Joseph B. Eastman (AC 1904) Papers, 1837-1960 (bulk 1904-1944)

Requests for permission to publish material from Joseph B. Eastman (AC 1904) Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

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Biographical Note

Born at Katonah, N.Y., on June 26, 1882, Joseph Bartlett Eastman was the son of a Presbyterian minister, Rev. John Huse Eastman, and Lucy (King) Eastman. He received a B.A. from Amherst College in 1904 and was then accepted as a fellow at the South End House in Boston, position that would launch him on a lifelong career as a public servant. In 1905, Eastman was appointed by later U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis the secretary of the Public Franchise League. While in that position, he fought against attempts by the Boston Elevated Railway to gain control of the city's subway system. In 1907, Eastman enrolled in the Boston University Law School, but dropped out after two years. He worked for the Public Franchise League until 1913, when he resigned in order to act as counselor for various Street Railway employees' organizations.

Two years later, Eastman became a member of the Massachusetts Public Service Commission where he worked until President Woodrow Wilson nominated him to the Interstate Commerce Commission in late 1918. The ICC was an independent agency of the U.S. government which regulated the operation of railroads, trucking companies, bus lines, freight forwarders, water carriers, oil pipelines, transportation brokers, and express agencies engaged in transportation between states. By appointment of President Franklin Roosevelt, Eastman also served the office of Federal Coordinator of Transportation from 1933 to 1936 and was Director of Defense Transportation from 1942 to 1944.

Joseph B. Eastman earned the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Amherst (1926) and Dartmouth (1941). He was elected a trustee of Amherst College in 1940. He never married and lived with his sister Elizabeth Eastman until his death in 1944.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Joseph B. Eastman (AC 1904) Papers cover chiefly the period 1898-1944 and offer a valuable picture of Eastman's 25-year career in the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). His professional papers include extensive correspondence, speeches, transcripts of hearings and extensive sets of ICC reports. It also includes family correspondence, diaries, photographs, clippings and memorabilia related to Eastman's personal life. The collection also includes letters, notes and manuscript drafts related to Claude Moore Fuess's biography of Eastman.

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into four series:

• 1. CORRESPONDENCE, 1917-1944
• 2. SPEECHES, 1918-1944
• 3. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, 1837-1944
• 4. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, 1898-1960

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Series 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1917-1944

Incoming and outgoing correspondence, chiefly professional, by or about Joseph B. Eastman. The letters were filed as loose sheets or bound volumes according to their original format, and arranged in chronological order. Unidentified correspondence can be found at the end of the series. For family correspondence, see Series 4.

Subseries: General

Subseries: Letter books

Series 2: SPEECHES, 1918-1944

Addresses delivered by Joseph B. Eastman mostly as member of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Some of the speeches are bound in volumes and tagged by Eastman; others appear as loose sheets.

Series arranged in chronological order.

Series 3: PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, 1837-1944

The majority of the records concerns Eastman's work in the Interstate Commerce Commission. Included are hearing transcripts, bills, memoranda, notes, and extensive sets of ICC reports (1920-1941) and Opinions written by Eastman (1919-1941).

The series is organized according to the various positions held by him since graduation from Amherst College (see Chronology).

Sub-series A: General, 1901-1919

Sub-series B: Boston Elevated Railroad, 1837-1933

Sub-series C: Interstate Commerce Commission, 1901-1944

Series 4: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, 1898-1960

Records which belonged to both Joseph Eastman and his sister Elizabeth. Here is filed the early correspondence between Joseph Eastman and his family; records about his time at Amherst College, diaries, photographs, and memorabilia. All of the materials collected by Elizabeth after his brother's death can be found in subseries A and F, including obituaries, eulogies, condolence letters sent to her, photographs of the Liberty Ship Joseph Eastman (WWII), and seven copies of a scrapbook with news clippings about Joseph Eastman's death and legacy. The sources used by Claude Fuess (AC 1905) to write the biography Joseph B. Eastman: Servant of the People were kept separately in subseries D. Among the newspaper clippings in subseries E, there is a copy of a cartoon indicating Wall Street's reaction to Justice Brandeis nomination for the Supreme Court which used to hang in Joseph Eastman's home. Subseries F contains various oversize materials, including diplomas, railroad maps, portraits, and an inscribed photo of Justice Brandeis given to Eastman in 1916.

Subseries A: Family correspondence and documents, 1898-1960

Subseries B: Diaries, 1905-1944

Subseries C: Amherst College, 1900-1945

Subseries D: Biography by Claude Fuess, 1905-1953

Subseries E: News clippings, 1910-1960

Subseries F: Objects and oversized items, 1915-1944