Summary Information
Frederic E. Risser Papers
1925-1971
- Risser, Frederic E., 1900-1971
Mss 418
2.8 c.f. (7 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of a Madison, Wis., attorney and state senator, consisting of legislative and political papers, legal case and reference files, a subject file, and personal and miscellaneous papers. Also included are a small number of the political, professional, and personal papers of Risser's father-in-law, Ernest N. Warner (1868-1930), who was also a Madison attorney and state assemblyman. Included in the collection are Risser's constituent correspondence files, 1936-1949; notes for and copies of legislation introduced by Risser or considered by committees of which he was a member; correspondence concerning cases Risser handled as Dane County district attorney; and legal papers created while attorney for the Town of Madison. Items in the subject file show the involvement of both Risser and Warner in the Progressive movement in Wisconsin, in the development of parks in Madison and Wisconsin, and their interest in American and Wisconsin history including membership in the Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Correspondents include Risser's law partner John Shiels, and the materials make reference to Wisconsin Progressive Robert M. La Follette.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00418 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Frederic E. Risser, Madison attorney and state legislator, was born January 15, 1900, in the Town of Buffalo, Buffalo County, of German-Scandinavian parentage. After graduation in 1917 from Winona (Minnesota) High School, Risser earned a B.A. in 1923 and LL.B. in 1925 from the University of Wisconsin. He taught history at Beaver Dam High School for one year, 1923-1924, and lectured on business law at Madison College between 1925 and 1930. In 1926 Risser joined the Madison law practice of his father-in-law, Ernest N. Warner, and continued as a practicing attorney throughout his life.
Between 1927 and 1949 Risser's main activities were of a political nature, and he held a variety of local and statewide political offices. In 1927 and 1928 Risser was clerk of the Town of Madison and between 1930 and 1942 he served as Town of Madison school treasurer. He was elected Dane County district attorney in 1928 as a liberal Republican, and was reelected in 1930 and 1932. As a Progressive Republican, Risser also participated in the efforts of the La Follettes to establish a statewide and national Progressive Party. Elected to the State Senate from the 26th District (Dane County) in 1936, Risser served until 1948, when he was narrowly defeated by Democrat Gaylord Nelson. Risser sat on a number of legislative committees during his tenure in the Legislature; these included: Joint Committee of Finance (1936 session), Judiciary (1940 session), and Education and Public Welfare (1942-1946 sessions).
After his defeat in 1948, Risser returned to active practice as an attorney, in partnership with John Shiels. The law firm acted as counsel for the Town of Madison during the period 1942-March 1958, when Risser resigned his position. In later years his son Frederic A., Democratic state assemblyman and later state senator, joined him in a law partnership.
Frederic E. Risser remained active in community affairs and maintained an interest in politics until his death. He was a life member of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the Law School Alumni Association, and chairman in 1968-1969 of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin's Long-Range Historic Sites Planning Committee. Risser, also, was a member and officer of the Lincoln Fellowship from 1962-1971.
Risser was married to Elizabeth Warner, daughter of Ernest N. Warner; they had two sons, Frederic A. and Andrew. Frederic E. Risser died September 1, 1971.
Ernest N. Warner, a Madison attorney and state legislator, was born north of Madison in 1868. He received his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, in 1889 and 1892, respectively, after teaching country school prior to graduation. Warner practiced law in Madison from 1891 until his death.
He was a law examiner in the office of the state attorney general, 1899-1903, and was elected to the Assembly from the 1st District (Dane County) for one term in 1905; there he served on the Judiciary Committee. Warner also served as the floor leader for the La Follette group in the Assembly. He is known as the author of the 1905 Civil Service Act.
Although Warner's other political ventures were unsuccessful -- he ran for Congress in 1918 and for junior Judge of the Superior Court of Wisconsin in 1922 and was defeated both times -- he remained active in community organizations and in church activities. Warner was a director of the State Bank in Madison and of the Windsor State Bank; and president of Northwestern Securities Co. He was also a member of the Madison City Plan Commission and president of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association (1912-1930); in recognition of his work in these areas, Madison's Warner Park was named after him in 1958. Warner served for two terms on the Congregational National Council and also as director of the Wisconsin Congregational Conference.
Ernest N. Warner was married to Lillian Baker, who died in 1924; they had three children, Elizabeth (Mrs. Frederic E. Risser), John and Ernest. Warner died in an automobile accident in 1930 while returning to Madison from a church conference.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Frederic E. Risser are arranged chronologically within 4 series: Legislative and Political Papers, Legal Case and Reference Files, Subject Files, and Personal and Miscellaneous Papers. Within these series Risser's career in Wisconsin legal, legislative and community work is traced, as well as his involvement with the Wisconsin Progressive Movement. The papers illustrate Risser's legislative policies and opinions, his work for the Town of Madison and his interests in history and in Wisconsin. A fifth series contains the papers of Risser's father-in-law, Ernest A. Warner.
Risser's LEGISLATIVE AND POLITICAL PAPERS, 1928-1949, span his career as Dane County district attorney and as state senator. Included are four subseries: Correspondence, Legislative Bill Files, Legislative Roll Calls and Legislative Summaries, and Press Releases and Speeches. The Correspondence file contains Risser's correspondence as district attorney, concerning his cases, his election in 1928, reelection in 1932, and subsequent congratulatory letters. Risser's affiliation with the Wisconsin District Attorneys' Association, 1929-1934, is illustrated by his correspondence with officers of the association, 1929-1930, and during his own term as secretary and treasurer, 1932-1933, and as president, 1933-1934. Filed with this correspondence are programs and notices of meetings. The bulk of the subseries is constituent correspondence and written replies during Risser's tenure as state senator, 1936-1949. A separate file, dealing solely with his 1940 reelection campaign, includes letters of thanks and congratulation, and financial statements. Many of the carbon copies of Risser's responses remain stapled to the original constituent letters, as done by the senator's office staff.
Risser's Legislative Bill Files contain printed bills, amendments, drafts of legislation and memos, 1935-1947, sponsored by Risser or referred to committees on which he served. The Legislative Roll Calls and Legislative Summaries include published and unpublished roll calls compiled by Risser, newspapers, and labor organizations for the years 1937-1947. A file of roll calls clipped from The Capital Times, 1935-1947, was discarded. In addition, the folder on senate membership lists senators, 1937-1939, and the senate seating plan, and gives Risser's handwritten personal evaluations of the senators. The Legislative Summaries files for sessions, 1937-1947, contain printed lists of measures enacted, notes on bills and subjects considered, memos, correspondence, and articles relating to legislation. Press Releases and Speeches, 1937-1945, include Risser's own material, and three speeches of other legislators.
Risser's LEGAL CASE AND REFERENCE FILE is primarily a record of his work for the Town of Madison, and includes one folder of legal papers relating to the State Office Building Commission. The Town of Madison subseries contains correspondence, notes, legal papers, Town Board resolutions, legal documents pertaining to bond issues, and maps created for and used by Risser and his law partner, John Shiels. These documents date from the 1940's and 1950's, and deal with City of Madison annexations of Town property, the creation of various sanitary districts, assessments, land acquisition and construction by the Town of Madison. Many of the folders contain similar types of documents and legal forms, which differ only in the date and name of the legal transaction. In addition, this group contains Town of Madison ordinances and amendments, 1940-1957, memos and miscellaneous records, a nearly complete run of printed Town financial reports, 1924-1958, and budgets, 1943-1944 and 1957-1958. A separate folder contains itemized financial statements, with associated correspondence and memoranda from 1942-1958, for legal services provided by Risser and Shiels. One folder of legal papers from the State Office Building Commission, 1948-1949, includes the papers of Risser as its vice-chairman.
The SUBJECT FILE contains a variety of material, including miscellaneous papers, correspondence, histories and brochures collected by Ernest N. Warner and Risser dealing with the Progressive Movement in Wisconsin, 1900-1946, 1961. Items in this group include a “Program of Memorial Services for the Honorable Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin in the Senate of the United States, Sunday, June 20, 1926,” published in the Congressional Record; and a program from the 1946 Statewide Progressive Conference, Portage, Wisconsin, March 17, 1946. This series also contains Risser's records, minutes of meetings, and lists of officers and directors collected during his membership in the Lincoln Fellowship, 1962-1971. A major part of the Subject File details Risser's work with the Long-Range Historic Sites Planning Committee during 1968 and 1969, as well as his interest in local and state parks. Copies of the Wisconsin Historic Sites Survey, c. 1968; committee working papers, schedules, minutes and agendas for 1968-1969; and a copy of the Report of the Long-Range Sites Planning Committee, of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, published in 1970, are all contained in this subseries. Finally, a separate folder includes miscellaneous brochures, correspondence, and maps, c. 1968-1969, which refer to state and city parks; these are in alphabetical order by name of park site.
A grouping of PERSONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS spans the years 1925-1971 and includes correspondence, 1925-1971; selective service cards and papers, 1942-1944; programs of dinner meetings, 1943; and unidentified minutes and agenda. Personal information is provided by a xeroxed newspaper article with photo, 1943, and a short autobiography written in 1961. (See below)
The ERNEST N. WARNER PAPERS, include a Lincoln Centennial scrapbook, 1809-1909, compiled by Fanny Warner in 1913 and composed of newspaper articles. Warner's own personal and professional papers, 1890-1930, 1958, consist of certificates to practice as an attorney before various Wisconsin courts, 1890, 1892; correspondence; text of a speech; xeroxed clippings of community activities; a notice of his death, and a 1958 newspaper article concerning the creation of Warner Park in Madison. His political papers, 1896-1922, contain correspondence; xeroxed clippings; biographies; and political campaign material, handouts and cards. A file on Assembly Bill 132-A, the Civil Service legislation introduced by Warner in 1905, includes a copy of the bill and its amendment, and correspondence solicited by Warner from officials at state schools and institutions and from state and national civil service reform groups. In addition there is an article on the bill taken from the July 7, 1905, Madison Democrat and reprinted in the April, 1939, issue of The Wisconsin State Employee.
In 1985 portions of M78-385 were interfiled in the Personal and Miscellaneous Papers (Box 6, Folder 8). These additions consisted of correspondence pertaining to Risser's role as a delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Elizabeth W. Risser (Mrs. Frederic E.), Madison, 1975. Additions presented by Fred A. Risser, 1978. Accession Number: M75-87, M75-405, M78-385
Processed by Menzi Behrnd and Joanne Hohler, November 15, 1977.
Contents List
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Series: Legislative and Political Papers
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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As Dane County District Attorney, 1928-1935
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Wisconsin District Attorneys' Association, 1929-1934, includes programs and notices
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Constituent correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
3-10
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1936, August - 1943, March 15
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Box
2
Folder
1-3
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1943, March 16 - 1949, December
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Box
2
Folder
4
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1940 reelection campaign, letters of congratulation, financial statement, miscellaneous documents
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Legislative Bill Files
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Bill File, 1935-1947
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Aid to public education file, [1935]-1937-1939
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Financial aid to University of Wisconsin for new construction, 1937-1941, 1943
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Creation of Northwest Territory Celebration Commission, 1938
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Reorganization of University of Wisconsin Board of Regents; establishment of a State Board of Education, 1939
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Civil Service file, 1939
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Box
2
Folder
11
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Finance subject file, 1939
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Box
2
Folder
12
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Old Age Assistance in Wisconsin, 1939-1942
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Legislative Roll Calls and Legislative Summaries,
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Roll Calls, 1937-1947
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Box
3
Folder
2
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State Senate membership, 1937-1939
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Legislative summary, 1937
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Box
3
Folder
4
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Summary of 1937 Special Session of the Legislature
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Box
3
Folder
5-6
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Legislative summaries, 1939-1947
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Press Releases and Speeches,
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Box
3
Folder
7
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Press Releases, 1939-1940, 1943
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Box
3
Folder
8
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Speeches, 1937-1945
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Series: Legal Case and Reference Files
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Town of Madison Legal Papers
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Box
3
Folder
9
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Ordinances and amendments, 1940-1957
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Box
3
Folder
10-12
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Printed financial reports, 1924-1958 (incomplete), budgets, , 1943-1944, 1957-1958
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Box
3
Folder
13
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University of Wisconsin Arboretum tax assessments and special assessments, 1935-1945
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Box
3
Folder
14
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Oakridge Sanitary District, creation of and two additions, [1940]-1950-1951-[1953]
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Box
4
Folder
1
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Franklin Avenue Sanitary District, creation of, 1941-1947,
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Box
4
Folder
2
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Larkin Street, discontinuation of part of, 1941-1948
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Box
4
Folder
3
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Sherman Park, Schwenkert and Cady annexations, 1944-1955
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Box
4
Folder
4
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Norslein Addition to Merrill Crest Sanitary District, creation of, 1945-1946
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Box
4
Folder
5
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Findlay Park Sanitary District, creation of addition to, 1945-1948
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Box
4
Folder
6
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Garden Homes Sanitary District, creation of, 1945-1948
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Box
4
Folder
7
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Duffey-Howley Sanitary District, creation of, and bond issue for first addition to, 1946-1947, 1952
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Box
4
Folder
8
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Glen Oaks Sanitary District, creation of second addition to, 1946; and Consolidated Glen Oak Sanitary District, creation of first addition to, , 1947-1948
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Box
4
Folder
10
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Indian Hills, creation of Sanitary District, 1947; annexation, , 1949
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Box
4
Folder
11
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Town of Madison vs. Town of Blooming Grove annexation court case, 1947-1953
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Box
4
Folder
12
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South Madison annexations, 1947-1956; including Burr Oaks, S. Park Street, S. Beltline, Badger Road areas
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Box
4
Folder
13
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Oakridge Sanitary District, general bond issues, 1947-1951; Mayflower addition, , 1953; Beltline addition, , 1954; bond issues, , 1954-1955; Badger Extension of Beltline addition, , 1955-1957; Madison Shops Extension of Badger Extension of Beltline addition, , 1957-1958
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Box
4
Folder
14
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Rosa Road, sewer construction, 1948-1949; road extension, , 1952-1954
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Box
5
Folder
1
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Town Hall, condemnation of old building, 1949; purchase of site for new building, , 1956-1957
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Box
5
Folder
2
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Bradford-Reamer Sanitary District, first and second additions, 1949-1953, 1956
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Box
5
Folder
3
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Consolidated Glen Oaks Sanitary District, Terre Haute-Mark Twain-Burbank and Reis additions, 1950-1951
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Box
5
Folder
4
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Allan H. Skowlund vs. Town of Madison lawsuit, in regard to Westmorland School District #9, 1950-1952
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Box
5
Folder
5
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Badger Road Bridge and Badger Road Extension, construction, 1951-1955
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Box
5
Folder
6
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Consolidated Glen Oaks Sanitary District, Faust and Oakcrest addition, 1952; Dykeman addition, , 1952; Glen addition, , 1952-1953; L'Anglois addition, , 1952-1954; Glen Drive addition, , 1955; Shaw Court addition, , 1955; East Merrill Crest addition, , 1956
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Box
5
Folder
7
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Marlborough annexation and Marlborough roads bond issue, 1953-1954
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Box
5
Folder
8
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Odana Heights annexation, 1954-1955
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Box
5
Folder
9
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Highlands-Mendota Beach annexation, 1954-1957; Shorewood annexation, , 1956-1957
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Box
5
Folder
10
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Dale Avenue Sanitary District, creation of, 1955
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Box
5
Folder
11
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West Side Businessmen's Sanitary District, creation of, 1956
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Box
5
Folder
12
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Crestwood Sanitary District, bond issues, [1939], 1956-1957
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Box
5
Folder
13
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Issuance of $15,000 promissory note, dated May 7, 1957
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Box
5
Folder
14
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Edison and Isabel Fraust property acquisition, 1957
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Box
5
Folder
15
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21st Ward annexation, 1957-1958
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Box
5
Folder
16
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Miscellaneous annexations, 1947-1957
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Box
6
Folder
1
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Itemized statements for legal services, 1942-1958
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Box
6
Folder
2
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State Office Building Commission papers, 1948-1949
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Series: Subject File
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Box
6
Folder
3
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The Progressive Movement in Wisconsin, 1900-1946, 1961
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Box
6
Folder
4
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Lincoln Fellowship Papers, 1962-1971
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Long-Range Historic Sites Planning Committee Papers,
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Box
6
Folder
5
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Wisconsin Historic Sites Survey, c. 1968
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Box
6
Folder
6
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Report of the Long-Range Sites Planning Committee, 1970
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Box
6
Folder
7
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State and city parks miscellaneous brochures, correspondence and maps, c. 1968-1969
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Series: Personal and Miscellaneous Papers
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Box
6
Folder
8
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Correspondence, 1925-1971; selective service and papers, , 1942-1944; xeroxed newspaper article with photo, , 1943; programs, , 1943; minutes; agendas; short autobiography, , 1961; miscellaneous
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Series: Ernest N. Warner Papers
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Box
6
Folder
9
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Lincoln Centennial scrapbook, 1809-1909, compiled , c. 1913
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Box
7
Folder
1
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Personal and professional papers, 1890-1930, 1958
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Box
7
Folder
2
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Political papers, 1896-1922
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Box
7
Folder
3
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Civil Service file, 1905, [1916], [1939]
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