Franklin Wills Hancock, Jr., Papers, 1930-1968

(Manuscript Collection #374)

Title:	Franklin Wills Hancock, Jr., Papers
Creator:	Hancock, Frank W. (Franklin Wills), 1894-1969
Repository:	ECU Manuscript Collection
Languages:	English
Abstract:	Papers (1930-1968, undated) consisting of correspondence, clipping, scrapbooks, photographs, biographies, etc.
Extent:	0.87 Cubic feet, 120 items, 6 volumes, consisting of correspondence, clipping, scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous.

Accessions Information

November 10, 1978, 6 volumes; Scrapbooks (1930-1945), containing clippings, correspondence, photographs, and miscellaneous. Gift of Mr. Wills Hancock, Oxford, N.C.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Preferred Citation

Franklin Wills Hancock, Jr., Papers (#374), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Mr. Wills Hancock

Processing Information

• Processed by W. West, May 1979

• Encoded by Apex Data Services

Franklin Wills Hancock, Jr. (1894-1969) was born in Oxford, Granville County, N.C., where he attended Horner Military Academy. After graduation from UNC he served under the U.S. Attorney General (1915-1916). Admitted to the bar in 1916; he practiced in Oxford, where he also participated in local Democratic party activities. Hancock served in the N.C. state Senate (1926-1928) and the N.C. House (1928-1930). He was elected in 1930 to the 5th Congressional District seat vacated by the death of Charles M. Stedman. Hancock represented the 5th district in the 71st-75th Congress (1930-1939). After an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat (1938), he received an appointment from Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (1939-1942).

Correspondence (1942, 1945) with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry L. Hopkins, Clarence Poe, and Clinton P. Anderson concerns government posts held by Hancock during World War II. Of particular interest is a discussion of Congressional efforts (1944) to reorganize the Farm Security Administration and to alter it function and name.

Newspaper clippings (1934-1938, undated) relate to Hancock's 5th district congressional campaigns against Lillie Mebane (1934) and Allison James (1936). Other clippings (1938) concern his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in which he unsuccessfully opposed incumbent Robert Rice Reynolds.

Scrapbooks (1930-1945) comprise the bulk of the collection. Filled with newspaper clippings outlining Hancock's political career (1930-1945), the six volumes relate chronologically his successful 1930 and 1934 campaigns to the U.S. House, as wellas his unsuccessful 1938 senatorial campaign. Clippings also concern his support of the Federal Home Loan Bill, tobacco farmers, and the "wet" forces of the prohibition movement.

Miscellaneous items of interest include typescript biographies of Hancock (1968).

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Reading Room's card catalog. This system is no longer maintained, but it is left in place to help on-site researchers locate particular topics in the collection.

Geographic Entries :

• North Carolina, Oxford
• District of Columbia, Washington

Autograph Entries :

• Anderson, Clinton P[resba] 1945
• Bankhead, W[illiam] B[rockman] 1938
• Hopkins, Harry L. 1942
• Johnson, Lyndon B[aines] (2) 1960, 1961
• Poe, Clarence [Hamilton] (2) 1944
• Roosevelt, Franklin D[elano] 1942

Subject Entries :

• AGRICULTURE— Agencies— U.S. Farm Security Administration
• AGRICULTURE— Tobacco— U.S. Farm Security Administration
• ELECTIONS— U.S. Congress— House— 1930s
• MONEY AND BANKING— Agriculture
• POLITICS— Democratic Party— N.C.— 1930s
• PROHIBITION— Law and Legislation— 1934
• U.S.— DEPARTMENTS, COMMISSIONS, AGENCIES— Farm Security Administration— 1944
• U.S.— DEPARTMENTS, COMMISSIONS, AGENCIES— Home Loan Board— 1938

Date Entry :

• 1930-1938