251, January 6, 1936 – January 7, 1936

The collection consists of personal and political papers of James M. Curley. It includes correspondence, photographs, news clippings, drafts of his book, I’d do it again, political records and petitions. This collection is arranged into the following series: Correspondence and Records; Photographs; Audio and Visual Materials; Memorabilia; Scrapbooks; and Political Scrapbooks.

Series 1: Correspondence and Records: This series mostly holds of petitions and notes written on behalf of Curley in 1947 and correspondence regarding his book, I’d do it again, addressed to Curley and his editor, Samuel Nesson.

Series 2: Photographs: This series documents Curley political and personal life dating from circa 1879 to 1949. Of note, there are photographs of Curley with United States Presidents including John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Harry Truman; with American political figure such as Henry Cabot Lodge and Oliver Wendell Holmes; and with other well-known figure such as actors Clark Gable and Lillian Roth.

Series 3 Audio and Visual Materials: These materials mostly document Curley's political life but there are three home movies documenting his personal life including the wedding of his daughter, Mary. Additionall, there are documentaries from the 1980s and 1990s.

Series 4: Memorabilia: This series contains political cartoons and other items including a license plate from Puerto Rico.

Series 5: Scrapbooks: Eleven scrapbooks dating from 1903 to 1943 are found in this series. Highlights include a scrapbook documenting Mary Curley Donnelly's wedding in 1935 and a scrapbook containing clipings from La Notizia, an Italian daily newspaper.

Series 6: Political Scrapbooks: This series documents Curley’s political career through news clippings dating from 1913 to 1936. The series consists of 660 volumes of which 222 were microfilmed in 1962. These were digitized in 2013 and now may be found in CrossWorks (https://crossworks.holycross.edu/curley_scrapbooks/).