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Collection Dates: 1905 -- 1967
112 items
This document describes a collection of materials held
by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Posted to Internet: November 1997
Acquisition
Note:
Access
and Restrictions:
Photographs: Box 1
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does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this
collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections
Department.
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Biographical Note
Thomas James Bray (1877 -- 1967) was born in Vermont. His parents moved the family to Grinnell, Iowa when he was thirteen years old. There he graduated from high school in 1895. After completing a course in stenography and business at the Capital City Commercial College in Des Moines, Iowa, he returned to Grinnell and took a job as an official court reporter. He remained in that job until 1905, however in the meantime he was studying law with Judge John T. Scott. In 1904, Bray was admitted to the bar. His first law practice was in Grinnell, Iowa. In 1916, he moved his practice to Oskaloosa where he earned a reputation s an excellent trial lawyer. He belonged to the Mahaska County Bar Association as well as both the Iowa State and American Bar Associations. Bray owned a four hundred acre stock farm in Mahaska County and helped organize the Eleven State Corn Belt Convention held in Des Moines in 1926.
Active in the Republican
Party, Bray helped to manage the campaigns of Iowa governor and U.S. Senator
Albert B. Cummins. He also supported the movement to nominate Frank O. Lowden
for U.S. President in 1928.
Scope and Contents
The papers of Thomas
J. Bray date from 1905 to 1967 and consist of 112 items arranged chronologically
within an alphabetical sequence. The papers reflect his political concerns with
speeches on subjects ranging from Albert B. Cummins and Theodore Roosevelt to
farming and Oskaloosa, Iowa. A folder of correspondence includes letters from
Karl M. LeCompte, Jack Miller, Raymond Moley, and Dan W. Turner. A biographical
sketch, photographs, a scrapbook, and clippings provide insight into other aspects
of Bray’s life and legal career.
Biographical sketch of Thomas J. Bray by his daughter, Josephine Bray Hairston.
Correspondence, 1925 -- 1967 (Including T.L.S. by Jack Miller, Dan Turner, Raymond Moley, Bert Bandstra, Karl M. LeComte, and John Kyl).
Mahaska County Non-Partisan Self Government Club.
Newspaper clippings.
Photographs of Thomas J. Bray.
Photographs used
in Mr. Bray’s book, Rebirth of Freedom.
Scrapbook.
“Security of Human Rights” Speech, 1961.
Speeches, 1905 -- 1952:
“Reciprocity as it affects the farmer,” Poweshiek County Corn Belt Meat Producers’ Association Convention, Grinnel, Iowa, December 16, 1905.“1906 campaign address.”
“1912 campaign address.”
Introductory remarks at meeting of Governor George W. Clark at Colonial Theater, Grinnell, May 29, 1914.
July 4, 1914, speech.
35th Annual Reunion of Tama County Veterans Association, Tama, Iowa, September 8, 1914.
Memorial address, General Shield’s Council of Knights of Columbus, Ottumwa, Iowa, November 19, 1916 (two copies).
July 4, 1920, speech.
Address to a convention of supervisors, engineers, and auditors from 12 countries in Southeastern Iowa, City Hall, Oskaloosa, March 10, 1931.
Knights of Columbus, Washington, Iowa, November 29, 1931.
Oskaloosa Rotary Club, August 1, 1933.
Oskaloosa Kiwanis Club, February 16, 1942.
75th birthday party, 1952?
Undated speeches (titled):
Speech supporting Cummins for Senator.Elbert W. Clark Eulogy.
“Catholicism and Americanism."
“The law as a profession."
Endorsement of Cummins for Senator.
PTA talk on uncontrolled temper among children.
On Theodore Roosevelt.
The American Bar Association.
Bear Creek Drainage Proposition.
Undated speeches (untitled).
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