Hugh Peterson, Sr. papers, 1814-1961, bulk 1919-1961.

ArchivalResource

Peterson, Hugh, 1898-1961. Hugh Peterson, Sr. papers, 1814-1961, bulk 1919-1961.

Hugh Peterson, Sr. papers, 1814-1961, bulk 1919-1961.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/492281439

Materials include personal, political, legal, and business correspondence, legislative files, campaign files as well as photographs, books, maps, and artifacts, all of which document Hugh Peterson's life. While the majority of materials date from Peterson's youth through his death in 1961, the earliest date back to 1814 and document family land holdings around Montgomery County, Georgia through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries primarily through tax receipts. The documents created by Hugh Peterson himself were generated for his legislative career and business interests and consist of clippings, correspondence, political committee materials, voter registration lists, legislative research, and drafts of legislation. The collection also contains numerous notes that Peterson took regarding office matters as well as telephone calls and visits he received and made while in office. Series I, Personal/Business consists of documents associated with Peterson's work and life in Ailey, Georgia, before, during, and after his service in the United States Congress. The material includes information about his ownership of the Monitor Publishing Company (publisher of the Montgomery Monitor and the Thomasville Press) as well as his legal work including law suits, divorces, collections, and parole cases. Peterson also owned an insurance agency from 1919 through 1935. While his local interests included traditional agricultural pursuits via the Ailey Gin Company and the Vidalia Gum and Turpentine Company, Peterson spent much time helping to establish the Ailey Shirt Company, Southland Securities, the Montgomery County Bank and the Mt. Vernon Bank. Much of the correspondence dating from the 1920s and 1930s came from letter books that were alphabetized. Subject files were maintained by Peterson after he retired from Congress. Series II, Campaigns consists of Peterson's personal campaign files for the elections in 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1946 as well as records of Richard B. Russell's presidential campaign in 1952. Each sub series contains information regarding the District and State Democratic Committees as well as the paperwork that Peterson submitted to each in order to run and after he won. Information about opponents and campaign flyers are also included. Peterson worked on Richard Russell's campaign in 1952 for President of the United States and subseries H contains clippings and information about the Democratic National Convention. Subseries I consists of hand-painted cloth campaign banners. Series III, State Legislative consists of documents from Peterson's service in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1922 to 1930 and the Georgia Senate from 1931-1933. He was a major architect of the state reorganization bill, first in the House and later in the Senate, which became law in 1931 under Richard B. Russell's governorship. Correspondence ranges from fellow politicians writing about intra-personal matters in the legislature to citizens responding to the idea of reorganizing state governmental agencies. The subject files and legislation pertain to the state reorganization bill. Series IV, United States Congress contains items documenting Peterson's career representing the First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. While in office, Peterson proposed bills regarding farm homesteads and was active on several congressional committees, including Rivers and Harbors, Public Lands, Territories, and Roads. Peterson's activity in the House of Representatives during the 1930s and 1940s provides a unique view of the national political scene during the Great Depression and World War II. Series V, Post Congressional documents Peterson's work as a lobbyist and in Europe after World War II where he witnessed the Nuremburg Trials, the Paris Peace Conference, and was appointed by General Lucius D. Clay to an advisory panel on West Germany. Until his death in 1961, Peterson worked as a lobbyist for such companies as Georgia Power and the American Cane Sugar Refiners Association. Overarching themes in the collection include road building (Series I and III), the penal system in the state of Georgia (Series I and III), state reorganization (Series I, II, III and IV), agriculture (Series I and IV), and land use (Series IV). Information about politics and politicians in the state of Georgia from the 1920s through the 1950s is found in every series of the correspondence in the sections containing correspondence and subject files.

69 boxes including 513 photographs and 98 maps.