Seeking request from Secretary of State Bryan to Secretary of Treasury McAdoo

Dear Mr. von Feilitzsch,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Correspondence of Secretary William Jennings Bryan with President Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1915 in the General Records of the Department of State (Record Group 59) that may include some correspondence related to your research. These records have been digitized and may be viewed online using the Catalog.

Next, we located the series Letters Sent by the Secretary of State, 1/24/1911 - 4/23/1918 in Record Group 59 that includes correspondence sent by Secretary Williams Jennings Bryan and that may contain a copy of the request you are seeking. We also located the series Reports of Agents on Special Investigations, 1871-1933 in the Records of the U.S. Secret Service (Record Group 87) that contains reports of agents on detail to the Department of State for the period 1915-1919 and that may include copies of the request and approval you are seeking. In addition, we located the series General Correspondence, covering 1904-1936 in Record Group 87 that contains 3 files related to investigations into pro-German activities and the series Field Agents' Reports and Related Correspondence, 1887-1936 that might include some relevant information as well. These records have not been digitized. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at archives2reference@nara.gov for access to these records. 

Plus, we located the series Daily Reports of Agents, 1875-1937 in Record Group 87 that includes 61 references to Agent Frank Burke that might be of interest to you. These records have been digitized and may be viewed online using the Catalog.

You may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgment as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience as we balance mission-critical work and the safety of our staff during the pandemic.  Please check NARA’s web page about COVID-19 updates for the latest information.

Lastly, please review the History Hub blog titled Digital Edition of the Woodrow Wilson Papers for access to his papers while he was the president of the United States.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!