The collection focuses upon the participation of the donor, Harry W. Harder, in MEI affairs. From 1969 to 1972 Harder, a former state tax administrator, served as a member of the MEI Board of Directors and several additional committees including Resource and Business Development, and Forest and Mills. The main strength of the collection lies in the records pertaining to these administrative positions, as well as the several financial studies, which Harder also undertook for MEI. The picture of MEI presented by the collection, however, is incomplete since no records series span the entire period of MEI's existence, and the activities of some committees, such as the Conservation and Historical committees, remain undocumented.
The seven series of records reflect the basic divisions established by Harder. ANNUAL REPORTS provide the clearest overview of MEI policy and programs. Included with the 1966 Annual Report is the Audit Report for the year ending September 1966. Annual Reports for 1967 and 1972, however, are lacking.
The MENOMINEE COMMON STOCK AND VOTING TRUST PAPERS contain resolutions, announcements, agenda and minutes of the annual and special meetings. Also included are a few items of correspondence to the Chairman of the Trust, copies of which subsequently were sent to the Trustees and Board of Directors; and occasional circulars from the Trust to the certificate holders on matters such as voting procedures.
The BOARD OF DIRECTORS PAPERS likewise contain notices, agenda and minutes of meetings, as well as informal notes taken by Harder. Most prominent in this series, however, is the wide range of supporting documentation on individual issues discussed at the meetings by the directors. These records apparently were circulated beforehand, and include: feasibility studies and reports on proposed industrial and recreational development schemes for the area; financial statements and balance sheets, for the corporation as a whole and for individual divisions such as Forests and Mills; and memoranda and policy statements issued by the Board. Also present in the series are lists of officers, directors and trustees; informational and promotional circulars defending MEI's economic development policy; scattered newsclippings, mainly from the Green Bay Press Gazette and Shawano Evening Leader, pertaining to MEI activities; copies of correspondence between the board and various law firms, legislators, and corporations contemplating the establishment of operations in Menominee County; and a limited amount of personal correspondence between Harder and various officials of MEI primarily on matters of planning and taxation. Since records in this series have been arranged chronologically, the discussion of separate issues at given meetings and the relevant supporting documentation generally are brought together within the files.
Arrangement of the COMMITTEE RECORDS series is alphabetical by title of committee, and chronological for individual committee records. Minutes of meetings, financial statements and development plans comprise the most significant types of documents within this series. In addition, the Legislative Committee records contain copies of bills, letters from MEI officials supporting various pieces of legislation, and studies of the economic impact of certain laws, both on federal and state level.
Disputes in which MEI and its officials were involved as plaintiffs of defendants, are listed as sub-series within the LEGAL CASES series. The sub-series entitled United States Court of Claims, Docket No. 134-67, The Menominee Tribe of Indians, et al., v. The United States of America, is concerned with a charge of federal mismanagement of Menominee forest lands.
Within the files entitled Papers is correspondence between MEI and Wilkinson, Cragun & Barker, tracing development of the case. Background reports detailing the type and extent of mismanagement, which were prepared specifically for this case, are found within files entitled Briefs and Other Supporting Documentation. The sub-series Daly et al. vs. DNR deals with an attempt by a group of MEI shareholders to prevent DNR from issuing a permit to the Lakes of the Menominees developers for construction of a dam on Menominee land. The sub-series entitled James White et al. vs. George W. Kenote et al. contains the regulations pertaining to the election of members to the Menominee Common Stock and Voting Trust. Tomow, et al. vs. Menominee Enterprises deals with the attempt to halt sales of Menominee land to non-Menominees.
The LEGISLATION series contains copies of bills, acts, and laws primarily pertaining to the termination and subsequent restoration of reservation status. In some folders are hearing transcripts, as well as correspondence between MEI officials and various legislators, including senators Gaylord Nelson, William Proxmire, Henry Jackson, George McGovern, and Edmund Muskie.
REFERENCE MATERIALS are arranged alphabetically by subject. Reports on various aspects of Menominee life as they relate to development plans are included, as are working files of Harry Harder used in the preparation of reports. A few items in the correspondence folders deal with the condition of the Menominee Indians in general.
