John J. Blaine papers, 1894-1938.

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John J. Blaine papers, 1894-1938.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/145789593

Papers of John J. Blaine, a Wisconsin progressive Republican who was state senator from Boscobel, 1909-1913; attorney general, 1919-1921; governor, 1921-1927; United States senator, 1927-1933; and member of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1933-1934. The collection consists mainly of correspondence and 8 volumes of speeches, and relates primarily to the years of his governorship. Papers of the period prior to 1921 contain references to Blaine's education, community affairs in Boscobel, his candidacy for a seat in Congress in 1904, investigations (1909-1911) of charges against Isaac Stephenson for unlawful use of money in the campaign of 1908, and Blaine's nonpartisan Progressive candidacy for governor in 1914. In the gubernatorial papers the major topic throughout is the issue of state taxation and finances in various forms: Blaine's opposition to the creation of a northern lakes state park; his request for revision of the income tax law by a special session of the legislature in 1922; his veto in 1923 of a bill to tax gasoline for highway construction; and the budgetary problems of the University and the state normal schools. Closely connected with Blaine's financial program was his emphasis on increased efficiency and economy in state departments. Between the Highway Department and the governor a controversy developed over expenditures, methods of letting contracts, and political influence. Correspondence concerning this conflict includes letters of 1924, when Arthur R. Hirst, chief engineer of the Highway Commission, resigned to oppose Blaine unsuccessfully for the gubernatorial nomination. The collection contains many papers on public welfare and law enforcement problems; the pardon of John Deitz in 1921; investigation of malfeasance of public officials in Kenosha County; surveys of the state prison and reformatory programs; and investigation of the care of the feeble-minded and other wards of the state. Prohibition was a continuing problem as is indicated by the scores of letters representing opinion for and against the various enforcement measures. Scattered letters show Blaine's opposition to the activities of the Ku Klux Klan and touch upon Klan incidents, particularly those at Boscobel in August, 1924, and at Marinette in November, 1926. Other topics discussed are the projected reorganization of the state educational system; the teacher retirement fund; the movement to consolidate rural schools; the furor created when the pacifist Mrs. Kate Richards O'Hare was given permission to lecture in the capitol in 1922; the Illinois-Wisconsin drainage suit revived by Blaine in the same year; and pure foods legislation. The collection contains also large quantities of routine correspondence concerning patronage, state contracts, and complaints of one sort and another. For Blaine's term in the Senate the collection consists mainly of carbon copies of his replies to letters from constituents. Some letters contain information on the participation of Wisconsin residents in the Bonus Army, 1932. Other papers deal with investigation of post office leases, especially in New York City, and with Blaine's sponsorship of a bill to have the Interstate Commerce Commission report on the fair value of lands and buildings to be acquired by the federal government. Among Blaine's correspondents were Grace Abbott, Joseph D. Beck, Zona Gale, Theodore Kronshage, Robert M. La Follette, Sr., Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Solomon Levitan, George W. Norris, Alfred T. Rogers, Edward A. Ross, Joseph Schafer, Isaac Stephenson, Edward Voigt, Edwin E. Witte, and Fred M. Wylie. Supplementing the correspondence is a set of bills introduced into Congress by Blaine while senator and a complete set of speeches, 1919-1933.

15.0 c.f. (71 archives boxes)

Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6851618

Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project

Related Entities

There are 21 Entities related to this resource.

La Follette, Robert M. (Robert Marion), 1855-1925

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rs2nnq (person)

Robert Marion La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925), colloquially known as Fighting Bob, was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his career, he ran for President of the United States as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in the 1924 presidential election. Historian John D. Buenker describes La Follette as "the most celebrated figure in Wisconsin history." Born...

Wylie, Fred M.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hm6sdv (person)

Rogers, Alfred Thomas, 1873-1948

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w673756f (person)

Ku Klux Klan 1915-....

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x38p5s (corporateBody)

The Ku Klux Klan was formally incorporated under the laws of the state of Georgia on Dec. 4, 1915. The incorporated organization is a continuance of the earlier post Civil War Reconstruction Era unincorporated Ku Klux Klan and of the Knights of the White Camellia. Women of the Ku Klux Klan was incorporated at a late date as a separate entity. The stated purpose of the KKK was to promote an all White, Protestant United States, excluding all other races and religions. From the descript...

Stephenson, Isaac, 1829-1918

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ft91ng (person)

Abbott, Grace, 1878-1939

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kp8grp (person)

Edith Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska, in 1876. She received her A.B. from the University of Nebraska in 1901 and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1905. From 1906 to 1908, she continued post-graduate studies in economics and political science at the University of London. In 1908, Edith returned to Chicago and became a resident of Hull House until 1920. Between 1908 and 1920, she served as Associate Director of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy at the...

Beck, Joseph D. (Joseph David), 1866-1936

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wm1txh (person)

Hirst, Arthur R., 1881-1932.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qr6kbq (person)

Gale, Zona, 1874-1938

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pc34z5 (person)

Zona Gale was a prominent writer and political activist born in Portage, Wisconsin. Gale attended the University of Wisconsin and worked as a reporter in Milwaukee. Gale, a lifelong friend of Jane Addams, became involved in the fight for the women's vote and eventually went to work for the writer Edmund Clarence Stedman. Her novel, "Miss Lulu Bett" was successfully adapted for the theater. From the description of Correspondence, 1907-1929. (Temple University Libraries). WorldCat reco...

Wisconsin. State Highway Commission

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62v680n (corporateBody)

Kronshage, Theodore, 1881-1932.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wh4bpp (person)

O'Hare, Kate Richards, 1877-1948

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jq14p1 (person)

Kate Richards O'Hare was born on Mar. 26, 1876 to Andrew and Lucy Richards, Kansas farmers devastated by the depression of the 1870s. In 1895, Kate was introduced to socialism by Eugene Debs, and later met Mother Jones and other socialists in Kansas City, where she lived. Kate joined the Socialist Labor Party in 1899, which she left in 1901 to help found the Socialist Party of America. She married fellow socialist Frank P. O'Hare in 1902. A socialist leader, she spoke across America against WWI ...

Voigt, Edward, 1873-1934

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6612h2w (person)

Ross, Edward Alsworth, 1866-1951

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61j9f0f (person)

Professor of Sociology at Stanford (1893-1900; dismissed in 1900). From the description of Edward Alsworth Ross papers, 1892-1970. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 703381594 Biographical/Historical Sketch In the late 1890s, sociology professor Edward A. Ross gained notoriety following several years of political activism in favor of the free silver movement, municipal ownership of utilities (including the railroads), and Jap...

Levitan, Solomon, 1886-1940.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rz0vq2 (person)

Schafer, Joseph, 1867-1941

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dv32p3 (person)

Witte, Edwin E. (Edwin Emil), 1887-1960

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c82b2s (person)

In addition to his academic position (professor of labor economics, University of Wisconsin), Witte served as the secretary and executive director of the U.S. Committee on Economic Security and is considered the "author" of the Federal Social Security Act of 1935. Witte also served in the following positions: senior statistician of the Wisconsin Industrial Commission (1912); special investigator of the U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations (1914); librarian of the Wisc...

Norris, George William, 1861-1944

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c82b37 (person)

U.S. representative and senator from Nebraska. From the description of Papers of George W. Norris, 1884-1944 (bulk 1893-1944). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81101513 ...

La Follette, Robert M. (Robert Marion), 1895-1953

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kp8mdv (person)

Blaine, John J. (John James), 1873-1934

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zw21rh (person)

Deitz, John F., 1861-1924

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k36qwr (person)