Summary Information
Wisconsin Manufacturers' Association Records
1910-1975
- Wisconsin Manufacturers' Association
Mss 441; PH 3359; PH 4927
6.4 c.f. (16 archives boxes), 88 lantern slides, and 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box) of photographs
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records of the Wisconsin Manufacturers' Association, a state association of manufacturers organized in 1910. The collection documents association involvement in administrative, judicial, and legislative issues of concern to manufacturers. Included are articles of association; annual meeting minutes, reports, and programs; files on unemployment insurance, workmen's compensation, aid to Nicaragua, a 1948 Friendship Fleet carrying donated goods to northern Europe, a 1952 legal case (Wojcik vs. Green Bay Drop Forge Company) concerning workmen's compensation for a hearing loss which did not limit employability, and other topics; and association newsletters.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00441 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Contemporary newspaper accounts credit A. L. Osborne of the Scott and Howe Lumber Company, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with publicizing the idea of a state association of manufacturers in Wisconsin at a 1910 Milwaukee Manufacturers and Commerce Association conference on industrial insurance. Following that conference Wisconsin industrialists organized the Wisconsin Manufacturers' Association (WMA) at a series of meetings in the autumn and winter of 1910-1911. At a January 1911 meeting members ratified the Articles of Association and bylaws of the WMA and elected a fifteen-member board of directors, which in turn selected the officers of the organization. A. L. Osborne, H. W. Bolens, and Otto Falk composed the original WMA organizing committee. Officers of the new association were president, Thomas M. Blackstock, Phoenix Chair Company, Sheboygan; vice president, H. W. Bolens, Gilson Manufacturing Company, Port Washington; treasurer, Frank Sensenbrenner, Kimberly-Clark Company, Neenah; and secretary, William George Bruce, Johnson Service Company, Milwaukee. Founding directors of the WMA were the above officers and G. F. Steele, Nekoosa Paper Company, Port Edwards; A. Hirschheimer, La Crosse Plow Company, La Crosse; E. C. Thiers, Allen Tanning Company, Kenosha; D. P. Lamoureaux, Beaver Dam Malleable Iron Company, Beaver Dam; J. A. Vail, Fairbanks-Morse Manufacturing Company, Beloit; L. E. Geer, Manitowoc Boiler Works, Manitowoc; L. C. Tolles, Phoenix Manufacturing Company, Eau Claire; Otto Falk, Falk Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee; and A. L. Osborne.
Of the purposes of the WMA, F. J. Sensenbrenner stated that “the Association must not have as a premise opposition to every new proposal, but must support that which is sound, and oppose with equal vigor all that is detrimental to the general welfare.”
Like other state associations of manufacturers, WMA's primary activities consisted of monitoring legislative proposals, presenting facts at hearings, and otherwise representing its member firms in state and, to a lesser extent, federal, administrative, judicial, and legislative proceedings. Along with representatives of other state manufacturers' associations, WMA delegates participated in the National Industrial Conference, sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers.
Two early objects of WMA attention were the post-1907 depression movements for a Wisconsin income tax and for a state workmen's compensation law to replace the common law adjudication of occupational injury claims. The Wisconsin legislature enacted both an income tax and a workmen's compensation law in 1911. The WMA was influential in the drafting of the provisions of the workmen's compensation law which based the tax on individual employers on a rating of that firm's history of occupational injuries. WMA likewise successfully lobbied for the rating of individual firms for tax purposes when the passage of a Wisconsin unemployment compensation law became inevitable in 1934. Other longstanding concerns of the WMA have included legislation and administrative law on wages and hours, capital gains taxes, property taxes, freight tariffs, import duties, and the environment.
For its first eight years, WMA officers carried out its activities as unpaid volunteers. In 1919, with membership at about 200 firms, WMA selected as its first full-time manager and executive secretary George F. Kull, a Fox River Valley newspaperman. Among the activities initiated during Kull's 27-year tenure were publication of the WMA Weekly Bulletin and the annual Guide to Wisconsin Manufacturers. In 1946, with membership at about 600 firms, Robert A. Ewens, who since 1945 had been WMA's Chicago representative, succeeded Kull. Membership rose to about 1700 firms by the early 1970s. In 1976 WMA merged with the Wisconsin State Chamber of Commerce, an organization founded in January 1929. The new organization took the name Wisconsin Association of Manufacturers and Commerce, a title frequently shortened to Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of administrative records, subject files, and near-print publications. The earliest record dates from the organizational meeting of WMA in November 1910. The latest records are from 1975, prior to the WMA merger with the Wisconsin State Chamber of Commerce, a process only scantily documented in the collection. Among the subjects covered in most detail are unemployment insurance, workmen's compensation, the WMA-sponsored Friendship Fleet to Europe in 1948, the precedent-setting hearing-loss case Wojcik v. Green Bay Drop Forge Company, and Nicaraguan activities of the WMA. A near complete set of WMA newsletters provides a detailed record of WMA positions on Wisconsin and federal politics and legislation and information on other WMA activities. Individuals represented in the collection include early WMA president Carl Johnson, WMA managers George Kull and Robert A. Ewens, WMA Women's Bureau director Katherine Garland Vilas, and management attorney and hearing-loss specialist Noel Symons. The collection does not include records of individual WMA officers or board members or the bulk of the records of WMA standing committees (Traffic, Unemployment, and Workmen's Compensation, among others).
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS do not include the WMA incorporation papers. The Annual Meeting files consist of meeting minutes and programs and reports of the WMA president, treasurer, secretary, legislative council, and the directors of the Women's Bureau, Publicity Bureau, and Traffic Committee. Among the documents in this series are the reports of Carl Johnson, WMA president from 1919 to 1926, and Katherine Garland Vilas, Women's Bureau director.
The SUBJECT FILES make up the bulk of the manuscript portion of the collection and are arranged alphabetically. Within each folder the files are in original order.
The Centennial Fund file includes correspondence, financial statements, and contracts related to WMA's 1948 State Fair exhibit. The Clippings, 1911-1916, describe the origins and early activities of WMA, otherwise little documented in this collection. The Director's Manual is the 1970 edition of the manual distributed to the Board of Directors of WMA. The manual includes a short history of WMA, a list of past presidents, and comments on the organization and purposes of the group. The Statement on Educational Work is a memo describing a WMA campaign to distribute messages on public issues through the state's newspapers. Examples of these advertisements are in the collections of the Iconography Section of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. The Statements by Robert A. Ewens are printed transcripts of his remarks to United States congressional committees and private associations on legislation regarding displaced workers, unemployment insurance, and workmen's compensation.
The Friendship Fleet file documents a WMA sponsored fleet of ships which in 1948 carried donated goods to Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the Baltic states. The purposes of the Friendship Fleet were to relieve postwar shortages of consumer goods in Europe, promote immigration to Wisconsin and other Midwestern states, and honor the Wisconsin statehood centennial. The records include correspondence with shipping lines, religious and charitable organizations, state and federal officials in the United States, and individuals in the United States, Norway, Denmark, and other countries; domestic and foreign newspaper and magazine articles dealing with the Friendship Fleet; and correspondence and clippings about the Moll family, who immigrated to Wisconsin from Norway on the first returning Friendship Fleet ship. The last two folders in the Friendship Fleet file deal mainly with the Moll family and a dinner held in their honor in Madison.
The Wisconsin Industrial Hall of Fame file deals with the selection of candidates for this honor for the years 1967-1970. Included in the file are correspondence on candidate selection, capsule biographies of Hall of Fame candidates, and drafts of speeches delivered at Hall of Fame dinners. The Hall of Fame project began about 1956.
The Hearing Loss files document the response of the WMA to the 1952 case Wojcik v. Green Bay Drop Forge Company. In this case the Wisconsin Industrial Commission held that Wojcik was entitled to workmen's compensation payments for work environment-induced hearing loss, despite the fact that Wojcik's hearing loss did not cause him to lose income or the ability to pursue his occupation. The Hearing Loss files include minutes of the Hearing Loss Committee and Medical Advisory Committee; records of contributions made by WMA member firms for appeals of the Wojcik decision; general correspondence and correspondence with management attorney and industrial noise specialist Noel Symons; and copies of briefs and decisions in the Wojcik case. The pamphlets in the file are near-print and reprint articles on the technical and legal issues involved in workmen's compensation payments for hearing loss, many written by Noel Symons. A report on the WMA-sponsored mass testing of hearing, conducted at the 1954 Wisconsin State Fair, is included in the Testing file.
The House Publications Contest files consist of correspondence, press releases, clippings, and notes related to the annual contest sponsored by the WMA in cooperation with the Wisconsin Industrial Editors Association and the School of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Statements on International Trade are two near-print reports, “Current Tariff Problems and Possible Solutions (the Wisconsin Viewpoint),” 1950, and “The Impact of International Trade on the State of Wisconsin,” 1951.
The files on Nicaragua document the WMA-facilitated gift of a fire engine from the Village of Shorewood to the Corps of Firefighters of Matagalpa, Nicaragua in 1965 and the role of the WMA in the Partners of the Alliance, a privately sponsored association which cooperated with the Alliance for Progress. The fire engine files consist of correspondence with the Corps of Firefighters of Matagalpa (including translations), the Village of Shorewood, shipping lines, the Agency for International Development, and project staff. Publicity materials are also in the file. The Partners of the Alliance file consists of correspondence with the Agency for International Development and three reports related to Partners of the Alliance projects. Mildred H. Vernosh's “Six Months in Nicaragua” is an evaluation of hospital conditions in Nicaragua conducted from November 1965 to May 1966. Wilbur N. Renk's “Wisconsin's Place in Nicaragua and Her Agriculture” discusses the potential for the exchange of Wisconsin technical knowledge and equipment for Nicaraguan products. Robert A. Ewens's report, a speech delivered at a National Industrial Conference meeting, is a commentary on the Alliance for Progress and other government assistance programs abroad and in the United States.
The Trade Mission to Europe file consists of a report on the 1948 excursion by Wisconsin industrialists and correspondence related to the mission, sponsored by WMA's semi-autonomous Foreign Trade Committee. The Traffic Committee Notes include comments on class rate investigations of the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1947, 1952, and 1959, clippings related to the investigations, and the report of a WMA subcommittee on railroad rates, 1959.
The Unemployment Compensation file is primarily a list of WMA member firms covered by the Wisconsin unemployment compensation act. For the years 1939 and 1940 the list shows each WMA member firm's contribution to the reserve fund, contribution rates, and net firm savings in reserve fund contributions resulting from the experience rating features of the Wisconsin unemployment insurance law. The file also includes copies of a 1936 agreement to participate in a WMA-sponsored court test of the Wisconsin unemployment compensation law, and correspondence and lists pertaining to the levies WMA requested of firms participating in the test case.
The Workmen's Compensation file consists of a two-part report written for WMA by Earl F. Cheit and an exchange of correspondence between Cheit and Robert A. Ewens. The Cheit reports evaluate rate-making in Wisconsin from 1935 to 1950 and compare the Wisconsin experience to that of other states. The correspondence discusses the philosophical basis of workmen's compensation plans and the relationship of workmen's compensation to the rehabilitation of injured workers.
The PUBLICATIONS series consists of an apparently incomplete chronological file of mailings to WMA members and sets of WMA newsletters. The newsletter files are the most complete sets of these titles known to exist. In 1946 the newsletter function was divided between the irregularly published Bulletin and the weekly Legislative Bulletin, published only when the Wisconsin legislature was in session.
Related Material
Among the holdings of the Archives Division of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the following collections include material related to the WMA: the H. W. BOLENS PAPERS and F. H. CLAUSEN PAPERS include some of their respective correspondence as early WMA presidents and directors. The subject files in the DAVID CLARK EVEREST PAPERS and the MARATHON PAPER COMPANY PAPERS include some of Everest's correspondence as a WMA president and director. For information on the role of the WMA in the adjudication of workmen's compensation claims, consult the records of the WISCONSIN INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION and the WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY, LABOR, AND HUMAN RELATIONS. The WISCONSIN STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RECORDS include information on the relationship of the WMA and the State Chamber of Commerce in the late 1920s and on the movement for the merging of the two organizations in the early 1970s. The Library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin has an extensive file of the annual WMA publication Guide to Wisconsin Manufacturers, as well as numerous WMA pamphlets on a variety of subjects.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association via Marjorie King, Secretary, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1976. Accession Number: M76-176; M76-230
Processed by Steve Johnson and Joanne Hohler, April 1979.
Contents List
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Mss 441
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Series: Administrative Records
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Articles of Association, 1910
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Annual Meeting, 1915-1971
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Box
1
Folder
2-4
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Minutes and Reports, 1920-1934, 1952
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Programs, 1915-1971
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Box
1
Folder
5-9
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1915, 1947-1966
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Box
2
Folder
1-5
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1966-1971
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Series: Subject Files
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Box
2
Folder
6-7
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Centennial Fund, 1948
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Clippings, 1911-1916
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Communications Conference, 1951
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Directors Manual, 1970
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Educational Work, Statement on, 1924
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Box
3
Folder
4
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Ewens's Statements on Displaced Workers, Taxes, and Workmen's Compensation, 1958, 1962, 1963
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Box
3
Folder
5-9
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Friendship Fleet, 1948
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Box
4
Folder
1-5
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Friendship Fleet (continued)
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Box
4
Folder
6-7
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Hall of Fame, Wisconsin Industrial, 1967-1970
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Hearing Loss, 1952-1963
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Box
4
Folder
8
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Committee Minutes, 1952-1953
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Box
4
Folder
9
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Contributions from Member Firms, 1954
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Correspondence, General
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Box
4
Folder
10
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1953-1954
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Box
5
Folder
1
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1954-1959
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Box
5
Folder
2
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Correspondence, Noel Symons, 1952-1962
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Box
5
Folder
3
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Litigation, 1952
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Box
5
Folder
4
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Marquette University Short Course, 1954
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Box
5
Folder
5
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Medical Advisory Committee Minutes, 1953-1954
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Box
5
Folder
6
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News Releases and Clippings, 1952-1954
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Box
5
Folder
7-8
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Pamphlets, 1952-1963
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Box
5
Folder
9
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Testing, 1954-1957
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Box
5
Folder
10
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Wojcik v. Green Bay Drop Forge Company, 1952-1953
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House Publications Contest
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Box
5
Folder
11
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1949-1964
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Box
6
Folder
1-5
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1965-1971
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Box
6
Folder
6
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International Trade, Statements on, 1950, 1951
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Box
6
Folder
7
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Interstate Commerce Commission, Petitions to, 1951
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Box
6
Folder
8
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James, W. D., Tribute to, circa 1948
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Box
6
Folder
9
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Kull, George, Death of, 1959
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Box
6
Folder
10
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NAM Reception When Chairman from Wisconsin, 1955, 1967
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Box
6
Folder
11
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Netzer, Lanore, 1952
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Nicaragua, 1965-1967
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Box
6
Folder
12-13
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Fire Engine, 1965-1966
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Box
6
Folder
14
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Partners of the Alliance, 1966-1967
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Box
7
Folder
1
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Safety Award, 1926
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Box
7
Folder
2
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Services Proposed by Executive Secretary Ewens, circa 1946
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Box
7
Folder
3
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Speaker Survey, National Industrial Conference State Group, 1959
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Box
7
Folder
4-5
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Trade Mission to Europe, 1948
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Box
7
Folder
6-7
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Traffic Committee Notes, 1947-1959
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Box
7
Folder
8-14
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Unemployment Compensation, 1936-1945
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Box
8
Folder
1
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Wisconsin at Work, Story of, 1949-1961
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Box
8
Folder
2
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Workmen's Compensation, 1952
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Box
8
Folder
3
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You Be the Boss Contest, 1953
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Series: Publications
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Mailings to Members
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Box
8
Folder
4-9
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1912, 1919-1921, 1944-1946
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Box
9
Folder
1-7
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1964-1975
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Weekly Bulletin
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Box
9
Folder
8
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1919-1920
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Box
10
Folder
1-8
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1920-1938
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Box
11
Folder
1-8
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1938-1944
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Box
12
Folder
1-2
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1944-1946
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Box
12
Folder
3-6
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Bulletin, 1919, 1947-1967
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Legislative Bulletin
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Box
12
Folder
7-8
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1919, 1949-1951
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Box
13
Folder
1-8
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1953-1961
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Box
14
Folder
1-8
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1961-1966
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Box
15
Folder
1-7
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1967-1971
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Box
16
Folder
1-4
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1971-1975
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Series: Visual Materials
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PH 3359
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Lantern slides, circa 1925
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PH 4927
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Photographs, circa 1900-1970
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