Itemization

The Harrod-Woodruff Collection comprises a series of letters from (John) Douglas Woodruff to Sir Roy (Forbes) Harrod.

The Harrod-Woodruff Collection contains 47 Autograph Letters (Signed), 4 Postcards (Signed), 1 Typed Letter (Signed), and other printed material from (John) Douglas Woodruff to Sir Roy (Forbes) Harrod, as well as 1 Autograph Letter (Signed) from Mrs. Douglas Woodruff to Lady Harrod. The letters from Douglas Woodruff to Roy Harrod span the time period of 1922-1946. The bulk of the correspondence is from 1922-1929. The earlier letters congratulate Harrod on his double first and refer to J. M. Keynes, Cambridge, and Harrod's trips to France and Germany. They also refer to the various organizations Woodruff was involved in, including the Essay Society, the Liberal Club, the Oxford Union Club, and the debating team and discuss exams, All Souls, and other aspects of university life. Woodruff also discusses in great detail his debating tour with Christopher Hollis and Malcolm MacDonald, offering his opinions on America, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Included in the collection is a cartoon from the Australian John Bull which presents a caricature of Hollis, MacDonald, and Woodruff on their debating tour. Woodruff also writes about his struggle to find a vocation and decide on a career, his work on The Times and The Tablet, and Harrod's work as a teacher and author. He also announces his engagement to Maria Acton in one of the letters. He frequently discusses or mentions literary, political, and popular figures of the day, including F. A. Lindemann (later Lord Cherwell), Walter Layton, Douglas Fairbanks, Upton Sinclair, Randolph Hughes, George Catlin, and H. L. Mencken. He also critiques topics such as Germany's economy, the League of Nations, academic teaching, and liberalism. He is quite frank in his various discussions with Harrod, and one set of letters is appealing honest as he apologizes to Harrod for a supposed insult, and then answers Harrod's reply to this letter. The last letter contained in the collection is a moving note from Marie Woodruff to Billa Harrod, expressing Douglas' sorrow at Roy Harrod's death before he himself died. Readers of the Harrod-Woodruff Collection are urged to consult the Douglas Woodruff Collection, also in the Special Collections Division of Georgetown University. This collection contains letters from Sir Roy Harrod to Douglas Woodruff, some of which reply to or initiate the letters contained in the Harrod-Woodruff Collection. The letters in both collections illuminate aspects of both men's lives. One of the letters in this collection, for example, illustrates Woodruff's precept for the writing and speaking he and Harrod did so often and explains his struggle to find a worthwhile vocation: "Never will I drone out the unimportant to the uninterested." [December 10, 1924] The letters in both collections show two active minds engaged in presenting the important to the interested.

Number of Boxes: 1 Extent: .5 linear feet Date Span: 1922-1978