The papers of A. Piatt Andrew, who had a long and varied career as university professor, government official, member of Congress, and director of an ambulance service in wartime, are now open for use. The papers have been organized and provided with a finding aid that describes their contents. The collection will be of interest to historians and researchers studying American politics, economics, and foreign relations in the early twentieth century, as well as those interested in the story of the American Field Service in France during World War I.
A. Piatt Andrew (1873-1936) achieved distinction in a number of spheres, all of which are documented in the papers. Having taught economics at Harvard, where Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of his students, Andrew was appointed to government office, serving as Director of the United States Mint and as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. With the outbreak of World War I, Andrew went to France and, acting on his own initiative, helped to organize and then administer the American Field Service, a volunteer ambulance corps that served on the battlefield with the French army. With the entry of the United States into the war, the American Field Service was incorporated into the U. S. Army, and Andrew was commissioned Major and then Lieutenant-Colonel in the army. The collection contains numerous letters sent by Andrew to his family that relate his wartime experiences, as well records pertaining to the American Field Service.
Andrew was elected to Congress as a Republican representative from Massachusetts in 1921, serving in that capacity until his death. The papers include routine correspondence with his constituents, but also exchanges of letters with such political figures as Henry Cabot Lodge, Calvin Coolidge, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. A confirmed Francophile, Congressman Andrew took up the cause of French war debts incurred during World War I, and waged a campaign to reduce the burden of France's repayments to the United States. Andrew was also interested in the subject of Prohibition, which he sought to repeal. The papers contain Andrew’s speeches and writings on these topics, as well as ones dealing with the concerns of his district, whose economy depended largely on the fishing industry.
The papers are also noteworthy in that they contain extensive materials relating to Andrew's childhood and adolescence. As the son of an Indiana banker, Andrew grew up in a milieu of relative privilege, attending private boarding schools before studying at Princeton and Harvard. While away from home, Andrew wrote frequently to his parents, and their extensive correspondence offers a window into the social history of late 19th century America, with details on education, cultural formation, and family life. In later life, Andrew moved in the social circles of the New England establishment, and correspondence in the papers records his friendships with Isabella Stuart Gardner, Henry Davis Sleeper, and other prominent individuals.
