Manuscript Collections - Paul Franklin Grady Papers

PAUL FRANKLIN GRADY PAPERS, 1938-1967
1 linear foot, 9 linear inches (4 manuscript boxes)
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Paul Franklin Peterson, accountant and administrator, was born May 19, 1900. His father died when Paul was young and his mother married John Grady, whose surname he adopted in 1918. Grady attended the University of Illinois, graduating in 1923.  He became a Certified Public Accountant and joined Arthur Anderson & Co. in 1923. In 1932, Grady was named a partner at Arthur Anderson. He resigned in 1942 to work in the Secretary’s Office of the U.S. Navy. Here he shaped procurement policies, accounting policy, and audits. He left the Navy in 1944 to become a partner at Price, Waterhouse and Company. He held this post until retiring in 1960. Grady was active in the Accounting Institute of Certified Public Accountants throughout his career, and he was selected to the Accounting Hall of Fame in recognition of his work.

While at Price, Waterhouse, Grady served as chairman of the Task Force on Government Lending Agencies for both the first and second Hoover Commissions. Grady was a member of the Board of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association from 1972 to 1984. Grady married Louese Trevor on November 23, 1921. They had two children, George and Carol.  Paul Franklin Grady died April 21, 1984.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The series contains: reports, pamphlets, books and articles that document his accounting career. The materials are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material. The papers document his efforts to modernize accounting in the Navy during World War II, his writing, and his commitment to efficient governance. 

Grady described each of the items, including the context of creation. Grady’s original order and alphabetic description (items A-Y) were not maintained when the Hoover staff reprocessed the collection in the 1970s. The Hoover staff has preserved a concordance so that researchers can link the current arrangement to Grady’s descriptions.

FOLDER LIST

Box Contents

1

Grady’s descriptions of items A-Y, circa 1968
Accounting principles (items S)

Inventory of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (book), 1965
Inventory of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (summary), 1965

Accounting principles, report on (item U), 1963-1965
Accounting system survey-U.S. Navy (item B), 1942
Annual Report by Secretary of the Navy Forrestal, 1944
Auditing Procedures (publications of AICPA, items N, O, P), 1944-1948

2

Auditing Procedures Staff Training [Price, Waterhouse]; (item M), 1946
Cost inspection manual-U.S. Navy (item A), 1942
Executive Branch departmental management study (items F)

Part I. Recommendations, 1949
Part II. Management in practice, 1949
Part III. Departmental management by agencies, 1949

3

Fiscal management for the national military establishment (item D), 1948
Government accounting and reporting (item E), 1950-1951
Greenwich (CT) Town Government Survey (item K), 1951
Hoover Commissions (items G), 1948-1955
Memoirs and Accounting Thought of George O. May (book, item Q), 1952
Measurement of Property, Plant and Equipment in Financial Statements (item X), 1964
Nuclear materials, recommendations on (item J), 1967
Petroleum Industry Accounting Practices (item W), 1965
Practice Review Committee Publications (items R), 1962-1966
Regulation of public utilities (items V), 1959 and undated

4

Research program of AICPA (item T), 1958
Statements and articles by Grady (items Y), 1938-1967 (4 folders)
Voluntary health and welfare agencies (items L), undated