Box 2

Content Description From the Collection: The collection consists of six boxes as well as folio size materials that document his naval career. It is divided into five series.Series I, correspondence, contains several letters sent, but, by far, the bulk of the material consists of letters received during the years 1902-1941. Most of the correspondence is of an official nature; there are a few personal letters from family members, however. Congratulatory letters on his retirement were received from Admirals Harold Stark, H. Kent Hewitt, Reginald R. Belknap and Richard L. Conolly as well as from Herbert Lehman, Eugene Wilson and Arthur Hays Sulzberger. Naval orders, thank you letters and correspondence regarding his funeral complete the series.Speeches form the second series and contain an address given at Laning's High School graduation in Petersburg, Illinois, in 1890 and one at his retirement dinner in 1937. The rest were given by Laning on various occasions, including a commencement speech at Peekskill Military Academy, his alma mater, in 1936, and at various navy events. Writings, Series III, contain a cruise journal which Laning kept aboard the MONADNOCK in 1898, an article on the navy he had published in Nayy Day, and both a holograph and typed version of his unpublished autobiography entitled "An Admiral's Yarn." The latter will be published as part of the Naval War College Historical Monograph series.Series IV contains photographs of naval career situations...