Title: B. H. Meyer Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1877-1944

Creator:

• Meyer, Balthasar Henry, 1866-1954

Call Number: Wis Mss OK; 1894 June 9 Oversize

Quantity: 3.7 c.f. (17 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder)

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 B. H. Meyer, a native of Wisconsin who had a distinguished career as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, as a member of the Wisconsin Railroad Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission, and as an author of books and articles relating to government regulation of public carriers, especially railroads. The collection includes correspondence concerning the relationship of government and business, the advancement of education, and university administration. Also included are diaries and memoranda of his teaching in Wisconsin district schools in the 1880s, of a trip he made as a graduate student to Berlin, Germany, and of visits to Eastern universities; his notes and reports of student days at the U.W.; meteorological observations; certificates; and texts and notes of many of his speeches. Account books, business papers, an autobiography, and genealogical notes on the Meyer family are also included.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000ok

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Balthasar Henry Meyer was born at Mequon, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin on May 28, 1866. He attended local schools and in 1884 took a position as district school teacher in Wisconsin. Before he entered the Oshkosh State Normal School, he had advanced to district superintendent. He graduated from normal school in 1893 and the next year undertook advanced work at the University of Berlin. He entered the University of Wisconsin in 1895 as a graduate student and received a Ph.D. in 1897. He taught at the University of Wisconsin from 1897 to 1905, obtaining a full professorship in the Department of Political Economy in 1900. In 1905 he was granted leave from the University to serve on the Wisconsin Railroad Commission. President Taft appointed Meyer to the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1910, where he served until 1939. Mayer is the author of several books and many articles, chiefly on government regulation of transportation, especially railroads.

The B. H. Meyer Papers include correspondence, diaries, business papers and account books, student papers, speeches and other public statements, newspaper clippings, and other materials.

Extensive chronological correspondence, 1877-1944, consists of Meyer's personal files and does not directly concern the operations of government agencies with which he served. Very little of the correspondence, however, relates to family matters, and in fact there are few letters from or to members of his family. There are some letters in the correspondence dating from 1880 to 1920 from relatives and friends in Germany written in German which may or may not be concerned with family matters. The correspondence also contains little on politics. Meyer won his positions with the state and federal government because of his status as an expert and not because of any political affiliations. It seems that he neither sought nor received political help to secure or keep any of his positions.

Almost all of the correspondence consists of copies of letters to and letters from those interested in government regulation of large scale business, particularly the railroad business, including university professors, government elective office holders and administrators, and social reformers and writers. The interchange of ideas on government regulation among intellectuals of the day is probably the strength of the collection. Also some of the correspondence concerns the advancement of education in general and the curricula and administration of the University of Wisconsin in particular. Just a few of Meyer's more prominent correspondents were: Richard T. Ely, Charles R. Van Hise, Glenn Frank, E. R. A. Seligman, John O. Davidson, Francis E. McGovern, Robert La Follette, Sr. and Jr., Zona Gale, Hamlin Garland, Theodore Dreiser, and Yoshio Kinochita, director of Imperial Government Railroads of Japan. Meyer also received short notes from Presidents Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt, mostly invitations to receptions and notices of appointments to the I.C.C. Meyer seems to have been particularly friendly with Hoover. The two Roosevelt letters concern the President's refusal to reappoint Meyer to the I.C.C. which forced his retirement. In the 1939 correspondence are letters, mostly from officers of railroad companies, congratulating Meyer on his “long and efficient” service with the I.C.C. Also present is a volume made up of letters relating to the work of the Railroad Securities Commission, 1910-1911.

One folder contains diaries and memoranda books which cover his experiences teaching district school (October 1885 - July 1886), his trip to Berlin (July-October 1894), and his visits to universities in the East while on a leave from the University of Wisconsin (February-July 1901).

Business Papers, circa 1879-circa 1924, include account books, receipts, bills, land contracts, business agreements, and check stubs.

Student Papers, circa 1878-1897, consist of notebooks, lecture notes, and examination papers, and themes and reports from Meyer's student career at Oshkosh State Normal, the University of Berlin, and the University of Wisconsin.

Speeches, Essays, Remarks, etc., 1884-1941, comprise three boxes. Meyer's prominence as a professor and government administrator created a demand for him among editors and organizations as a writer and speaker. Outlines and summaries, complete texts of some of these speeches and articles, together with memoranda on policy and operation to the I.C.C., biographical sketches of I.C.C. members, reports, and proceedings of committee meetings are included. Most of these manuscripts were prepared by Meyer, but included in this group are some speeches, etc. presented by friends. Doubtless much of this material has been printed in magazines, newspapers, reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and elsewhere. These papers are arranged chronologically.

One box of Newspaper Clippings, 1890-1940, contains excerpts and comments on many of Meyer's speeches, and comments about Meyer's work with the Wisconsin Railroad Commission and the I.C.C.

The collection also contains Meyer's autobiography and genealogical notes about the Meyer family as well as a partial bibliography of Meyer's writings; oversize diplomas and certificates; meteorological observations and a file titled “Henry Keene - Antecedents of the Commerce Clause.”

Acquisition Information

Presented by B. H. Meyer, June 1947. Several items presented by Kenneth C. Barnes, January 1947.

Wis Mss OK	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1-4	1877-1907
Box   2 Folder   1-5	1908-1910
Box   3 Folder   1-5	1911-1918
Box   3 Folder   6	Francis H. Sisson
Box   4 Folder   1-4	1919-1924
Box   5 Folder   1-5	1925-1930
Box   6 Folder   1-4	1931-1938
Box   7 Folder   1-3	1939-1944, undated
Box   15	Programs, Invitations, Miscellany (unfoldered)
Box   16 Folder   4	Letters Relating to Work of Railroad Securities Commission (volume)
Box   8 Folder   1	Diaries
Box   8 Folder   3-4	Business Papers
Box   16 Folder   1	Account Book, 1879-1892 (volume)
Box   16 Folder   2	Account Book, 1888-1913 (volume)
Box   16 Folder   3	Account Book, 1890-1897 (volume)
Box   17 Folder   1	Account Book, 1893-1898 (volume)
Box   9-10	Student Papers, circa 1878-1897 (unfoldered)
	Speeches, Essays, Remarks, etc. (unfoldered)
Box   11	1884-1900
Box   12	1901-1919
Box   13	1921-1941
Box   14 Folder   1-4	Newspaper Clippings, 1890-1940, undated
	Other Papers
Box   8 Folder   2	Autobiographical Notes; Partial List of Published Articles and Speeches
Box   7 Folder   4	Fredonia, Wisconsin - Meteorological Observations, 1888-1889
Box   7 Folder   5	“Henry Keene - Antecedents of the Commerce Clause”
File 1894 June 9 Oversize	Diplomas and Certificates