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Scope and Content Note
The Broughton papers, chronologically arranged, are organized in five series: Correspondence, Articles and Speeches, News Clippings and Memoranda, Scrapbooks, and Photographs. It will be noted that many letters are cut diagonally in the upper left corner. Groups of letters had often been glued together at the corners, and cutting was considered the most satisfactory way to separate them quickly in arranging.
The Correspondence is largely related to business matters, newspaper work, and club activities. It illustrates the many subjects on which a vigorous and well-known editor receives communications and influences opinion. Several topics treated in the correspondence are worthy of particular note:
- Broughton's opposition to prohibition, and his public debates with Rev. Robert Gordon (1929-1933)
- Negotiations concerning the burial of Chief Kahquados, last of the Potawatomi chieftains (1930-1931)
- Problems of the Wisconsin cheese market, and hearings on charges of price fixing in connection with the farmer's call board of Plymouth (1931-1933)
- The campaign to force a legislative investigation of the state mental institutions (1934)
- Broughton's work as a member of the Democratic National Committee. Correspondence of this period shows particularly the relations of Democratic patronage and public jobs, especially in post offices (1932-1941). Letters are also concerned with state Democratic politics (1932-1952)
- The development of Horicon Marsh and Sheboygan Marsh, and the fight on pollution in the state (1930-1949)
- Activities as a national officer in the Elks (1940-1946).
Due to his newspaper work and his varied activities, Broughton received letters from many people of national reputation. A list of these follows:
|
Correspondent
|
Dates of Letters
|
| Allen, Robert S. |
January 6, 1941 |
| Arnold, H. H. |
November 26, 1943 |
| Barkley, Alben |
August 30, 1949 |
| Burton, Harold H. |
April 29, 1946 |
| Butler, Nicholas Murray |
February 26, 1929; November 6, 1933 |
| Byrnes, James F. |
January 13, 1947 |
| Cantor, Eddie |
December 29, 1933 |
| Catt, Carrie Chapman |
May 5, 1928 |
| Clapper, Raymond |
January 2, 1941 |
| Crowley, Leo T. |
(5 Letters) 1933-1941 |
| Cudahy, John |
(7 Letters) 1933-1941. Includes Letters from Poland: October 8, 1934, October 24, 1935; Ireland: November 16, 1938; Belgium: March 5, 1940 |
| Daniels, Josephus |
November 4, 1935 |
| Darrow, Clarence |
undated |
| Davies, Joseph E. |
May 13, 1940 |
| Debs, Eugene V. |
April 30, 1926 |
| Donaldson, J. M. |
October 17, 1949 |
| Douglas, William O. |
May 28, 1946 |
| Early, Stephen |
October 18, 1940 |
| Eisenhower, Dwight D. |
June 6, 1946 |
| Farley, James |
(Many Letters) 1933-1941 |
| Goodland, Walter S. |
(3 Letters) 1943-1947 |
| Harriman, Averill |
December 8, 1948 |
| Heil, Julius P. |
January 5, 1939; May 31, 1939 |
| Hoover, J. Edgar |
(5 Letters) 1936-1943 |
| Hopkins, Harry |
March 17, 1939 |
| Howe, Louis M. |
(Many Letters) 1932-1936 |
| Hull, Cordell |
September 23, 1943; Sept. 4, 1945 |
| Johnson, Hugh S. |
June 12, 1935 |
| Jones, Jesse |
February 16, 1945 |
| Kantor, McKinley |
October 30, 1940 |
| Knox, Frank |
April 22, 1939 |
| Kohler, Walter J., Jr. |
April 27, 1940; March 4, 1952 |
| Kohler, Walter J., Sr. |
(Many Letters) 1929-1940 |
| Landon, Alf |
December 28, 1937 |
| La Follette, Philip F. |
June 7, 1939 |
| La Follette, Robert M., Jr. |
October 7, 1925; May 25, 1929; September 9, 1931 |
| McCutcheon, John T. |
undated |
| McNutt, Paul V. |
April 26, 1940 |
| Marshall, George |
September 4, 1945 |
| Morgenthau, Henry, Jr. |
April 18, 1934 |
| Nelson, Gaylord |
October 19, 1949; October 28, 1949 |
| Pearson, Drew |
November 1, 1940 |
| Rennebohm, Oscar |
May 23, 1950 |
| Robinson, Edward G. |
September 5, 1940 |
| Roosevelt, Eleanor |
May 5, 1933; February 21, 1936; March 12, 1946 |
| Roosevelt, Franklin D. |
January 2, 1932; March 1, 1932; March 12, 1932; April 9, 1932; April 11, 1932; April 22, 1932; June 22, 1932; September 2, 1932; November 3, 1932; November 4, 1932; January 27, 1933; November 26, 1933; February 7, 1934; June 19, 1935; January 27, 1933 |
| Rubin, William |
(Many Letters) 1932-1952 |
| Schmedeman, A. G. |
(5 Letters) 1934-1941 |
| Spellman, Cardinal |
September 15, 1947 |
| Stritch, Archbishop |
September 27, 1932 |
| Tarbell, Ida |
May 7, 1928 |
| Truman, Harry |
December 17, 1948 |
| Wallace, Henry A. |
April 27, 1945 |
| Welles, Sumner |
November 29, 1945 |
| Willkie, Wendell L. |
December 4, 1943; April 11, 1944 |
| Zimmerman, Fred |
February 1, 1939 |
One other group of letters deserves mention only because of the letters written by one person. During World War II a great many soldiers and sailors wrote to Broughton, and among these letters the only ones of significant value are those from Tom Thomas written from North Africa and Italy. There are about a dozen of Thomas' letters, beginning in 1943, October. They are well written and descriptive.
Most of the Articles and Speeches contained in the Broughton papers treat of the same subjects as those listed above for the correspondence.
News Clippings and Memoranda: in addition to miscellaneous memoranda, there is information here on the investigation of state mental institutions, the Farmer's Call Board of Plymouth, and Horicon and Sheboygan Marshes.
The Scrapbooks contain news clippings, maps and letters on historical markers, the Horicon Marsh, civic activities, democratic activities, Broughton's trips and speeches, governor and senator possibilities, presidential campaigns, politics, news stories, personal items, and copies of Broughton's editorial column.
Photographs include images of improvements made to the Sheboygan Marsh County Park, 1932-1935; and incidents related to a 1952 goodwill “cruise” of a group from Sheboygan via Mackinac Island to Detroit, Michigan. Others are formal portraits of Broughton, informal poses, and images of events such as speaking engagements and radio interviews, primarily between 1922 and 1956.
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