Summary Information
Guilford M. Wiley Papers
1899-1966
- Wiley, Guilford M., 1880-1955
La Crosse Mss AO
1.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes)
UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of a two-term Wisconsin Assembly representative (Republican from Trempealeau County) and school administrator, and of his wife, Beulah Arnold Wiley. Included are incomplete files of correspondence, mainly concerning legislative matters; bills and proposed legislation; materials collected for legislative reference; a few files related to his career as school superintendent and education in general; personal diaries; and school notebooks of Mr. and Mrs. Wiley.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx00ao ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Guilford M. Wiley was born July 10, 1880, in Whiteland, Indiana. He was educated in both rural and city schools. After studying at Franklin College (1898-1902) and Indiana University (1905), he received a B.A. from De Pauw University in 1906.
Wiley taught in rural schools in Argyle, Illinois (1900-1901), and Trafalgar, Indiana (1901-1902), and at Whiteland High School, Whiteland, Indiana (1902-1904), where he was also assistant principal. He was principal, Clark Township High School, 1904-1906; teacher and assistant principal, Franklin (Indiana) High School, 1906-1907; teacher and athletic director, Decatur (Illinois) High School, 1907-1910; and teacher, Detroit University School. He also helped the Indiana Department of Public Instruction consolidate its rural schools. During his career as an educator, Wiley taught history, Latin, mathematics, and economics, as well as coaching basketball and baseball. In about 1911, Wiley co-founded and helped operate Birchwood Summer School, connected to Birchwood Lodge, Mullet Lake, Michigan. This was a tutoring school for boys. In 1918, he moved to Galesville, Wisconsin, as principal of public schools. Three years later, Wiley became principal of Central High School in La Crosse, a position he held until 1926. Subsequently, Wiley became superintendent of schools in La Crosse and later, for Trempealeau County.
Under his leadership in La Crosse, the school system began the first school for crippled children, a summer playground program, and a junior high school program. Wiley oversaw the reorganization of the departments of educational guidance and curriculum. Wiley also was a member of a national committee to study school location and finance, and he served as secretary and president of the Western Wisconsin Teachers Association.
Following his career as school administrator, Wiley was secretary and vice-president of Arnold Dryer Co., Milwaukee, a manufacturer of machinery for dehydrating green forage crops. He also maintained a Galesville farm and seed corn business with his son.
A staunch Republican, Wiley was elected to the State Assembly from Trempealeau County in 1946. He ultimately served two terms. While in the legislature he was instrumental in promoting legislation to aid schools and the State's universities, and to improve Perrot State Park. After he left the legislature, Wiley wrote “The Legislative Log,” a column analyzing the legislative sessions, which appeared in many Wisconsin newspapers. In 1952, Wiley was a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, but lost to incumbent George Smith at the State Convention.
Following his retirement from politics, Wiley taught high school in Otwell, Indiana, in 1954, and at a ranch school for boys in Miami, Florida, early in 1955. He was prominent in the Galesville and La Crosse Presbyterian Churches, as an elder and as field secretary to the National Council of Presbyterian Men. Wiley suffered a heart attack and died in May 1955, at the age of 75. He was survived by his wife, Beulah Arnold Wiley, and children.
Scope and Content Note
The collection has been arranged into four series: Correspondence, Legislative Files, Personal Papers, and Personal Papers of Beulah Arnold Wiley. None of the series is comprehensive, and the researcher gains no more than a glimpse into Wiley's professional and personal lives. Wiley's CORRESPONDENCE, 1930-1950, mainly pertains to his work as superintendent of schools in La Crosse and Trempealeau County, and his activities in the State Assembly.
His LEGISLATIVE FILES, which are quite small, reflect his interest in education and his support of legislation to aid school districts and the State's universities. In particular, Wiley supported legislation to institute a State Board of Higher Education, and school consolidation measures. There are also copies of a few bills introduced by Wiley (bills not sponsored by Wiley were discarded), sparse committee files, and small files of letters and other papers on a few subjects of interest to him. These latter files deal with the licensing of farm auctioneers, county courts, highways, Perrot Park, state income taxes, and veterans' affairs. There are a few of Wiley's radio talks and speeches; Republican Party records, including a few handwritten election results; and correspondence and copy for “The Legislative Log,” Wiley's newspaper column.
PERSONAL PAPERS include scattered materials concerning Wiley's experiences as a teacher at Birchwood Summer School and Marinuka Lodge; his diaries, 1899, 1947-1951, and a diary of his son, Arnold, 1926; a school notebook; small files reflecting Wiley's activities with La Crosse schools and education and with the Presbyterian church; and a few legal papers concerning Wiley's estate.
PERSONAL PAPERS OF BEULAH ARNOLD WILEY include three letters to Mrs. Wiley; notebooks kept while she was a girl (1902) and as a student at Rockford College, 1907-1908; a few materials from her career as a school teacher, including her certificate permitting her to teach second grade in Wisconsin; a journal kept during a family Western trip, 1932; small files from her activities with the La Crosse Music Study Club and La Crosse YWCA; and a few legal papers concerning the estate of Elizabeth Stone, a portion of which Mrs. Wiley inherited.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Beulah A. Wiley, Galesville, Wisconsin, 1960, 1973; and by Mary Runnestrand, Ettrick, Wisconsin, 1973. Accession Number: M60-107, 73-164, 73-201, 73-448.
Processed by Lare Mischo and Joanne Hohler, 1974, and by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, April 1986.
Contents List
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Box
1
Folder
1-8
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Series: Correspondence, July 21, 1930-February 14, 1950, n.d.
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Series: Legislative Files
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Licensing of Auctioneers, 1944-1949, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Assembly and Senate Bills, 1941-1951
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Conservation Department - Papers re: Perrot Park, 1947-1950, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
2
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County Courts, 1945-1947, n.d.
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Education and School Aids
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Box
2
Folder
3-5
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School Aids Bill (Bill 390-A, State Board of Higher Education) - Correspondence, Resolutions, and Drafts, 1931-1950, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Special Committee on Education, 1948
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Trempealeau County Data on School Consolidation, 1949
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Box
2
Folder
8
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General Legislative, 1947-1950, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Income Tax - Reference Materials re: Indiana Tax, 1947
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Legislative Council, Committee on State Budget, 1947-1950
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Box
2
Folder
11
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General Political Files, 1941-1952, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
12
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Radio Talks and Speeches, 1947-1949, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
13
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Republican Party Papers and Election Results, 1946-1953, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
14
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Resolutions by Oshkosh Taxpayers Association, 1948
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Trempealeau County Board Files, 1948-1950
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Trempealeau County Highways, 1946-1949, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Veterans' Housing and Affairs, 1947-1948, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
4
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“The Legislative Log,” 1947, 1950-1951, n.d.
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Series: Personal Papers
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Box
3
Folder
5
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Birchwood Summer School and Marinuka Lodge, 1912-1915
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Box
3
Folder
6
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Conference on “The Crisis in Elementary Education,” Eau Claire, 1949
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Box
3
Folder
7
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Diaries, 1899, 1947-1951; Diary of Arnold Wiley (son), , 1926
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Box
3
Folder
8
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General Education Papers, 1926-1949, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
9
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La Crosse Federation of Teachers, 1940
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Box
3
Folder
10
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Legal Papers, 1953-1964
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Box
3
Folder
11
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Miscellaneous, 1932-1953, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
12
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School Notebook, 1907-1908
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Box
3
Folder
13
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Presbyterian Activities, 1945-1951, n.d.
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Series: Personal Papers of Beulah Arnold Wiley
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Box
3
Folder
14
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Letters to Mrs. Wiley, 1908-1930
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School Notebooks
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Box
3
Folder
15
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1902, 1907-1908
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Box
4
Folder
1-3
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1907-1908
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Box
4
Folder
4
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La Crosse Music Study Club, 1922-1938, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
5
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La Crosse YWCA, 1935-1938, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
6
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Papers About Elizabeth Stone, 1960-1966
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Box
4
Folder
7
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School and Teaching Records, 1905-1910, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
8
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Journal of Western Trip, 1932
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