Summary Information
John Lee Franson Papers
1962-1975
- Franson, John L., 1937-1977
Mss 338
4.4 c.f. (11 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of John L. Franson, a Wisconsin conservationist and National Audubon Society representative. Included are the working files he generated while serving the Fond du Lac County Conservation Alliance; the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council; the Badger Sportsmen, a conservation newspaper published in Wisconsin; and as the National Audubon Society Central Midwest representative headquartered in Owensboro, Kentucky. These files contain correspondence, publications, reports, and newsletters concerning specific conservation issues of concern to Franson. Also included in the collection are a few personal letters, appointment calendars, and “chronicles” of two of his business trips.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00338 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
John Lee Franson, a Wisconsin conservationist and National Audubon Society representative, was born on August 17, 1937 in Melrose Park, Illinois. Details of Franson's early life are sketchy, but it is known that he attended Wisconsin State Colleges at Oshkosh and Stevens Point, and was employed by the Soo Line Railroad in the Fond du Lac area.
Franson's concern for conservation began early in life. He was a member and officer of the West Shore Rod and Gun Club of Fond du Lac, which was one of the groups that helped form the Fond du Lac County Conservation Alliance (FCCA) in 1961. Franson became a leader of the FCCA, and at various times served as its president, secretary, and legislative chairman. He helped coordinate the FCCA's effort for preservation of Supple Marsh, support of the Outdoor Recreational Act Program (ORAP), and other conservation causes of concern to the Fond du Lac area. Franson was also the FCCA's representative to the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council, and served as a director and secretary-treasurer of this organization in 1965-1966.
While still at the FCCA, Franson became a resource editor for the Badger Sportsmen, a Wisconsin conservation newspaper, and in this capacity authored and solicited many articles for the paper. He also served as a director of the Wisconsin Federation of Conservation Clubs in 1962-1963 and as chairman pro tem on the Sixth District Advisory Committee to the National Rivers and Harbors Congress between 1965 and 1967.
In 1968 Franson accepted a position as the National Audubon Society's Central Midwest representative headquartered in Owensboro, Kentucky. His duties included coordinating local conservation efforts in the region's five state area of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, and acting as the voice of the region in national conservation issues. Franson was transferred to the National Audubon Society's Southwest Regional Office in Austin, Texas in 1974 to assume similar duties for the states of Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas. He served in this capacity until his death in Austin on July 16, 1977.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Lee Franson are arranged in two series: Personal Papers and Subject Files. The PERSONAL PAPERS consist of Franson's desk and appointment calendars for scattered years from 1963 to 1972, which detail his wide involvement in various conservation groups by noting meeting times, appointments, and travels; two “Chronicles;” and correspondence. The first of the two chronicles is an account of a field trip Franson took on the Marengo River, near Mellon, Wisconsin, into the Gogebic Iron Range in Michigan in 1963. The other is a record of travels and meetings in the course of his work in conservation in January-February 1964. This record mentions Owen Gromme, Walter Scott, and Aldo Leopold, Wisconsin conservationists. Franson's personal correspondence consists of only a few letters. One, a letter Franson wrote in reply to the Fond du Lac Junior Chamber of Commerce's questionnaire when he was nominated for the Jaycee's 1964 Distinguished Service Award, lists his accomplishments and goals.
The SUBJECT FILES, which comprise the majority of the papers, are divided into four subseries, each pertaining to one of Franson's various conservation group affiliations: the Fond du Lac County Conservation Alliance (FCCA), 1962-1968; the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council (WRCC), 1963-1968; the Badger Sportsmen newspaper, 1963-1968; and the National Audubon Society, 1968-1975.
Franson served the Fond du Lac County Conservation Alliance and the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council concurrently. The papers relating to each of these groups are arranged alphabetically by subject under the name of the organization. The files contain correspondence, mailings, publications, statements, newsletters, and printed studies over a period of years, concerning the various projects each organization was supporting or opposing on a local or statewide basis. The Badger Sportsmen subseries contains manuscripts of articles and editorials Franson wrote for the newspaper, and correspondence from his years as a resource editor, including letters exchanged by Franson with the Goose Haven Gun Club and with the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club.
Franson's National Audubon Society files, 1968-1975, cover the period he served as the Central Midwest representative. These files contain the same type of material as the FCCA files, arranged alphabetically by subject. An interesting item, which Franson had kept together in a large loose-leaf notebook entitled “Citizens Committee on Natural Resources - Conservation Legislative Service,” is an extensive listing of the status of pending conservation legislation on the national level. Listed here are bills, votes taken, and legislators' voting records for 1971-1972. The notebook's pages have been removed from the binder and filed alphabetically in three folders in boxes 5 and 6.
All four subseries contained extensive clippings and printed material which have not been retained. Most of the clippings were from: The Milwaukee Journal, The Milwaukee Sentinel, The Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, and the Badger Sportsmen, all of which are on microfilm in the Historical Society Library. The researcher should also be aware of the records of the Fond du Lac County Conservation Alliance (Oshkosh Mss BE) and of the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council (M65-413; M66-465; M68-207), held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by John L. Franson, Austin, Texas, 1973-1976. Accession Number: M73-223; M74-7; M74-490; M75-26; M76-160
Processed by Thomas Hughes (Intern) and Joanne Hohler, November 22, 1977.
Contents List
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Series: Personal Papers
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Calendars, 1963-1966, 1969-1970, 1972
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Box
1
Folder
2
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“Chronicles,” 1963-1964
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Correspondence, 1962-1964
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Series: Subject Files
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Subseries: Fond du Lac County Conservation Alliance
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Boat Toilet Law, 1967-1970
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Branch Banking Bill 420-A, 1965-1967
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Cedar Creek, 1965-1969
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Federation of Wisconsin Lake Property Owners Association, 1968
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Game Regulation, 1963-1968
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Horicon Goose Alliance, 1966-1968
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Kellett Commission, 1966-1968
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Natural Resources Committee, 1965, 1968-1969
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Nature Trail Development Committee, 1966, 1968
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Box
1
Folder
13-14
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Outdoor Recreational Act Program, 1963-1971
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Box
1
Folder
15
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People's Lobby for Resource Development and Conservation, 1963
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Pesticides, 1964-1966
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Box
2
Folder
2
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State Parks, 1964-1970
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Supple Marsh, 1963, 1966
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Box
2
Folder
4
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West Shore Rod and Gun Club, 1962-1963
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Box
2
Folder
5-6
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Wisconsin Conservation Congress, 1962-1967
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Wisconsin Conservation Department, 1965-1969
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Wolf River Planning Commission, 1965
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Subseries: Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Boating and Harbors Regulations and Zoning, 1959-1967
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Fox River, 1967
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Box
2
Folder
11-12
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Land and Water Conservation Fund, Ad Hoc Advisory Committee, 1964-1968
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Membership Committee, 1963-1966, undated
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Milwaukee River Flood Control Board, 1965-1970
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission, 1964-1969
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Box
3
Folder
4-5
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Pesticides, 1964-1966
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Box
3
Folder
6
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Pollution Committee, 1958-(1963-1968)
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Box
4
Folder
1
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Public Land Ownership, 1963-1969
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Box
4
Folder
2
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Water Pollution, 1965-1968
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Box
4
Folder
3-4
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Water Resources Committee, 1965-1967
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Box
4
Folder
5
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Wisconsin Conservation and Resource Development Council Executive Committee, 1963
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Subseries: Badger Sportsmen
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Box
4
Folder
6-7
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Articles and Editorials, 1963-1972
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Box
5
Folder
1-2
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Correspondence, 1963-1972
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Box
5
Folder
3
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Goose Haven Gun Club, 1968-1969
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Box
5
Folder
4
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Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club, 1968, undated
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Subseries: National Audubon Society
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Box
5
Folder
5-6
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Air Pollution, 1968-1972
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Citizens Committee on Natural Resources--Conservation Legislative Service, 1971
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Box
5
Folder
7-8
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A-P
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Box
6
Folder
1
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R-Z
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Box
6
Folder
2
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Endangered Species, 1972-1975
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Box
6
Folder
3
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Energy, 1974-1975
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Illinois
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Allerton Park--Oakley Dam
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Box
6
Folder
4
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1967-1968
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Box
6
Folder
5
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1969, January-July
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Box
7
Folder
1
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1969, August-December
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Box
7
Folder
2
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1970-1973
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Indiana
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Box
7
Folder
3-4
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Big Walnut Valley, 1966-1972
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Box
7
Folder
5
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Hanover College Teach-in, 1970-1971
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Lost River
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Box
7
Folder
6
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1970
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Box
8
Folder
1
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1971, January-July
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Box
8
Folder
2
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1971, August-1973
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Kentucky
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Box
8
Folder
3
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Boone Creek Sewage Plant, 1969
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Box
8
Folder
4
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Dog Patch Zoo, 1969
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Box
8
Folder
5
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Drake's Creek, 1969-1970
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Box
8
Folder
6
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Lilly's Wood, 1969-1971
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Box
8
Folder
7
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Panther Creek, 1969-1973
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Box
8
Folder
8
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Save Our Kentucky, 1971-1972, undated
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Ohio
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Box
8
Folder
9
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Ohio Audubon Council Minutes, 1969-1970
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Box
8
Folder
10
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Statement to Air Pollution Control Board, 1970
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Box
8
Folder
11
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States' Rights Legislation, 1969
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Box
8
Folder
12
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Outdoor Writer's Association, 1968-1974
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Pesticides
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Box
8
Folder
13
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1966-1968
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Box
9
Folder
1
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1969-1970
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Box
9
Folder
2
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Reports to National Audubon Affiliates, 1969-1971
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Strip Mining
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General Correspondence
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Box
9
Folder
3-5
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1967-1972
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Box
10
Folder
1-6
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1973-1975
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Box
11
Folder
1
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Meeting, 1970
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Box
11
Folder
2
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Meeting with Industrial Areas Foundation, 1971
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Tennessee
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Box
11
Folder
3-4
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Cumberland River, 1968-1972
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Box
11
Folder
5
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Obion-Two Forked Rivers, 1970-1972
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Box
11
Folder
6-8
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Tellico Dam, 1966-1973
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