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Treasurer of the United States 'War Industries Board' check, 8.5 x 3.25, filled out in another hand and signed by President Wilson, "Woodrow Wilson," payable to Eugene Meyer, Jr. for $1, September 6, 1919. Countersigned at the conclusion in ink by Bernard Baruch, chairman of the War Industries Board, and E. K. Ellsworth, disbursing officer. The imprinted memo notes: "Object for which drawn: in acknowledgment of patriotic and valuable services given voluntarily to the United States in time of war." In fine condition.
The recipient, Eugene Meyer (1875–1959), was a successful businessman, financier, and newspaper publisher. Meyer went to Washington, D.C., during World War I as a 'dollar-a-year man'—his token salary, represented in the present check—for Woodrow Wilson, becoming the head of the War Finance Corporation and serving there long after the end of hostilities. President Calvin Coolidge named him as chairman of the Federal Farm Loan Board in 1927, and President Herbert Hoover promoted him to Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in 1930, serving in that capacity until 1933. He then purchased the Washington Post, investing millions of dollars to turn around the bankrupt newspaper.
Accompanied by a 1989 letter from his daughter, Katharine Graham, who led the The Washington Post from 1963 to 1991, inquiring about the availability of the check.
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