The Fowler McCormick papers mainly contain materials relating to the International Harvester Company and McCormick's personal business interests. There is also one archives box of McCormick's personal papers. The collection includes correspondence, committee reports, financial statements, magazine articles, newspaper and magazine clippings, pamphlets and other printed materials, speeches, transcripts, and miscellaneous materials. Although ranging from the latter 19th century to 1970, the majority of the papers cover the years 1941-1958, when McCormick was an International Harvester executive. The collection is divided into six series: International Harvester Company, Manuscripts (McCormick's speeches and articles), National Affairs, Occasions and Events, Publications, and Personal Miscellaneous. Each of these series, other than Manuscripts, is further divided into sub-series.
The largest series in the collection, International Harvester, deals with various aspects of the operation of International Harvester. It includes correspondence, abstracts from speeches, magazine articles, financial statements, pamphlets, and miscellaneous material. The sub-series are arranged alphabetically as follows: “Board of Directors,” “business philosophy,” correspondence, “Director's file,” “foreign operations,” “industrial relations,” “merchandizing,” “news releases,” “organization,” “organization research file,” “pricing policy,” “public relations,” “publications,” “reorganization,” “resignation,” and “stockholder relations.”
The “Board of Directors” sub-series includes McCormick's 1946-1959 correspondence to Board members and others concerning Board activities, and an article that appeared in render="italic"bHarvester World in 1950 about the Board of Directors of International Harvester.
McCormick's tripod business philosophy was not fully developed until his ascension to Chairman of the Board. However, throughout its development, he kept a record of the business philosophies of others, as seen through speeches and articles, and a “trilogy file.” Abstracts from speeches and articles and advertising tear sheets on this theme comprise the sub-series, IHC - “business philosophy.”
The correspondence file is of business correspondence between McCormick and his employees and associates, the majority of which was written during the 1950's. The arrangement is alphabetical by name.
The “Directors' file” sub-series is basically the file McCormick kept while a member of the Executive Committee of Harvester's Board of Directors from 1951 to 1959. It contains the Executive Council minutes (1951-1959); reports of the operations' review committee (1952-1958); Fowler McCormick's exchanges with or about the president of International Harvester (1946-1959); data gathered to establish a capital investment program; financial statements of IHC from 1954 to 1959; correspondence pertaining to Board meetings, travel expenses and Directors' compensation; and McCormick's general and miscellaneous correspondence (1951-1962).
The “foreign operations” material includes correspondence and miscellaneous printed materials about McCormick's 1950 European trip.
The “industrial relations” file contains materials concerning International Harvester's labor relations, its handling of the employment of minorities, and its pension and retirement policy, including correspondence, clippings, pamphlets, and miscellaneous materials.
The “merchandizing” sub-series is a survey done for International Harvester in 1946 on farm machinery trade name usage and related material.
The “major news releases” are those made during the years of McCormick's presidency of International Harvester and during the period he presided as Chairman of the Board (1941-1951). They are arranged chronologically.
The sub-series titled “organization” contains “change” letters written by McCormick (1941-1950) re changes in the International Harvester organization. These are arranged in two sections, a chronological file, and alphabetically by name of the Division in which the change is occurring. Filed here also are charts of the organization, the company's by-laws, and suggested procedures for IHC's engineering organizations (1948-1949).
The “organization research file” consists of correspondence and pamphlets relating to the organization of other companies.
International Harvester in 1947 was one of the first major organizations to initiate a price reduction in order to help balance the national economy. The development of this price reduction and the public response to it are found in the sub-series “pricing policy.”
The “public relations” material is concerned with the “International Harvester Program for University Faculty Members,” 1949-1951. Filed here are correspondence, reports, and articles about the program and its results.
The International Harvester Company underwent a major organizational change in 1944. The “reorganization” sub-series contains a record of the basic thoughts and arguments leading up to this decision, and printed material drafted by McCormick and others about the reorganization and its purpose.
The “resignation” material includes McCormick's notes on the company's position (1951-1954), his personal correspondence, and newspaper clippings about his resignation as Chairman of the Board of Directors of IHC.
The sub-series titled “stockholder relations” contains correspondence and clippings about the annual stockholder meetings (1943-1951); transcripts of the proceedings of the meetings (1942-1949); annual and interim reports to stockholders (1941-1951); correspondence with stockholders (1946-1950); and 1941 lists of stockholders.
Manuscripts was the title McCormick chose for the file of his speeches and articles, or the outline notes or transcripts thereof. The file has been arranged chronologically, and an index is included.
The National Affairs file deals with different aspects of McCormick's involvement in or with various national government agencies or committees. Thirteen sub-series of this segment of the papers are arranged alphabetically. These include correspondence, articles, clippings, pamphlets, reports, and miscellaneous materials concerning McCormick's membership on the Committee for Economic Development, the Economic Stabilization Advisory Committee, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work, the National Industrial Conference Board, the National Planning Association, the U.S. Defense Department's Orientation Conference for Civilian Leaders, the U.S. Department of Labor's Temporary National Economic Committee, the U.S. War Department's Manpower Board, and the U.S. War Department's Industrial Advisory staff; McCormick's February 1951 foreign policy memoranda; articles, clippings and correspondence concerning national politics and McCormick's involvement therein (1943-1950); and McCormick's correspondence with the U.S. State Department's Secretary of State, George Marshall (1947).
Occasions and Events chronicles the various awards and honors bestowed on McCormick (1947-1949). Each of the six sub-series is re an individual award. They are arranged chronologically and contain correspondence, clippings, articles, and/or miscellaneous materials relating to the particular award given.
The Publications series contains articles and pamphlets written about the McCormick's and/or International Harvester (1933-1962). Each of the ten items is in an individual folder, which contains the article or pamphlet and any related correspondence or clippings. They are arranged alphabetically by author.
Personal Miscellaneous includes scattered material relating to McCormick personally, including his 9th grade English notebook, his father's publications, a Rockefeller genealogy, and correspondence from Nettie Fowler McCormick to Miss H.M. Hammond (1878-1901).
The original order of the Fowler McCormick Papers has been maintained. In the last (fourteenth) box of the collection there is a “shelf list” and “index” to the papers, both of which were part of the original collection as received by the Society.
