Title: William J. Patterson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1894-1954

Creator:

• Patterson, William J. (William James), 1880-1955

Call Number: Wis Mss SO

Quantity: 2.0 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:

Correspondence, memoranda, diaries, and speeches of William J. Patterson, a railroad man who served in the Interstate Commerce Commission's United States Bureau of Safety and as commissioner of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), 1939-1953. Diaries describe his work on the railroads in the Dakotas and the southwestern United States (1901-1913), and his travels around the country as a railroad safety inspector, director of the Bureau of Safety, and ICC commissioner. Personal correspondence includes discussions of railroading with others interested in transportation problems. Professional correspondence deals largely with the ICC and includes letters from General Carl R. Gray, director of the Military Railway Service in Europe, 1944-1945. In the collection are also some papers from the files of W. P. Borland, who preceded Patterson at the ICC, including some correspondence, 1903-1912, and speeches, memoranda, and opinions on the Safety Appliance Act, 1903.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000so

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William J. Patterson was born at Neenah, Wisconsin, June 4, 1880. He graduated from high school at Boyd, Wisconsin and took the Trainmen's Course from the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania. At the age of 17 he started in railroad service as a call boy for the Wisconsin Central Railway at Stevens Point. He later became a brakeman, fireman, switchman, and conductor on various roads, the last being the Northern Pacific. While in railroad service Patterson was active in representing employees in negotiations with employers.

In 1914 Patterson received a civil service appointment to become an inspector of safety appliances for the Interstate Commerce Commission, and remained in that work until 1918. He then became Assistant Director of the Bureau of Safety, ICC, and from 1934 to 1939 was the Bureau's Director. It was during his years with the Bureau of Safety that Patterson became an expert on safety in rail transportation, especially in the use of signals and safety appliances. He helped to develop means of preventing accidents to trains traveling under hazardous conditions and did much to increase the safety of railroad travel.

In July, 1939, Patterson was appointed Commissioner for the Interstate Commerce Commission, serving there until his retirement in 1953. He was chairman of the Commission in 1944, and was the member to whom the Bureau of Safety reported. During World War II he was cited for distinguished service for his work in war transportation involving troop movements, and for investigations into the feasibility of “black out” signal lights. While a Commissioner he also represented the United States at foreign sessions of the International Labor Organization's Inland Transport Committee, serving on subcommittees concerned with railroads, employment, and methods of selection of workers for inland transport.

As a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission Patterson was known as a “practical railroader” who spoke the language of railroad men, and perhaps had a wider acquaintance among railroad people than any other person in government service.

Upon retirement from government service in July, 1953 Patterson became a consultant for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was also certified to practice before the Interstate Commerce Commission at this time.

William J. Patterson and his wife Margaret had two children, William A. and Jane. He died in Washington, D.C. on November 24, 1955.

The William J. Patterson Papers are represented by correspondence, memoranda, and diaries kept by Patterson. Because Mr. Patterson had previously organized his files to some extent, his papers do not follow true chronological arrangement in this collection.

Correspondence between 1939 and 1953, when he was Commissioner, remains grouped alphabetically, with chronological order being followed in each group. All other correspondence and papers are grouped by subject, those concerning a particular subject being arranged chronologically. Letters from Patterson are filed under the addressee's name; all other letters are filed under the writer's name except in special cases noted, or are stapled to other letters to which they are most closely related.

The Patterson correspondence is composed chiefly of official and semiofficial letters written during his 39 years with the ICC. Of the personal letters contained in the collection, most are associated with railroad men and their work, or with persons interested in other phases of transportation. The correspondence as a whole falls into two periods, 1914-1939, when Patterson was in the Bureau of Safety of the ICC; and 1939-1953, when Patterson was a Commissioner with the ICC.

The diaries of 1901 and 1913 cover dates when Patterson was working for railroads in the Dakota area and the Southwest; diaries and appointment books subsequent to 1914 record his movements about the country, first as a railroad safety inspector for ICC, then as Director of the Bureau of Safety, and finally as a Commissioner. The diaries covering dates when Patterson attended the ILO Inland Transport Committee sessions in Europe (December, 1945; May, 1947; May, 1949; and December, 1951) contain many references to appointments he made and people he met or with whom he had business. Diaries of these dates also make reference to subcommittees organized at the sessions, and U.S. representatives on these committees.

Because of his official position in connection with railroads, Patterson often corresponded with other people of importance, particularly in government affairs. Letters to and from General Carl R. Gray, a personal friend, were frequent during 1944 through 1945 when General Gray was Director General of Military Railway Service in Europe. The collection contains a letter from President Harry Truman (January 16, 1953) complimenting Patterson on his long service to the ICC. Letters from men such as Dean Acheson, Alben Barkley, Burton K. Wheeler, and Henry L. Stimson will be found in “Correspondence, 1939-1953.”

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. William J. Patterson, July 2, 1956.

Wis Mss SO	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	1918-1939, May 10
	1939-1953
Box   1 Folder   2-8	A-G
Box   2 Folder   1-12	H-R
Box   3 Folder   1-7	S-Z
	Diaries, 1901, 1914, September-1954
Box   3 Package   1-5	Unbound
Box   3 Volume   1-3	Bound
Box   3 Volume   4	Book of Dates of Special Interest, 1931-1944
Box   3 Volume   5-10	Appointment Books, 1948-1953
Box   4 Folder   1-3	Speeches, 1925, 1940-1953
	Congratulatory Letters
Box   4 Folder   4	On Appointment to ICC Chairmanship, 1943-1944
Box   4 Folder   5	On Reappointment, 1945-1946
Box   4 Folder   6	On Exemption from Compulsory Retirement, 1950
Box   4 Folder   7	Transit Subcommittee Investigation, 1949-1954 Scope and Content Note: Concerns investigation by a Congressional subcommittee of reasons for purchase of the Capital Transit Company by the Wolfson Group. Purchase was made in 1949 when Patterson was a Commissioner; investigation was made in 1954.
Box   4 Folder   8	Biographies, Memoranda, Clippings, 1944 Note: Includes ICC memoranda kept in 1944, the year Patterson was chairman of ICC.
	ILO (International Labor Organization), Inland Transport Committee Scope and Content Note: Contains personal information, notes, and mimeographed copies of agenda and proceedings at four sessions.
Box   5 Folder   1	First session, London, England, December 1945
Box   5 Folder   2	Second session, Geneva, Switzerland, May 1947
Box   5 Folder   3	Third session, Brussels, Belgium, May 1949
Box   5 Folder   4	Fourth session, Genoa, Italy, December 1951
Box   5 Folder   5	W. P. Borland Correspondence, 1903-1912 Note: Borland preceded Patterson with ICC, first entering the office in 1904, and later becoming Secretary of the Block Signal Train Control Board.
Box   5 Folder   6	Memoranda and Opinions on the Safety Appliance Act Note: This material may be from the files of W. P. Borland.
Box   5 Folder   7	Testimony on Rights of Railroad Examiners, Accidents, and Federal Regulations Note: This material may be from the files of W. P. Borland.
Box   6	Addresses given by Patterson while director of the Bureau of Safety, 1934-1939