The Ernest Schirm Papers consist of correspondence, photographs, art school notebooks, mementos, circulars, and his “Working Man's Diary of Hard Times”, a series of sixteen loose leaf and two bound diaries, kept from his World War I days through 1969.
The correspondence, arranged chronologically, is comprised almost exclusively of letters to and from Schirm's elected representatives from 1941 to 1969, including Joseph McCarthy, Alexander Wiley, William Proxmire, Gaylord Nelson, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., and Philip F. La Follette, relating to Schirm's complaints or requests for information in reference to veterans' affairs, bills concerning veterans, foreign policy, communism, and other areas of interest to him. Many of the letters are marked with category titles, as though Schirm intended to paste them in his loose leaf diaries, which already contain many letters. In addition, there are a few letters that Schirm wrote to his mother from Europe during World War I.
The diaries contain clippings, photographs, circulars, correspondence, and mementos pasted onto notebook paper with Schirm's comments written in the margin. Hand sketches drawn by Schirm are also included from time to time. There are gaps in the record between World War I and the Depression; between the latter and Schirm's retirement in 1947; and during the 1950s when Schirm was concerned primarily with the Status of Forces Agreement. He did, however, fill the gaps somewhat by saving clippings from all years, pasting them into his books later and commenting on them in retrospect. In addition, he was a consistent letter writer over the years, and the correspondence file helps to fill the gaps.
He kept the most voluminous records from 1964 to 1969, with the heaviest concentration occurring in 1965. During that year Schirm kept almost a daily record, filling five notebooks in the process, with some chronological overlap. Whenever overlap occurred, the processor made no attempt to mix the contents of the notebooks, Rather, they are arranged in a rough chronological order, using the titles that Schirm gave them.
The diaries were in various stages of completion when received by the Society. The many blank pages (since removed) suggested that Schirm was actively engaged in working on his diaries at his death. He apparently often returned to his diaries, to read and reminisce, to make additional comments and to add such clippings as he felt were similar to the subject titles of the specific notebook. Some notebooks had many unrelated odds and ends shoved into them rather haphazardly. In those cases, the obvious extraneous matter was removed and either discarded or placed in a more appropriate location.
In both the diaries and his letters, Schirm was consistently concerned about veterans' affairs, U. S. foreign policy, government spending, the American Legion, communism, and art. In his later years he became increasingly absorbed with the Civil Rights movement and the Black Revolution. He was given to comparing conditions of the 1960s with the hard times he had known during the Depression. His point of view and the strength of his views changed with passing years; the joviality of his youth gave way to bitterness and at times an almost bigoted attitude towards the problems of America in the 1960s and towards the efforts of American political leaders to solve those problems. Many of the terms he employed were derisive, but are undoubtedly indicative of much of American public opinion of the time.
