Title: William George Bruce Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1843-1960

Creator:

• Bruce, William George, 1856-1949

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss CU; Milwaukee Micro 60; Micro 1159

Quantity: 14.0 c.f. (2 record center cartons, 19 archives boxes, and 10 flat boxes) and 8 reels of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

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

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of a Milwaukee businessman primarily documenting the many civic involvements of his retirement years (1918-1949), especially his general interests in education, the Catholic Church, Milwaukee history, and Milwaukee business conditions. Included are correspondence; subject files concerning specific involvements such as the Milwaukee Board of Harbor Commissioners, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the 1948 Corporation; minutes; reports; numerous biographical clipping scrapbooks (on microfilm), testimonials, and other biographical information; and writings and speeches. The large file of writings and books by Bruce includes works on education and commercial organizations and draft chapters of an unpublished book on the Jewish question in the United States. Pertaining to the early history of the Bruce Publishing Company are financial ledgers and journals and examples of advertising materials. Later operations of the firm are documented by religious manuscripts published by the company (some by Fulton J. Sheen) and by runs of the Bruce Buzzer and Bruce Cooperator, employee newsletters, in the SHSW Library. Bruce's autobiography and other published writings are held by the SHSW Library.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil000cu

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William George Bruce, whose many civic involvements earned him the title “Mr. Milwaukee,” was born in Milwaukee on March 17, 1856, to Augustus F. and Appolonia Becker Bruce. Crippled as a boy, much of Bruce's early education was received from private tutors. By age eleven, however, he was sufficiently improved that he could go to work as a cigarmaker's apprentice. Bruce began his career in journalism in the business office of the Milwaukee Daily News in 1874, where he remained until going to the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1885 as assistant business manager. In 1891 he established the Bruce Publishing Company, for which he founded and published the American School Board Journal. To this he eventually added the Industrial Arts Magazine in 1914, Hospital Progress in 1919, and the Catholic School Journal, which he acquired in 1929. In addition, the company published a long list of religious works and high school textbooks. Related to these business activities was Bruce's presidency of the American State Bank (formerly the German-American Bank) and his leadership in the Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

Bruce was very active in civic and religious affairs in Milwaukee, especially activities related to the field of education. From 1889 to 1894 he was a member of the school board. In 1893 Milwaukee chose him to manage its educational exhibit at the Chicago Exposition; for the 1904 St. Louis Exposition he served as chairman of the Wisconsin Educational Committee. From 1930 to 1947 he was a member of the board of curators of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Throughout his adult life he was a member of the Holy Name Union, often acting in an official capacity at banquets and religious celebrations. In honor of his fundraising activities for Catholic charities Bruce was awarded the Cross of the Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great.

Bruce was also very active in Democratic Party matters, serving as a mayoral candidate in 1905 and a candidate for U.S. senator in 1925. In 1906 he was chairman of the Democratic city and county committees. Despite his many years of public service, his only paid public office was as county tax commissioner, 1904-1906. Bruce was also intimately connected with the Milwaukee Auditorium, serving as a member of the planning board and as president from 1912 to 1914 and again from 1936 to 1945.

Bruce was nationally known as an expert on Great Lakes shipping matters. He was president of the Milwaukee Harbor Commission, 1913-1945, and a member of the Wisconsin Deep Waterways Commission from 1919 to 1935. In addition, he was one of the leading promoters of the St. Lawrence Seaway, an organizer of the Great Lakes Harbor Association, and a director of both the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Tidewater Association and the Rivers and Harbors Congress.

In 1933 Milwaukee sent him as a delegate to the Wisconsin Constitutional Convention for the Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment. In the same year he was a member of the Federal Emergency Board of Public Works for Wisconsin.

Complementing his business, civic, religious, and political activities are the many books and pamphlets he wrote. His books include Bruce's School Administration (1904), Manual on School Administration (1904), School Architecture (1903-1910), School Board Manual (1904, 1907), Commercial Organizations (1920), Commercial Secretary: Self-training, Functions, and Relations (1923), and Commercial Secretaries (1922). Bruce was greatly interested in the history of Milwaukee and he wrote several volumes on the topic including History of Milwaukee, City and County (1922), A Short History of Milwaukee (1936), and Builders of Milwaukee (1946). In 1937 he published his autobiography, I Was Born in America.

Bruce married Monica Moehring in 1880, and they had three children: William Conrad, Frank Milton, and Monica Maria. Mrs. Bruce died in 1938; Bruce died on August 13, 1949, at the age of ninety-three.

The papers attest to Bruce's strong sense of history and his desire to document his own considerable place in it. Unfortunately, the papers presented to the Historical Society were selected and arranged with that purpose in mind by Bruce or his family, and thus they do not have the value for research of complete, organic files. Moreover, Bruce's career prior to his retirement is very incompletely documented in the collection.

Nevertheless, the collection provides information on a wide variety of topics relating to Milwaukee history and to Bruce's career. The papers consist of correspondence, memoranda, clipping scrapbooks, reports, speeches and writings by Bruce and others, financial records, minutes, and promotional material. This material is organized as Biographical Material, Correspondence, Subject Files, Speeches and Writings, and Bruce Publishing Company Records.

The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL was originally comprised primarily of a large number of scrapbooks (“A History in Scrapbooks,” Bruce called them) of newspaper clippings and memorabilia. Because of the scarcity of primary material on many aspects of Bruce's early career, these volumes are of great importance. In 1988 the deteriorating volumes and some supplementary materials (including a morgue file about Bruce apparently maintained by the Milwaukee Journal) were microfilmed and the originals destroyed. Also grouped with the biographical material are testimonials, biographical sketches, a bibliography of Bruce writings in the SHSW library, and memorabilia.

The CORRESPONDENCE is divided into two general categories: bound volumes and loose papers. The bound correspondence, which was donated to the Historical Society in 1965, consists of family and business letters indicating Bruce's multi-faceted involvement in Milwaukee's civic, commercial, and religious life. Except for one volume of miscellaneous items dating from the period 1843-1927, coverage of this section is most extensive for the years after 1923. As a result, the early and most important years of his career are largely undocumented by correspondence. Typical examples of incoming correspondence in the papers include requests to endorse elected officials in campaign years, invitations to Holy Name Society banquets, and thanks for services performed. These volumes were grouped by year by the donor and then arranged alphabetically by correspondent name. A typed table of contents begins each volume. Some additional coverage of Bruce's activities may be found in the unbound correspondence received by the Society in 1975 and 1979, but this, too, is primarily limited to the later period of his life.

Somewhat more useful is the segment of the Bruce Papers which has been arranged as SUBJECT FILES. This alphabetical file, which also incorporates minutes, reports, and other types of documents as well as correspondence, contains information on a variety of Bruce's concerns, particularly his membership on the Board of Harbor Commissioners, his interest in St. Lawrence Seaway legislation during the 1930s, and the centennial-planning 1948 Corporation.

The collection contains very extensive documentation of Bruce's SPEECHES AND WRITINGS. This material is arranged by genre, with articles and speeches filed separately from books written or edited by Bruce. The speeches and articles are then arranged by their physical form as bound volumes or loose material. The volumes were each bound by the donor into broad chronological periods. Each volume's contents were then ordered alphabetically by title and a table of contents prepared. Because there is considerable overlap between the volumes, researchers are warned of some inconvenience in using this section. In the Archives the volumes have been arranged chronologically by the earliest date in each book.

The loose speeches and articles were received in the Archives as alphabetical subject files. A large number of the writings were undated, but it is likely that the unbound files primarily date from the 1920s and 1930s, and this section is therefore later than the bound volumes. Because of the overlapping nature of the subject categories, researchers are cautioned not to rely completely on the supplied folder headings. At the end of the subject file are uncategorized writings and fragments. Of these, the dated items have been arranged chronologically, and the remainder are unorganized.

The collection also contains material on several of the books written or edited by Bruce, although printed copies of the books which were within the collecting scope of the SHSW Library were transferred there. Retained with the papers were copies of his books on commercial organizations and school administration and architecture and draft chapters of his nearly complete, but unpublished book on anti-Semitism in the United States.

Records of the BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY primarily consist of financial records from his business's first two decades. Included are ledgers, cash journals, and journals listing advertisers in the American School Board Journal. Also included are microfilm copies of reprints from the Journal and Industrial Arts, 1912-1919, the disassembled contents of two scrapbooks of examples of all printed materials ordered by the company from 1905 to 1918 (together with information on costs and the numbers ordered of each item), and miscellany concerning the 50th anniversary of the company.

From the company's later history the papers consist only of a file of typesetter's manuscripts of religious books and pamphlets published by the Bruce Publishing Company received, not from Bruce or the Bruce estate, but from Mount Mary College. Because of the wide availability of most Bruce Company publications (including an example of all Bruce imprints which was presented to the Milwaukee Public Library during the 1940s), only manuscripts with extensive editorial revisions or those which were not located in the RLIN and OCLC databases were retained. To aid researchers, a bibliography of all manuscripts received as part of this accession is filed. Of special note among the retained manuscripts are several titles by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Also relating to Bruce Publishing Company history are runs of the Bruce Cooperator and the Bruce Buzzer, a newsletter for company employees, held by the SHSW Library.

Acquisition Information

Presented by William C. Bruce and Joan Korsemeyer, Milwaukee, Wis., 1965-1988. Accession Number: M65-19, M65-362, M75-104, M79-420, M88-196

Processing Information

Processed by Eleanor McKay, 1971; additions processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, 1988.

Milwaukee Mss CU	Series: Biographical Material
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Biographical sketches, memorabilia, and testimonials
Milwaukee Micro 60/Micro 1159	Scrapbooks Note: Reels 1-7 filmed without a counter
Reel   1	Articles by or about WGB, circa 1870s Note: Selected pages
Reel   1	Milwaukee School Board, circa 1889-1894
Reel   1	1891-1898
Reel   1	1892-1904
Reel   1	1896-1900
Reel   1	1900-1901
Reel   1	1901-1902
Reel   2	1902
Reel   2	1904-1905
Reel   2	1905-1906
Reel   2	1906
Reel   2	1906
Reel   3	1906-1907
Reel   3	1907-1908
Reel   3	1908-1909
Reel   3	1909-1910
Reel   4	1910-1912
Reel   4	1913-1915
Reel   4	1916-1920
Reel   5	1920-1922
Reel   5	1920-1949, Memorabilia
Reel   5	1922-1923
Reel   6	1923-1925
Reel   6	, 1925 Senatorial campaign
Reel   6	1925-1927
Reel   6	1927-1928
Reel   6	1928-1930
Reel   7	1930-1932
Reel   7	1932-1934
Reel   7	1937-1939
Reel   8 Frame   2	1944-1949
Reel   8 Frame   170	Loose clippings, 1896-1960, undated
Reel   8 Frame   241	Milwaukee Journal morgue on WGB, 1919-1949
Milwaukee Mss CU	Series: Correspondence	⇧
	Bound correspondence
Box   1 Volume   1	“Letters and communications,” 1843-1927
	Chronological volumes
Box   1 Volume   2	1923-1925
Box   1 Volume   3	1924-1926
Box   1 Volume   4	1924-1931
Box   1 Volume   5	1926-1927
Box   2 Volume   6	1928
Box   2 Volume   11	1929-1930
Box   2 Volume   7	1930-1933
Box   2 Volume   8	1932
Box   2 Volume   9	1934-1935
Box   2 Volume   10	1936
Box   3 Folder   3-5	Loose correspondence, 1878, 1906-1948, 1955, undated
	Series: Subject Files	⇧
Box   3 Folder   6	American National Bank, Statements, 1926-1927
Box   3 Folder   7	Auditorium, 1934-1942
Box   4 Folder   1	Christians and Jews, 1934-1938
Box   4 Folder   2	Democratic Party, 1900-1925, undated
Box   4 Folder   3	Educational exhibit, 1903-1904
Box   4 Folder   4	Immigrant Mother statue, 1945-1960
	Harbor and seaway
Box   4 Folder   5-6	Correspondence, 1925-1947
Box   4 Folder   7	Minutes (Board of Harbor Commissioners), 1930
Box   4 Folder   8	Reports (Board of Harbor Commissioners), 1935-1942
Box   5 Folder   1	Lincoln monument, 1917-1945
Box   5 Folder   2	National Education Association, Accountbook, 1897
	1948 Corporation
Box   5 Folder   2	Minutes, 1945-1947
Box   5 Folder   3	Correspondence, 1945-1947
	Series: Speeches and Writings	⇧
	Articles and essays
	Bound volumes
Box   6 Folder   1	1900-1914
Box   6 Folder   2	1904-1911
Box   6 Folder   3	1904; 1916-1917
Box   7 Folder   1	1905-1915
Box   7 Folder   2	1910, “Economic Problems in Europe”
Box   8 Folder   1	1912-1913
Box   8 Folder   2	1913-1914
Box   8 Folder   3	1915-1916
Milwaukee Micro 60/Micro 1159 Reel   8 Frame   391	, 1922 (Articles re European travel)
Milwaukee Mss CU Box   8 Folder   4	, 1923 “Old World Travels”
Box   9 Folder   1	1924-1927
Box   9 Folder   2	Advertising
Box   9 Folder   3	Anecdotes
Box   9 Folder   4	Auditorium
Box   9 Folder   5	Banking
Box   9 Folder   6	Brooks/Breckenridge incidents
Box   9 Folder   7	Bruce's life and observations
Box   9 Folder   8	Business and commerce
Box   9 Folder   9	Chicago water diversion
Box   9 Folder   10	Churches and religious institutions
Box   10 Folder   1	Commercial organizations
Box   10 Folder   2	Community spirit
Box   10 Folder   3	Culture
Box   10 Folder   4	Education
Box   10 Folder   5	German-Americans
Box   10 Folder   6	Harbor
Box   10 Folder   7	Immigrants
Box   10 Folder   8	Lincoln
Box   10 Folder   9-10	Milwaukee - History
Box   10 Folder   11	Milwaukee - Business
Box   10 Folder   12	Newspapers and journalism
Box   10 Folder   13	Peace and war
Box   11 Folder   1	Politics
Box   11 Folder   2	St. Lawrence Seaway
Box   11 Folder   3	School administration
Box   11 Folder   4	Taxes
Box   11 Folder   5	Trade
Box   11 Folder   6	Tributes, obituaries, etc.
Box   11 Folder   7	Wisconsin
Box   11 Folder   8	Wisconsin Deepwater Commission
Box   11 Folder   9	Women
	Uncategorized articles
Box   11 Folder   10	1905-1940
Box   11 Folder   11	Undated and miscellaneous material, undated
Box   12 Folder   1	Fragments
	Books
Box   12 Folder   2	Commercial Organizations: Their Function, Operation, and Service, 1920
Box   12 Folder   3	The Commercial Secretary: Self-Training Functions and Relations, 1923
Box   12 Folder   4	Commercial secretary book draft chapters and notes, undated
	Jewish question book
Box   12 Folder   5	Draft chapters
Box   13 Folder   1	Unstructured fragments
Box   13 Folder   2	School Architecture, 1903-1910
Box   13 Folder   3	School Board Manual, 1907
Box   13 Folder   4	Story of Milwaukee, Draft chapters, circa 1910
	Series: Bruce Publishing Company	⇧
Milwaukee Micro 60/Micro 1159 Reel   8 Frame   445	American School Board Journal and Industrial Arts reprint scrapbooks, 1912-1919
Milwaukee Mss CU	American School Board Journal
	Printing scrapbook
Box   14 Folder   3-12	1905-1919, undated
Box   31	Oversize material, 1917-1919
Box   14 Folder   1	50th anniversary, 1939-1940
Box   14 Folder   2	Miscellany, 1913-1962
	Financial records
	Ledgers
Box   22	1895-1898
Box   23	1999-1904
Box   24 Folder   1	1904-1906
	Cash journals
Box   24 Folder   2	1891-1893, June
Box   25	1894-1900
Box   26	1901-1908
Box   27	1908-1913
Box   30	1914
	Advertising journals
Box   28	1891, 1894-1902
Box   29	1893-1912
	Edited manuscripts
Box   15	Abbelin-Buck
Box   16	Charitas-Fidelis
Box   17	Hollis-Ketter
Box   18	Leslie-Morrison
Box   19	Ross-Russell
Box   20	Russell, continued - Sheen
Box   21 Folder   1-2	Sheen-Swint
Box   21 Folder   3	Bibliography of weeded manuscripts