The David Clark Everest Papers consists of the extensive personal files of D. C. Everest; general subject files which his office maintained alphabetically for each year, incorporating material pertaining to all aspects of Everest's professional, civic, philanthropic, political, and social concerns; and four separate files, also maintained by his staff, relating to paper mills, speeches and articles, the United States Office of Production Management, and invoices. The same subjects may appear in both the general subject files and these latter files.
The major portion of the collection is the GENERAL SUBJECT FILE which includes correspondence, reports, minutes, financial records, notes, clippings, and miscellany pertaining to Everest's business, social, and personal activities. The series is arranged by year and thereunder alphabetically by subject. Folders containing items dated in a given year relating to miscellaneous subjects are filed first under each letter of the alphabet for that year; specifically-titled, separately foldered subjects follow. Of special interest are the following:
Pre-1920 -- Western Paper Manufacturers' Association. The bylaws, constitution, applications for membership, minutes, and some correspondence of an association which may have been organized to counteract the development of trade unions. See note for 1931 below.
1925-1931 -- Anderes, William H. These files describe the construction of the Everest home in Wausau and include numerous invoices detailing costs of construction and furnishings.
1928. Much of Everest's correspondence during this year pertains to mergers, trusts, the organization of trade associations, and the tariff.
1928 -- Republican Campaigns. Two folders -- of correspondence relating to campaign financing and pro-Herbert C. Hoover materials developed to assist speech writers -- attest to Everest's political stance and his efforts as director of the Hoover-Curtis civic volunteers of the 8th Congressional District in Wisconsin for the 1928 Presidential campaign. Also filed here are a few letters pertaining to the successful Wisconsin gubernatorial bid in 1928 of Walter J. Kohler.
1931 -- Western Paper Manufacturers' Association. Apparently, this file was not originally Everest's; it probably belonged to Ira L. Beck, an officer in the association to whom most of the correspondence in the file is addressed. Included are reports of agents hired to infiltrate trade unions, a few of which are directed to Everest.
1936 -- Republican Party -- Campaign Materials -- Local Election Returns. Everest was Republican Party national chairman for the paper industry during the 1936 Presidential campaign. This activity is reflected in the several folders of material pertaining to that election. The local election returns are those of Marathon County.
1946. There was a change in Everest's office staff during this year. Therefore, there are slight variations in some subject listings after this date. For example, the Chamber of Commerce materials are filed under “C” after 1946, rather than under the location of each individual Chamber of Commerce, e.g. Wisconsin or United States, as in earlier files. The “Investment” file was discontinued; henceforth, the materials were subdivided and incorporated into files under the name of each investment; for example, investments concerning Longview Fibre Company are filed under the name of the company after 1946. Such files as those pertaining to the Wisconsin Conservation Department became more diversified over time and the subheadings proliferated. Material found under a general subheading one year may be divided into more specific categories in following years.
1948 -- Everest Family. In the late 1940s Everest engaged the services of Winifred Lovering Holman, a professional genealogist, to write a history of the Everest family. The work was published in 1955 under the title, Descendants of Andrew Everest of York, Maine. The Everest Family file for 1948 contains a great deal of biographical and genealogical material, much of which is probably related at least peripherally to the Holman study.
1950 -- National Planning Association. In 1950 the Marathon Corporation was used as a case study of industrial peace by this economic planning organization.
The PAPER MILL FILE consists of minutes, reports, financial statements, manuals, executives' correspondence, news clippings, and similar materials relating to the operation of five of the paper companies with which Everest was affiliated. Each subseries is arranged as an alphabetical subject file.
The Marathon Corporation was Everest's main business concern. Many of the records generated by the corporation, which might reasonably be in Everest's personal files, were originally filed in his General Subject File; the Marathon Corporation subseries, therefore, covers only the years 1943, 1946, 1950-1952, and 1954-1955. One must go to the General Subject File for the majority of those of the corporation's records held in Everest's personal files.
The Ontonagon Fibre Corporation was purchased by Everest in late 1922. It experienced a series of financial reverses in the early 1930s, and Everest sold it to the National Container Corporation in 1948. The file spans the years 1920 through 1946.
The Peshtigo Paper Company was organized in the spring of 1922 with Everest as one of its directors. Records for the years 1922 through 1927 are included.
Everest invested in the Ward Paper Company in 1937, becoming president when he bought out his partner, Joseph M. Ward. The company was sold to Transo Envelope Company in 1941. The years covered are 1937 through 1942.
The reorganization of the Wausau Paper Mills Company was substantially funded by Everest who invested in 1948 and became chairman of the board shortly thereafter. Records filed here are from 1953 through 1955.
The SPEECH AND ARTICLE FILE, 1917-1957, contains speeches and articles by Everest, as well as notes, fragments, clippings, and, occasionally, a small quantity of correspondence concerning various speeches. It is arranged by year, and in alphabetical order by topic thereunder. A memorial tribute to Everest by Wisconsin Governor Vernon Thompson is included.
United States OFFICE OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT (OPM) is an alphabetical subject file, 1936-1946, consisting of the correspondence, reports, minutes, and news releases received by Everest while he was a consultant to that office. About half of it consists of OPM rulings which relate to the pulp and paper industry. These are filed under “Rulings” in alphabetical order and thereunder in numerical order by the number assigned by the OPM.
The INVOICES retained in the collection concern Everest's personal finances for two representative periods. They are arranged in a single alphabetical subject file covering the years 1929-1934 and 1949-1950.
