Henry Allen Moe Papers

273 Pages·2013·0.52 MB·English

Henry Allen Moe Papers
1920-1975
Mss.B.M722
American Philosophical Society
3/2002
105 South Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19106
215-440-3400
[email protected]
Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
Table of Contents
Summary Information .................................................................................................................................3
Scope & content ..........................................................................................................................................5
Administrative Information .........................................................................................................................6
Indexing Terms ...........................................................................................................................................7
Other Descriptive Information ..................................................................................................................11
Collection Inventory ..................................................................................................................................12
Henry Allen Moe Papers.......................................................................................................................12
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
Summary Information
Repository American Philosophical Society
Creator Moe, Henry Allen, 1894-1975
Title Henry Allen Moe Papers
Date [inclusive] 1920-1975
Call number Mss.B.M722
Extent 120.0 Linear feet
Location LH-B-20-2
Language English
Abstract An administrator and humanist, Henry Allen Moe (1894-1975) was
the first director of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and
was a president of the American Philosophical Society from 1959 to
1970. The Moe Papers are a vast and rich resource documenting all
phases of Moe's career, but are also a major source of information on
twentieth-century philanthropic organizations. As the first Secretary,
then Administrator, and finally President of the John Simon Guggenheim
Foundation (ca. 1925-1963), Moe made contact with the influential and
the aspiring in the worlds of banking, finance, the arts, and sciences.
This collection is particularly strong in correspondence and information
relating to Latin America, much of it generated through Moe's oversight
of the Guggenheim's Latin America Fund and by Moe's otherwise keen
interest in the region. This material is diverse, ranging from material on
agriculture (see Escuela Agricola Panamericana, 15 boxes) and Peruvian
archaeology (see Alfred Kroeber's detailed report) to many folders of
correspondence and grant reports from artists, writers, and politicians of
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
South and Central America. Moe served as trustee, officer, and committee
member of over thirty private foundations, many of which are well
represented in the collection by yearly reports and grant applications,
among other types of records.
Preferred Citation Cite as: Henry Allen Moe Papers, American Philosophical Society.
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
Scope & content
The Henry Allen Moe papers contain a wealth of information on mid- to late-20th century foundations,
particularly the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, including correspondence, fellowship applications,
and administrative information. The collection also contains information on other organizations with
which Moe served, such as the New York State Historical Association. The vast correspondence, too
extensive to describe in full, includes many correspondents of interest in banking, finance, the arts, and
the sciences. Among these are Franz Boas, Julian P. Boyd, Walter B. Cannon, Aaron Copland, George W.
Corner, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Abraham Flexner, Alfred A. Kroeber, Lewis Mumford, Linus Pauling,
and John Archibald Wheeler.
For those interested in twentieth-century philanthropic organizations, the Moe papers include
correspondence, yearly reports, grant applications, and other records for many of the over thirty private
foundations of which Moe served as trustee, officer, and committee member.
Foundations represented include the American Trust for Oxford University; Clark Foundation; Ditson
Fund for Music; Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation; John Simon Guggenheim Foundation; Lalor
Foundation; National Endowment for the Humanities (for which he served as its the first director);
Rockefeller Foundation; Oberlaender Trust; Scriven Foundation; Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation;
Allen Tucker Memorial; Vetlesen Foundation; and the Maude E. Warwick Fund for Orphans of WW II.
Reflecting his interests in the arts, the papers also contain much material on the Committee for Inter-
American Artistic and Intellectual Relations; the Museum of Modern Art; N.Y.; and the State Council on
the Arts.
The collection also includes a great deal of material on academic organizations such as the American
Association of Rhodes Scholars; the American Philosophical Society; Aspen Institute for Humanistic
Studies; Association of American University Presses; Institute for Advanced Study; Institute for Current
World Affairs; and the Office of Scientific Research and Development; educational institutions such
as American Academy in Rome; Black Mountain College (North Carolina); Columbia University, and
New York University; historical institutions such as the New York State Historical Association and the
Farmers' Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y.; and other institutions such as the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital,
Cooperstown, N.Y. and the Leatherstocking Corporation.
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
Administrative Information
Publication Information
American Philosophical Society 3/2002
Provenance
Custodial History
Remembered for his dedication to helping scholars and artists pursue their work, Henry Allen Moe
(1894-1975), principal administrator of the Simon Guggenheim Foundation from its inception through his
1963 retirement, brought a personal touch to his work. Moe remembered former fellows and their work,
often remaining in contact with them for years, and encouraged them to think of the Guggenheim as their
"intellectual home," always allowing time to see them when they returned to the foundation, as a former
associate recalled in Moe's obituary.
Moe remained in his home state of Minnesota from his birth to Christian and Sophia Martha (Gaustad)
on July 2, 1894 in Monticello through young adulthood. After graduating from Hamline University in
1916, he began reporting for the St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press but left journalism to enlist in the
U.S. Navy when the United States entered World War I. While in command of a destroyer, he suffered
severe injuries when a boom collapsed -- an accident with fortuitous consequences. From his hospital bed,
Moe sent a Rhodes scholarship application, which impressed Carroll Wilson, a New York bibliographer,
former Rhodes Scholar and lawyer who would greatly influence Moe's career. Wilson visited Moe in the
hospital and obtained a scholarship for him.
Admitted to the bar when he returned to the United States in 1923, Moe intended to pursue a career
in law, but again, the intervention of Wilson led him down another path. Now a consultant to Simon
Guggenheim, the industrialist and former United States Senator, Wilson asked Moe to assist in the
establishing of a foundation in memory of Guggenheim's young son who had been killed. After consulting
with the Guggenheims and touring the country seeking the advice of educators, Moe developed the plan
for the foundation. From this point forward, Moe served as principal administrator for the Guggenheim
Foundation, first as its secretary, then as secretary general, and finally, as president from 1961 to his 1963
retirement.
He served as a member or trustee of numerous institutions, organizations, and foundations, including the
American Philosophical Society (elected 1943, also served as president); the New York State Historical
Association (president and board chair); Farmers' Museum (president); Leatherstocking Corporation,
Cooperstown, NY; Maude E. Warwick Fund (trustee, vice-president); Wesleyan University (trustee
emeritus); Scriven Foundation (trustee, consultant); Clark Foundation (trustee, consultant); Museum of
Modern Art (vice-chair, trustees); Institute of Modern Art (chair trustees); American Academy in Rome
(president, chair); Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital (president, chair trustees); Louis Comfort Tiffany
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
Foundation (trustee); New York State Council on Arts (honorary vice chair); and National Endowment
for the Humanities (chair 1965-1966).
His awards include the Recipient Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts; National Institute Arts and
Letters, 1955; Public Service medal National Academy of Sciences, 1958; award of merit, Philadelphia
Museum College of Art; Cosmos Club award, 1965; and the Laurel Leaf award, American Composers
Alliance, 1966.
After his retirement, Moe continued to devote himself to philanthropic, scholarly, and educational
interests until his death in Sherman, Connecticut on October 2, 1975.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Edith Moe, 1976.
Indexing Terms
Corporate Name(s)
• Allen Tucker Memorial.
• American Academy in Rome.
• American Trust for Oxford University.
• Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies..
• Association of American Rhodes Scholars..
• Association of American University Presses..
• Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)
• Columbia University.
• Committee for Inter-American Artistic and Intellectual Relations.
• Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.
• Escuela Agricola Panamericana
• Farmers' Museum (N.Y.)
• Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
• Institute for Current World Affairs.
• John Simon Guggenheim Foundation
• Lalor Foundation.
• Leatherstocking Corporation.
• Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.
• Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital.
• Maude E. Warwick Fund for Orphans of World War II
• Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)
• National Endowment for the Humanities.
• New York State Council on the Arts.
• New York State Historical Association.
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
• New York University
• Oberlaender Trust
• Rockefeller Foundation.
• Scriven Foundation.
• Vetlesen Foundation.
Genre(s)
• Notes
• Speeches.
Geographic Name(s)
• Latin America--Intellectual life
• Peru--Antiquities
Personal Name(s)
• Abbott, John E.
• Anderson, Sherwood, 1876-1941
• Arciniegas, Germán, 1900
• Ascoli, Max, 1898-1978
• Atchley, Dana Winslow, 1892-
• Aydelotte, Frank, 1880-1956
• Bacon, Leonard, 1802-1881
• Baldwin, William H.
• Barcia, Pedro A.
• Barlow, Samuel L.
• Barnard, Chester Irving, 1886-1961
• Bassadre, Jorge
• Beebe, William, 1877-1962
• Beer, Abraham
• Bellegarde, M. Dantes
• Berrien, William
• Biddle, George, 1885-
• Birkhoff, George David, 1884-1944
• Blum, Harold F., (Harold Francis), 1899-
• Boas, Franz, 1858-1942
• Boggs, Samuel Whittemore, 1889-
• Boring , Edwin Garrigues, 1886-1968
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
• Boyd, Julian P., (Julian Parks), 1903-1980
• Bronk, Detlev W., (Detlev Wulf), 1897-1975
• Brooks, Sumner C.
• Butterfield, L. H., (Lyman Henry), 1909-
• Butterfield, Victor Lloyd, 1904-1975
• Caldwell, Robert Granville, 1882-1976
• Cannon, Walter B., (Walter Bradford), 1871-1945
• Caso, Alfonso, 1896-1970
• Chaves-Molino, Fernando
• Christensen, Asher Norman, 1903-1961
• Clark, Stephen
• Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990
• Corner, George Washington, 1889-1981
• Corry, Andrew V., (Andrew Vincent), 1904-
• Covarrubias, Miguel, 1904-1957
• Cummings, Herbert James, 1915-
• D'Haroncourt, René
• Deulofeu, Venancio, 1902-
• Dobzhansky, Theodosius Grigorievich, 1900-1975
• Dugand, Armando
• Dunn, Emmet Reid, 1894-1956
• Easby, Dudley T., Jr., 1905-
• Ewing, James
• Farnsley, Charles, 1907-
• Flexner, Abraham, 1866-1959
• Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965
• Galvan, Guerrero
• Girden, Edward
• Goodspeed, Thomas Harper, 1887-
• Guarnieri, Camargo, 1907-
• Hall, Robert King, 1912-
• Hamilton, Earl J., (Earl Jefferson), 1899-
• Harrison, Wallace K., (Wallace Kirkman), 1895-
• Hayes, Herbert K
• Heise, Doris
• Hernandez de Alba, Gregorio
• Holland, Kenneth
• Horgan, Paul, 1903-
• Keppel, Frederick P.
• Kieffer, Paul, 1881-1969
• Kiger, Joseph Charles
• Kilgour, Raymond L.d1903-
• Kroeber, A. L., (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960
• Kruse, Cornelius Wolfram, 1913-
• Locke, Alain LeRoy, 1886-1954
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Henry Allen Moe Papers 1920-1975 Mss.B.M722
• Lockwood, John E.
• Malone, Dumas, 1892-
• McKenzie, Frederick
• Miller, Carl B.
• Mindlin, Henrique E., 1911-
• Mishkin, Bernard
• Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990
• Myers, George S., (George Sprague), 1905-1985
• Parkin, G. Raleigh, (George Raleigh ), 1896-
• Parsons, Geoffrey
• Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994
• Piel, Gerard
• Pound, Louise, 1872-1958
• Ray, Gordon Norton, 1915-
• Redfield, Robert, 1897-1958
• Smith, Courtney Craig, 1916-1969
• Smith, James Kellum, 1893-1961
• Smith, Myron B., Mrs.
• Spalding, H. N.
• Stevens, David Harrison, 1884-
• Stone, Candace
• Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008
• Whitehead, A. Pennington
• Willits, Joseph A.
• Wilson, Carroll L.
• Wilson, Edwin Bidwell, 1879-1964
• Witter, John
• Wright, Louis B., (Louis Booker), 1899-
• Yntema, Hessel Edward, 1891-1966
Subject(s)
• Agriculture--Latin America
• Artists, Latin American
• Authors, Latin American.
• Charitable uses, trusts, and foundations -- United States.
• Endowments--United States
• Humanities--Scholarships, fellowships, etc.--United States
• Medical sciences--Finance
• Research--Finance
• World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief--United States
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