Abstract: Correspondence and other records of a law firm established in Green Bay in 1890 by Eleazer Holmes Ellis and Carlton Merrill. The firm accepted all types of cases, but dealt primarily in corporate and property law. The records include files of correspondence with clients, 1890-1905; less complete information about the financial operation of the firm, 1879-1903; records of cases handled in circuit court, 1873-1894; and some records of real estate sales and the collection of rents by the attorneys, 1861-1895.

Abstract: Papers and photographs of John W. Alley, a UW-Milwaukee photographer and instructor. He was a photojournalist in the U.S. and abroad, and also served as chief photographer at the University of Michigan and for the government of American Samoa. The collection is primarily focused on his photographic works, including slides and negatives.

Abstract: Records of the union that represented employees of Jockey International's sewing plant at Kenosha, Wis. from 1934 until Kenosha operations ceased in 1994. Administrative records comprise the bulk of the collection containing executive, regular, and bargaining committee meeting minutes; steward files; correspondence; election materials; and financial records. However, also contained are collective bargaining records and materials relating to wage and piece rates, employee grievances, health and pension plans, and seniority. Also contained are some company issued materials relevant to labor issues and the union.

Abstract: Papers, dating mainly 1882-1939, of Richard Ely, an economist, educator, reformer, and faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Wisconsin, and Northwestern University. Also included are genealogical information and records of several academic, patriotic, and reform organizations which Ely helped found, including the American Association for Agricultural Legislation, American Bureau of Industrial Research, Christian Social Union, Ely Economic Foundation, Institute for Economic Research, Institute for Research in Land Economics and Public Utilities, League to Enforce Peace-Wisconsin Branch, and Wisconsin Loyalty Legion.

Abstract: Tape recordings of two University of Wisconsin-Madison campus events concerning the American Indian Movement: a November 13, 1973, speech by AIM leader Clyde (Vernon) Bellecourt to solicit support for the defendants arrested at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and a February 3, 1974, forum held in observance of “Native American Week” which featured Wounded Knee defendant Dennis Banks, Wisconsin AIM leader Herb Powless, and Bellecourt.

Abstract: Incomplete papers, mainly 1910-1940, of James A. Frear, a Hudson, Wisconsin lawyer and Progressive Republican who held numerous elective offices in state and federal government: assemblyman, 1902-1904; state senator, 1904-1906; secretary of state, 1907-1913; and congressman, 1913-1935. Much of the congressional correspondence is of a routine, congratulatory nature, with letters of autograph value from Presidents Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; Theodore Barton; Guytzon Borglum; Harry Daughtery; John N. Garner; and Gifford Pinchot. Of greater interest are files on an unofficial 1923 congressional tour of Russia meant to re-establish trade relations; Frear's criticism of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, particularly regarding New York Indians; responses from Eleanor Roosevelt, Jeannette Rankin, and others regarding his peace referendum proposal; and correspondence with Cordell Hull, Harold Ickes, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., and others to secure an appointment to the Tariff Commission in 1934. There are also letters of note from John Collier and Edward Keating. Personal correspondence concerns land investments in eastern Montana and the distribution of Frear's autobiography which was published by a vanity press. Best documenting his national political career are weekly letters distributed to district newspapers and campaign literature. These letters also describe his international travel. Frear's early political career is covered only by clippings, 1903-1904, which treat his years in the Assembly. Frear's autobiography, Forty Years of Progressive Public Service, is in the Historical Society's Library.