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Frederick Landis collection

 Collection
Identifier: L604

Scope and Contents

The collection includes materials from Frederick K. Landis and his family dating from 1855 to 2000, including clippings, scrapbooks, radio scripts, and manuscripts. The bulk of the collection is clippings about the political and editorial careers of Frederick Landis. The majority of the radio scripts are undated but were made during the late 1920s and early 1930s and have been left in the order in which they were found. Topics include the military conflicts of the time, economics, politics, agriculture and other subjects. Many are in poor condition and lack some of the pages for each script. There are also three small notebooks with correspondence sent to Landis about his radio programs.

The clippings are sorted roughly by topic and remain in the order in which they were found. Many are undated and do not have the newspapers from which they came noted. There are some manuscriptss written by Landis, including "The Angel on Lonesome Hill," as well as a manuscript for a book by John Howard Landis titled, "Doctor Biglow."

There are an additional 26 scrapbooks, most of which document Landis' political campaigns and service, his newspaper columns, his radio broadcasts, his books, and his death in 1934 (V417). In addition to newspaper clippings, there are albums with letters from politicians and editors, telegrams from supporters, invitations to White House events, photographs, and political memorabilia. Three of the scrapbooks contain clippings of the column "Corn on the Cob," written by Landis's son, Kenesaw Mountain Landis II. Correspondents in the scrapbooks, include George Ade, Albert J. Beveridge, Arthur Brisbane, Charles W. Fairbanks, Will H. Hays, Hiram W. Johnson, John M. Johnson, Charles B. Landis, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and James E. Watson.

Dates

  • 1855-2000

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Biographical Note

Frederick K. Landis, editor, author, radio broadcaster, and politician, was born August 13, 1872, in Seven Mile, Ohio, the son of Abraham H. and Mary (Kumler) Landis. His siblings included Congressman Charles B. Landis and Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner, responsible for handing out lifetime bans to eight Chicago White Sox for throwing the 1919 World Series.

Frederick Landis attended schools in Logansport, Indiana and received his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1895. He was elected as Republican U.S. congressman from the 11th District of Indiana in 1902 and re-elected in 1904. In 1909, he married Bessie A. Baker of Logansport and they had six children. Landis also served as editor of the Logansport Pharos-Tribune and as editor of the The Hoosier Editor. Landis also wrote several books and plays.

Landis switched to the Progressive Party in 1912, serving as one of the party organizers in Indiana. He eventually returned to the Republican Party, nearly winning the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana in 1928. In the fall of 1934, Landis won the election for U.S. congressman from the 2nd Indiana District. Frederick Landis died on November 15, 1934, at the age 62 from pneumonia and a heart attack.

Extent

7.8 Cubic Feet (4 manuscript boxes, 4 oversize boxes, 26 volumes)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

This collection arranged in the following series:

Series 1: Professional and personal papers, 1855-2000, undated

Series 2: Radio scripts, 1928-1932, undated

Series 3: Clippings, 1900-1965

Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1895-1943

Custodial History

This collection was received by Rare Books and Manuscripts as a donation from Judge Frederick Landis Jr. in 1967.

Accruals

No further additions are expected.

Related Materials

Materials relating to this collection may be found in the following collections in Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN:

S0800: Frederick Landis papers

Processing Information

Initial processing and finding aid completed by Andrea Bean Hough. EAD finding aid created on 2014/11/10 by Brent Abercrombie. EAD finding aid revised in 2022/03 by Laura Eliason.
Title
Frederick Landis collection
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671