Title: Marie C. Kohler and Ruth DeYoung Kohler Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1920-1944, 1953, 1955

Creators:

• Kohler, Marie Christine, 1876-1943
• Kohler, Ruth DeYoung, 1906-1953

Call Number: Mss 585; PH 6502; Micro 2100

Quantity: 2.0 c.f. (4 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 volume), 0.4 c.f. of photographs, and 2 reels of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Marie C. Kohler, a daughter of Walter J. Kohler, Sr., and her sister-in-law, Ruth DeYoung Kohler, the wife of Herbert Kohler, Sr., concerning their respective civic activities. The papers include correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, and other materials primarily relating to Marie's work with Aubrey Williams and the Wisconsin Conference of Social Work and the annual Kohler Better Homes Week and to Ruth's work on the restoration of the Wade House, a stagecoach inn at Greenbush, Wisconsin, now a historic site of the Wisconsin Historical Society. The Better Homes scrapbooks, which were in deteriorating condition, are available only on microfilm, with the exception of the original pages that contained fabric swatches, selected photographs, and floor plans. Other small files concern Marie's involvement in the Citizen's Committee on Unemployment (1930-1931), the Wisconsin Welfare Council (1941-1943), Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign, and the purchase of Japanese prints from Frank Lloyd Wright.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00585

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Marie C. Kohler was the daughter of John Michael Kohler and Lillian Vollrath. Her father was the founder of the Kohler Company, having started the business when he bought the Vollrath machine shop in 1873. Marie's mother died and, subsequently, her father married Lillian's sister, Wilhelmina. John Michael and Wilhelmina had one son, Herbert V. Kohler, Sr. He married Ruth DeYoung who had grown up in Illinois. Therefore, Marie and Ruth were sisters-in-law through Marie's half-brother Herbert.

Marie C. Kohler was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1876. She was raised and educated first in a local, private school and then in the public school in Sheboygan. As a young woman she attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from that institution. After graduating from college, Marie spent some years teaching literature in Sheboygan's public high school. She also acted as secretary for the Kohler Company. Her active career in various civic organizations was not limited to those organizations found in the Sheboygan area. This is testified to by her long involvement in the Wisconsin Conference of Social Work (WCSW) which began some time prior to 1922 and continued until 1942. She was also a member of the Citizens' Committee on Unemployment during the early 1930s, on the Wisconsin Welfare Council in the 1940s, and campaigned for Willkie in the 1940 presidential election. Her ally in her social work was her brother Walter J. Kohler, Sr. who served as governor of the state of Wisconsin from 1929 to 1931. She died in 1943 at the age of 67, never having married.

Ruth DeYoung Kohler was born in Illinois in 1906. Her father, Frederic R. DeYoung, was a chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. Ruth attended college in Northampton, Massachusetts, at Smith College. After graduating from Smith, she spent a year in Europe. Upon her return to the United States, Ruth obtained a job as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. She eventually became the newspaper's Women's Editor. In 1937, Ruth DeYoung married Herbert V. Kohler, Sr. She, too, led an active life involved in civic organizations. Her last endeavor, the restoration of Wade House, was meant to be a tribute to her sister-in-law, Marie C. Kohler. Ruth, however, died three months before the dedication of the historic stagecoach inn. This was in 1953. Her son, Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., is the current president of the Kohler Company.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., Kohler, Wisconsin, 1978. Accession Number: M78-654

Processing Information

Processed by Leah Weisse and Joanne Hohler, February 1982.

Mss 585	Series: Marie C. Kohler Papers
Box   2 Folder   4	Citizens Committee on Unemployment, 1930-1931
Box   2 Folder   8	Kohler Company strike articles, 1934, 1955
	Kohler Better Homes Week scrapbooks
Micro 2100	Microfilmed scrapbooks
Reel   1	1928-1937
Reel   2	1938-1944
PH 6502	Selected original photographs from scrapbooks, 1928-1944
Volume   1	Selected original pages that included fabric swatches, 1928-1944
Mss 585 Box   5	Selected original floor plans and elevations
Box   4 Folder   1-14	Unfilmed loose papers from scrapbooks, 1928-1944
Box   3 Folder   3	University of Wisconsin Memorial Union and reunion, 1920
	Wisconsin Conference of Social Work (WCSW)
Box   1 Folder   1-3	Correspondence, 1922-1942
Box   1 Folder   4	Minutes, 1925-1933
Box   1 Folder   5	Newsletter, 1928, 1932, 1934
Box   1 Folder   6	Fundraising, 1929-1930
Box   1 Folder   7-8	Better Cities Contest, 1925
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Children's Code, 1928-1934
Box   2 Folder   3	How Good is Your Town? a form for community surveys published by WCSW, 1930
Box   2 Folder   5	Willkie Presidential campaign, 1940
Box   2 Folder   6	Wisconsin Welfare Council, 1941-1943
Box   2 Folder   7	Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1940-1941
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Series: Ruth DeYoung Kohler's Wade House Papers, 1953	⇧