J. Lyons Moore was born in 1903 in New Albany, Indiana. He began his service with the Democratic Party while he was an executive in the Indiana State Highway Department. In 1944 he was asked to serve with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's fourth presidential campaign by Indiana Governor Paul McNutt. From 1948 to 1964 Moore served as the Assistant Comptroller of the Committee. In addition to this position, Moore also held various other posts within the DNC as an Auditor, the Acting Comptroller, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Committee, and the editor of the Democratic Digest, until his retirement in 1965. He passed away at the age of 66 on May 29, 1969.
In the fall of 1951 he married Marian Gilmore, a Rhode Island native. At the time of their marriage Ms. Gilmore was serving on the Senate Rules Committee, as well as a WPA Administrator under Senator Theodore Francis Green (D - R.I.). During the course of her career she also worked for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and the Special Senate Campaign Investigating Committee until her retirement in 1971.
While serving with the Committee, Mr. Moore and his wife, Marian Gilmore Moore (who was also heavily involved in politics at the time) collected materials relating to Democratic party politics, election campaigns and private correspondence.
Collection is open for research by appointment. Materials do not circulate. Some materials may be restricted, for further information contact the Archives and Special Collections, Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College.
Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Phillips Memorial Library. Although Providence College has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
J. Lyons Moore papers, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Archives and Special Collections.
J. Lyons Moore and his wife, Marian Gilmore Moore, while serving the Democratic Party for over twenty years in various capacities, collected materials relating to national and state campaign elections and conventions, including a wide assortment of memorabilia and private correspondence between party officials and approximately 200 prominent Democrats from the 1930's-1970's.
The collection is arranged in nine series
The collection was donated to the Archives and Special Collections department of Providence College by Marian Gilmore Moore in June of 1972.
This series is predominantly memorabilia, such as programs, invitations, and tickets from various political banquets and dinners from around the nation.
The series is arranged chronologically.
This series of correspondence is divided into five subsections: letters written to William M. Boyle, William J. Bray, J. Lyons Moore, W. Forbes Morgan, and general correspondence. While the correspondence featured is primarily of a political nature, particularly between those in the Democratic party, there are also samples of private correspondence.
William M. Boyle, Jr. was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1949 to 1951, and was a personal friend of President Harry S. Truman. He is widely considered to have engineered Truman's upset victory over Governor Thomas Dewey in the 1948 election.
William J. Bray was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1949-1952, and Assistant Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, as well as Assistant Postmaster General in 1952.
J. Lyons Moore served as the Assistant Comptroller of the Democratic National Committee. In addition to this position, Moore also held various other posts within the DNC as an Auditor, the Acting Comptroller, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Committee, and the editor of the Democratic Digest, until his retirement in 1965.
W. Forbes Morgan was Secretary of the Democratic National Committee from 1932-1936.
This series is arranged into five subseries. Each subseries is arranged alphabetically by the sender of the correspondence.
This series contains the correspondence of William M. Boyle, the bulk of which is of a personal nature between friends and colleagues.
This series contains the correspondence of William J. Bray, the bulk of which is of a personal nature between friends and colleagues.
This series contains the correspondence of J. Lyons Moore, the bulk of which is of a personal nature between friends and colleagues.
This series contains the correspondence of W. Forbes Morgan, the bulk of which is of a personal nature between friends and colleagues.
This series contains a randomized assortment of correspondence between people who otherwise do not appear in this collection.
This series contains memorabilia from both Presidential and Congressional elections. Material ranges from pins and signs to pamphlets and books.
This series is arranged chronologically.
The bulk of this series contains memorabilia from the 1944 through the 1968 Democratic National Conventions.
This series contains photographs of prominent people in the Democratic party during the 1940's and 1950's, the majority of which are autographed to J. Lyons Moore.
This series is arranged alphabetically.
This series contains materials relating to the inaugurations of a number of U.S. Presidents, including Franklin Roosevelt's historic inauguration to a third term in 1941.
The series is arranged chronologically.
This series contains various materials that J. Lyons Moore's acquired during the course of his career with the Democratic Party. Tickets, cards, ribbons, reports, and other memorabilia and mementos have been collected here.
This series is arranged chronologically.
This series contains a wide assortment of oversized materials, which while reflective of materials contained in other sections of the collection, were separated and placed in their own series because of their size.
The series includes campaign posters, photographs, and newspapers.
There is no particular arrangement to this series.
The series contains 11 bound volumes and 45 unbound copies of the Democratic Digest. The Democratic Digest was originally published monthly by the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee until 1953, when it fell under the publishing of the Democratic National Committee as a whole. It was then published monthly from August 1953 to February 1961. After this time, The Democratic Digest became the periodical called The Democrat, of which there are 7 issues in this collection.
This series is arranged chronologically.