Francis W. Hatch, Jr. Papers 1944-1985 Guide to the Collection The bulk of the Francis W. Hatch, Jr. papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least one business day in advance. Contact the Library at library@masshist.org or (617) 536-1608 to request materials. Please discuss your request with the reading room staff before requesting cartons by barcode. There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the collection.

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketch Collection Description Acquisition Information Restrictions on Access Restrictions on Use Detailed Description of the Collection Preferred Citation Access Terms Materials Removed

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Francis Whiting Hatch, Jr., the son of Francis W. Hatch and Marjory Kennard Hatch, was born May 6, 1925 in Cambridge, Mass. Educated at Noble and Greenough School and Harvard College, he was consecutively a reporter for the Minneapolis Star & Tribune, Vice President of Suburban Centers Trust and Mutual Life Insurance Co. In 1957, he was elected to the first of three terms as alderman for Beverly, Mass. He resigned from business to become a full-time legislator upon his election as state representative from the third Essex [County, Mass.] district in 1962, a position he held until 1978. He served as Republican floor leader from 1971 to 1978.

He announced his candidacy for governor of Massachusetts on October 27, 1977. At the Republican convention in May 1978, he lost the nomination to Edward J. King, but won over King in the September primary. He was defeated in the general election in November by Edward F. King, the former director of Massport, who had defeated incumbent governor Michael Dukakis in the Democratic primary.

Collection Description

The collection is divided into six series: Personal; Political: 1978 campaign; Political: Hatch Act; Political: Miscellaneous; Clippings; and Photographs. The photographs in the latter series have been physically removed from the collection to be housed with the M.H.S. photograph collection.

The collection is housed in 5 record cartons and one oversize box. The record cartons are stored offsite and must be requested by barcode number at least 24 hours in advance. The oversize box remains onsite.

The bulk of the papers in the collection relate to Francis W. Hatch, Jr.'s campaign for governor in 1977-78. The papers illustrate: 1) how such a campaign is put together (e.g. fund raising, strategic planning, staff organization, volunteer networks, press relations); 2) the day-to-day activities of the candidate; 3) the evolution of dominant issues; and 4) the changing attitude of the press, constituencies, and individuals toward the candidate.

The collection also provides insight into such aspects of Massachusetts political history as ticket splitting; friction between the liberal and conservative wings of both the Democratic and Republican parties; the ascendancy of conservative ideology with the Republican hierarchy; and perceived weaknesses of Governor Dukakis by Hatch and other candidates.

Included in the collection are incoming correspondence (some with replies); form letters from Hatch to individuals and constituencies; memoranda and instructions from headquarters; drafts of speeches, press releases, and copy for flyers; lists of workers and invitees to campaign parties; press releases; interviews; campaign ephemera; photographs; and press clippings.

In addition to materials related to the 1978 campaign, the collection also includes papers of Hatch's battle in the late 1970's to publicize state tax delinquent lists. Hatch won the right to obtain these lists when he took the Mass. State Department of Corporations and Taxations to trial, having claimed that millions in revenue were owed to the state because of political favoritism and dishonest tax filing. If newspapers published these lists, he reasoned, debtors would be compelled to make good on their debts or face more immediate legal action. Disclosure of the lists had far-reaching effects in both the public and private sectors, and Hatch received a great deal of praise, as well as criticism, as a result and the issue of taxation became an important one for the state gubernatorial race of 1978.

The files in this series have been arranged topically, by those individuals and businesses which were most affected by the "Hatch Act" as it was called. For the most part, they consist of correspondence to or about individuals and businesses, as well as legal documents both collected and current to the legal action since many of those concerned faced or initiated litigation as a results of the publication of the tax delinquent lists. Where it was possible to consolidate types of materials (such as "invoices"), this has been done. Researchers should be aware that material in these more general files may relate directly or indirectly to any of the more specific subject-matter files. See references are noted in the contents list following where a direct link between two or more files exists. Also included here are other miscellaneous or unidentified notes and press releases related to the entire subject. The files have been arranged alphabetically by title.

The third series, Political: Miscellaneous contains a few items related to Hatch's other political campaigns and other political papers not related to his campaign for Governor in 1978 or the "Hatch Act".

The newspaper clippings relate primarily to the 1978 campaign for governor, the issue of the "Hatch Act" and the publication of the delinquent tax lists, specifically as it related to the campaign. To reduce the bulk of newspaper clippings, articles that did not provide information about Hatch or his campaign, and duplicates (e.g. wire service stories and syndicated articles or press releases running in more than one paper) were discarded. Random sampling was used in the choice of which newspaper's story to keep; in the case of differing versions of the same story, all were retained. Though random sampling does not show the range or extent of papers across the state ran a particular story, it does reveal a cross-section of the coverage of Hatch's campaign.

The clippings are organized chronologically within subjects, most being about the campaign in general. A few of the original office headings have been used, however, notably the Division of Corporations and Taxation. This issue is separated here, as in the general papers of the collection, however because the issue was extremely important in Hatch's campaign against his anticipated opponent, Michael Dukakis, the two subjects cannot be completely separated.

Finally, also included are a group of misc. clippings from 1973-74, filed in chronological order, relating to general legislative actions. These clippings are unsorted and contain a significant amount of duplication.

The following is a list of highlights from the correspondence. All letters are in the 1978 campaign correspondence unless otherwise noted.

• George Bush, 19 April 1978
• Michael Dukakis (in Political: Hatch Act), 3 August 1978
• Jack Lemmon, 9 March 1978
• Charles Mathias, 4 October 1978
• Governor Robert Ray (Iowa), 11 October 1978
• Governor Francis Sargent (Mass.), 12 September 1978
• Governor Richard Snelling (Vermont), 13 October, 6 November 1978
• Caspar Weinberger, 22 September 1978

Acquisition Information

The Francis W. Hatch, Jr. papers were assembled in part by him and his family and largely by his office staff during his campaign for governor of Massachusetts in 1978.

The Francis W. Hatch, Jr. papers were donated to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1990.

Restrictions on Access

The bulk of the Francis W. Hatch, Jr. papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least one business day in advance. Contact the Library at library@masshist.org or (617) 536-1608 to request materials. Please discuss your request with the reading room staff before requesting cartons by barcode.

There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the collection.

Restrictions on Use

The Massachusetts Historical Society does not claim ownership to the literary rights (copyright) of letters and manuscripts written by individuals other than Francis W. Hatch, Jr. in this collection. The Massachusetts Historical Society cannot give permission to publish or quote from documents by individuals for whom it does not hold copyright. Use of these materials does not imply permission to publish. It is the sole responsibility of the researcher to obtain formal permission from the owners of the literary rights (copyright) to publish or quote from documents in this collection.

Photocopies are for personal use only. Personal use photocopies may not be donated or deposited in other libraries or archives, or made available to other researchers without the written permission of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Detailed Description of the Collection

NOTE: The box numbers listed below refer to the former box numbers used prior to the transfer of materials to record cartons for offsite storage. Users should refer to the carton and barcode numbers for retrieval from offsite storage. Folders are still labeled with the former box and folder number and those numbers should be used to locate a folder within a carton.

Preferred Citation

Francis W. Hatch, Jr. papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Materials Removed from the Collection

Photographs Removed

The following photographs were removed the the MHS Photo. Archives, Aug. 1990.

Hatch portrait with Arthur Fiedler, n.d.

Hatch portrait in Navy, 1944

Hatch portraits (with some multiple copies), n.d.

Hatch in groups (1978 campaign), 1977-1978

Groups, misc., 1969?.

Headquarters, 1969

Billboard, 1978

Negatives, n.d.

Museum Objects Removed

The following items have been removed from Ms. N-183, the Francis W. Hatch, Jr. papers, to be placed in the M.H.S. museum collection, July 1990:

Armband. Frank Hatch/Governor.

Bag (Plastic). Frank Hatch/Governor.

Bumper sticker. Frank Hatch/Governor.

Bumper sticker. Hatch Governor/Cowin Lt. Governor.

Bumper sticker. Hatch/Representative.

Bumper sticker. Hatch? Natch! for Lieutenant Governor.

Button. Frank Hatch/Governor.

Button. Governor Hatch/Cowin Lt. Governor.

Button. S.O.S./Save Our Service.

License plate (fake). Massachusetts '78/Hatch. With checklist for Republican State Convention, Saturday May 6, 1978, Springfield, Mass. on reverse.

Name tag and ribbon. Name tag: Frank Hatch/Governor. Ribbon: Delegate.

Same. Ribbon: Staff.

Ribbon. Lt. Governor/Hatch.

Sash. The Hatch Batch.

Sticker. Governor Hatch/Cowin Lt. Governor.