Mainly correspondence related to Kemp's professional affairs, particularly his work with Murphy in the Philippines and Kemp's service as an Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General and at the U.S. Bureau of the Budget. Kemp's correspondents included Henry M. Bates, Thomas E. Dewey, Arthur S. Flemming, J. Edgar Hoover, Charles E. Hughes, Cordell Hull, Robert H. Jackson, J. Weldon Jones, George A. Malcolm, Frank Murphy, Chase S. Osborn, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, among others.
A scrapbook, 1933-1962, with photographs, clippings, and other memorabilia relating to Kemp's public career and his association with Frank Murphy. The Philippines-period photographs depict Murphy, his sister Marguerite Murphy, Kemp, other members of Murphy's staff (e.g., Murphy's secretary Eleanor Bumgardner) and their families, as well as scenes in the Philippines. Materials related to Kemp's career in Washington include mostly newspaper clippings, letters, invitations, and memorabilia.
The collection also includes a small amount of biographical information and miscellaneous material (personal applications and notes, work-related notes, summaries of reports, etc.)
Edward Gearing Kemp was born in 1887 in St. Clair, Michigan. He received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1912, followed by a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1914. While at Michigan, Kemp was an associate editor of the Michigan Daily and the Michigan Law Review, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and the Order of Coif. During his time at the University, Kemp befriended his classmate Frank Murphy. After graduation, Kemp travelled to England where he pursued special studies at Oxford University and at Lincoln's Inn.
Kemp began his law career in 1914 in Detroit with Judge Franz Kuhn and the law firm of Angel, Bodman and Turner. When the U.S. entered World War I, he enlisted in the Armed Forces and was commissioned as a Lieutenant and then as Captain in heavy artillery.
After the war, Kemp and Murphy established a law firm. When in 1933 Murphy was appointed Governor-General of the Philippines, Kemp became the legal adviser to the Governor-General, and followed Murphy to the Philippines. In the Philippines Kemp also served as vice chairman and a director of the Philippine National Bank.
Kemp served as the legal adviser to the Governor and then became Assistant Attorney General of Michigan after Murphy was elected the state's Governor in 1936. In 1939, when Murphy became U.S. Attorney General, Kemp was appointed Special Assistant in the Department of Justice, and then became Assistant to the Attorney General. Between 1940 and 1949, Kemp was a Gneral Council to the U.S. Bureau of the Budget. He retired in 1949.
Edward Gearing Kemp passed away in 1962.
