaning of America (patriotism,
ideals, spirit, etc.)111Subject File, Foreign Affairs112-3Subject File, Foreign Affairs, General114-10Subject File, Foreign Affairs, Communism121-5Subject File, Foreign Affairs, VietnamSee also, Series 4, General Correspondence
126-7Subject File, Quotations, Prayers and Poems128-9Subject File, Books from Kenneth D. Wells' library.
(photocopy of title page and inscription of those which were
inscribed)131Subject File, Newsletters, "The Blessings of
Liberty," published by the Foundation for Religious Action in the Social
and Civil Order, Washington, D.C.,
1956-73132Subject File, Newsletters, "The Canadian
Intelligence Service" Flesherton, Ontario,
1968133-5Subject File, Newsletters, "Christian
Anti-Communism Crusade," Long Beach, California,
1971-80136Subject File, Newsletters, "Christian
Economics," New York,
1951-72137Subject File, Newsletters, "Counterattack: Facts to
Combat Communism,"
1948-65138Subject File, Newsletters, "The Firing Line: Facts
for Fighting Communism," Indianapolis, Indiana,
1953-58139Subject File, Newsletters, "Freedom's Facts Against
Communism," Washington, D.C.,
1955-651310-12Subject File, Newsletters, "Human Events,"
Washington, D.C.,
1953-801313Subject File, Newsletters, "Imprimis,"
Hillsdale, Michigan,
1972-811314Subject File, Newsletters, "Monthly Economic Letter
from Lawrence C. Lockley," Santa Clara, California,
1954-6914, 151-8, 1-5Subject File, Newsletters, "On the Capitol Firing
Line," from Congressman H.R. Gross,
1949-74156Subject File, Newsletters, The Pink Sheet on the New
Left," from Phillip Abbott Luce, Washington, D.C.,
1971-81157Subject File, Newsletters, "Spot Light: The `Imua'
Program," Honolulu, Hawaii
1956-57158Subject File, Newsletters, "Strom Thurmond Reports
to the People," Washington D.C.,
1964-72Oversize 28-36Subject File, Newsletters, "America in
Review,"
1926-79. (newspaper
teaching materials on Freedom consisting of about 50 years of front-page
headlines.)Vault fd.2Subject File, Other Collected Materials, Hand-lettered
copy of Eisenhower's
1952Inaugural
prayerVault fd.4Subject File, Other Collected Materials, Original
message sent by atomic submarine Nautilis from under the polar ice cap, Aug. 4,
1958Vault fd. 10-16Subject File, Other Collected Materials, Seven sealed
envelopes to be opened on the dates specified on each envelopeVault fd. 17Subject File, Other Collected Materials, Max Jaffe
prints of Arthur Szyk miniatures of American Revolution scenes, Paris,
1931. 25 plates. Includes
descriptive letter from Wells.Vault fd. 17Subject File, Other Collected Materials, For
biographical information on Szyk seeWho's Who in American
Art, vol. IV,
1947, p. 458.Vault fd. 18Subject File, Other Collected Materials, Family
mementos--each with a cover letter from WellsWomen's Home
Companion, Vol. 33, No. 9 &Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper,
186216Subject File, Three Dimensional Artifacts, Section of
a beam from the floor beneath the surgeon's table at Valley Forge. Certified as
being authentic by Dr. Wells. Approximately 800 amputations were performed on
Washington's soldiers ther in
1777-78.17Subject File, Three Dimensional Artifacts, Plastic
flower arrangement given to Ruth Wells by Mamie Eisenhower18Subject File, Three Dimensional Artifacts, Republican
needle kit, Hat of President Herbert Hoover19Subject File, Three Dimensional Artifacts,Brick from the birthplace of George Washington
Brick from Appomattox Court House (encased in lucite)
Walnut gavel and block used at FFVF
Autographed name plates of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover,
John Glenn, Jim Farley, Bruce Clarke, and Don Belding
Wooden gavel used at FFVF
Various patches and badges, particularly a commemorative Apollo
11 Mission Emblem depicting "Od Glory" on the moon, which was one of
six such patches taken to the moon by Astronaut Buzz Aldrin
Miscellaneous mementos, such as nametags, paperweights, pins,
mugs, etc.
Fountain pen from George Wallace Fountain pen from Richard
Nixon
Pen used by Herbert Hoover
Six-inch wooden carving of a Boy Scout
Wooden mallet from Jas. R. Clark, U.S. Forest Service, Jackson,
Mississippi
Eighteen bronze and 2 silver medallions, including one com-
memorating Dwight D. Eisenhower's first inauguration, encased in lucite along
with a quotation from Eisenhower in
1954
Pewter plate displaying the seal of the U.S.
The Philadelphia Bowl by Wedgwood.
Miniature of the Washington prayer statue
William Penn bust
Personal pocket piece (silver coin) of Dwight D. Eisenhower,
encased in lucite, presented to Wells in
April 1952
Miniature Liberty Bell commemorating Founders Day
1970,West Point Society of
Philadelphia
Chair used by Eisenhower at Freedoms Foundation
The Freedom Sword, Honorary Innkeepers of the 13 Colonies,
awarded to Wells in
1966
First day issue commemorative stamp display sets honoring Dwight
D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur
Ruth Wells Memorabilia SeriesRuth Wells MemorabiliaBoxFolderContent
11Mom (life story and collected recipes of Ruth Wells),
197612General correspondence,
1946-76. 68
items13Correspondence with Mamie Eisenhower,
1949-68. 13
items14Writings and speeches,
1961-7915Notes from Vietnam,
196916Memorabilia,
1952-6717Color Prints of Godey's Fashions,
1866and
1868. 2 items, A memento
belonging to Ruth Wells' mother, Clara Matilda Irwin Van Allen Niemeyer.
Includes letter from Kenneth Wells.Vault Materials SeriesVault Materials (See also vault locations listed in each
regular series.)BoxVault FolderContent
1Original contributions to Awake Throughout the Land
(definitions of freedom)
1967. 45
items2Hand-lettered copy of Eisenhower's
1952Inaugural
Prayer3Handwritten tribute to Wells from Dwight D.
Eisenhower,
November 20,
19494Original message sent by atomic submarine Nautilus
from under the polar ice cap,
Aug. 4, 19585Original statements from first contributors to the
Freedom Shrine6Handwritten notes of address given by Eisenhower at
the FFVF awards ceremony,
Nov. 21, 19497Correspondence, Dwight D. Eisenhower,
1951-69. 59
items8Correspondence, Herbert Hoover,
1949-64. 21 items, J.
Edgar Hoover,
1957-63, 1966, 1968,
1970. 19 items9Correspondence,Winston Churchill, 1 item
John Glenn, 10 items
Otto Von Habsburg, 2 items
Bob Hope, 1 item
Douglas MacArthur, 2 items
Richard Nixon, 10 items
Ronald Reagan, 2 items
Harry S. Truman, 3 items
10Sealed envelope #111Sealed envelope #212Sealed envelope #313Sealed envelope #414Sealed envelope #515Sealed envelope #616Sealed envelope #7Note: All seven envelopes are restricted from all use until the
date specified by the donor.
17Max Jaffe prints of Arthur Szyk drawings, Paris
1931. 25
items18Womens' Home Companion,
1906, vol. 33, no.
9.Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.
1862