Melvin Claude Snyder (1898-1972) was a lawyer, Republican Congressman, and judge from Preston County, West Virginia. Legal, personal, and political correspondence; speeches; and campaign materials document the political life of Melvin C. Snyder from 1946 to 1953. Box 1 contains speeches from 1947 and 1948 that concern political issues such as repealing New Deal policies, tax decreases, and communism. Box 2 houses letters from 1946 to 1953 that are chiefly from legal clients, political supporters, and political acquaintances, including Walter S. Hallanan. Box 3 contains campaign materials from 1948 related to Snyder's failed re-election campaign, including letters from constituents and other items connected to the West Virginia Republican Committee and the Republican National Headquarters. Box 4 houses voter lists and letters concerning military appointments.

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Melvin Claude Snyder was born on October 29, 1898, in Albright, Preston County, West Virginia. He served during World War I in 1918 and graduated from the West Virginia University Law School in Morgantown, West Virginia, 1923. Snyder practiced law in Kingwood, West Virginia, where he served as mayor in 1926 and prosecuting attorney from 1929 to 1944. He also served in the army during World War II. Snyder was elected as a Republican to Congress in 1946, serving form 1947 to 1949, but his re-election campaigns in 1948 and 1950 were unsuccessful. He later served as a judge in West Virginia from 1953 to 1971. Melvin Claude Snyder died in Kingwood, West Virginia, on August 5, 1972.