Title: Hilton E. Hanna Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1938-1983

Creator:

• Hanna, Hilton E. (Hilton Edward)

Call Number: M88-010

Quantity: 10.8 c.f. (10 record center cartons, 1 flat box, and 1 card box), 2 tape recordings, and 0.2 c.f. of photographs (1 archives box)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Hilton E. Hanna, an international vice-president of the Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workmen of America, primarily documenting his work as executive assistant to Secretary-Treasurer Patrick Gorman and his personal involvement in labor education groups in Madison, Wisconsin from the 1950s into the late 1970s. Also documented is Hanna's role as writer for union and other publications, as contributor to local public radio programs, speech writer, and co-author of Pat Gorman's biography. Photographs document Hanna's general career and labor activities and provide the only documentation here of his work as a labor specialist for the State Department in Nigeria and Ghana in 1955.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-m88010

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The Hanna Papers consist of BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, CORRESPONDENCE AND SUBJECT FILES and SPEECHES AND WRITINGS.

Although the CORRESPONDENCE AND SUBJECT FILES series originally contained some identifiable, organic files, the majority of the boxes were received in the Archives in a very disorganized condition. The correspondence, for example, consisted of some organized and appropriately labeled files (now labeled as the chronological correspondence, 1960-1966), but much other correspondence was disorganized and often not even foldered. This material was arranged in the Archives into personal and union-related categories. The personal correspondence includes financial matters and many handwritten cards and letters from friends, family, and close professional associates.

The subject files in the series document Hanna's duties for the union and his relationship with Patrick Gorman as well as some personal activities and interests. The union activities range from researching and writing a book-length biography of Gorman to shipping clothing to the secretary-treasurer left behind during an overseas trip. Hanna's duties are most concisely represented in the weekly reports that describe his daily activities and expenditures. These reports exist only for the years 1960 to 1969. The schedule information in the weekly reports is complemented by desk calendars which were retained only for the years not represented by the reports. Although the desk calendars are generally quite sketchy in comparison with the weekly reports, those for 1964 and 1969-1970 are almost diary-like in character.

The subject files include many folders filed under the Gorman heading. Here may be found direct exchanges between the two men as well as copies of some Gorman correspondence and memoranda that were circulated to Hanna for purely informational purposes. Gorman's typed green memos and “verbal bouquets” are particularly useful for documenting their personal relationship. Also here are extensive files on travel by Gorman and several fundraising testimonials that Hanna managed. Almost an entire carton documents Hanna's position (originally on Gorman's behalf) on the Eugene Debs Foundation. These files include minutes, correspondence with Ned Bush, and information on the annual Debs Award. The award files include photographs and a recording of A. Philip Randolph, recipient of the 1967 award.

The Hanna Papers suggest little involvement with the day-to-day activities of the International Union. The exception to this concerns the 1975 strike of Milwaukee Local 248. Perhaps because he was from Wisconsin, Hanna had a special role in the strike negotiations which is well documented in the papers.

Hanna also served as the AMC representative to union activities at the Smithsonian in 1976. The files about this responsibility include paper files and photographs of butchers at work on the Mall. The original collection included numerous cartons of routine documentation concerning Hanna's management of the union's automobile fleet. Only policy correspondence and memoranda have been retained on this topic, however. Finally, and perhaps most curiously among the AMC material, is the collected research materials about Krebiozin, a topic which appears to have been a special interest for Gorman.

Hanna's personal interests are represented in the Subject Files by several folders on the Madison Urban League (MUL) of which he was president. However, perhaps because he resided in Chicago at the same time, few items relate to Hanna's personal involvement with MUL. Instead, the documentation consists chiefly of mimeographed minutes and reports mailed to him. Because no similar organizational records were held by the Archives when the Hanna papers were appraised and reaccessioned in 2001, Hanna's files were retained. More important are correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and attendance lists for the Workers Education Bureau and the Religion and Labor Fellowship, two Madison labor organizations with which Hanna was associated as a founder. The School for Workers documentation, with which he was also involved, consists only of songbooks. The folder “Madison Labor Correspondence” contains several isolated items: a 1949 letter to Nathan Feinsinger from Hanna on behalf of the Wisconsin State Branch of Butchers and a 1954 invitation from Hanna to form a Madison Industrial Council. Neither organization is elsewhere represented in the collection, nor is there any documentation relating to Hanna's graduate research on collective bargaining done while an employee at the Oscar Mayer plant in Madison or to his membership in the Madison AMC local.

In part reflecting the political position of the Meat Cutters union, Hanna was involved in the anti-Vietnam War and the civil rights movements, but these activities are only hinted at by the paper documentation. The collection does include many candid photographs that he took at the 1971 March on Washington of Bella Abzug, Jesse Jackson, John Kerry, Coretta Scott King, and others. Black and white photographs are the only documentation about Hanna's trip to Guyana in 1955. Elsewhere Hanna appears in photographs with various union leaders such as Whitney Young.

The SPEECHES AND WRITINGS series is arranged alphabetically by type. The most important and extensive files are the speeches, the radio scripts, and the editorial files on his book, Picket and the Pen: The Pat Gorman Story, but there are also articles, pamphlets, and a deck of labor history playing cards, the research for which was an early project assigned to Hanna by Gorman. The labor history cards each bear the portrait and a brief biography of leaders in the organized labor movement. The supporting documentation consists of correspondence and draft biographies. The articles consist of clipped materials from The Butcher Workman, but the file is probably only a small portion of Hanna's contributions to the magazine, since he worked for the Butcher Workman at one time as a feature writer. The union pamphlets include “The Steward and His Job” (revised, 1959) and two pamphlets about inspection written for the Poultry Department: “Congress Should Probe Sick and Diseased Poultry” (1954) and “Check That Chick: Protect Your Health” (1955).

The radio scripts, approximately 1/2 cubic foot of paper, are among the most important documentation in the collection. They consist of typescripts, mainly 1941-1942, of the Workers Service Radio Program, a statewide Wisconsin WPA project. Although the scripts are unsupported by administrative papers, Hanna appears to have been identified with many, perhaps all of the programs, as producer, researcher, and, sometimes, on-the-air host. The scripts document programs that focused on labor and cooperative topics that aired under several program titles on stations WIBA, WHA, and WFHR. Many prominent Wisconsin labor leaders, as well as rank and file workers appeared as guests on these programs. The card index files identify programs broadcast by other radio stations that are not represented by the scripts. Again, because of the lack of supporting documentation the connection of these broadcasts to the Wisconsin School for Workers is unknown, although there is a single 1938 script for a program in which Hanna appeared that is identified as a School for Workers production.

Hanna's public speaking is represented by final drafts and by one recorded speech. They are of interest not only for the content of the remarks made both independently and for AMC, but also for his themes and manner of presentation. One clipping in the biography file from The Oratory of Negro Leaders, 1900-1968 by Marcus Boulware ranks Hanna as one of the leading Black speakers in the country and an interview with George Vukelich describes his oratorical training at Tuskegee Institute. Unfortunately for these research purposes, the papers include only one recording of Hanna, a 1969 talk to the South Dakota Farmers Union. The largest part of the Speeches and Writings series consists of correspondence and draft materials for Picket and the Pen: The Pat Gorman Story, which Hanna co-authored with Joseph Belsky in 1960. The correspondence includes many exchanges with Max Raddock, and many reader comments.

The draft materials are not complete. Instead of beginning with an initial draft, the documentation appears to begin at the galley stage, normally the final stage of production, that were subsequently extensively revised. From this point on in the editorial process, the collection includes various categories of revisions, which are roughly arranged as handwritten notes, lengthy chapter revisions, shorter miscellaneous revisions, and insertions which tend to be shorter still. Most are linked to the galleys by an internal numbering system. This material was retained primarily as evidence of text added or deleted from the book, because Hanna's bibliography and footnotes indicate only limited use of the AMC records. The printed book is an inscribed copy in the Wisconsin Historical Society Library.

Other books with which Hanna was involved include Fifty Golden Years; Friendly Chats on This and That (1968); and “Mr. Amalgamated” (circa 1976), a selection of Gorman's poetry and writings, all of which Hanna edited for publication. All of these are available in the Wisconsin Historical Society Library, and there is no documentation about their creation in the papers.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Hilton E. Hanna, Madison, Wisconsin; and by the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen, Chicago, Illinois. Accession Number: M61-063, M61-063-1, M62-222, M64-255, M64-280, M64-292, M64-297, M65-336, M66-121, M69-366, M70-072, M70-148, M71-150, M75-516, M76-156, M76-223, M77-090, M77-105, M77-555, M79-215, M81-137, M81-595, M88-010

M88-010	Series: Biographical Information
Box   1 Folder   1-6	Calendars, 1958, 1963, 1964, January-June, 1969, 1970-1972
Box   1 Folder   7	Clippings
PH M88-010	Photographs of Hanna's general career, his involvement in the Debs Foundation, labor activities at the Smithsonian in 1976, the , 1971 March on Washington, and his work as a labor specialist for the State Department in Nigeria and Ghana in , 1955.
M88-010	Series: Correspondence and Subject Files	⇧
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   8-15	Personal, 1955-1979, undated
	General Note: Originally with Weekly Reports.
Box   1 Folder   16-23	1960-1962
Box   2 Folder   1-8	1963-1965
Box   2 Folder   9-15	Chronological, 1966-1969
	Subject files
Box   2 Folder   16	AFL
Box   2 Folder   17	Abraham Lincoln Center and Gorman dinner, 1975
Box   2 Folder   18	Africa
Box   2 Folder   19	Amalgamated Labor Life Insurance Company
Box   2 Folder   20	Amalgamated Press
Box   2 Folder   21	Anti-Vietnam War
Box   2 Folder   22	Automobiles
Box   2 Folder   23	BEEP Labor-Management Class, 1972
	Belsky, Joe
Box   2 Folder   24	General
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Histradrut testimonial, 1975
Box   3 Folder   3	Bennett, Phil
Box   3 Folder   4	Berry, Willie, 1968
Box   3 Folder   5-6	Bicentennial exhibit at the Smithsonian, circa 1976
Box   12 Folder   1	Oversize brochure
Box   3 Folder   7	Blum, Ken
Box   3 Folder   8	Boy Scouts
Box   3 Folder   9	Boyd, Jack
Box   3 Folder   10	Boyle, Mary
Box   3 Folder   11	Burns, Bill
Box   3 Folder   12-13	Butcher Workman (General and cover response, 1971)
Box   3 Folder   14	COPE, 1973
Box   3 Folder   15	Clifton, Caldwell
Box   3 Folder   16	Chicago Commission on Human Relations, 1957
Box   3 Folder   17	Christmas
Box   3 Folder   18	Civil Rights
Box   3 Folder   19	Coalition of Labor Union Women
Box   3 Folder   20	Collective bargaining stamp
Box   3 Folder   21	Community Welfare Council. Committee on Aging, 1953-1954
Box   3 Folder   22	Convention souvenir book, 1964
	Debs, Eugene V.
Box   3 Folder   23	Walls and Bars reprint, 1973
	Foundation, award, and citizenship restoration
Box   3 Folder   24-34	1959-1975
Box   4 Folder   1-4	1976-1979
Box   4 Folder   5	Foundation literature
Box   4 Folder   8	Play by Kurt Dreyfus, circa 1977
Sound Archive	Recorded speech by A. Philip Randolph, 1967
Box   4 Folder   6	Dickow, Ray
Box   4 Folder   7	Dining room
Box   4 Folder   9	Ecuador, 1956
Box   4 Folder   10	Farm workers
Box   4 Folder   11	Feinglass, Abe
Box   4 Folder   12	Files description
Box   4 Folder   13	“Forward in Unity” script, 1969
Box   4 Folder   14	“Friendly Chats” inventory
Box   4 Folder   15	Gandhi Centennial Committee, 1970
Box   4 Folder   16	General labor correspondence
	Gorman, Patrick
Box   4 Folder   17	Exchanges with Hanna, 1956-1976, undated
Box   4 Folder   18	Israeli bonds
Box   4 Folder   19	Israeli bonds dinner
Box   4 Folder   20	Israeli dinner
Box   4 Folder   21-22	Kentuckian, 1973
Box   4 Folder   23	Miscellany
Box   4 Folder   24-27	Papal award, 1973
Box   4 Folder   28-29	Roosevelt University award, 1971
Box   4 Folder   30-32	Travel, 1960-1975
Box   4 Folder   33	Gutierrez, Orlando
Box   4 Folder   34	Hampel, Paul
Box   4 Folder   35	Helstein, Ralph
Box   4 Folder   39	ISL
Box   4 Folder   40	IUF, 1968-1978
Box   4 Folder   36	Insurance
Box   4 Folder   37	Iowa Beef Packers, 1976
Box   10 Folder   6	Iowa civil rights
Box   4 Folder   38	Irish bakers
Box   5 Folder   1	Johnston, George (IUF), 1963
Box   5 Folder   2	Krebiozin
Box   5 Folder   3	Lake View News article on PEG, 1976
Box   5 Folder   4	Lasley, Russ
Box   5 Folder   5	Lloyd, Jack
	Locals
Box   5 Folder   6	55
Box   5 Folder   7	100
Box   5 Folder   8	103
Box   5 Folder   9	115
Box   5 Folder   10	119
Box   5 Folder   11	227
Box   5 Folder   12	271
Box   5 Folder   13	274
Box   5 Folder   14-15	304-305
Box   5 Folder   16	342
Box   5 Folder   17	371
Box   5 Folder   18	421
Box   5 Folder   19	427
Box   5 Folder   20	431
Box   5 Folder   21	433
Box   5 Folder   22	444
Box   5 Folder   23	543
Box   5 Folder   24	538
Box   5 Folder   25	545
Box   5 Folder   26	652
Box   5 Folder   27	1108
Box   5 Folder   28	District 3
Box   5 Folder   29	McGovern Presidential campaign, 1972
Box   5 Folder   30	Madison Council of Human Rights
Box   5 Folder   31	Madison Housing Authority
Box   5 Folder   32	Madison labor correspondence, 1949-1954
Box   5 Folder   33	Madison Police Academy, 1970
Box   5 Folder   34	Madison Religion and Labor Fellowship, 1950-1953, undated
Box   5 Folder   35-37	Madison Urban League, 1968-1972
Box   5 Folder   38	Maintenance Department
Box   5 Folder   39	Man-Power Citizens' Association (Guyana), 1961, 1972
Box   5 Folder   40	Manpower economic advisers, 1976
Box   5 Folder   41	Masonry (letter to Joseph M. Gentry from Fred Zimmerman), 1945
Box   5 Folder   42	Merger
Box   5 Folder   43	Middle East mission, 1966
Box   5 Folder   44	Midwest Labor Press Association
	Milwaukee meat strike
Box   5 Folder   45	1975
Box   10 Folder   1-5	Legal size correspondence, notes, and publicity
Box   5 Folder   46	National Urban League
Box   5 Folder   47	Other unions, 1957-1964
Box   5 Folder   48	Poultry, 1957-1960
Box   5 Folder   49	Prison notes
Box   5 Folder   50	Rockingham notes
Box   5 Folder   51	Rosen, Burt (Charles Kerr Publishing Company)
Box   5 Folder   52	Russian trip of Belsky and Talarico, 1972
Box   5 Folder   53	Schachter, Leon B., Testimonial, 1971
Box   5 Folder   54	School for Workers song books
Box   5 Folder   55	Scott, G.W.A (Hilton Hanna tribute), 1975
Box   5 Folder   56	Seniority
Box   5 Folder   57	State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1960-1976
Box   5 Folder   58	Teamsters Local 738
Box   5 Folder   59	Telephone book
Box   5 Folder   60	Travelers Aid of Metropolitan Chicago
Box   5 Folder   61	Trip, 1975
Box   5 Folder   62	Trip to Venezuela, 1963
Box   6 Folder   1-2	United States Department of Labor, 1953-1964
Box   6 Folder   3	United States foreign policy conference, 1965-1968
Box   6 Folder   4	Wedding, 1972
Box   6 Folder   5-13	Weekly Reports, 1960-1969
Box   6 Folder   14	Weiner, Egon
Box   6 Folder   15	Wentz, Ray
Box   6 Folder   16	Who's Who
Box   6 Folder   17	Woolis, Bernard
	Workers Education Bureau (Madison)
Box   6 Folder   18	Minutes, 1948-1949
Box   6 Folder   19	Finances and lists of names
Box   6 Folder   20	Mass mailings, 1945-1953
Box   6 Folder   21	Curricular materials
Box   6 Folder   22	Miscellany
Box   6 Folder   23	Wyatt, Addie
	Series: Speeches and Writings	⇧
Box   6 Folder   24	Articles
	Picket and the Pen Book
Box   6 Folder   25	Chart
Box   6 Folder   26	Correspondence
Box   6 Folder   27-28	Acknowledgements and reader comments
Box   7 Folder   3	Acknowledgements and reader comments (continued)
Box   6 Folder   29-30	“Books sent to”
Box   7 Folder   1	“Books sent to” (continued)
Box   7 Folder   2	Cover
Box   7 Folder   4-5	Correspondence with Max Raddock, 1957-1961
Box   7 Folder   6	Editorial file
Box   7 Folder   7	Publicity
Box   7 Folder   8	Source documents
Box   7 Folder   9	Margate
Box   7 Folder   10	Presidential contacts
Box   7 Folder   11	Suggested titles
	Draft materials
Box   12 Folder   2-3	Annotated galleys
Box   7 Folder   12-21	Insertions
	Revisions (By chapter number)
Box   7 Folder   22-29	1-7
Box   8 Folder   1-15	8-15
Box   8 Folder   16-17	Segments
Box   10 Folder   7-12	Handwritten notes
	Labor history cards
Box   8 Folder   18	Research
Box   11 Folder   1	Cards
	Radio scripts
Box   11 Folder   2	Index cards
Box   8 Folder   19	School for Workers, 1938
	WFHR
	PM
Box   8 Folder   20	1-30
Box   9 Folder   1	32-63
Box   9 Folder   2	Morning
	WHA
Box   9 Folder   3-6	83-150
Box   9 Folder   7	NYA
Box   9 Folder   8	1944-1945, 1950-1952
Box   9 Folder   9	WHBC
Box   9 Folder   10-15	WIBA, 1940-1942
Box   9 Folder   16	WIBU, 1940
Box   9 Folder   17	WRJN
	Speeches
Box   9 Folder   18-20	Hilton Hanna, 1959-1983
Sound Archive	Recorded speech by Hilton Hanna, October 13, 1969
Box   9 Folder   21-22	Speeches by Hilton Hanna for Talirico, Osslo, and Twedell
Box   9 Folder   23	, Undated speeches
Box   9 Folder   24	Union publications by Hilton Hanna
Box   9 Folder   25	Unidentified writings
Box   10 Folder   13-18	Unidentified handwritten notes