Summary Information
Illinois-Wisconsin Friends Committee for American Indians Records
1941-1960
- Illinois-Wisconsin Friends Committee for American Indians
Mss 124
0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records of a standing committee established by the Illinois Yearly Meeting of Friends in 1959 to study the welfare of Indians, particularly the Menominee, Oneida, and Winnebago tribes, and to support legislation to aid the Menominees in adjusting to termination. Included are correspondence, annotated copies of relevant state and federal legislation, minutes of I-WFCAI and related groups, and newsletters, clippings, and other research material on the Menominees. The collection was compiled by chairman Paxton Hart.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00124 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Illinois-Wisconsin Friends Committee for American Indians (I-WFCAI), one of many Quaker organizations established for the benefit of the American Indian, was made a standing committee of the Illinois Yearly Meeting of Friends in 1959.
The Society of Friends has been concerned with improving the status of the American Indian since 1795, believing that to acquire effective influence over the Indian one must first improve the personal and domestic situation of the Indian. Because of the obvious success of their efforts, a request was made by the Grant Administration to the Society of Friends for individuals among them to act as Indian agents. Subsequently, the Quaker program for the welfare of the Indian and other disadvantaged groups proliferated.
The American Friends Service Committee (A.F.S.C.) was established in 1917 to provide an alternative for conscientious objectors through war relief work. It is a non-profit relief agency designed to extend the Friends “ministry of reconciliation” toward situations associated with tension and conflict. As an agency supported by tax-exempt funds, the AFSC is prohibited from attempting to influence legislation; the Friends Committee on Legislation (FCL) was established in 1943 to fulfill that function.
The initial impetus for the I-WFCAI developed out of a request to the 1958 session of the Illinois Yearly Meeting by Mrs. Christine Webster, a Menominee Indian, for help for the Menominees in adjusting to the termination of their federal trust status. At the suggestion of the Illinois Yearly Meeting, the AFSC and the FCL appointed a committee to study the Menominee Indian situation. This group found Wisconsin State legislation, designed to assist the Menominees after federal termination, to be in the best interest of the individual Indian, and, therefore, requested the FCL to work toward passage of the appropriate bills. The needed legislation was passed in 1959, but the study committee was continued as the Illinois-Wisconsin Friends Committee for American Indians.
Scope and Content Note
The I-WFCAI Papers are the records of the committee as retained by Paxton Hart, chairman of this committee and of the related Menominee Indian Study Committee appointed by the AFSC and the FCL in 1958. They consist of correspondence, minutes, and miscellaneous materials related to these two committees and other groups and individuals concerned with Indian welfare; especially with Wisconsin's Menominee, Oneida, and Winnebago Indians. A few of the materials pertain to the effect on the Senecas of New York of the proposed dam on the upper Allegheny River at Kinzua, Pennsylvania.
Correspondence is separated into General; Menominee Committee; Oneida, Seneca, and Kinzua Dam; and “Winnebago Dells Servitude”; and arranged chronologically within each division.
There are copies of the minutes of one or more meetings of the following committees:
- Indian Affairs Subcommittee, Friends Committee on Legislation (California), February-April, 1959.
- Indian Affairs Committee of Friends, Committee on Legislation (California), February, 1960.
- Illinois-Wisconsin Friends Committee for American Indians, October, 1959 - April, 1960.
- Menominee Indian Tribe - Minutes of General Council, January, 1959.
- Menominee Indian Study Committee, April-July, 1959.
- United States Council on Indian Affairs, May, 1960.
Annotated copies of federal and Wisconsin state Indian legislation are arranged by legislative House, and then numerically; thus chronologically. They are concerned chiefly with federal termination policy and economic assistance to the American Indian. There are also copies of excerpts from the Congressional Record, January-April, 1960, concerning Indian legislation.
The News-Letter of the Friends Committee on Legislation and the Menominee News are arranged chronologically under each title for 1959-1960. The two issues of the News-Letter carry references to Indian legislation. The five copies of the Menominee News were published by the Menominee Indian Agency at Keshena, Wisconsin from August, 1959, through May, 1960.
Miscellaneous memoranda and reports may be found filed in chronological order, with “Menominee Committee-Miscellaneous” along with copies of the “By-Laws” and “Articles of Incorporation” of Menominee Enterprises, a “Minor's Trust Agreement”, government reports, and newspaper clippings.
There are also miscellaneous reports and reprints concerning the Oneidas and Senecas from 1956 to 1960; the Winnebagoes, 1941 to 1960; “Operation Bootstrap”, 1959; and an “Informational Kit on Relocation Services in the Greater Chicago Area,” circa 1957.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Mrs. Jack Eisendrath, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 23, 1970.
Processed by Joanne E. S. Hohler, October 20, 1970.
Contents List
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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General, 1956-1960
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Menominee Committee, 1958-1959
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Oneida “Recreation and Housing” and Kinzua Dam, 1959-1960
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Box
1
Folder
4
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“Winnebago Dells Servitude”, 1959-1960
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Minutes, Jan., 1959 - May, 1960
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Box
1
Folder
6
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“National Bills” and excerpts from Congressional Record, 1959-1960
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Box
1
Folder
7
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“State Bills,” 1957-1959
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Box
1
Folder
8
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News-Letter and Menominee News, 1959-1960
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Box
1
Folder
9-10
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Menominee Committee - Miscellaneous, 1954-1960
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Oneida Indians, Seneca Indians, and Kinzua Dam - Miscellaneous, 1956-1960
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Miscellaneous, 1941-1960
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