Lonergan World War I Archive: . [WORLD WAR I - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS/PROPAGANDA] LONERGAN, C. James. Archive Relating to the United States Speaking Tour of British Captain C. James Lonergan.

London, New York, and multiple other locations, Multiple Publishers, Varied Bindings; Some Items staples, some never bound

[WORLD WAR I - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS/PROPAGANDA] LONERGAN, C. James. Archive Relating to the United States Speaking Tour of British Captain C. James Lonergan.

London, New York, and others, 1918. Collection of thirty (30) items relating to the special duty speaking tour of British Captain C. James Lonergan. The archive consists of typed and mimeo documents detailing Lonergan's orders prior to embarking for New York from London; typed letters signed regarding the organization of the tour once Lonergan had arrived in New York; numerous memos from the American National Red Cross Atlantic Division regarding individual speaking engagements throughout the Northeast; and letters of gratitude from the organizers. Highlights of the archive (and Lonergan's speaking tour) include the program of an event organized by the Flatbush Motor Corps on December 9, 1918, at which Harry Houdini performed (Lonergan was slated to speak during intermission and from which a meaningful portion of the rear wrap has been torn away and is missing). Condition of the collection is generally Very Good with usual mail folds and toning at extremities; rather large loss across bottom margin of Motor Corps program with some loss of sense; otherwise Very Good. A detailed list of the collection can be found below:

1. 5pp. typed and mimeo-ed document sent by Lieutenant J.L. Fisher of the War Office delineating Lonergan's special duty responsibilities while in America. "The primary purpose of your visit to the United States was to take part in a publicity campaign to encourage subscriptions to the new Liberty Loan, but on account of unavoidable delays, it is feared you will now arrive too late for this...The object of your mission is not so much to explain the reasons why Great Britain entered the war, nor the aims which must be attained before Great Britain can agree to peace, but rather to quicken the interest and enthusiasm of the American people for the war (whenever that may be necessary)." The document goes on to describe what to expect of American citizens, especially with regards to their shortcomings: "In speeches and conversations, however, you should remember that there exists in the United States considerable ignorance of European policy and diplomacy, and that this is enhanced by a failure to appreciate the geography of Europe...In the course of your tour you may meet with heckling and even hostility from certain sections of Irish-Americans. You will probably find it expedient to treat such manifestations with good humour, above all avoiding implication in the Irish controversy." The instructions go on to urge him to practice temperance, and report to the British Bureau of Information upon arriving in New York.

2. 1p. typescript document titled "Public Speakers to the U.S.A.," providing bureaucratic instructions regarding permission slips, uniforms, etc.

3. Typed permission slip accomplished in manuscript giving Captain Lonergan permission to wear his uniform while delivering his lectures.

4. 1p. typed letter signed by Frederick J. Nichols to Lonergan, dated November 11, 1918, on United Work Campaign letterhead instructing him to report to Charles M. Mayne upon arriving in New York.

5. 1p. typed letter from Dr. H.D. Dakin to Lonergan (11/14/18), in regards to the arrangement of a talk at the Rockefeller War Demonstration Hospital.

6. Printed notecard accomplished in manuscript stating that Captain Lonergan will speak at the Rye Seminary on November 15, 1918.

7. 1p. typed letter signed by Katrina Ely Tiffany, "Chairman" of the Speakers' Bureau, United War Work Campaign of Greater New York on their letterhead. Dated November 22, 1918, thanking Lonergan for his service.

8. 1p. typed memo on American National Red Cross Atlantic Division letterhead (11/22/1918) regarding a trip to the Chester Hill Methodist Church, Mt. Vernon ("Take a taxi").

9. 1p. typed memo as above (11/29/1918) regarding a speaking engagement at the New York Institute for the Deaf ("An interpreter will repeat your speech to the audience").

10. 1p. typed (copy) letter signed by organizer Earl J. Arnold on Overland-Manross Tire Co. letterhead (11/30/18), addressed to Red Cross organizer Claude Reddish regarding the upcoming speaking engagement in Bristol, Connecticut: "...what I am nervous about is to get him [Lonergan] here in time Sunday as the Cranston Benson lecture I managed gave me nervous prostration, almost, as the speaker did not arrive until just thirty minutes before the time of the lecture, and I had 2,200 people already in the church, and no speaker as yet in the city."

11. 1p. typed memo as nos. 8-9 (12/3/18) regarding Lonergan's speaking engagements in Bristol, Connecticut, and Flatbush in Brooklyn.

12. 1p. typed memo as above (12/9/18) regarding four engagements, at P.S. 160 in Brooklyn; the Bird Cage Tea Room on Fifth Ave. ("You are to speak briefly and informally"); Jersey City; and at an open house mass meeting at the Union of All the Churches.

13. Program for the event organized by the Flatbush Motor Corps and the National League for Women's Service held at Flatbush Theatre, December 9, 1918, at which Houdini performed. Octavo (24cm.); original tan decorative card wrappers printed in red and blue; [40]pp.

14. 1p. typed letter signed by H.L. Stone (12/10/18) thanking Lonergan for his lecture.

15. 1p. typed (copy) letter signed by Jacob C. Klinck (12/11/18) thanking Lonergan.

16. 1p. typed letter signed by Stephen Callaghan of the Supreme Court of New York (12/11/18) thanking Lonergan in advance for his upcoming lecture at the Men's Club at the All Saints' Church in Brooklyn: "We shall have a splendid attendance, and an intelligent audience, of at least four hundred people."

17. 1p. typed letter signed by Lieutenant Ada S. Best of the National League for Woman's Service (12/12/18) thanking Lonergan for his lecture delivered at the Flatbush Theatre.

18. 1p. typed (copy) letter signed by Earl J. Arnold (12/12/18) addressed to Claude Reddish thanking him for organizing the event in Bristol.

19. 1p. typed letter signed by Claude Reddish to Lonergan (12/26/18) thanking him for his service.

20. Printed card accomplished in manuscript extending Lonergan with a 30-day membership to the Metropolitan Club.

21. 1p. typed letter signed by Earl J. Arnold directly to Lonergan (no date), thanking him for his talk in Bristol ("Your lecture was simply a hummer").

22. 2pp. autograph letter signed by Grace G. Lambert of the Junior War Relief Society (1/7/19) thanking Lonergan for his lecture: "We need more such talks to enlighten as to the actual conditions of the German Prison Camps."

23-30. Newspaper clippings relating to Lonergan's speaking tour.

Captain C. James Lonergan saw action on both the Western and the Sardinian front, and spent more than a year in a German prisoner-of-war camp hospital after suffering grave injuries. A contemporary newspaper article provides at least a portion of a lecture delivered in Brooklyn before the Colonial Daughters of the Seventeenth Century: "On October 16 we were on the Arras front. This was my fourth front in eight months. I was ordered to hold out as long as possible, but finally, when I saw that we would be surrounded soon I ordered retreat. Most of my officers and men had been killed. I received bullet wounds in the right knee and right thigh, and I lay on the field several hours before a German officer approached me. I asked for water, and he attempted to jam his bayonet through me. I partly warded off the blow, but a steel cigarette case saved my life." Eventually a superior officer intervened, saving Lonergan's life, though not before kicking his wounded leg. Lonergan goes on to describe the wretched conditions of the German hospital, where he underwent four operations without anaesthetic, concluding "If any of you ever meet Dr. Greenbaum cable me. I want that man's blood."
\TOGETHER WITH AN ORIGINAL PUBLICITY POSTER FOR THE CAMPAIGN which we have added to the Archive.