Title: George W., George R., and Marguerite Gove Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1833-1963

Creators:

• Gove, George R., 1881-1968
• Gove, George W., 1844-1930
• Gove, Marguerite Pannill, circa 1880-1969

Call Number: Mss 358

Quantity: 2.4 c.f. (6 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 W. Gove, Civil War veteran of the 33rd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and Milwaukee businessman; his son, George R. Gove, large-scale housing expert and developer; and Marguerite Gove, wife of George R. Gove, a newspaper reporter and pioneer in educational films. George W. Gove papers, 1833-1901, consist of biographical materials, correspondence (primarily with family members), diaries, and financial records. George R. Gove papers, 1881-1953, include biographical materials, business correspondence, diaries from his years while a student, clippings, miscellaneous business papers, and reports. George R. Gove worked for the New York State Housing Commission in the 1920s and '30s, for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (1939-1952) as vice-president for housing, and for the Atomic Energy Commission at Oak Ridge (1950-51). Marguerite Gove papers, 1917-1963, include miscellaneous notes, diaries, address books, and film papers consisting of correspondence, story ideas, conference syllabi, and an educational film catalog.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00358

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George William Gove was born in Berwich, Maine and spent his boyhood in Groveland, Massachusetts where he enlisted in the 33rd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in June 1862. He participated in the Chattanooga-Ringgold campaign, the battles of Tunnell Hill and Missionary Ridge, and subsequently joined the Atlantic campaign and Sherman's march to the sea. After the war he entered business in Milwaukee, where he represented the firm of Edward Dewey and Company and its predecessors, Wholesale Grocers, until moving to Madison, Wisconsin in 1900.

George W. Gove's son, George R. Gove, was born in Milwaukee and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1904. He did graduate studies at Stanford University. In 1911, he became an assistant to the Secretary of the Interior, Walter L. Fisher. Mr. Gove helped to plan construction of low-rental housing in East Walpole, Massachusetts and Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1914 to 1917, then served with the American City Bureau from 1918 to 1922, the last two years as its vice-president and general manager. Mr. Gove was director of the New York State Housing Commission and executive head and secretary of the New York State Board of Housing in the 1920s and 1930s. He joined Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1939. Until retiring in 1952, he played a major role in the company's broad involvement in housing projects, and became vice-president in charge of housing. He oversaw the construction of Peter Cooper Village, Stuyvesant Town, and Parkchester in New York City. Besides the New York projects, he was responsible for similar developments near Washington, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He worked briefly for the Atomic Energy Commission on its Oak Ridge Operations in 1950-1951. After leaving the Metropolitan, he served as a vice-president of the Fred F. French Investing Company for ten years. (More detailed accounts of George Gove's activities up to the time of his retirement from Metropolitan may be found in the insurance trade magazines, The Home Office, February 1952, p. 20 and The Eastern Underwriter, December 14, 1951, p. 36.)

Marguerite Pannill Gove, wife of George R. Gove, was a reporter for newspapers in St. Louis and Milwaukee, and produced, wrote, and directed several early educational films.

The collection has been divided into three groups: George W. Gove papers, 1833-1901; George R. Gove papers, 1881-1953; and Marguerite Gove papers, 1917-1963.

The papers of George W. Gove include biographical materials--discharge papers, pension certificates, membership certificates in civic and fraternal organizations, marriage certificate, and obituary clippings; diaries primarily concerning weather, work, and imbursements and disbursements (George W. Gove was a Union soldier in the Civil War when the 1864 and part of the 1865 diaries were written but there are no accounts of battles in these diaries); information on reunions of the 33rd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry; and one folder of sketchy financial records, one of which pre-dates George W. Gove's birth.

The papers of George R. Gove include biographical materials--birth and marriage certificates, school diplomas, and a job appointment certificate; business correspondence--from his years with the New York State Housing Commission, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and the Atomic Energy Commission; diaries from high school and early college days; clippings, mostly related to his job as secretary to the Secretary of the Interior; and miscellaneous business reports and papers.

The papers of Marguerite Gove include miscellaneous notes; diaries giving weather and information about social engagements; address books; and film papers consisting of correspondence, story ideas, conference syllabi (annotated), and an educational film catalog (partial, annotated).

The papers in these three groups are arranged, as much as possible, in general to specific order. Thereunder, the arrangement is chronological, with the exception of George R. Gove's business correspondence and Atomic Energy Commission correspondence which are in reverse chronological order, and his retirement correspondence which has been left in the arrangement of its binder.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Ralph Sucher (executor of the Gove estate), New York, New York, September 4, 1970. Accession Number: M70-272

Processing Information

Processed by John Jacob (Intern) and Joanne Hohler, July 28, 1975.

	George W. Cove
Box   1 Folder   1	Biographical Materials, 1865-1930
Box   4 Folder   1	Marriage Certificate, 1879
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   2	1866-1882
Box   1 Folder   3	1883-1901
	Diaries
Box   1 Folder   4	1864-1867, 1871-1872 Physical Description: 6 volumes
Box   1 Folder   5	1873-1882 Physical Description: 9 volumes
Box   2 Folder   1	33rd Massachusetts Volunteers, 1913-1925; undated
Box   2 Folder   2	Financial Records, 1833-1883
	George R. Gove
Box   4 Folder   2	Biographical Materials, 1881-1911
Box   2 Folder   3	Business Correspondence, 1911, 1937-1950
Box   2 Folder   4	Retirement Correspondence, 1951
Box   2 Folder   5	Retirement Correspondence and Ephemera, 1951
Box   2 Folder   6	Diaries, 1900, 1914-1915 Physical Description: 3 volumes
Box   2 Folder   7	Clippings, 1911, 1916, 1942
Box   2 Folder   8	Housing, 1932-1935
Box   2 Folder   9	Atomic Energy Commission, 1950-1951
Box   2 Folder   10	Atomic Energy Commission Oak Ridge Operations, 1950
Box   3 Folder   1	“Inspection Trip, Ravenswood, Parkside, Gunhill and Dykeman Houses,” 1951
Box   3 Folder   2	“Residential Rents Housing Project,” 1953
	Marguerite Cove
Box   3 Folder   3	Miscellaneous Notes, 1953; undated
	Diaries
Box   5 Folder   1-12	1936-1946, 1949 Physical Description: 12 volumes
Box   6 Folder   1-10	1950-1960 Physical Description: 10 volumes
Box   3 Folder   4	Address Books, circa 1953, 1961, 1963; undated Physical Description: 4 volumes
Box   3 Folder   5	Film Papers, 1917-1923, circa 1930