Title: George F. Rowe Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1932-1963

Creator:

• Rowe, George Frederick, 1910-

Call Number: Mss 140

Quantity: 1.2 c.f. (3 archives boxes)

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 George F. Rowe, consisting of segments of research files and correspondence relating to Rowe's various positions: Secretary to Wisconsin's Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr. and Congressman Merlin Hull; special assistant to the Director of Information of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in part responsible for food campaigns; secretary of the Dairy Industries Supply Association, and the Dairy Society International where he promoted dairy technology internationally; and staff member of the Foreign Agricultural Service. Included are copies of letters by Robert and Philip La Follette in response to mail received at the formation of the National Progressive Party in 1938.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00140

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

George F. Rowe is noteworthy for his service as staff member to two Wisconsin politicians and for his activities in the agricultural field on the national and international level. Born and educated through high school in Menomonie, Wisconsin, Rowe attended Northwestern College at Watertown and received his B.A. in 1932 from the University of Wisconsin. He taught high school for three years in Kewaunee and Appleton prior to taking an M.A. in political science from the University of Chicago.

From 1937 to 1940 Rowe was on the staff of Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr., first as a research assistant, then a speech writer and finally as the Senator's secretary. He assisted in the formation of the National Progressive Party of America.

Rowe began his involvement in agriculture with an appointment as a special assistant to the Director of Information of the U.S.D.A. in 1940. Responsible for promotional campaigns for wartime food canning, victory gardens, emergency farm recruitment and the prevention of forest fires, Rowe won a Silver Anvil award from the American Public Relations Association for outstanding achievement in public relations for his 1945 campaigns. In 1946 Rowe moved to the staff of Dairy Industries Supply Association and became secretary within a year. He was also a pioneer in the formation of the Dairy Society International, and as its first secretary played a key role in promoting dairy technology and progress in fifty foreign countries.

In 1953, Rowe was appointed secretary to Wisconsin Congressman Merlin Hull. Shortly thereafter Hull died; and in the special election of September 1953, Rowe ran as a Progressive for the vacant House seat. He lost in the primary to Democrat Lester Johnson.

Rowe subsequently returned to agriculture. At the time of his death in 1965, he was a staff assistant for the general sales manager of the Foreign Agricultural Service which was created in 1930 “to encourage and promote agriculture of the United States and to assist American farmers in adjusting their operations and practices to meet world competition and demand for farm products.”

Rowe was married to Mary Stilip and had two children, James and Mrs. Norman Hampton of Washington, D.C. His published writings include “The Common Defense,” a booklet on the development of the national economy, and numerous articles.

The George F. Rowe papers consist of segments of the research and correspondence files he maintained in his various positions. They contain correspondence, articles and writings, reports and statistics, notes, reference materials, and clippings. They are titled and arranged to reflect the various stages of his career: viz. La Follette Years; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Dairy Industries Supply Association; Secretary to Merlin Hull; and Foreign Agricultural Service. There is also a folder of Rowe biographical material. Within each category the correspondence is filed first, followed by an alphabetical research file.

The correspondence for the La Follette years includes copies of the outgoing letters of Robert M. La Follette, Jr., and Phil La Follette written in response to the floods of letters received at the formation of the National Progressive Party in 1938.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. George Rowe, Garette Park, Maryland, January 6, 1967. Accession Number: M67-24

Processing Information

Processed by D.R. and J.Y., December 29, 1970.

	Series: La Follette Years
Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1937-1940
Box   1 Folder   2	Business Cycles, 1934-1940
Box   1 Folder   3	Clippings, Miscellaneous, 1936-1948
Box   1 Folder   4	Court decisions, 1935-1942
Box   1 Folder   5	Depression Indicators, 1937-1938
Box   1 Folder   6	Election Results (clippings), 1936-1944
Box   1 Folder   7	Election Statistics, 1936-1940
Box   1 Folder   8	Health & Medical Care, 1937-1938
Box   1 Folder   9	Howe, Quincy, 1937
Box   1 Folder   10	Income & Wealth, 1932-1941
Box   1 Folder   11	National Progressives of America, 1938-1939
Box   1 Folder   12	Propaganda & Public Opinion, 1938-1939
Box   1 Folder   13	Roll Calls in Congress, 1937-1944
Box   1 Folder   14	Third-Party-Ballot Laws, 1936
Box   1 Folder   15	Roosevelt Analysis, 1938-1945
	Series: Department of Agriculture	⇧
Box   2 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1938-1946
Box   2 Folder   2	Correspondence re: “FM For You,” 1945-1946
Box   2 Folder   3	Agriculture, 1939-1944
Box   2 Folder   4	A.P.R.A. award, 1946
Box   2 Folder   5	Debt, 1938-1941
Box   2 Folder   6	Farmers Union, 1945-1946
Box   2 Folder   7	F.M. Radio, 1945-1946
Box   2 Folder   8	Food for Freedom, 1946
Box   2 Folder   9	Interior Dept.
Box   2 Folder   10	Labor Education, 1942-1945
Box   2 Folder   11	Mailing Lists, 1945
Box   2 Folder   12	Monopoly, 1938-`942
Box   2 Folder   13	Personnel, 1942
Box   2 Folder   14	Post War Plan for Pabst contest, 1944
Box   2 Folder   15	Public Works Sources, 1931-1937
Box   2 Folder   16	Public Works Summary, 1937
Box   2 Folder   17	Radio Service, 1942
Box   2 Folder   18	Subsidies, 1940-1941, 1945
Box   2 Folder   19	Taxes, 1937-`942
Box   2 Folder   20	Victory Gardens - home canning, 1944-1945
Box   2 Folder   21	Williams, Aubrey, 1945-1946
	Series: Dairy Industries Supply Association	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1946-1952
Box   3 Folder   2	Clippings-Wisconsin, 1948-1950
Box   3 Folder   3	Ford Foundation Plan, 1952-1953
Box   3 Folder   4	Radio, 1946
	Series: Secretary to Merlin Hull	⇧
Box   3 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1951-1952
Box   3 Folder   6	Clippings, 1950-1953
Box   3 Folder   7	Democratic Proposals, 1952-1953
Box   3 Folder   8	Kefauver, 1952
Box   3 Folder   9	McCarthy, 1950
Box   3 Folder   10	McCarthy (clippings)
Box   3 Folder   11	Office Releases, 1948-1952
Box   3 Folder   12	Presidential Election Polls, 1952
Box   3 Folder   13	Primary Election Statistics, 1953
Box   3 Folder   14	Sanderson - Wisconsin, 1944-1952
Box   3 Folder   15	Stevenson, 1952
	Series: Foreign Agricultural Service	⇧
Box   3 Folder   16	Rowe's Writings in FAS, 1958-1963
Box   3 Folder   17	Biographical