Hanify-Kimmel Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: SC075-HANI

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains 23 boxes holding the papers of Edward B Hanify pertaining to his defense of Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel during the Pearl Harbor investigations and subsquent efforts to clear Admirarl Kimmel's name in the court of public opinion. Materials include correspondence, memorandums, reports, chronologies, ship logs, newspaper and magazine clippings. Additionally, there are copies of the Congressional Record and other congressional reports detailing the investigations. Materials in the collection date from 1940 to 1998 with the marjority dating to the 1940s.

Dates

Creation: 1940-1998

Creator

United States. Congress.. Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

Materials believed to be under copyright or other restrictions are available for limited noncommercial, educational and personal use only, or for fair use as defined by United States copyright law and with proper citation. Please note that the College of the Holy Cross may not hold the rights to all items in this collection. Users assume responsibility for identifying all copyright holders and for determining whether permission is needed to make any use of the content. For permission under rights held by the College, please contact archives@holycross.edu.

Biographical Note

Husband Edward Kimmel was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and served as Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Kimmel was born in Henderson, Kentucky on February 26, 1882 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1904. Before reaching flag rank, he served on several battleships, commanded two destroyer divisions, and the battleship USS New York. He also held many important positions on flag staffs and in the Navy Department. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1937 and became Commander of Cruisers, Battle Force, in 1939. After Admiral James O. Richardson was removed as Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Pacific Fleet in February 1941, Kimmel assumed command. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941. It was reported that Kimmel watched the attack unfold from the window of his office and tore off his four-star shoulder boards, in apparent recognition of the impending end of his command of the Pacific Fleet. Kimmel was relieved of his command in mid-December 1941, and took an early retirement in 1942. He spent the rest of his life defending himself in front of various hearings, pointing out that key information, which would have enabled him to anticipate the attack, was never made available to him. Kimmel died at Groton, Connecticut on May 14, 1968. Many of Kimmel’s family members tried to have his four-star rank re-instated, but these requests were turned down by each President who was presented with the case. Edward B. Hanify was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on October 1, 1912. He graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 1933 and went on to Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1935. Hanify practiced law at Ropes, Gray, Best, Coolidge, and Rugg, a prestigious law firm in Boston, Massachusetts, except for when he served as Lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II. Several years after the attack at Pearl Harbor, Hanify became Admiral Kimmel’s Associate Counsel in the Pearl Harbor investigations. He worked endlessly with Kimmel, searching for justice and trying to clear his name in public record and American history.