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Nathan Lewis Miller Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Miller, Nathan L., 1868-1953.
Title: Nathan Lewis Miller Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1902-1958
Quantity: 15 linear ft.
Abstract: Papers of the New York Governor (1921 to 1922), attorney, General Counsel of U.S. Steel Corporation. Collection contains correspondence, both incoming and outgoing (1902-1958); legal briefs; writings (1922-1953); and memorabilia including family photographs and scrapbooks of political cartoons and clippings (1921-1922). Correspondents include Roger Blough, Calvin Coolidge, Richard Coughlin, Charles Crandall, Frederick Crane, Thomas E. Dewey, John Foster Dulles, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Benjamin Fairless, James A. Farley, Livingstone Farrand, James W. Fawcett, Haley Fiske, Edgar Allen Forbes, George A. Glynn, Will H. Hays, Christian Herter, Richmond Hobson, Herbert Hoover, Charles Evans Hughes, Cordell Hull, Alfred Landon, Herbert Lehman, Irving Lehman, Clayton Lusk, Albert Mann, J.P. Morgan, Irving Olds, Joseph Proskauer, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Flem Sampson, Alfred E. Smith, Edward R. Stettinius, Henry Stoddard, William H. Taft, Myron Taylor, Arthur Vandenberg, Paul Vernon, Enders Voorhees, Carl Vrooman, William Wadhams, Wilbur Wakeman, John Weeks, Everett Wheeler, Horace White, and Wendell Willkie.
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
222 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Nathan Lewis Miller (1868-1953) was an American conservative politician and attorney. He was New York State Comptroller from 1901 to 1903 and sat on the New York State Supreme Court from 1903-1915. He served as Governor of New York (1921-1922) and as General Counsel of U.S. Steel Corporation (1925- ).

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Nathan Lewis Miller Papers comprise correspondence, legal briefs, memorabilia, and writings of the lawyer and New York State Governor (1921-1922). Spanning the years 1902 to 1958, the collection reflects Miller's public life as New York State Comptroller, State Supreme Court Justice, and Governor as well as his private law practice and his service as General Counsel for United States Steel Corporation.

The correspondence (Box 1) is arranged chronologically with a selected index of correspondents at the end of the inventory, and is in both volume and substance most heavily concentrated in the 1920s. An activist in both state and national Republican Party politics, Miller included among his correspondents Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Dewey, John Foster Dulles, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Charles Evans Hughes, Cordell Hull, Alfred M. Landon, Herbert Lehman, Franklin Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Robert F. Wagner and Wendell Willkie. In addition to the political correspondence are a number of letters involving Miller's trusteeship of Cornell University and several others which concern financial matters.

Boxes 2-4 of the collection contain printed legal briefs for four of Miller's cases, memorabilia, including photographs and a scrapbook of obituaries, and writings. The writings include two drafts and the printed version of Miller's theory about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, a printed copy of his autobiographical Recollections (1953), and three volumes of speeches, mostly in mimeographed form, from the 1922 gubernatorial campaign.

In addition, there are 6 oversized packages of memorabilia, including two commissions, two photograph albums, one photograph, and five scrapbooks, dated 1921-1922. One of the scrapbooks contains mainly newspaper cartoons and photographs of Miller, while the others are mostly newspaper clippings.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged chronologically. Other material is arranged alphabetically by type or title.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Blough, Roger M. (Roger Miles), 1904-1985.
Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933.
Coughlin, Richard.
Crandall, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1858-1923.
Crane, Frederick E. (Frederick Evan), 1869-1947.
Dewey, Thomas E. (Thomas Edmund), 1902-1971.
Dulles, John Foster, 1888-1959.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.
Fairless, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1890-
Farley, James A. (James Aloysius), 1888-1976.
Farrand, Livingston, 1867-1939.
Fawcett, James Waldo, 1893-1968.
Fiske, Haley, 1852-1929.
Forbes, Edgar Allen, 1872-
Glynn, George A.
Hays, Will H. (Will Harrison), 1879-1954.
Herter, Christian Archibald, 1895-1966.
Hobson, Richmond Pearson, 1870-1937.
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
Hughes, Charles Evans, 1862-1948.
Hull, Cordell, 1871-1955.
Lamont, Thomas W. (Thomas William), 1870-1948.
Landon, Alfred M. (Alfred Mossman), 1887-1987.
Lehman, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), 1878-1963.
Lehman, Irving, 1876-1945.
Lusk, Clayton R. (Clayton Riley), b. 1872.
Mann, Albert Russell, 1880-1947.
Miller, Nathan L., 1868-1953.
Morgan, J. P. (John Pierpont), 1867-1943.
Olds, Irving Sands, 1887-
Proskauer, Joseph M. (Joseph Meyer), 1877-1971.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1887-1944.
Sampson, Flem D.
Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873-1944.
Stettinius, Edward R., Jr. (Edward Reilly), 1900-1949.
Stoddard, Henry L. (Henry Luther), 1861-1947.
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930.
Taylor, Myron Charles, 1874-1959.
Vandenberg, Arthur H. (Arthur Hendrick), 1884-1951.
Vernon, Paul E. (Paul Egbert), b. 1869.
Voorhees, Enders M. (Enders McClumpha), b. 1891.
Vrooman, Carl Schurz, 1872-1966.
Wadhams, William H. (William Henderson), 1873-1952.
Wakeman, Wilbur F.
Weeks, John W. (John Wingate), 1860-1926.
Wheeler, Everett Pepperrell, 1840-1925.
White, Horace, 1834-1916.
Willkie, Wendell L. (Wendell Lewis), 1892-1944.

Corporate Bodies

Republican Party (N.Y.)
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
United States Steel Corporation.

Subjects

Governors -- New York (State)

Places

New York (State) -- Politics and government, 1865-1950.

Genres and Forms

Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.

Occupations

Attorneys.
Governors.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Nathan Lewis Miller Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Miller Family and U.S. Steel Corp., 1965 and 1969.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: KM
Date: Aug 1989
Revision history: 18 May 2010 - converted to EAD (MRC); 28 Aug 2013 - rehoused scrapbooks, oversize items (MRC); 2 Feb 2015 - corrected/updated oversize box listing (MRC)

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Inventory

Correspondence
Box 1 General 1902-1958 (17 folders)
Box 1 General undated
Legal briefs
Box 2 United States of America v. Columbia Steel Company [et al.] (2 folders)
Box 2 United States of America vs. Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company
Box 2 United States Steel Corporation [et al.] v. Federal Trade Commission
Box 2 The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company [et al.] v. Charles Sawyer
Memorabilia
Box 2 Awards
Oversize 14 Certificate of appointment as State Comptroller 1901
Oversize 14 Certificate of appointment as Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the Second Judicial Department 1904
Photograph albums
Oversize 13 New York State canal system inspection trip Aug. 15-20, 1921
Oversize 13 [untitled] - New York State gubernatorial duties, portraits, group photos, etc.
Box 2 Photographs
Oversize 14 Portrait photograph of Miller
Scrapbooks - pages and clippings are in extremely fragile and brittle condition; scrapbooks are numbered for ease of reference, but the material is not always in chronological order
Box 2 [Obituaries]
Oversize 1 [Clippings, volume 1] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 2 [Clippings, volume 1 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 3 [Clippings, volume 1 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 4 [Clippings, volume 1 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 5 [Clippings, volume 1 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 6 [Clippings, volume 2] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 7 [Clippings, volume 3] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 8 [Clippings, volume 3 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 9 [Clippings, volume 3 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 10 [Clippings, volume 3 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 11 [Clippings, volume 4] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 12 [Clippings, volume 4 cont.] 1921-1922 - articles on political and governmental topics
Oversize 14 [Clippings, volume 5] 1921-1922 - cartoons, newspaper photographs, miscellaneous
Writings
"A Lawyer's Evaluation of the Evidence Relating to the Authorship of the Shakespearean Literature"
Box 2 Draft A
Box 2 Draft B
Box 2 Correspondence 1950-1952 (2 folders)
Box 2 Recollections 1953
Box 3 Speeches for gubernatorial campaign 1922 (2 volumes)
Box 4 Speeches for gubernatorial campaign 1922 (1 volume)

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Selected Index to Correspondence

  • Anderson, William H. : 20 Oct. 1922
  • Barrett, Henry R. : 17 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Bartlett, Willard : 4 May 1922
  • Blough, Roger Miles : 23 Dec. 1943; 25 Dec. 1943
  • Breed, William Constable : 17 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Brown, Franklin R. : 11 June 1954
  • Chamberlain, Arthur : 1 Oct. 1951; 22 Jan. 1952
  • Clark, John Proctor : 16 Sept. 1920; 19 Oct. 1921; 15 July 1922; 26 July 1922
  • Collin, Frederick : 1 Oct. 1925
  • Coolidge, Calvin : 7 Dec. 1923; 8 Dec. 1923; 13 June 1924; 16 June 1924; 5 Nov. 1924; 7 Nov. 1924
  • Coughlin, Richard : 20 Aug. 1921
  • Crandall, Charles Henry : 28 Mar. 1921; 2 Apr. 1921
  • Crane, Frederick E. : 29 Mar. 1921; 1 Apr. 1921
  • Cromwell, Seymour L. : 1 Nov. 1922; 8 Nov. 1922
  • Crouse, H. B. : 12 Apr. 1921; 13 Apr. 1921
  • Cullinan, Patrick W. : 17 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Davis, Rowland L. : 28 Oct. 1929; 29 Oct. 1929
  • Davison, George W. : Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Delatour, Hunter L. : 3 Jan. 1955
  • Dewey, Thomas Edmund : 11 Dec. 1939; 25 Oct. 1944; 26 Oct. 1944; 6 Nov. 1947; 7 Nov. 1947; 28 May 1948; 25 June 1948; 1 July 1948
  • Dulles, John Foster : 15 Nov. 1949; 5 Dec. 1949
  • Eisenhower, Dwight David : 18 Oct. 1949; 31 Oct. 1949
  • Fairless, Benjamin F. : 7 Nov. 1944; 27 Dec. 1944; 29 Dec. 1944
  • Farley, James Aloysius : 5 Feb. 1947
  • Farrand, Livingston : 17 Oct. 1922
  • Fawcett, James Waldo : 29 Jan. 1921
  • Finley, John Huston : 20 Aug. 1921; 25 Aug. 1921
  • Fiske, Haley : 17 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Forbes, Edgar Allen : 19 Apr. 1921; 22 Apr. 1921
  • Glynn, George A. : 12 Jan. 1922; 13 Jan. 1922
  • Hatch, Edward Wingate : 15 Apr. 1915; 21 Apr. 1915; 29 Apr. 1915; 3 June 1915
  • Hay, Mary Garrett : 12 Jan. 1921; 13 Jan. 1921; 16 Mar. 1921
  • Hays, Will Harrison : Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Heath, Julian (Mrs.) : see National Housewives League, Inc.
  • Herter, Christian : 19 Dec. 1922
  • Hiscock, Frank H. : 17 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925; 17 Apr. 1946
  • Hobson, Richmond Pearson : 16 Nov. 1921
  • Hogg, William B. : 4 Feb. 1921; 14 Feb. 1921
  • Hoover, Herbert : 26 Dec. 1922; 26 Oct. 1927; 13 Jan. 1928; 16 Jan. 1928; 7 Nov. 1938; 12 Nov. 1938; 29 Dec. 1950; 6 May 1958
  • Hughes, Charles Evans : 16 Apr. 1924; 19 Apr. 1924; 21 Apr. 1924; 22 Apr. 1924; 5 Nov. 1924; 7 Nov. 1924; 4 Feb. 1930; 6 Feb. 1930
  • Hull, Cordell : undated
  • Knapp, Kemper K. : 16 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Kresel, Isidor Jacob : 17 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Lamont, Thomas William : 18 Mar. 1943 (2 items)
  • Landon, Alfred Mossman : 10 Mar. 1936; 8 May 1936; 12 May 1936; 26 May 1936
  • Lehman, Herbert Henry : 30 Jan. 1934; 12 Feb. 1934; 2 Jan. 1936
  • Lehman, Irving : 22 Jan. 1935; 23 Jan. 1935
  • Lusk, Clayton Riley : 15 June 1921; 5 June 1941
  • Mann, Albert Russell : 28 Oct. 1921
  • McKee, Joseph V. : 26 Oct. 1932; 28 Oct. 1932
  • McLaughlin, Chester Bentine : 17 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Meyer, Eugene : 19 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Morgan, John Pierpont : 12 Sept. 1927
  • Murray, John Gregory : 17 Dec. 1938; 27 Dec. 1938
  • National Housewives League, Inc. : 10 Jan. 1921; 12 Jan. 1921; 16 Mar. 1921
  • Nixon, S. F. : 21 Jan. 1902
  • Olcott, Jacob Van Vechten : 29 Dec. 1921
  • Olds, Irving Sands : 24 Dec. 1940; 30 Dec. 1940; 23 Dec. 1942; 28 Dec. 1942; 23 Dec. 1943; 27 Dec. 1943; 1 Nov. 1944
  • Proskauer, Joseph Meyer : 6 Apr. 1947; 5 Dec. 1947
  • Prosser, Seward : 19 Oct. 1925; 20 Oct. 1925
  • Roosevelt, Franklin Delano : 7 July 1938 (enclosure to Stettinius letter); 27 May 1941; 3 June 1941
  • Roosevelt, Theodore : 8 Oct. 1923; 16 Oct. 1923
  • Sampson, Flem D. : 11 Apr. 1929; 15 Apr. 1929
  • Schmuck, Peter : 23 June 1941; 24 June 1941; 22 Dec. 1941 (2 items)
  • Smith, Alfred Emanuel : 25 Feb. 1928; 27 Feb. 1928; 29 Dec. 1943; 4 Jan. 1944
  • Stettinius, Edward Reilly : 8 July 1938
  • Stewart, John Appleton : 27 Sept. 1921
  • Stoddard, Henry Luther : 3 Aug. 1922; 2 Nov. 1925; 4 Nov. 1925
  • Taft, William Howard : 19 May 1922; 22 May 1922
  • Taylor, Myron Charles : 12 Jan. 1938; 14 Jan. 1938; 7 Apr. 1938; 11 Apr. 1938; 12 Apr. 1938; 23 Dec. 1942; 24 Dec. 1942; undated
  • Trainor, Val : 10 Oct. 1922; 13 Oct. 1922; 16 Oct. 1922; 19 Oct. 1922; 26 Oct. 1922
  • Vandenberg, Arthur Hendrick : 30 Dec. 1920; 5 Jan. 1921
  • Vanderbilt, Cornelius : 23 Sept. 1922
  • Vanderlip, Narcissa Cox : 5 July 1921 (2 items); 8 July 1921
  • Vernon, Paul Egbert : 9 Dec. 1920
  • Voorhees, Enders McClumpha : 23 Dec. 1938; 27 Dec. 1938; 21 Dec. 1942; 23 Dec. 1942; 20 Dec. 1943; 23 Dec. 1943; 19 Dec. 1944
  • Vrooman, Carl Schurz : 14 May 1921; 18 May 1921
  • Vrooman, John Wright : 12 Nov. 1921; 14 Nov. 1921
  • Wadhams, William Henderson : 11 Jan. 1922
  • Wagner, Robert F. : 19 Apr. 1932; 12 July 1932
  • Wakeman, Wilbur F. : 5 Sept. 1922; 12 Sept. 1922
  • Ward, Hamilton : 27 Apr. 1922; 3 May 1922
  • Wardwell, Florence : 22 July 1921; 2 Aug. 1921; 9 Jan. 1922; 10 Jan. 1922; 12 Jan. 1922; 13 Jan. 1922; 26 Jan. 1922; 31 Jan. 1922
  • Weeks, John Wingate : 9 Mar. 1921; 14 Mar. 1921
  • Wendell, Ten Eyck : 14 Oct. 1922; 18 Oct. 1922
  • Wheeler, Everett Pepperrell : 19 Oct. 1920
  • White, Horace : 5 Jan. 1922; 10 Jan. 1922; 16 Sept. 1925; 22 Sept. 1925
  • Whitman, Russell R. : 23 Sept. 1922; 25 Sept. 1922
  • Willcox, Julius Abner : 4 Feb. 1921; 16 Feb. 1921
  • Willkie, Wendell Lewis : 12 July 1940; 13 July 1940; 24 July 1940; 26 July 1940; 22 Sept. 1941; Sept. 1941 (2 items)

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