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William Paul Shelley, Jr., and Erin Clark Shelley papers, 1914-2007.
Amount:
4.50 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
Alphabetical by subject; some files chronological.
Restrictions:
***RESTRICTED*** Box 6 is a RESTRICTED BOX containing confidential/exempt records. The records contain personal identifying information such as Social Security Numbers. Redacted copies have been placed in original record locations where possible.
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
William Paul Shelley, Jr., was a life-long Floridian, born on 3 December 1914 in Telogia, Liberty County, to William Paul and Pauline (Lavender) Shelley. In 1925, he moved to Tallahassee with his family. In 1933, he graduated from Leon High School before enrolling at the University of Florida (UF), College of Business Administration. In 1936, Shelley enrolled in the UF College of Law. Upon completion of his ROTC coursework at UF in 1937, Shelley was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Field Artillery in the United States Army Reserve.
Shelley graduated from UF in 1939 and immediately began practicing law in Tallahassee with LeRoy Collins. In January 1940, he joined the gubernatorial campaign of Spessard Holland as a traveling aide. In June, he returned to private law practice with partner Thomas Jean Ellis. On 15 January 1941, Governor Holland appointed Shelley to the State Racing Commission, making him one of the youngest (26 years of age) racing commissioners in the United States at that time. After serving one year as a commissioner, Shelley resigned to enter the military.
Shelley entered the United States Army as a First Lieutenant assigned to Field Artillery at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He served in the Pacific Theatre throughout World War II with the 77th Infantry Division, 306th Field Artillery Battalion. At the time of his discharge from the Army in 1946, Shelley reverted to inactive status in the Reserves and received a terminal leave promotion to the rank of Lt. Colonel. Shelley formally retired from the Army in 1965.
After his discharge in 1946, Shelley served as co-campaign manager for Spessard Holland's successful run for the United States Senate. He then worked as Senator Holland's executive secretary and later as his administrative assistant until 1953, at which point Shelley returned to Tallahassee to practice law until his retirement in 1979. Shelley also served as a chief lobbyist for Florida Power Corporation, as well as director of Glenn Realty Company, and, after the death of his father in 1959, took over as director/president of the family corporation, Shelley Properties, until 2004.
Shelley was a member of many civic, military and educational organizations, among them the Florida Bar, the Tallahassee Bar Association, American Legion, Kiwanis, Boy Scouts of America--Troop 101, the VFW, the Reserve Officer's Association, B.P.O.E. (Elks), University of Florida National Alumni Association (served as president, 1957-1958), the Florida Forestry Association, the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, and many others.
Shelley met and worked with his future wife while working for Holland's senatorial campaign. Erin Clark was born in 1919 to Samuel and Bessie (Robinson) Clark in Augusta, Georgia. She graduated from Summerlin Institute in Bartow, Florida in 1937, and later from the American Business College in Lakeland, Florida. Erin worked as a secretary to several insurance companies in California and Jacksonville, Florida before accepting a secretarial position with the district engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Brazil during World War II. She worked in Holland's senatorial campaign office (1945); as his personal secretary when he was a U.S. Senator in Washington, D.C. (1946-1952); as the personal secretary to Florida Governor Dan McCarty (1953); in the gubernatorial campaign office of LeRoy Collins (1953); as the executive secretary and office manager for Governor Collins (1955-1961); and worked as the office manager of Shelley's Tallahassee law office from 1961-1975. The Shelleys married in Bartow on 23 November 1948. Erin Clark Shelley died 2001; William Paul Shelley, Jr. died in 2007.
Summary:
This collection contains business, personal, political, and military records documenting the life, careers, and activities of William Paul Shelley and his wife, Erin Clark Shelley. The records consist of certificates, citations, correspondence, diplomas, journal/magazine articles, newspaper articles, personal journals/logs, photographs, programs, and a scrapbook. The collection also contains color images of plaques that Shelley received throughout his lifetime.
The correspondence consists of letters from Shelley to his parents while on active duty during World War II. The correspondence provides insight into his career in the U.S. Army Reserve Corps beginning with his active duty training as a First Lieutenant in Field Artillery through his experiences with the Reserve Corps after he left active duty military service. In addition, there are letters to Shelley from his former co-workers, Racing Commission associates, and political acquaintances; and miscellaneous letters to/from Shelley, family members, and long-time personal and political acquaintances.
The photographs include images of Shelley during World War II; Shelley family photographs; wedding photographs from 1948; and political photographs from the time of Shelley's appointment to the Racing Commission to photographs with the various governors he worked with (Holland, McCarty, Collins, Bryant, and Askew).
The collection also contains several of Erin Shelley's personal journals/logs in which she kept meticulous and minutely detailed records throughout her marriage to William Paul Shelley. One such record documents the individuals invited to their wedding in 1948, the wedding gifts they received, and when she sent thank you notes. One journal is dedicated to describing her extensive flower and vegetable gardening practices at their home in Tallahassee and their daily household activities; two other journals document the daily activities of both Erin and William Paul Shelley in 1988 and 1989.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Askew, Reubin O'D., 1928- Bryant, Farris, 1914- Collins, LeRoy, 1909- Holland, Spessard L. 1892-1971 (Spessard Lindsey), McCarty, Dan T. 1912-1953 (Daniel Thomas), Shelley, Erin Clark. Shelley, William Paul, 1914-
Florida State Racing Commission. United States. Army.
Campaigns, Political. Lawyers Florida Military decorations. World War, 1939-1945.
Diaries. aat Letters. aat Military records. aat Photographs. aat Scrapbooks. aat
Florida. Tallahassee (Fla.) Washington (D.C.)
for detailed listing.