In general the papers are representative of Pearce's legal career, although glimpses of his personal life are found throughout the collection, especially in the correspondence series. The collection has been organized into five series: Biographical Information; General Correspondence, 1907-1973; Justice Department Antitrust Division, 1938-1946; Private Practice, 1917-1938, 1947-1967; and Personal Papers, 1915-1954.
The GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE relates to his school days at the University of Wisconsin, his family and friends, and the operation of his North Dakota farm. Since some of his friends were also co-workers, Pearce's career is also reflected in this correspondence.
The JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANTITRUST DIVISION series is divided into a Correspondence file and the five sets of files discussed below:
The Fertilizer Investigation dealt with the nationwide prosecution of the chemical fertilizer and superphosphate, potash, and nitrogen fertilizer industries. Two indictments were returned in 1939 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the potash and nitrogen groups. Another indictment was subsequently returned in the United States District Court of North Carolina at Winston-Salem against the mixed fertilizer group. This file is the most extensive of the antitrust material.
The Pacific Coast Assignment files are the smallest. In 1941-1942 Pearce was transferred to San Francisco. He worked on various cases there and in Seattle. The best documented case concerned a grocery monopoly prosecuted in Seattle.
The Small Loan Investigation concerns action taken against firms that fixed uniform prices in making small loans at high rates. The firms were indicted in the United States District Court at San Antonio, Texas in 1944. Although numerous firms were indicted most of the materials deal with Rufus DeWitt King and with Household Finance.
In 1946 Pearce was sent to Japan to work with the Antitrust and Cartels Division of the Economic and Scientific Section of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Pearce was one of a group of experts whose task was the formulation of criteria for the guidance of military authorities in breaking up the Zaibatsu combines. They examined the various Zaibatsu companies and recommended policies to dissolve them and prevent their revival. This section contains very little on postwar Japan; most of the material is tourist-type information on Japan, Tokyo, and neighboring countries.
The Miscellany includes a 1945 telephone directory of the Antitrust Division, a waiver of immunity, questions regarding immunity, and several other undated items whose relationship to the above cases has not been determined.
The PRIVATE PRACTICE series is divided into nine sections, four of which are discussed below:
The General Legal Writings files consist of journals, notes, and briefs. The journals are daily logs of cases Pearce worked on and often contain the most informative material available on various cases. The notes and briefs are about the only documentation there is on Pearce's earlier practice in New York City. The 1963-1964 Notebook contains material on several of the War Claims cases and on the Lesher Estate.
The Soft Drink Monopoly files would seem to belong in the Justice Department Antitrust Division series but the dates indicate that the material is from Pearce's private practice. It concerned the monopoly of soft drink distribution by Pepsi, Coca Cola, and local distributors. Also included is a folder of notes on other private antitrust cases.
Pearce spent most of the 1950s and the 1960s working on Office of Alien Property and War Claims Cases. The majority of the cases deal with property confiscated by Nazi Germany in World War II for which the claimant was trying to get reparation. The correspondence is mainly between Pearce and the Milwaukee law firm of Wengert and Spenner with which he worked on the cases, and is perhaps the most revealing about the day-to-day and year-to-year procedures involved. The most extensive material on individual cases documents the Blum and the Spenner claims.
During 1956 and 1957 Pearce accepted part-time employment in the Office of Congressman Usher Burdick, a close friend and Congressman from North Dakota, where Pearce owned a ranch. The Congressman, at the time of Pearce's connection with the office, was working on food additive legislation. Pearce did research and wrote press releases. This period is also covered in the journals Pearce kept which are filed under General Legal Writings.
The Lesher Estate was handled by Pearce for Lillian Sullivan, a friend and the executrix of her sister's will. The correspondence is both personal and professional. The estate was complicated by a dishonest land deal in which Amy Lesher was defrauded before her death. A great deal of the material pertains to attempts to either get deeds for the land or reimbursement for payments made to the Desert Diet Development Corporation.
The PERSONAL PAPERS are a hodgepodge of unrelated materials. The Chautauqua Materials, 1915, concern travel arrangements for the speaking tour in which Pearce participated. There are three Speeches from a later period than the Chautauqua material; only one is titled and deals with monopoly and medical care. The Speculation section consists of material on oil and uranium deals in which Pearce was apparently thinking of investing.
