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Election of 1948

Location: Microfiche Cabinet 5 Drawer 1 E54

Scope

This collection provides documents and the perspectives of the four base camps from this presidential election: Republican Thomas E. Dewey, Democrat Harry S. Truman, Progressive Henry A. Wallace and Dixiecrat J. Strom Thurmond. Sources include Papers of Harry S Truman, Thomas E. Dewey Papers, Papers of Americans for Democratic Action as well as selections from several southern newspapers.

How to search the collection

The collection includes a table of contents and is organized by chapter. Chapter One is on fiche 1-4, Chapter Two is on fiche 5 and 6, etc. Principal sources for the material contained in each chapter is given at the beginning of each chapter, for example, Chapter 1, “The Nomination of Harry S. Truman” contains Papers of Harry S. Truman from the Truman Library, Independence, Missouri as well as papers of Americans for Democratic Action, from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.  
Fiche 19 contains document citations for all of the chapters, in order by fiche number followed by row letter.

Sample document citation:

Memorandum, James Rowe, Jr., to President Harry S. Truman, E48-1
December 1946, Papers of Clark M. Clifford, Harry S. Truman Library, A 11
Independence, MO (hereafter cited as Clifford Papers).

How to read the citation:
E48-1 Election of 1948, fiche 1
A 11 Row A, Column 11 of fiche

Guides

There is a printed guide to this collection located at Microfiche Cabinet 5, Dr. 1 E54 Guide. The collection is organized similar to a book, with an introduction, table of contents and document citations comprising the last chapter (Chapter VIII). The guide to the collection gives a description of each document covered in these chapters along with its citation. The editor of the collection, Jim Watts (Professor of History, City College of New York), suggests the following for further reading:

Markowitz, Norman D. The Rise and Fall of the People’s Century: Henry A. Wallace and American Liberalism, 1941-1948. New York: Free Press, 1973. (General Collection E 748 .W23 M37 1973)

Ross, Irwin. The Loneliest Campaign: the Truman Victory of 1948. New York: New American Library, 1968. (General Collection E 815 .R6 1968 and Missouri Collection E 815 .R6 1968).

Schmidt, Karl M. Henry A. Wallace, Quixotic Crusade 1948. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1960. (General Collection E 815 .S35)

Schlesinger, Arthur Meier. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-1968. New York: Chelsea House, 1971 (General Collection E 183 .S28, v. 1-4)

For more information about this subject in our Library Catalog, check out these
Subject Categories:

Presidents United States Election 1948 Sources


Time Period: 20th Century  

Subject keywords: U. S. Politics