Archive Record

Metadata

Catalog Number

MSNC00007

Filing Title

Pittman (Key) papers

Collection

Key Pittman papers

Dates of Creation

1897-1944

Extent

27 boxes (32.53 linear ft.)

Creator

Pittman, Key

Scope & Content

The collection spans the adult life of Senator Key Pittman, with a particular focus on his service in the U.S. Senate during the 1930s. The bulk of the collection is photographs, some of which are bound in albums, some mounted, and others loose. The collection also includes personal records and correspondence of Key and his wife Mimosa, as well as about a dozen film reels on subjects such as Pittman’s involvement in public works projects and his time on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Admin/Biographical History

Key Denson Pittman was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on September 12, 1872, a son of William Buckner Pittman and Katherine Key Pittman. Pittman was educated by private tutors and at the Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he obtained his law degree. He suffered an attack of typhoid and moved to Seattle, Washington for his health. Pittman began the practice of law in Seattle in 1892 when he was only 20 years of age. When the Klondike gold rush began in 1897, he headed for the Northwest Territory. For two years, he worked as a miner, and when a group of workers complained of the corruption of government officials at Dawson, Yukon Territory, he served as their counsel. He met his future wife, Mimosa Gates, formerly from California, who had accompanied her brother to the Yukon. Not long afterward, they decided to marry. Pittman went to Nome in 1899. He helped to formulate their government there and became the first district attorney.

Key and Mimosa were married on July 8, 1900. They moved to Tonopah, Nevada in 1902 where Pittman continued the practice of law. In 1910, he made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate. He was later elected as a Democrat to the Senate in 1913 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator George Nixon. He never lost another election. During the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pittman was the chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, in addition to serving as president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate.

Key Pittman was a functioning alcoholic for many years, and suffered a severe heart attack shortly before his final election on November 5, 1940. Two doctors informed his aides before the election that death was imminent. Pittman died on November 10 at the Washoe General Hospital in Reno. Several pieces of legislation bore his name, including the Pittman Act of 1918 and the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937. The Pittman section of the Alaska Railroad, more commonly known today as the community of Meadow Lakes west of Wasilla, was also named for him. His funeral took place in Reno at the Civic Auditorium on November 15 before the largest crowd believed to have ever attended a Nevada funeral. Those present included a congressional delegation of twenty-two senators and many representatives and state officials who paid homage to Pittman. The auditorium was packed with over 2,000 mourners. Many others were turned away and waited outside the building to watch the funeral procession. All gambling clubs closed for at least one hour for the first time since gaming was legalized. Senator Pittman’s body was laid to rest in a crypt in Mountain View Cemetery.

Language of Material

English

Associated Material

Key Pittman papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms011137