Reverend Walton E. Cole Papers

Russell Michalak
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
800 North Dartmouth Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu
URL: https://library.claremont.edu/scl/
© 2023
The Claremont Colleges Library. All rights reserved.


Descriptive Summary

Title: Reverend Walton E. Cole Papers
Dates: 1931-1943 and undated
Collection number: H.Mss.0225
Creator: Cole, Walton E., Reverend
Extent: 2.0 Linear Feet (5 document boxes)
Repository: Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: The Reverend Walton E. Cole Papers consist of correspondence, clippings, and publications on the radio battle fought in the late 1930s between Reverend Cole and Father Charles E. Coughlin.
Physical Location: Please consult repository.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the collection: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Reverend Walton E. Cole Papers. (H.Mss.0225). Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Marina Cole, March 20, 1985.

Accruals

No additions to the collection are anticipated.

Processing Information

Arranged and Processed by Special Collections staff.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Reverend Walton E. Cole Papers consist of correspondence, clippings, and publications on the radio battle fought in the late 1930s between Reverend Cole and Father Charles E. Coughlin, a Catholic priest who was among the first to exploit the possibilities of preaching on the air. Coughlin, became highly controversial when his broadcasts took a political turn toward Nazism and anti-Semitism. Walton Cole, a Unitarian minister in Toledo, Ohio, tried to prevail upon the Catholic hierarchy to have his inflammatory broadcasts stopped. Walton Cole's widow, who donated the papers, has provided personal notes and reminiscences about this tense episode.

Organization and Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:
  • Series 1: Miscellaneous Papers, 1931-1943 and undated
  • Series 2: Books and Radio Broadcasts, 1934-1940

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Cole, Walton E., Reverend
Coughlin, Charles E. (Charles Edward)
Radio broadcasting
Radio sermons
United States -- Politics and Government -- 1933-1945

Genre and Form of Materials

Brochures
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Newspapers
Pamphlets
Periodicals
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Speeches, addresses, etc.


 

Series 1:  Miscellaneous Papers 1931-1943 and undated

Box 1, Folder 1

Photographs

Box 1, Folder 2

Labor Papers: Social Justice Magazine 1936-1939

Box 1, Folder 3

"Propaganda Analysis"; I.P.A. Papers; Correspondence with Clyde Miller 1938-1939

Box 1, Folder 4

"The Fine Art of Rabble Rousing" 1939

Box 1, Folder 5

"Temper of the Times" (I) 1931-1938 and undated

Box 1, Folder 6

"Temper of the Times" (II) 1939-1940

Box 1, Folder 7

Plans for Broadcasts, Photographs 1938-1939 and undated

Box 1, Folder 8

Coughlin Speech: National Union for Social Justice 1934

Box 1, Folder 9

Correspondence: Walton E. Cole and Edward Meeks 1939

Box 1, Folder 10

Accounts of the two visits of Walton E. Cole and Father Coughlin 1939

Box 1, Folder 11

Interview with Archbishop Mooney undated

Box 1, Folder 12

The Christian Front 1939-1941 and undated

Box 1, Folder 13

Publicity Materials for Cole Broadcasts 1939-1940 and undated

Box 1, Folder 14

WJR Controversy; WJAS Cancellation 1939 and undated

Box 2, Folder 1

Speaking Engagements 1939-1940 and undated

Box 2, Folder 2

Samples of hate mail to Walton E. Cole 1939 and undated

Box 2, Folder 3

Letters to Walton E. Cole 1936-1940 and undated

Box 2, Folder 4

Reaction to Broadcasts; Letters to Walton E. Cole 1939-1940 and undated

Box 2, Folder 5

La Vielle France 1940

Box 2, Folder 6

Neutrality Act 1939-1941 and undated

Box 2, Folder 7

Lincoln and Rothchilds, Social Justice Magazine 1940

Box 2, Folder 8

Ford Hall Forum address 1939

Box 2, Folder 9

Ford Hall Forum - Boston, publicity 1939

Box 2, Folder 10

Negative of Letters from Ford Hall Forum, Propaganda Analysis 1939

Box 2, Folder 11

Ford Hall Responses and Letters 1939 and undated

Box 2, Folder 12

End of the Coughlin Broadcasts 1940-1943 and undated

Box 2, Folder 13

Newspaper Clippings (I) 1939 and undated

Box 2, Folder 14

Newspaper Clippings (II) 1940

Box 2, Folder 15

Newspaper Clippings (III) 1939-1940 and undated

Box 2, Folder 16

W.C. Kernan Address 1940

Box 2, Folder 17

P.M. Daily (Vol. 2, no. 244) 1942 May 26

Box 2, Folder 18

Digest of Social Justice, miscellaneous issues 1940

Box 2, Folder 19

Father Coughlin Self-Condemned circa 1939

Note

Kansas City, Missouri, Friends of Democracy, Inc.
Box 2, Folder 20

Miscellaneous papers 1938-1943

Box 3

Social Justice Magazine 1936 June 12 - 1942 March 30

Note

Assorted issues of Social Justice magazine.
Box 4

Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings 1939 July 20 - November 20

 

Series 2:  Books and Radio Broadcasts 1934-1940

Box 5, Item 1

"An Answer to Father Coughlin's Critics" 1940

Box 5, Item 2

Binderup, Hon. Chas G., "Government Monetary Control" 1938

Box 5, Item 3

Cole, Walton, E. "The American Way of Life", Toledo, OH: Unitarian Fellowship for Social Justice 1939

Box 5, Item 4

Cole, Walton, E. "The Choice Before Us.", Toledo, OH: Unitarian Fellowship for Social Justice 1940

Box 5, Item 5

Coughlin, Charles E. "Eight Lectures on Labor Capital and Justice", Royal Oak, MI: The Radio League of the Little Flower 1934

Box 5, Item 6

Father Coughlin, His "Facts" and Arguments, New York, General Jewish Council 1939

Box 5, Item 7

"The Fine Art of Propaganda", New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company 1939

 

Radio Broadcasts 1939-1940

Note

Bound scrapbook compiling radio broadcast brochures.
Box 5, Volume 1, Item 1

Hitler Over America 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 2

The American Way 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 3

Social Justice: The American Plan 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 4

Peril of Propaganda 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 5

Should the Neutrality Pact be Revised? 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 6

Defend America, Now 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 7

America's Greatest Need 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 8

Facts versus Fancies 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 9

Is Father Coughlin a Menace to Americanism 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 10

There is a Way Out 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 11

There Must be No Black-out Here 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 12

Hope of America 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 13

Building Real Americanism 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 14

The Use and Abuse of Freedom Speech 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 15

America's Struggle for Social Justice 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 16

First--Balance the Human Budget 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 17

Hope for 1940 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 18

America's Answer to "Isms" 1939

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 19

Is the Dies Committee Un-American? 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 20

The Facts about Father Coughlin and the Christian Front (I) 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 21

The Facts about Father Coughlin and the Christian Front (II) 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 22

Further Facts about Father Coughlin and the Christian Front 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 23

It Must Not Happen Here! 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 24

Propagandists Discover Lincoln 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 25

Wanted: Brotherhood! 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 26

Consider the Source! 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 27

Mr. Markham Poet of the People 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 28

Contemporary Calvary 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 29

The Choice Before Us 1940

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 30

The Facts about Father Coughlin and the Christian Front

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 31

An Appeal to Friends of Freedom

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 32

Membership Card of "the Friends of Freedom"

Box 5, Volume 1, Item 33

Add for Walton E. Cole's Broadcasts

Box 5, Folder 1

Extra Radio Broadcasts 1939