1777-1998; bulk: 1941-1998
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999) papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Portions of this collection are CLOSED to researchers until 1 January 2049.
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999), descendent of John and John Quincy Adams, U.S. Navy veteran, and executive at Raytheon Company. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, naval papers, organizational papers, Adams family biographical and historical papers, and scrapbooks.
Biographical Sketch
Charles Francis Adams was born in Boston, Mass. on 2 May 1910, the son of Charles Francis Adams (1866-1954) and Frances (Lovering) Adams (1869-1956), the great-great-grandson of U.S. President John Quincy Adams, and the great-great-great-grandson of President John Adams. He had an older sister named Catherine Lovering Adams (1902-1988), who married Henry Sturgis Morgan (1900-1982).
Adams graduated with an A.B. from Harvard University in 1932 and attended Harvard Business School for two years without completing the degree. In 1934, he went to work for Jackson & Curtis--later Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis--a brokerage and investment banking firm in Boston. He became a partner at the firm in 1937.
Adams served as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve beginning in 1932 and in the Organized Reserve from 1933-1940. He was called to active duty in November 1940, having received a commission as a lieutenant (junior-grade). For a few months in 1941, he served as first lieutenant on the U.S.S. Lansdale (DD-426), escorting convoys of merchant ships between Newfoundland and Iceland. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was ordered to the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. and received additional training there and in Miami, Fla. He was eventually assigned to command the destroyer escort U.S.S. Fogg (DE-57) in the Atlantic in 1943 and the U.S.S. Seiverling (DE-441) in the Pacific in 1944. Both ships were engaged in anti-submarine warfare. After the war, Adams worked in the Navy Personnel Bureau before leaving the service in 1946 and returning to Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis.
Adams had served on the board of Raytheon Company before the war and rejoined in 1946. He went on to become chairman of the Finance Committee; executive vice president, 1947-1948; president, 1948-1960; chairman, 1960-1962; president again, 1962-1964; and chairman again, 1964-1975. He continued on the board of directors after 1975, as chairman of Finance Committee. Adams's tenure at Raytheon coincided with a period of expansive technological growth, including the development of television and microwave cooking. Raytheon also became a major defense contractor and, beginning in the post-war period, developed guided missile systems for the U.S. military. The company's Patriot surface-to-air missiles were used in the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s.
Adams was affiliated with many organizations throughout his life. At various times, he served as director of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, First National Bank of Boston, Gillette Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Pan American World Airways, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, and others; trustee of the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cotting School for Handicapped Children, Humane Society of Massachusetts, National Security Industrial Association, New England Colleges Fund, Tufts University, U.S.S. Constitution Foundation Museum, and others; chairman of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and vice president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Massachusetts Historical Society. He was also a member of several clubs and an avid yachtsman.
Charles Francis Adams married twice, first in 1934 to Margaret Stockton (1915-1972) and second in 1973 to Beatrice Dabney Penati (1932-). He had four children with his first wife: Abigail Adams (later Manny), Alison Adams (later Robinson, later Hagan), Charles Frances Adams, and Timothy Adams. He also had a stepson, Giannotto Penati (1969-). Charles Francis Adams died in Dover, Mass. on 5 January 1999.
Collection Description
This collection contains the papers of Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999), including correspondence, speeches, naval papers, organizational papers, Adams family biographical and historical papers, and scrapbooks. The bulk of the collection consists of three cartons of correspondence (primarily outgoing) on personal and business matters. NOTE: Correspondence is CLOSED to researchers until 1 January 2049.
The collection also contains speeches delivered by Adams between 1953 and 1997, primarily on business matters, with related correspondence, outlines, notes, drafts, etc.
Navy papers include a diary kept by Adams while serving on the destroyer U.S.S. Lansdale in 1941, escorting merchant ships across the Atlantic; papers related to his command of the destroyer escorts U.S.S. Fogg and U.S.S. Seiverling and to ships named after Adams family members; and orders, communications, and correspondence on naval matters.
Organizational papers consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, printed matter, and other papers documenting Adams's involvement with select organizations, including the Adams Memorial Society, Adams Temple and School Fund, Humane Society of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Historical Society. Adams served on the MHS Council and as vice president and sat on the Finance and Adams Papers Administrative Committees.
The collection also contains papers related to Adams family ancestors, such as John Adams, Abigail Adams, and John Quincy Adams. Included are letters, printed items, a scrapbook, and other papers documenting the tenure of Charles Francis Adams (1866-1954) as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, as well as the victory of the yacht Resolute in the 1920 America's Cup, skippered by Adams.
Also included are biographies and oral histories of Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999); a short diary he kept during a trans-Atlantic yacht race in 1928; 15 scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings about his career at Raytheon and other subjects; and seven VHS videotapes, primarily about Raytheon.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Beatrice D. Adams, October 2018.
Restrictions on Access
The Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999) papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Portions of this collection are CLOSED to researchers until 1 January 2049.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Correspondence, 1958-1998
Arranged chronologically.
NOTE: The papers in this series are CLOSED to researchers until 1 January 2049.
This series consists primarily of outgoing correspondence of Charles Francis Adams on personal and business matters.
II. Speeches, 1903-1997; bulk: 1953-1997
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains typescript, manuscript, and printed copies of speeches by Charles Francis Adams, primarily related to business; drafts, notes, and outlines for speeches; and accompanying correspondence and printed matter. Also included are a few related speeches given by Richard E. Krafve and Thomas L. Phillips, presidents of Raytheon Company, as well as others. The dates of the speeches are listed in parenthesis.
Summary only.
Outline only.
Outline and supporting material only.
Supporting material only.
Outline only.
Outline only.
Memorandum only.
Correspondence and notes only.
Correspondence only.
Correspondence and notes only.
Notice only.
Correspondence and notes only.
Clipping only.
Correspondence only.
Correspondence only.
Correspondence only.
Correspondence and notes only.
Correspondence only.
Outline only.
Outline only.
Notes only.
Correspondence and supporting material only, including printed items.
Correspondence and notes only.
Correspondence only.
III. Naval papers, 1941-1994
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains papers documenting Charles Francis Adams's service in the U.S. Naval Reserve during and after World War II and on the Naval Reserve Policy Board. Papers consist primarily of orders and other official communications and forms from the Navy, as well as correspondence on naval matters. Correspondents include Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal (1892-1949) and Rear Admiral John E. Gingrich (1897-1960). The series also contains a diary kept by Adams onboard the U.S.S. Lansdale in 1941; a report by Harold Raynsford Stark (1880-1972), Chief of Naval Operations; and papers related to the destroyer escorts Adams commanded, the U.S.S. Fogg and U.S.S. Seiverling, including letters about reunions, histories of the ships, and biographies of Carleton Thayer Fogg (1917-1942) and William Frank Seiverling (1920-1942). Also included are papers related to the launching of the submarine U.S.S. John Adams, the decommissioning of the U.S.S. Charles Francis Adams, and a forum at the Naval War College in 1992.
Adams kept this diary while serving as first lieutenant on the U.S.S. Lansdale (DD-426), 19 June-9 Dec. 1941. The Lansdale escorted convoys of ships between Newfoundland and Iceland in the months leading up to America's entry into World War II. Entries describe the ship's operation and movements, the possibility of attack by German submarines, rescues of survivors of torpedoed ships, Adams's thoughts on the war and the likelihood of America's entry, and his reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This detailed 80-page report was written by Harold Raynsford Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, possibly for his 1944 Court of Inquiry related to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The report describes Stark's actions leading up to the attack and includes extensive excerpts of correspondence.
Included is an original letter from President John F. Kennedy to Charles Francis Adams approving of Abigail (Adams) Manny as sponsor, 1 Oct. 1962.
This disbound binder contains papers related to the Current Strategy Forum at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., which Adams attended, including correspondence and selected readings on foreign policy issues.
IV. Organizational papers, 1946-1998
Arranged alphabetically.
This series contains papers documenting Charles Francis Adams's work with select organizations, including correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, printed matter, and other material.
A. Adams Memorial Society, 1946-1992
Included are letters related to the preservation of Adams family birthplaces, monuments, and grave sites; meeting minutes; a history of the Adams National Historic Site by Malcolm Freiberg; the publication The Adamses at Home (1970); and other papers. Among the correspondents are Mary Ogden Abbott (1894-1981) and Thomas Boylston Adams (1910-1997).
B. Adams Temple and School Fund, 1966-1997
Included are meeting minutes, correspondence, financial material, papers related to the lease of the Adams Academy building to the Quincy Historical Society and its designation as a National Historic Landmark, and other papers. Adams served on the Board of Supervisors of the fund.
C. Century Box Committee, 1981-1982
The Century Box is a time capsule at Faneuil Hall, Boston, compiled by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts and sealed in 1981, to be opened in the year 2080. Adams contributed a letter to the box.
D. Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1972-1998
Adams served as trustee, corresponding secretary, and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Humane Society of Massachusetts. Included are letters and other papers related to grants and awards given by the society, financial material, select meeting minutes, and correspondence about meetings. Correspondents include Barbara Driscoll, secretary to the Standing Committee.
E. Massachusetts Historical Society, 1963-1998
Adams was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society beginning in 1960 and served as a member-at-large of the Council from 1981-1987 and vice president from 1987. He also served on the Finance Committee and the Adams Papers Administrative Committee. Papers consist primarily of letters and memoranda. Correspondents include Louis Leonard "Len" Tucker (1927-), director of the MHS, and Lyman Henry Butterfield (1909-1982) and Richard Alan Ryerson (1942-), editors in chief of the Adams Papers.
F. White House Fine Arts Committee, 1961-1986
Adams served on this committee, which was established by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961 to furnish the White House with pieces dating from the period of the building's construction. Included is correspondence with Kennedy and others.
V. Adams family biographical and historical papers, 1777-1998
Arranged by family member.
This series contains biographical and historical papers about Adams family ancestors, as well as biographies of Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999). The papers consist of correspondence, printed material, transcripts and photocopies, and other items, including a few original manuscripts.
A. John Adams (1735-1826), 1833-1994
Included are papers related to portraits, artifacts, and autographs of John Adams; his house in Grosvenor Square, London, England; his move into the White House; his work as minister to the Netherlands; the naming of a library in the Hague after him; and his life in Auteuil, France.
B. Abigail Adams (1744-1818), 1992-1994
Included is a letter from Stella Mallett Trafford (1912-2009) about what would later become the Boston Women's Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue, featuring Abigail Adams, as well as papers related to an original play about Adams entitled Love, Abigail and clippings about her 250th birthday.
C. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), 1777, 1953-1993
Included is a reproduction of a childhood letter by John Quincy Adams; papers related to furnishings in the drawing room named after him at the Department of State, Washington, D.C.; and transcripts of his memoirs (3-5 July 1837) and diary (17 Sep.-14 Oct. 1794).
D. Charles Francis Adams (1835-1915), 1907-1992
Included is an original letter from Charles Francis Adams to Moncure Daniel Conway (1832-1907) about Adams's memories of the Civil War and opinions of various officers (28 Jan. 1907).
E. Peter Chardon Brooks Adams (1848-1927), 1968
Included is a typescript sketch of Peter Chardon Brooks Adams entitled "The Brooks Adams I Knew," by Wilhelmina Sellers Harris (1896-1991).
F. Charles Francis Adams (1866-1954), 1898-1997
Included are letters, printed items, and other papers related to Charles Francis Adams's tenure as Secretary of the Navy, yachting, and other subjects. The subseries contains a photocopy of the printed log of the Resolute, the yacht that won the America's Cup in 1920, skippered by Adams, as well as letters and telegrams congratulating him on the victory. Also included is a letter from the Chief of Naval Operations Harold Raynsford Stark (1880-1972) with news of World War II (27 Mar. 1940), memorials and biographies of Adams, and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings primarily documenting his service as Secretary of the Navy.
G. Frances (Lovering) Adams (1869-1912), 1994
Included are letters, schedules, and printed matter about the Women's National Sailing Championship at the Cohasset (Mass.) Yacht Club and the trophy awarded in honor of Frances (Lovering) Adams.
H. Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999), 1928-1998
Included is a 10-page manuscript diary kept by Charles Francis Adams while sailing in a race on the yacht Atlantic with his father and others, 6-25 July 1928, as well as two transcripts of oral history interviews, one with the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace focusing on Adams's connection with Hoover and political subjects (1970), the other focusing primarily on Adams's work with Raytheon (1988). The subseries also contains miscellaneous biographical material, including biographical sketches, lists of professional affiliations, and printed matter about Adams.
I. Miscellaneous Adams family members, 1795-1993
This subseries consists of papers related to miscellaneous and/or multiple Adams family members, primarily correspondence, printed matter, and family trees. Also included is an original manuscript account of the fishing schooner Adams of Marblehead with a list of the crew (1795), as well as a program, newspaper clippings, and other papers related to the 200th anniversary of George Washington's inauguration (1989), attended by Charles Francis Adams and other descendents of presidents.
VI. Scrapbooks and clippings, 1920-1994
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains 15 disbound scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and photographs documenting Charles Francis Adams's life and career, primarily his work with Raytheon, and loose newspaper clippings about the theft and recovery of a Mather Brown portrait of Thomas Jefferson owned by Adams. Included is material related to Raytheon's manufacture of television sets and microwave ovens in the post-war period; developments in radar and radio technology, as well as guided missiles and other defense projects; the finances and growth of the company; speeches delivered by Adams and events he attended; and his work with the Massachusetts Bay United Fund. Some clippings relate to the U.S. Navy, Adams's father Charles Francis Adams (1866-1954), and other family members. Pages of disbound scrapbooks are arranged in the order in which they appeared in the volumes.
This scrapbook contains photographs and newspaper clippings promoting Raytheon's "Radarange," the first commercially available microwave oven, used at the Hotel Statler in Boston, Mass., the Aero Snack Bar in Norwood, Mass., and other locations. Also included are Hotel Statler menus featuring Radarange meals.
VII. Audiovisual materials, 1987-1998
Arranged chronologically.
This series consists of seven VHS videotapes related to Charles Francis Adams, primarily his work at Raytheon Company. Two videotapes have been copied onto DVDs. Also included are videos about the U.S.S. Constitution and Adams's sailing experiences.
The International Maritime Heritage Award was presented by President Ronald Reagan to Commander David M. Cashman of the U.S.S. Constitution. The ceremony was held in the Oval Office with a group of officials in attendance, including Charles F. Adams.
This program goes into detail about the workings of the Patriot missile.
This history of the company may have been produced by Raytheon.
In this program, correspondent Paul Miller reports on Raytheon and its diversification from military to commercial product manufacturing.
In this interview, Charles F. Adams discusses his sailing experiences.
NOTE: Use of the original is restricted. A digital copy of this videotape is available for researchers in the MHS Library (DF-017).
NOTE: Use of the original is restricted. A digital copy of this videotape is available for researchers in the MHS Library (DF-017).
Invention aired on the Discovery Channel in the early 1990s. This episode discusses several inventions, including the microwave oven by Raytheon.
Preferred Citation
Charles Francis Adams (1910-1999) 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.
Persons:
Organizations:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs from this collection have been removed to the MHS Photo Archives. Artifacts have been removed to the MHS Artifacts Collection.