Mss: 78
1924-1955
M158
American-born banker Thomas Harrington McKittrick (1889-1970) spent the greater part of his professional life in Europe. He is noted for serving as president of the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements throughout World War II.
McKittrick was born in St. Louis, the son of Thomas Harrington and Hildegarde Sterling McKittrick. He began his banking career in St. Louis after graduating from Harvard College in 1911 and attending St. Louis University School of Law. He joined the National City Bank of New York in 1916 and was assigned to assist in opening a branch of the bank in Genoa. After service with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe (1918-1919), McKittrick spent two years in the New York office of Lee, Higginson & Company. In 1922 he transferred to Lee, Higginson's London affiliate, Higginson & Company, becoming a partner in 1924. Higginson & Company shut down most of its operations in 1939, thus ending McKittrick's association with the firm. Later that year he was elected president of the Bank for International Settlements in Basle. He was elected to a second term in 1942 and remained in office until 1946.
The Bank for International Settlements was established as a result of the Hague Agreements of January 1930, which addressed the problem of post-World War I reparations to be paid by Germany. The B.I.S. was founded to organize payment of those reparations. It was and is a central banking institution, owned and controlled by the central banks of a number of industrialized nations. Its primary purposes are, according to Article 3 of its original Statutes, "to promote the co-operation of central banks and to provide additional facilities for international financial operations...." Meetings of the bank's governors were suspended in September 1939, but the bank continued to operate under Swiss laws of neutrality. The officers of the bank, in addition to the American McKittrick, included men from both Allied and Axis nations.
The activities of the B.I.S. during World War II and its relationship with Nazi Germany have been questioned by many since before the end of the war. During the war it was widely suspected by the Allies that the bank was controlled by Nazi sympathizers, and in fact the Reichsbank was the largest client of the B.I.S. Many have long suspected that in spite of efforts by Allied nations to enforce an economic blockade of Germany, the German government funneled gold looted from occupied nations through technically neutral Swiss banks, including the B.I.S. A report released by the B.I.S. in May 1997 confirmed that the bank did accept shipments from Germany made up of gold that had been melted down and stamped with prewar markings to disguise its non-German origin.
On leaving the B.I.S. in 1946, McKittrick joined The Chase National Bank in New York, where he remained until retiring in 1954. Later he traveled to India for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as becoming president and chairman of the newly-formed Continental American Fund Incorporated until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1959.
McKittrick also served on the German Credits Arbitration Committee from 1931 to 1939, and was a member of the Economic Cooperation Administration based in London and Paris in 1948 and 1949.
McKittrick married Marjorie Benson in 1921. They had four children: Marjorie Sterling, Elisabeth Benson, Mary and Frances Anne.
Scope and Content:
The largest part of this collection consists of correspondence and subject files relating to McKittrick's time as president of the Bank for International Settlements. In addition, the collection includes correspondence covering his years with Higginson and Company. There are also personal financial records as well as family correspondence.
Of particular note in the subject files are B.I.S. monthly and quarterly statements and monthly and quarterly reports. These summarize the bank's transactions with individual central banks and with governments throughout World War II. Also of note is McKittrick's correspondence with the heads of the central banks belonging to the B.I.S.
The correspondence has been kept in its original order and falls into three categories. The first is "family", which concerns personal matters exclusively and is part of Series 1, Personal Papers. "Business and personal" covers a variety of subjects. An example of this would be an exchange of letters with a business associate of McKittrick's that not only discusses banking matters but congratulates the associate on the birth of a son. The third category is "business," which contains correspondence that pertains only to business topics.
A small amount of material is, because of its size, housed separately at the end of the collection. Those folders are so noted in the container list.
Provenance: Gift of Marjorie Benson McKittrick, 1969
Amount: 9 Cartons, 2 Boxes, 3 Volumes, 1 Oversize Folder
[McKittrick Series Description] [McKittrick Container List][Finding Aids]