Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. (1912-1962), Politician, Papers, A&M 1580, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

John Dempsey Hoblitzell, Jr. (December 30, 1912-January 6, 1962) represented West Virginia as a Republican United States Senator from January 25 to November 4, 1958. He was also the State Republican Chairman in 1956; and State Republican Finance Chairman and member of the Platform Committee for the Republican National Convention, 1960.

Hoblitzell was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and graduated from West Virginia University in 1934. He was a businessman working in insurance, real estate, construction and banking. From 1942 to 1946 he served in the United States Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of lieutenant.

He was also an active community member serving on a number of boards and was the first president of The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, 1939 to 1940.

After an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination to the House of Representatives in 1956, Governor Cecil Underwood appointed Hoblitzell to fill the vacancy of deceased U.S. Senator Matthew Neely. He was defeated by Jennings Randolph when he tried to claim the office by election in 1958.

He continued his business career after leaving the Senate. He died in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1962.

[Biographical information adapted from a Wikipedia article "John D. Hoblitzell, Jr." Accessed June 2, 2020.]

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, speeches, and newspaper clippings of a West Virginia Republican chairman, U.S. senator (serving in 1958), and member of the 1960 Republican National Convention platform committee.

Subjects include: West Virginia and national Republican politics, 1956-1961; the 1958 Congressional election; the 1960 presidential campaign; the State Chamber of Commerce; State Economic Development Agency; Ohio Valley Improvement Association; and West Virginia University.

Correspondents include Sherman Adams, Stephen Ailes, Meade Alcorn, W.W. Barron, Harry Byrd, Robert C. Byrd, Erwin D. Canham, Clifford P. Case, John Sherman Cooper, Carl T. Curtis, Everett M. Dirksen, Henry Dworshak, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allen J. Ellender, Hiram L. Fong, Barry Goldwater, Leonard W. Hall, Walter S. Hallanan, Ken Hechler, Bourke Hickenlooper, Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, Elizabeth Kee, Thomas H. Kuchel, Henry Cabot Lodge, Edward Martin, Jack Miller, Arch A. Moore, Thurston B. Morton, Karl Mundt, Harold Neely, Richard M. Nixon, Jennings Randolph, Carroll Reece, Chapman Revercomb, A. Willis Robertson, Richard B. Russell, Leverett Saltonstall, Fred A. Seaton, John M. Slack, John Sparkman, Strom Thurmond, Cecil H. Underwood, and Alexander Wiley.

Also includes negatives of photographs (4 in. x 5 in.) of candid shots of Senator Hoblitzell (1958) with President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, West Virginia Governor Underwood, members of his staff, and others.

Separated Material

Separations -- Photographs

1. Senator John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. and Family; L-R; Julie, Johnnie, Patricia, and Charlotte Reed; 1958

2. L-R; Holmes Moss Alexander Presenting a Copy of His Book "The Famous Five" to Senator John D. Hoblitzell, Jr.; 1958

3. Portrait of Several Delegates to the Annual Conference of the Interparliamentary Union in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Senator John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. on far right); 1958

4. Senator John D. Hoblitzell, Jr.; 1958

5. Disabled Veterans Visiting Senator William Knowland, and Vice President Richard M. Nixon.(Senator John D. Hoblitzell, Jr., in back row second from the left); 1958

6. State Republican Executive Committee (Senator John D. Hoblitzell fourth from left); undated

7. Testimonial Dinner, Honoring Senator John D. Hoblitzell; 1956

8. Picture Taken in Subway, Senate Office Building. Senator John D. Hoblitzell on left; 1958

9. Senators Hoblitzell and Revercomb. et. al; 1958

10. Ibid; 1958

11. Taken at Republican National Convention, Chicago, (Senator John D. Hoblitzell center); 1960

12. Taken at Republican National Convention, Chicago, (Senator John D. Hoblitzell third from left); 1960

13. Senator Hoblitzell and Louis S. Rothschild (Under Secretary for Transportation,) Conference Concerning the Progress of the Federal Interstate Highway Program in West Virginia; 1958

14. Ibid; 1958

15. Senator Hoblitzell and Under Secretary Rothschild; 1958

16. Senator Hoblitzell and Under Secretary Rothschild; 1958

17. Senator Hoblitzell Confers with Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson; 1958

18. Senator John D. Hoblitzell Sworn into Office by Vice President Richard M. Nixon; 1958

19. United States Senator John D. Hoblitzell, Jr.; 1958

20. Meeting with President Eisenhower, White House (Senator Hoblitzell on far left); 1958

21. American Legion Parkersburg Post, John D. Hoblitzell Speaking; undated

22. Senator John D. Hoblitzell Jr. in Connection with the Interparliamentary Union Conference in Rio de Janeiro (see also picture 3); 1958

23. Republican National Convention, Chicago (Senator Hoblitzell on left); 1960

24. Republican State Convention (Senator Hoblitzell fourth from right); 1960

25. Senator John D. Hoblitzell Speaking at Republican State Convention; 1960

26. Senator Hoblitzell and Others Inspecting a Coal Mine; undated

27. Thomas E. Millsop Former President Weirton Steel Company; undated

28. Appearance by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Charleston at Kanawha Airport (Senator Hoblitzell on left); 1958

29. President Dwight D. Eisenhower Greets Senator Chapman Revercomb in Charleston (Senator Hoblitzell on left); 1958

30. President Eisenhower appears in Charleston at Kanawha Airport (Senator Hoblitzell on left); 1958

31. President Eisenhower at Kanawha Airport, Charleston (Senator Hoblitzell on left); 1958

32. President Eisenhower at the Kanawha Airport, Charleston (Senator Hoblitzell center); 1958

33. President Eisenhower Speaking at Kanawha Airport, Charleston; 1958

34. Appearance of President Eisenhower at Kanawha Airport, Charleston (Senator Hoblitzell center); 1958

35. Speech of President Eisenhower, Kanawha Airport, Charleston (Senator Hoblitzell second from left); 1958

36. Speech of President Eisenhower, Kanawha Airport, Charleston (Senator Hoblitzell in middle); 1958

37. Speech of President Eisenhower, Kanawha Airport, Charleston (Senator Hoblitzell second from right); 1958

38. Ibid; 1958

Separations -- Government Documents

A. Nominations and Elections of President and Vice President and Qualifications for Voting. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Seventh Congress, First Session. In 4 parts; Washington: US. Government Printing Office; 1961

B. A Record of Press Conference Statements made by Senator Everett McKinley, Senator Dirksen, and Representative Charles A. Halleck for the Joint Senate House Republican Leadership; Washington: US. Government Printing Office Senate Document No. 6; 1961

C. Republican Report on the 85th Congress Together With Achievements of the Republican Administration, January 1953 - August 1958 by Senator William F. Knowland of California, Minority Leader; Washington: US. Government Printing Office Senate Document No. 123; 1958

D. Factual Campaign Information Compiled by the Senate Library Under the Direction of Felton M. Johnston Secretary of the Senate, Richard D. Hupman Librarian; Washington: US. Government Printing Office; 1958

E. 87th Congress, 1st Session H.R. 6441 In the Senate of the United States June 22 1961 An Act to Amend the Federal Water Pollution Central Act to Provide for a More Effective Program of Water Pollution Control.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Adams, Sherman, 1899-1986
• Ailes, Stephen.
• Alcorn, Meade.
• Barron, W. W.
• Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966
• Byrd, Robert C.
• Canham, Erwin D.
• Case, Clifford P. (Clifford Philip), 1904-1982
• Coal mining -- Strikes
• Cooper, John Sherman, 1901-1991
• Curtis, Carl T. (Carl Thomas), 1905-2000
• Dirksen, Everett McKinley
• Dworshak, Henry C. (Henry Clarence), 1894-1962
• Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
• Elections
• Ellender, Allen J., 1890-1972
• Fong, Hiram, 1907-2004
• Goldwater, Barry M. (Barry Morris), 1909-1998
• Hall, Leonard W. (Leonard Wood), 1900-1979
• Hallanan, Walter S. (Walter Simms), 1890-1962
• Hechler, Ken
• Hickenlooper, Bourke B. (Bourke Blakemore), 1896-1971
• Hoblitzell, John D., Jr.
• Hoblitzell, John D., Jr.
• Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978
• Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
• Kee, Maude Elizabeth, 1895-1975
• Kuchel, Thomas H.
• Lodge, Henry Cabot.
• Martin, Edward.
• Miller, Jack.
• Moore, Arch A., Jr. (Arch Alfred), 1923-2015
• Morton, Thruston B. (Thruston Ballard), 1907-1982
• Mundt, Karl E. (Karl Earl), 1900-1974
• Neely, Harold.
• Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
• Ohio Valley Improvement Association
• Politics and government.
• Randolph, Jennings, 1902-1998
• Reece, Carroll.
• Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
• Revercomb, Chapman, 1895-
• Robertson, A. Willis (Absalom Willis), 1887-1971
• Russell, Richard B. (Richard Brevard), 1897-1971
• Saltonstall, Leverett.
• Seaton, Fred A.
• Slack, John Mark, 1915-1980
• Sparkman, John, 1899-1985
• Thurmond, Strom, 1902-2003
• Underwood, Cecil H., 1922-2008
• United States. Congress. Senate
• West Virginia - Governors.
• West Virginia Chamber of Commerce
• West Virginia Economic Development Agency
• West Virginia University
• Wiley, Alexander, 1884-1967