Title: Albert Aaron Johnson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1884, 1898-1963

Creator:

• Johnson, Albert Aaron, 1880-1963

Call Number: Mss 253; PH 307 (3); PH 4092; PH 4093; PH 4094; PH 4095; WHi(J5); WHi(J51)

Quantity: 2.2 cubic feet (5 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder) and 742 photographs (2 albums in 2 boxes); plus additions of 649 photographs, 149 negatives, 0.2 cubic feet of negatives (1 negative box), and 2 pieces of ephemera

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 Albert Aaron Johnson, an agricultural economist and educator and authority on the developing Soviet Union of the 1920s and 1930s. His activities included heading Long Island's Farmingdale Institute, being the commercial representative for several U.S. businesses in the Soviet Union, writing about the Soviet Union, patenting improvements to railroad cars, founding the Buy American Institute in 1938, and promoting research and education in psychic phenomena, particularly spiritualism. The collection contains fragmentary documentation of all these activities and consists of correspondence, writings including diaries and notes, patent records, genealogical information, and expense records and other materials concerning his trips to the Soviet Union. Extensive family correspondence includes letters written while serving with the military in the Philippines during and after the Spanish-American War, letters between Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and their son Albert R., and a 1926 letter from J. C. Penney reminiscing about his youth and his beginnings in the department store business.

Note:

There is a restriction on use of part of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00253

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Albert Aaron Johnson, agricultural economist and educator, was born January 1, 1880, to Isaac A. and Ellen Bakke Johnson of McFarland, Wisconsin. When Albert was two, his father died, and the family moved to Webster, South Dakota. Johnson served in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection with the South Dakota Volunteer Infantry. He attended South Dakota Agricultural College in Brookings from 1900 to 1903, and the University of Wisconsin in Madison from 1903 to 1907. An Olympic hammer thrower in 1904, he participated in football and track at Wisconsin until 1907 when he received his B.S. degree in agriculture.

For the next two decades, Johnson followed a career in education. He taught agriculture in Georgia and Marinette, Wisconsin; then organized and directed agricultural schools in Onalaska and Wauwatosa. In 1914, he organized the New York State Institute of Applied Agriculture, Farmingdale, Long Island, which he directed until 1923. And in 1925-1926, he was president of the Penney-Gwinn Institute of Applied Agriculture, Green Cove Springs, Florida.

However, it was Johnson's economic activities which brought him national prominence. He became an authority on the developing Soviet Union after eleven trips there between 1921 and 1934. Originally working with the Near East Relief in 1921, he was invited to Russia by the Soviet government to help set up mechanized agriculture programs to combat famine. In 1923, he returned to Russia as the leader of an unofficial fact-finding tour by several U.S. senators and congressmen. On the remainder of his trips, he was the commercial representative for a variety of American business and industrial concerns. Johnson produced four books on the Soviet Union and many articles, lectures, reports, and bulletins.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Johnson's activities included patenting several improvements to railway cars, founding the Buy American Institute in 1938, agricultural economic work for the government after World War II, and promoting research and education in psychic phenomena. He made his home in New York City and in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Johnson was married in 1909 to Ellen Glenn of Dahlonega, Georgia. They had two sons, Albert Richard, a well-known set designer for theater and fairs, and William Glenn, a technical director for theater. Mrs. Johnson died in 1945. A second marriage, to Marie Stone Weston of Longmeadow, ended in divorce in 1952. In the mid-1950s, Johnson retired to Roslyn, South Dakota. He died May 31, 1963 in Sioux Falls.

The Albert Aaron Johnson Papers contain correspondence, writings, patent records, genealogical information, and agreements, expense records, and other materials concerning his trips to the Soviet Union. The papers are organized into General Correspondence, Family Correspondence, Photographs, a Writings file, and a Subject file.

The General Correspondence, 1899-1954, totals only one folder and includes two items of particular interest: a long letter dated December 6, 1926, from J. C. Penney reminiscing about his youth and his beginnings in the department store business, and an October 30, 1940, letter from an attorney discussing a 1923 slander suit brought by Johnson against a member of the Farmingdale Institute board.

Extensive family correspondence, 1884, 1899-1963, includes concentrations of letters between Johnson and his mother during the Spanish-American War, letters from Johnson to his first wife during their courtship and his later travels, and letters between Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and their son Albert, as well as letters from other family members. Arrangement is chronological. The Albert R. Johnson Papers, also available at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, include other correspondence between Albert A. Johnson, Mrs. Johnson, and Albert R. Johnson.

Photographs are split into five visual materials collections. PH 307 (3) consists of two photograph albums from the 1923 tour by Johnson and a Congressional party to observe agricultural conditions in the Soviet Union and Poland. Images include portraits, townscapes, and landscapes. PH 4092 consists of photographs and negatives of Albert Johnson and Johnson with acquaintances and national leaders. Also included are images of A.A. Johnson Syndicate Oil Leasing Office, Rosalyn, South Dakota, and photographs from his travels. PH 4093 consists of photographs documenting the early military, academic, and athletic activities of Albert A. Johnson. Included are images of U.S. Militia training in San Francisco prior to departure for the Philippines, 1898; military cadets and athletic teams from South Dakota Agricultural College, 1900-1903; and University of Wisconsin military cadets and football teams, 1903-1907. PH 4094 consists of photographs of Albert Johnson, his family, and friends. Included are images of his first wife Ellen Glenn Johnson, their children Albert Richard and William Glenn, Johnson's mother Ellen Bakke, and his in-laws Mina and Ole Strand. PH 4095 consists of photographs and negatives documenting Albert Johnson's trips to the Soviet Union, 1921-1934. Included are images of his travels, a Volga River trip, and Russian officials. Many of the images in this collection may be duplicated in the 1923 photograph albums (PH 307 (3)). Also included are two lots of nitrate negatives showing cadet training in Madison, Wisconsin, Johnson's Russian tour in 1923, building construction, views of a cathedral, the construction of a brick building, and Albert Johnson and others in Russia, 1921-1934.

The Writings file reflects Johnson's activities in the Philippines, his travels in Russia, and his interest in psychic phenomena, particularly spiritualism. It includes several diaries and notebooks, a copy of his thesis and of three of his books on the Soviet Union, poetry, a proposal for a Psychic Science and Peace Center of America, and miscellaneous writings on the state of the world.

The Subject file is a catch-all category for remaining materials and includes biographical and genealogical information, copies of Johnson's patents and letters concerning the marketing of his inventions, a report and charts prepared while he was employed by the War Assets Administration, and miscellaneous materials concerning the Soviet Union. Arrangement is alphabetical by folder title.

Use Restrictions

Use of nitrate negatives restricted. Consult reference archivist regarding access to negatives.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Albert R. Johnson, New York, New York, December 13, 1971 and March 10, 1972, with her husband's papers. Accession Number: M71-134, M72-30

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann, S.G., and L.B., March 22, 1973.

Mss 253 Box   1 Folder   1	Series: General Correspondence, 1899-1954
	Series: Family Correspondence	⇧
Box   1 Folder   2	1884, 1899 January-June
Box   1 Folder   3	1899 July - 1900
Box   1 Folder   4	1901-1902
Box   1 Folder   5	1903-1908
Box   1 Folder   6	1909-1913 Note: None for 1914-1917.
Box   2 Folder   1	1918-1928
Box   2 Folder   2	1929-1930
Box   2 Folder   3	1931-1936
Box   2 Folder   4	1937-1959 Note: None for 1960.
Box   2 Folder   5	1961-1963, undated
	Series: Photographs	⇧
PH 307 (3)	Albums of tour to the Soviet Union and Poland, 1923
PH 4092	Johnson with acquaintances and national leaders, business, and travel
PH 4093	Military, academic, and athletic activities of Johnson, 1898-1907
PH 4094	Albert Johnson, his family, and friends
PH 4095	Albert Johnson's trips to the Soviet Union, 1921-1934
	Nitrate negatives Use Restrictions: Use of nitrate negatives restricted. Consult reference archivist regarding access to negatives.
WHi(J5)	Cathedral, brick building construction, and Albert Johnson and others in Russia, 1921-1934
WHi(J51)	Cadet training, Russian tour, and building construction, circa 1907-1923
Mss 253	Series: Writings	⇧
	Diaries and notebooks
Box   3 Folder   1	Philippine Service, 1898-1899
	Russian trip
Box   3 Folder   2	1921
Box   3 Folder   3	1923
Box   4 Volume   1	1928
Box   4 Volume   2	1928
Box   4 Volume   3	1929
Box   4 Volume   4	1929
Box   4 Volume   5	1930
Box   4 Volume   6	1932
Box   4 Volume   7	1932-1933
Box   4 Volume   8	1933
Box   4 Volume   9	1934
Box   4 Volume   10	1936
Box   3 Folder   4	Psychic experiences, 1935, 1945-1946
Box   3 Folder   5	Miscellaneous notebooks, 1949-1950
Box   3 Folder   6	Thesis, 1907
Box   3 Folder   7	The Red Giant: book typescript, circa 1931
Box   5 Folder   1	Progress in the Soviet Union: published book, 1931
Oversize Folder	Hearst papers, articles on the Soviet Union, 1929-1931
Box   3 Folder   8	Pocket Paragraphs on the Soviet Union: published book, 1932
Box   3 Folder   9	Poetry, 1943-1949, 1954, undated
Box   3 Folder   10	Regarding psychic science, 1948-1950
Box   3 Folder   11	Miscellaneous writings, undated
	Series: Subject File	⇧
Box   5 Folder   2	Biographical information, 1903-1952, 1963
Box   5 Folder   3	Buy American Institute, 1938-1939
Box   5 Folder   4	Genealogical sketches and information, 1857-1886, 1901-1949, 1963, undated
Box   5 Folder   5	Hegg Coal Mine, Lombard, Montana, 1950-1962
Box   5 Folder   6	Milk sampling invention, 1909
Box   5 Folder   7	Potato harvestor invention, 1953
Box   5 Folder   8	Railway car inventions, 1940-1954, undated
Box   5 Folder   9	Soviet Union, 1923-1951, undated
Box   5 Folder   10	War Assets Administration, 1946-1947