Dates: | 1890-1895 |
Size: | 0.5 linear feet in 3 Microfilm Reels |
Repository: | Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, 400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL 60605 |
Collection Number: | spe.wce.mph |
Custodial History: | After the death of Moses Handy in 1898, his papers remained with his widow, Sarah, in Chicago and afterwards at "Anchuka," her Berlin, Maryland, home about 1901. After the death of Sarah Handy in 1933, the papers were divided between two of her children, Cora Handy Benson and Henry Jamison Handy. The William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan purchased the papers from children of Cora and "Jam" between 1984 and 1986. |
Immediate Source of Acquisition: | This microfilm was purchased by the Chicago Public Library Special Collections Department by arrangement with the Clements Library in 1991. |
Conditions Governing Access: | Materials are open without restrictions. |
Conditions Governing Use: | Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection. |
Preferred Citation: | Persons wishing to quote from or make any published use of any material on this film must obtain written permission from: The Director, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190. |
Finding Aid Author: | Processed at the Clements Library by Galen Wilson, 1986-1987. Updated and ingested into ArchivesSpace by Johanna Russ, 2025 |
Abstract
Moses P. Handy served as Chief of the Department of Publicity and Promotion for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These microfilm reels contain copies of records pertaining to this part of Handy's varied career. The originals are housed at the Clements Library at the University of Michigan.
Biographical/Historical
Moses Purnell Handy, son of Isaac William Ker (1815-1878) and Mary Jane Rozelle Purnell (1821-1848) Handy, was born April 14, 1847, in Warsaw, Missouri. His father had been sent out as a missionary to Missouri by the Presbyterian Church, but pastored an interdenominational congregation in Warsaw. He was an infant when his mother died and his father moved back east; most of his youth was spent in Portsmouth, Virginia. His secondary education was at Virginia Collegiate Institute in Portsmouth, under the direction of N.B. Webster. Handy was fourteen when the Civil War broke out, and on the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth he was sent to his uncle William H. Purnell, Baltimore postmaster and a Union army colonel. At Baltimore, he was enrolled in the Rugby Institute.
Moses Handy's father Isaac was a Union supporter politically, but was slowly won over to the Confederate cause and became an ardent secessionist after the election of Abraham Lincoln, believing peaceful union to be an impossibility. When the Union army occupied Portsmouth, Isaac Handy went north with a pass from General Dix to New Castle, Delaware. Here he was arrested for voicing his southern sympathies too loudly, and was incarcerated at Fort Delaware Prison for several months. Moses removed from Baltimore and settled at Delaware City to be near his father, where he supported himself via clerking for an apothecary of whose store he found himself manager when the Confederate-sympathizing proprietor was arrested.
Upon his father's release from prison, Moses declined his uncle's offer of a northern education and ran the blockade, arriving in Richmond where he joined the Confederate Army on the staff of General Walter Hustad Stevens (1827-1867). He was in Richmond the last six months before its fall in April 1865; the account he wrote of that event, at the age of seventeen, was his first journalistic sale. The Watchman of New York bought his story and published it serially between February and April 1866. Coming to Richmond after the war, he worked as a mailing clerk for the Christian Observer. He also became a book agent as the Virginia merchandiser of The Life of Stonewall Jackson. In spring 1866, he was sent to Orange Court House by the Richmond Dispatch to cover a speech of Congressman Henry Wilson; a second such article reporting a Horace Greeley address netted him a permanent position with the Dispatch.
While connected with the Dispatch, he served as a correspondent for several other newspapers, including the New York World, and was general manager for the southern states of the American Press Association. In 1873, the New York Tribune sent him as a special correspondent to Key West, Florida, where he sprang into national note as the only reporter to witness the transfer of the steamer "Virginius" from Spanish authorities to the United States government which narrowly averted a war between the two countries. The articles stemming from this event prompted an offer to Handy from the Tribune, and he joined its editorial staff in 1874. As a correspondent he traveled extensively, covering the woman's temperance crusade in Ohio, and political affairs in the South. Articles in September 1874, exposing shady monetary arrangements among Louisiana carpetbagger politicians caused several of the principals to retire temporarily from public life.
In October 1875, Handy resigned the Tribune to become editor-in-chief of the Richmond Enquirer, of which he was newly one-third owner. Internal strife at that paper began almost immediately, culminating during Handy's absence in summer 1876, at Philadelphia where he was a United States Centennial Commissioner for Virginia (similar to an office he held in 1873 by Presidential appointment to the International Exhibition at Vienna, Austria). He accepted an offer of associate editorship from the Philadelphia Times and remained with that newspaper until late 1880 when he became managing editor of the Philadelphia Press. In his years with the Press, its circulation rose from 10,000 to 60,000. He worked for James G. Blaine's presidential campaign in 1884; shortly afterwards he purchased and became editor of the Philadelphia News. His health broke in 1887, and after several months' recuperation, he was for a short time managing editor of the New York World before resigning to join Benjamin Harrison's campaign staff for the 1888 election.
Again, his health failed, and he went to Europe to regain his strength. He declined the consulship to Egypt in 1891 in favor of the appointment of Chief of the Department of Publicity and Promotion for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, the first department of that project to be organized. He was one of five commissioners sent to Europe in 1891 on behalf of the Fair to foster interest in it. During the Exposition, 1892-1893, Handy weathered severe attacks on the financial integrity of his department, and was able to resign, at the Fair's conclusion, with honor. From 1894 to 1895 he was a special correspondent for the New York Mail and Express and the Chicago Inter-Ocean, while living in New York. In 1895 he returned to Chicago as political writer and editor-in-chief of the Times-Herald, where his column "Major Handy's Point of View" established his reputation as something of a political prophet.
While on the staff of the Times-Herald, he was an organizer of both the American Honest Money League (1896) and the National Business League (1897). He campaigned for William McKinley in 1896 but was unsuccessful in his bid for a foreign consulate as part of the spoils. He accepted appointment in 1897 as Special Commissioner of the United States to the Paris International Exposition (1900) and he and Mrs. Handy spent the fall of that year in France. Moses became ill, and upon their return to America in November they went to Augusta, Georgia, for the winter. Here Moses Handy died January 8, 1898, at the age of fifty.
Handy married in Cumberland County, Virginia, April 15, 1869, Sarah Ann Matthews (1845-1933), the daughter of George Hancock and Martha Miller Matthews. They were the parents of seven children: William Matthews (1870-1925), Rozelle Purnell (1871-1920), Agnes Gordon (1873-19__), Sarah Virginia Chaille (1876-1963), Moses Purnell Jr. (1878-1897), Cora Macon (1882-1958), and Henry Jamison (1886-1983). Sarah Handy survived her husband by a third of a century. For many years she wrote a newspaper advice and household-hints column under the pen name of Helen Oldfield. Shortly after Moses's death, she purchased land near Berlin, Maryland, from her mother-in-law's family. Here she built "Anchuka" in 1899 and 1900, where she lived out her years. She died August 2, 1933, and was buried beside her husband in the Buckingham Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Berlin.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains microfilm of original documents in the Handy Family Papers held by the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Moses Handy's involvement with the World's Columbian Exposition, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America in 1492, netted the Handy Family Papers two and a half boxes of correspondence, reports, financial records, brochures, and memorabilia. Handy's advertising campaign, begun in 1890 as chair of “Department O” (Publicity and Promotion), has been cited as the prototype of modern public strategies.
Arrangement
Material concerning the Exposition is filed in box 25 folder 12 through box 27 folder 7. Information about the San Francisco Mid-Winter Exposition (1893), a sort of subsidiary event to the main Chicago attraction, is in box 27, folders 8-72.
The collection has been filmed without targets. However, the items in each folder have been filmed with the folder itself as a backdrop. The folder title and number are visible along the margin of each document indicating location. Each file filmed is listed in the Box-folder List in this guide.
Subject Headings
- Handy, Moses P. (Moses Purnell), 1847-1898
- World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.)
Related Materials
- Charles Dudley Arnold Photographic Collection
- Elizabeth Chandler Papers
- Ellsworth-Arnold Photograph Albums
- James W. Ellsworth Papers
- Moses P. Handy Papers
- E.R. Walker Photograph Album
- World's Columbian Exposition U.S. War Department Exhibit Photographs
- World's Columbian Exposition, Bureau of Music, Official Report
- World’s Columbian Exposition Catholic Educational Exhibit
- World's Columbian Exposition Ephemera Collection
- World’s Columbian Exposition Glass Plate Lantern Slides
- World’s Columbian Exposition Miscellaneous Photographs
- World’s Columbian Exposition Snapshots Collection
- World’s Congress Auxiliary Congress of Authors Collection
- World’s Congress Auxiliary Pre-Publications, Programs and Circulars Collection
- Youth’s Companion Collection
Container List
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 12 | Administration--printed pamphlets | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 13 | Auditor | 1892-93 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folders 15-20 | Not filmed | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 21 | Concessions | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 22 | Dedication and opening of fair | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 23 | Department Chiefs' annual reunions | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 24 | Department of Agriculture and Commerce | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 25 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Correspondence | 1890-1891 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 26 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Correspondence | 1892 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 27 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Correspondence | 1893 January-June |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 28 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Correspondence | 1893 July-September |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 29 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Correspondence | 1893 October-December |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 30 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Correspondence | 1894-1895 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 31 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Finance and personnel | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 32 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Miscellaneous | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 33 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Monthly reports | 1891 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 34 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Monthly reports | 1892 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 35 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Monthly reports | 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 36 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), National Commission to Europe (1891): Accounts | circa 1893 |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 37 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), National Commission to Europe (1891): Correspondence | 1891 January-June |
Reel 1 | Box 25 | Folder 38 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), National Commission to Europe (1891): Correspondence | 1891 July |
Reel 1 | Box 26 | Folder 1 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), National Commission to Europe (1891): Correspondence | 1891 August-1892 January |
Reel 1 | Box 26 | Folder 2 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), National Commission to Europe (1891): Lists and miscellaneous | circa 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 3 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Niagara Falls trip | circa 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 4 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Printed publicity | circa 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 5 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Publicity articles | circa 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 6 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1891 June |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 7 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1891 July |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 8 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1891 August |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 9 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1891 September |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 10 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1891 October |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 11 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1891 November |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 12 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1891 December |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 13 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 January |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 14 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 February |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 15 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 March |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 16 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 April |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 17 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 May |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 18 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 June |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 19 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 July |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 20 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 August |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 21 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 September |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 22 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 October |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 23 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 November |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 24 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1892 December |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 25 | Department O (Publicity and Promotion), Weekly reports | 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 26 | Dinner honoring Moses Handy | circa 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 27 | Exhibit brochures and concert programs | circa 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 28 | Ferris wheel | circa 1893 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 29 | General correspondence | 1890-1892 |
Reel 2 | Box 26 | Folder 30 | General correspondence | 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 31 | Invitations (manuscript) | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 32 | Invitations--Administration | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 33 | Invitations--Foreign, A-I | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 34 | Invitations--Foreign, J -Z | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 35 | Invitations--Organizations and exhibits | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 36 | Invitations--United States and state governments (1 of 2) | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 37 | Invitations--United States and state governments (2 of 2) | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 38 | Invitations to dinners | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 39 | Maps, transportation, accommodations | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 26 | Folder 40 | Official catalog (Conkey) | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 1 | Press register | 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 2 | Printed forms | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 3 | Publicity--Miscellaneous reviews | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 4 | Songs | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 5 | Souvenirs and press ribbons | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 6 | Tickets and passes | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 7 | World's Congress Extension | 1896 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 8 | San Francisco Mid-Winter Exposition, Correspondence and miscellaneous | 1893 August-October |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 9 | San Francisco Mid-Winter Exposition, Correspondence and miscellaneous | 1893 November |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 10 | San Francisco Mid-Winter Exposition, Correspondence and miscellaneous | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 11 | San Francisco Mid-Winter Exposition, Printed publicity | circa 1893 |
Reel 3 | Box 27 | Folder 12 | San Francisco Mid-Winter Exposition, Publicity articles by William Matthews Handy | circa 1893 |