This collection of interviews focuses on the political career of John E. Hurt. The bulk of the collection consists of Mr. Hurt's interviews where he speaks about his role as a leading Democratic fundraiser and political advisor to several gubernatorial candidates and governors in Indiana from the late nineteen forties through the early nineteen sixties. The other interviews offer background and specifics about Hurt's political career and actions.
Interviewee: | Carmony, Donald F. |
Call number: | 86-002 |
Date(s) of Interview: | July 8, 1985 |
Physical Description: | 13 pp.; 1 tape, 1 7/8 ips, 30 minutes; no index |
Physical Location: | Interviews are housed in Weatherly Hall North, Room 122. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office. |
Access Status: | Open |
Interviewer: | Domowitz, Susan |
Donald Carmony, a retired professor of history from Indiana University, speaks a little about John E. Hurt. He mentions he has not known Hurt long, and does not know many details about Hurt's political life, but does offer some background and advice for the interviewer.
Indiana University
McNutt, Paul V.
Schricker, Henry F.
Welsh, Matthew E.
history professor
1809 Ten O'clock Treaty Line
Indiana politics
Two Percent Club
civil rights
political fundraising
Interviewee: | Hurt, John E. |
Call number: | 86-001 |
Date(s) of Interview: | September 23, 1985; September 24, 1985; October 8, 1985; November 11, 1985; November 12, 1985; January 23, 1986; January 24, 1986; February 7, 1986, July 16, 1986 |
Physical Description: | 380 pp.; 25 tapes, 1 7/8 ips, 450 minutes; index; photocopy of photographs; biographical sketch of interviewee |
Physical Location: | Interviews are housed in Weatherly Hall North, Room 122. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office. |
Access Status: | Open |
Interviewer: | Domowitz, Susan |
John Hurt, born 1912, grew up in Martinsville, Indiana and attended Indiana University where he earned a law degree. He was a Democrat and entered local and state politics during the late nineteen thirties. He speaks briefly about his early life, education, and interest in politics before spending considerable time discussing his heaviest involvement in politics from about 1952 to 1964. He discusses the drive to take over and reorganize the Democratic Party in Indiana and oust the "old guard". He describes his and the party's success in raising funds for campaigns, the Democratic conventions, and the gubernatorial campaigns and administrations he was involved in, particularly Henry F. Schricker's in 1948 and Matthew Welsh's in 1960. Throughout he talks about national politics, fundraising, political patronage, and differences in campaign strategy among many other topics. Finally, Hurt ends by speaking about his banking and lobbying duties since his prime political time, and discusses the changes in running campaigns and entering politics from his early days to the 1980s.
Democratic Party
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Indianapolis
News
Ku Klux Klan
Truman Presidential Museum and Library
Young Democrats of Indiana
Bayh, Birch E.
Branigan, Roger D.
Bryan, William Jennings
Buell, Dorothy
Campbell, Alexander M.
Capehart, Homer Earl, Jr.
Cotton, Louella
Craig, George N.
Gates, Ralph F.
Green, Clinton
Hartke, R. Vance
Haymaker, Ira
Hoover, Herbert C.
Hulman, Anton J., Jr. "Tony"
Jacobs, Andrew, Sr.
Johnson, Lyndon Baines
Kennedy, John Fitzgerald
McKinney, Frank E.
McNutt, Paul V.
New, Jack L.
Palmer, Arnold
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
Schricker, Henry F.
Smith, Al
Steckler, William
Tucker, Ralph
Wells, Herman B
Welsh, Matthew E.
Lake County, Indiana
Lake Wawasee, Indiana
Martinsville, Indiana
Morgan County, Indiana
attorney
political advisor
1932 Democractic National Convention
1932 WWI Veterans' Bonus March
1948 Democratic National Convention
1948 Presidential Election
1956 Democratic National Convention
Branigan administration
Dixiecrats
Great Depression
Indiana Democratic Party reorganization
Indiana highway scandal
Kennedy inauguration
Roosevelt Fireside Chats
Truman campaign train
Two Percent Club
Welsh administration
banking industry
civil rights
direct primary
education
federal funding
fraternal organizations
local politics
media relations
party loyalty
political appointments
political campaign donations
political campaign fundraising
political conventions
political lobbying
political patronage
politics
religion
vote buying
Interviewee: | Madison, James |
Call number: | 86-005 |
Date(s) of Interview: | July 9, 1985 |
Physical Description: | not transcribed; 1 tape, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes |
Physical Location: | Interviews are housed in Weatherly Hall North, Room 122. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office. |
Access Status: | Open |
Interviewer: | Domowitz, Susan |
James Madison, history professor at Indiana University, speaks about John Hurt and his role in Indiana politics.
Democratic Party
history professor
Indiana politics
political fundraising
Interviewee: | New, Jack L. |
Call number: | 86-003 |
Date(s) of Interview: | July 9, 1985 |
Physical Description: | 25 pp.; 1 tape, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index |
Physical Location: | Interviews are housed in Weatherly Hall North, Room 122. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office. |
Access Status: | Closed until both John Hurt and Jack New have been deceased ten years. |
Interviewer: | Domowitz, Susan |
Jack New was a member of Governor Matthew Welsh's administration and a close friend of John Hurt. He gives some information about Hurt's early life and then delves into his personality during the time he worked with him. He speaks about how Hurt was the "hatchet man" and would do things, not illegal, that many others would not do to get things done.
Democratic Party
Indiana University
Branigan, Roger D.
Haymaker, Ira
McNutt, Paul V.
Schricker, Henry F.
Watkins, John A.
Wells, Herman B
Welsh, Matthew E.
Martinsville, Indiana
alcoholism
interstate highway system
legislation writing
Interviewee: | Wells, Herman B |
Call number: | 86-004 |
Date(s) of Interview: | July 15, 1985 |
Physical Description: | not transcribed; 1 tape, 1 7/8 ips, 30 minutes; letter from Claude Rich to Wells |
Physical Location: | Interviews are housed in Weatherly Hall North, Room 122. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office. |
Access Status: | Open |
Interviewer: | Domowitz, Susan |
Herman Wells, born 1902, speaks about John Hurt's role in the legislative funding tension, specifically the parity issue, and how it was resolved.
Indiana University
Purdue University
university chancellor
Indiana politics
funding parity
university funding