A diverse collection of papers document Marion G. Ogden's many years as a Milwaukee social reformer. The bulk of the papers cover the period 1900-1920, the three decades when she was most active in the child welfare and juvenile court movements. Some items of earlier and later dates are scattered throughout several series of the materials, and it is evident that Miss Ogden retained her interest in the problems of urban children long after her active participation and leadership in organizations had diminished. The collection covers the activities, thought, and contributions of one social activist attempting to cope with the problems of urban youth during the Progressive era in Wisconsin, and therein lies its major significance. No records of her association with the Milwaukee County Historical Society are in this collection.
Correspondence includes both incoming (arranged alphabetically, 1907-1970), and outgoing (arranged chronologically from 1907 to 1967), primarily with other people concerned with child welfare legislation.
Writings of Miss Ogden's include: addresses and articles on various topics concerning child welfare; and journals, diaries, and record books, 1901-1924. These are filled with her ideas on child welfare reform and much information on Wisconsin's early treatment of juveniles.
The materials on Child Welfare are divided in two parts: 1) papers on general child welfare activities and philosophies, including addresses, broadsides, clippings, handbooks, newsletters, pamphlets, and documents of the farm School, a foster home at Lad Lake, which Miss Ogden sponsored; and 2) papers by or about Milwaukee organizations, concerned with child welfare and social reform, including reports, a scrapbook and miscellaneous documents.
Juvenile Court materials include drafts of a Juvenile Court law, 1901-1905; miscellaneous papers, statistics, and studies; visiting committee reports; and materials on the Juvenile Court of Denver, Colorado, headed by Miss Ogden's contemporary, Judge Ben B. Lindsey.
Legislative Papers document Miss Ogden's efforts to secure legislation promoting child welfare. These consist of working papers and drafts of bills from both the Senate and Assembly, and papers and minutes from the Children's Code Committee and the Legislative Committee on Child Welfare.
A Chronology of Papers is also included which is Ogden's listing of important dates and papers in the collection.
Milwaukee SC 5 contains reports and notebooks on child welfare in Milwaukee, particularly the Milwaukee Children's Betterment League, and five typed manuscripts by Ogden on early Milwaukee and Delafield, Wisconsin, and on the Ogden family.
Milwaukee SC 48 contains photographs and an essay on the resort hotel Draper Hall, built by Martin T. Draper in 1869 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
