Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Judge Harold C. Kessinger, Accession #10747, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

Mr. Warren V. Bush of Beverly Hills, California, gave this collection to the Library on September 7, 1987.

Scope and Content

These fifteen items of Judge Harold C. Kessinger, 1912-1963, and undated, constitute his correspondence with Edgar Lee Masters (November 23, 1923), William Jennings Bryan (March 8, 1924), Richard L. Evans (June 20, 1963); Ben B. Johnson (February 5, 1958), John Finley of the New York Times (1929-1931), and William Marion Reedy of The Mirror (1912-1913).

Also present in the collection is a poem, "Concord Church," by Masters (1923); a pamphlet, "Plea of Clarence Darrow in His Own Defense to the Jury at Los Angeles August, 1912"; two postcard pictures concerning his political campaign for the office of representative (n.d.); and a program describing a speech to be given by Kessinger at the Detroit Town Hall, "The Sunny Side of Main Street," containing some biographical information.

Harold Kessinger was educated in Illinois at Blackburn College, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Most of the material in this collection is related to his career as an editor of Kessinger's Mid-West Review in Aurora, Illinois and as a popular public speaker.