Title: Wisconsin Daily Newspaper League Records
Inclusive Dates: 1927-1975

Creator:

• Wisconsin Daily Newspaper League

Call Number: Mss 555

Quantity: 3.4 c.f. (9 archives boxes)

Repository:

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.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records of an organization of daily Wisconsin newspapers consisting of minutes (1927-1975), correspondence, newsletters and other publications, statistical reports, and financial records. The correspondence and newsletters concern organizational matters such as conference planning and involvement with Wisconsin Markets, Inc., in order to centralize the sale of advertising space in Wisconsin papers. Legislative concerns of the organization are well documented in files of correspondence and memoranda of its attorney and lobbyist, W. Wade Boardman.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00555

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The Wisconsin Daily Newspaper League was founded in 1918 and incorporated on September 12, 1921. The articles of organization stated that the WDNL was founded to foster the interchange of ideas concerning the newspaper publishing business in Wisconsin and to encourage the use of Wisconsin newspapers as an advertising medium by non-resident and resident advertisers.

One of the primary activities of the league was the promotion of advertising in Wisconsin newspapers. The organization was a member of Wisconsin Markets, Inc., a group which promoted both local and national advertising dollars through a variety of publications and market campaigns. The league also kept abreast of laws and legislation affecting newspapers through the activities of a lobbyist, attorney W. Wade Boardman. Newsletters prepared by Boardman outlining pending bills and legislation, and a newsletter, The Bulletin, issued by the league's secretary were the major channels of communication.

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a decline in WDNL activity. On August 14, 1975 a meeting was held in Oshkosh to discuss the proposed merge of WDNL with the newly-formed Wisconsin Newspaper Association. The proposal carried, and the WDNL dissolved September 30, 1975. Four members chosen by the WDNL were given seats on the board of directors of the new association.

Although the Wisconsin Daily Newspaper League dates to 1918, no documentation exists from this early period. Formal record keeping began in 1927, and from this point league activities are well documented. Included in the collection are correspondence, minutes, newsletters, statistical reports and financial records.

MINUTES document the annual meetings of the league beginning in 1927. In addition to proceedings, the files include correspondence, much of which is routine, concerning preparation for the meeting, choosing a location, securing a speaker, and planning menus. Conference programs and schedules and occasional copies of speeches outline activities and discussions. No doubt suggesting the decline of its later years, the files on the meetings of the 1970s are quite sparse.

CORRESPONDENCE is divided into general and subject categories. Alphabetically-arranged by correspondent, the general correspondence is often routine in nature, also concentrating largely on preparations for annual meetings. The alphabetical subject files include correspondence with the Wisconsin Markets, Inc., a marketing organization supported by WDNL. These files include a few minutes and Spot News-This Week in Wisconsin, a newsletter about advertising issued by Wisconsin Markets, Inc. Correspondence with the league's law firm, Minahan & Bassett and with the newspaper research firm M.S. Kuhns and Company is also included. The Kuhns file includes many statistical studies of Wisconsin newspapers.

The LEGISLATIVE FILES document the activities of league lobbyist and attorney W. Wade Boardman from 1943-1968. These files contain his correspondence with WDNL officers and detailed memoranda prepared for the membership in order to keep them informed about pending legislation that affected newspaper publication. Because little documentation about the work of lobbyists in any field is available in Wisconsin, this file is particularly valuable.

PUBLICATIONS primarily consists of an extensive file of the Bulletin, the newsletter issued by the secretary of WDNL. The organization used the Bulletin as their major form of communication from 1927 to 1944, after which publication ended. The Bulletin announced annual meetings, membership renewals, and other league business. Files in the collection are very complete, and for the two decades that it covers, it is a major source for studying the internal concerns of the newspaper business in Wisconsin. In the 1930s the bulletin often included notes about fraudulent advertisers, while the 1940s saw discussions about employee shortages caused by the war. Also here are copies of several editions of Laws Affecting Wisconsin Newspapers compiled by Boardman and a 1931 market guide, Where 1,500,000 Wisconsin People Go to Market.

FINANCIAL RECORDS consists of loose-leaf ledgers documenting dues, cash received, and disbursements from 1932 to 1942 and from 1950 to 1973.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the WDNL via William Huffman, December 19, 1975. Accession Number: M75-599

Processing Information

Processed by Christine Saminon (FGH student), Debra Randorf, and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1987.

	Series: Minutes
Box   1 Folder   1-14	1927-1940
Box   2 Folder   1-20	1941-1960
Box   3 Folder   1-17	1961-1975
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
	General correspondence, 1936-1972
Box   3 Folder   18-19	A-J
Box   4 Folder   1-4	L-W
	Subject files
Box   4 Folder   5	Advertising fund, 1949
Box   4 Folder   6	Advertising Managers Association, 1942
Box   4 Folder   7	Gittins, Bert S., Advertising, 1947-50
	Kuhns, M.S., and Co.
Box   5 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1938-1941
Box   5 Folder   2-3	Statistical studies, 1949-1965
Box   5 Folder   4-5	Minahan and Bassett, 1941-1942
Box   5 Folder   6	Ralph Nafziger Conference Room Committee, 1966
Box   5 Folder   7	Rate cards, 1938-1942
Box   5 Folder   8-9	Wisconsin Laws Affecting Newspapers, 1953-1961
	Wisconsin Markets, Inc.
Box   5 Folder   10-11	Correspondence, 1936-1938
Box   6 Folder   1	Dealer purchases study
	Series: Legislative Files	⇧
Box   6 Folder   2-6	Wade Boardman correspondence, 1943-1968
Box   6 Folder   7	Pre-Trial publicity bill, 1964-1965
	Series: Publications	⇧
	Bulletin
Box   6 Folder   8-9	1927-1929
Box   7 Folder   1-7	1930-1944
Box   8 Folder   1	1945-1947
Box   8 Folder   2	Special bulletins, 1937-1942
Box   8 Folder   3	Wisconsin Laws Affecting Newspapers, 1930, 1938, 1954 Supplement
Box   8 Folder   4-5	Where 1,500,000 Wisconsin People Go to Market (Market guide), 1931
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box   9 Folder   1-4	1932-1942
Box   9 Folder   5	1950-1973