James Middleton Cox Papers

Provenance

The papers of James M. Cox were donated to the Wright State University's Special Collections and Archives in April of 1969 by his eldest son, James M. Cox, Jr. The letter of gift imposes no restrictions with reqards to literary or publishing rights on material(s) in the collection.

Series Listing

• Series I: Speeches
• Series II: Subject/Topical Correspondence
• Series III: Correspondence

Biographical Sketch

James Cox was born near Jacksonburg, Butler County, Ohio on March 31, 1870. He was the youngest of seven children born to Gilbert and Eliza Cox. He attended high school in Amanda, a suburb of Middletown, Ohio. Cox taught school briefly near Middletown, but soon turned to journalism as a career. Cox was a successful newspaperman and publisher in Ohio and he gained control of additional newspapers in Georgia and Florida. Entering politics as a Democrat, he identified himself with the goals and programs of Woodrow Wilson. During the period of Wilson's ascendency, Cox served in the House of Representatives (1909-1913) and as the governor of Ohio (1913-1915 and 1917-1921). Cox was chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1920 on the 44th ballot. He selected Franklin D. Roosevelt as he running mate. He campaigned for Wilson's policies of domestic reform and continued international cooperation, but lost the election to Republican, Warren G. Harding, also from Ohio. After the election, Cox completed his governorship and returned to journalism. His last public service came in 1933 when President Roosevelt appointed him vice-chairman of the American delegation to the world economic conference in London. Cox died in Dayton on July 15, 1957. His autobiography, Journey Through My Years, was published in 1946.

• Scope and Content
• Container Listings Subgroup 1 (Box 01-10)
• Container Listings Subgroup 2 (Box 11-20)
• Container Listings Subgroup 3 (Box 21-30)
• Container Listings Subgroup 4 (Box 31-43)