Guide to the John Downey Works Papers M0031
Processed by Thompson Tombaugh; machine-readable finding aid created by Patricia White
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
1997 ; revised 2020
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: John Downey Works Papers
Identifier/Call Number: M0031
Physical Description:
2 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1911-1928
Abstract: John Downey Works (1847-1928) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a U.S. Senator representing California from 1911
to 1917, and an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1888 to 1891.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Lewis R. Works, 1930-31.
Biographical / Historical
John Downey Works was born March 29, 1847 on a farm in Ohio County, Indiana. Educated in the common schools of the state until
1861, he then served eighteen months with the U. S. Volunteers in the Civil War. In 1868, he married Alice Banta, was admitted
to the bar, and began a law practice in Vevay, Indiana which lasted for fifteen years. In 1879, he was elected to the Indiana
House of Representatives for one term. Forced to leave Indiana in l883 due to ill health, Works and his family journeyed West
and settled in southern California where, from 1886-87, he served as Judge of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Los
Angeles. In 1888, he was appointed to fill a vacancy as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of California
and shortly thereafter, was elected to fill out the term. Works returned to a private legal partnership in 1891 and remained
so engaged until 1910 when he served for a brief time as President of the City Council of Los Angeles. In 1911, he was nominated
by the Progressive Republicans of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League for the position of U. S. Senator, was subsequently elected,
and served in Congress until 1917 when he returned once again to private life and practice. Works died on June 6, 1928.
Among Works' publications are:
Indiana Pleading and Practice,
Water and Water Rights,
Courts and their Jurisdiction,
What's Wrong With the World,
Man's Duty to Man, and
Juridical Reform.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item] John Downey Works Papers, M031, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Scope and Contents
The Works Papers include the correspondence of John Downey Works dated from 1911 to 1928, the bulk of which was written between
1916 and 1926. In addition, the collection contains a typescript copy of Works' memoirs concerning, especially, his years
in the U. S. Senate, several typescripts of articles and speeches, and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings by or about Works
from 1906-1911. Also included are printed copies of many of Works' Senate speeches.
Of primary interest in the Papers is the correspondence concerning Works' election to the U. S. Senate in 1911, publication
of his several books, and his relationship with the Church of Christ Scientist.
For additional information consult the Works Collection in the Bancroft Library, University of California (see correspondence
to Works from J. C. Rowell, Librarian). Also helpful for general reference is Irene Lucile Way's
The Political Career of John Downey Works, a thesis written 1929-30 at Stanford University for the degree of Master of Arts.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Neale Publishing Co.
La Follette., Robert M.
Hargraves, John W.
Christian Science Monitor
Blight, Reynold E.
Stratford Co.
Taft, William H.
Patton, Charles 0.
Rowell, Chester H.
Correspondence: Letters of John Downey Works
1911 January to 1928 May
Box 1, folder 1
Jan. 14, 1911-Jan. 17, 1911
Box 1, folder 2
Jan. 18, 1911-Feb. 1, 1911
Box 1, folder 3
July 5, 1916-Nov. 13, 1916
Box 1, folder 4
March 5. 1917-Nov. 19, 1917
Box 1, folder 5:
Feb. 6. l9l8-Dec. 27, 1918
Box 1, folder 6
Jan. 8, 1919-Dec. 30, 1919
Box 1, folder 7
Jan. 15, 1920-Dec. 27., 1920
Box 1, folder 8
March 24, 1921-Dec. 30., 1921
Box 1, folder 9
Jan. 16, 1922-Dec. 19, 1922
Box 1, folder 10
Jan. 2, 1923-Dec. 19, 1923
Box 1, folder 11
Jan. 3, 1924-Nov. 7, 1924
Box 1, folder 12
Jan. 8, 1925-Nov. 13, 1925
Box 1, folder 13
Feb. 8, 1926-Dec. 10, 1926
Box 1, folder 14
Jan. 31, 1927-Dec. 7, 1927
Box 1, folder 15
Jan. 27, 1928-May 31, 1928
Correspondence: Letters to John Downey Works
circa 1911-1920
Box 2, folder 23
National-Neale
(Dec. 1918)
Box 2, folder 24
Neale
(Jan. 1919-Dec. 1919)
Box 2, folder 25:
Neale -Norton
(Jan. 1920)
Box 2, folder 30
Miscellaneous unidentified-
1911
Correspondence: Letters about Works
Box 3, folder 32
Some of my Experiences in Political and Official Life - the memoirs of John Downey Works.
Box 3, folder 33
Typescript copies of several speeches and articles by John Downey Works.
Box 3, folder 34
26 formal photographs of John Downey Works as U. S. Senator
Box 4
Printed copies of Senate Speeches (U.S.) by John Downey Works
Scope and Contents
Initiative, Referendum and Recall, April 20, 1911
Proposed Department of Health, July 6, 1911
To Establish an Independent Health Service, April 29, 30, 1912
The Presidential Term, Dec. 9, 10, 1912
Clean and Reliable Journalism, Apr. 17, 1913
Trusts and Combinations, May 5, 1913
An Amendment ot the Constitution Prohibiting the Sale, Manufacture and Importation of Distilled Liquor, June 21, 1913
Tariff on California Products, July 24, 25, 1913
San Francisco Water Supply, Dec. 2, 3, 1913
Bill to Repeal Hetch Hetchy Grant, Dec. 20, 1913
Patronage, Jan. 26, 914
Cooperative Agricultural Extension Work, Jan. 30, 1914
One Year of Democratic Rule, Mar. 6, 1914
Treaty Relations with Great Britain and Panama Canal Tolls, Apr. 7, 8, 1914
Affairs in Mexico, Apr. 21, 1914
Trust Legislation, July 17, 1914
Development of Water Power, Feb. 2, 1915
Preparedness for National Defense, Dec. 16, 1915
Preparedness for Peace, Mar. 23, 1916
National Preparedness - Judges in Politics, Apr. 12, 1916
Good Roads - Misappropriation of Public Funds, Apr. 21, 1916
Americanism and Preparedness for National Defense, Jun. 26, 1916
The Asiatic Problem, July 14, 1916
Naval Appropriations, July 17, 1916
Downward Tendencies of Government and Citizenship, Jan. 4,5, 1917
Our Relations with Germany, Feb. 7, 1917
On Authorizing the President to Arm Merchant Ships, Mar. 4, 1917
Box 4
Miscellaneous speeches and articles
Scope and Contents
Health address of Works to the National League for Medical Freedom, Nov. 24, 1911
Expense of Public Health and Medical Service - letter from secretary of Treasury, Jan. 6, 1913
"War, Business and Peace," - Address to Commercial Law League of America, Aug. 5, 1915
"Works defends war stand," - article in The New American Woman, July 1917
Review of Work's book on Juridical Reform - by Roscoe Pound in Harvard Law Review, Dec. 1919
