Title: Leonard B. Von Spach Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1919-1968

Creator:

• Von Spach, Leonard B., 1891-1970

Call Number: Mss 432; Disc 148A

Extent: 1.2 c.f. (3 archives boxes) and 1 disc recording

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 Leonard B. Von Spach, a Wauwatosa, Wisconsin resident who pursued a varied career in the military, business, and government. Documents concern his activities in rescue and relief in Macedonia with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA); in work for the Greek War Relief Association; in Wisconsin Democratic politics including an unsuccessful 1934 campaign for secretary of state; and in the American Legion. The bulk of the papers cover the period 1932-1960 and document both personal and professional aspects of his life. They consist of correspondence, subject files, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, and a recorded interview by Dick Strout with Dimitri Bitsios, Greek representative to the United Nations. Prominent correspondents include entertainer Jack Benny, Charles A. Mills of the American Legion, Senator F. Ryan Duffy, Wisconsin Governor Orland S. Loomis, Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice J. D. Wickem, and Wendell L. Willkie.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00432

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Leonard B. Von Spach of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, pursued a varied career in the military, business, and government. He was also active in rescue and relief work under the direction of the American Red Cross and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (UNRRA), in the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and in the American Legion. He attended public school in Elwood, Indiana, until 1906, when he joined the Navy and sailed around the world with President Roosevelt's “White Fleet.” During World War I, he fought with the United States Cavalry in France and advanced to the rank of captain in the Field Artillery. Following his return from overseas in 1921, he served as a major in the Reserves and later was promoted to the rank of colonel in the Wisconsin National Guard. In 1924 he married Gertrude Heath; they had two daughters, Shurley and Mary.

After the war Von Spach held several managerial level jobs in private industry, first in Florida and then in Louisiana, but after his move to southeastern Wisconsin in 1930, he increasingly sought government employment and held positions within the Federal Housing Administration and the Surplus Marketing Administration. He also became an active participant in Wisconsin Democratic Party politics, although his party loyalties were superseded by friendship in 1943 when he helped organize the Wisconsin Presidential campaign of his boyhood friend, Wendell L. Willkie.

Von Spach was rejected for military service in World War II because of age. However, in 1943 he did participate in an expedition to Mexico to search for tin, and later served as a field worker with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (UNRRA) in Macedonia. Upon his return to the United States in 1945, he joined the Greek War Relief Association and made a nationwide speaking tour soliciting private funds for Greece. In 1960, the Greek government recognized his efforts by awarding him the Golden Cross of the Order of King George.

The bulk of the papers cover the period 1932—1960 and document both personal and professional aspects of Von Spach's life. They have been divided into five series: correspondence, subject files, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, and a recorded interview.

The CORRESPONDENCE series constitutes the largest portion of the collection. It is arranged by general subject and thereunder chronologically. Incoming and outgoing letters are filed together; the former predominate. The General Correspondence contains letters from friends as well as business and political associates. It includes a series of letters written in 1932 by Charles A. Mills, then vice commander of the American Legion, regarding Mills' possible appointment by Franklin D. Roosevelt as assistant secretary of the Navy. Another group of letters, 1967-1968, documents Von Spach's attempt as commander of his local American Legion post to clear the record of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the United States Pacific Fleet during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There are also copies of several letters written by Von Spach to political friends in hope of their finding him government employment and two letters from entertainer Jack Benny, April 13, 1938 and May 6, 1939.

The content of the Family Correspondence is generally confined to personal matters, with the exception of a small group of letters written between February and April 1945 which include extensive descriptions of his experiences as an UNRRA field worker in Macedonia. The Political Correspondence primarily focuses on Von Spach's campaign efforts on behalf of Wisconsin Democratic candidates such as State Supreme Court Justice J.D. Wickem (1933), Senator F. Ryan Duffy (1932), and Governor Orland S. Loomis (1942), and Republican Presidential candidate Wendell L. Willkie (1943). Five letters from Willkie, March 11, 1940, October 29, 1943, October 31, 1943, November 4, 1943 and December 4, 1943, are filed here. Also found are a few letters describing his activities as regional director of the Young Democratic Clubs of America during 1935 and 1936, and some press releases. A second segment of that correspondence documents Von Spach's own Democratic primary campaign for the office of secretary of state of Wisconsin in 1934 and includes several candid letters analyzing the reasons for his defeat.

The correspondence regarding Blood Transfusions resulted from his appearance in August of 1939 on the national radio program “We the People,” during which he recounted his recovery from a rare blood disease in 1930 and his subsequent donation of blood to help a victim of the same disease. The Surplus Marketing Administration correspondence describes the implementation of federal food stamp programs in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Toledo from 1940 to 1941. The Greece-Related correspondence consists primarily of letters received from Greek and Greek-American friends, persons met while Von Spach served with UNRRA in Macedonia and toured the United States as a representative of the Greek War Relief Association. They document his continuing interest in Greece, as well as the conditions in Macedonia after his return to the United States in June of 1945. Some of the letters are written in Greek; a few of these have translations attached. There are also a number of letters from British military personnel stationed in Macedonia in 1945.

The SUBJECT FILES elaborate on Von Spach's military career, especially his service during World War I, his employment with UNRRA and the Greek War Relief Association, and his role in the special Flag Day ceremonies held in Fredonia, Wisconsin, in 1960 to honor Bernard J. Cigrand, founder of Flag Day. The journals included in the UNRRA files describe the training program in Maryland in which Von Spach participated prior to his departure for Macedonia in 1944, and his relief activities there. The European Field Personnel Training Information file and the Field Reports provide information similar to that contained in the journals but in an official format. The “Daily News Digest” and the “Daily Press Review,” published by the UNRRA Greek Mission and the Anglo-Greek Information Services, respectively, summarize daily news and comment on matters pertinent to the relief program in Greece. Many issues are missing. The Greek War Relief Association material is divided into three files: General, which includes lists of sponsors, a “digest” of a staff conference held in 1946, and a short history of the organization; Speaking Tour, which includes Von Spach's itinerary, lecture notes, speeches, programs, and publicity; and Association Prepared Speeches.

The MEMORABILIA include membership cards, proclamations, certificates of appreciation, announcements, and programs.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. L. B. Von Spach, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 8, 1973. Accession Number: M73-230

Processing Information

Processed by Mary Patton (Intern) and Joanne Hohler, November 20, 1978.

Mss 432	Series: Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1-3	General, 1919-1968
Box   1 Folder   4-5	Family, 1929-1947
	Political
Box   1 Folder   6-7	General, 1932-1934
Box   1 Folder   8	Candidacy for Secretary of State of Wisconsin, 1934
Box   1 Folder   9	Blood Transfusions, 1938-1940
Box   1 Folder   10	Surplus Marketing Administration, 1940-1941
Box   2 Folder   1-5	Greece-Related, 1944-1969
	Series: Subject Files	⇧
Box   2 Folder   6	Military Papers, 1919-1934
	UNRRA
Box   2 Folder   7	Journals, 1944-1945
Box   2 Folder   8	European Field Personnel Training Information, 1944
Box   2 Folder   9	Field Reports, 1945
Box   2 Folder   10	“Daily News Digest,” 1945
Box   2 Folder   10	“Daily Press Review,” 1945
	Greek War Relief Association
Box   2 Folder   11	General, circa 1946
Box   3 Folder   1	Speaking Tour, 1945-1946
Box   3 Folder   2	Association Prepared Speeches, 1945 (?)
Box   3 Folder   3	Flag Day, 1960
	Series: Newspaper Clippings	⇧
Box   3 Folder   4	General, 1940-1967
Box   3 Folder   4	“Letters to the Editor” and Articles by Von Spach, 1925-1956
Box   3 Folder   4	Candidacy for Secretary of State of Wisconsin, 1934
Box   3 Folder   4	Greece-Related, 1946-1960
Box   3 Folder   5	Series: Memorabilia	⇧
Oversize Folder	Masonic Temple Membership Certificate, 1921, and Ohio National Guard Commission, , 1921 Note: Missing as of May 2009.
Box   3 Folder   5	Series: Interview, undated Scope and Content Note: Recorded by Dick Strout with Dimitri Bitsios, Greek Representative to the United Nations, regarding Cyprus.	⇧
Disc 148A	Recording
Mss 432 Box   3 Folder   6	Synopsis