Title: R. Richard Wagner Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1974

Creator:

• Wagner, R. Richard, 1943-

Call Number: Mss 1006

Quantity: 3.2 c.f. (7 archives boxes and 2 card file boxes)

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, 1968-1974, of Roland Richard Wagner, a Democrat and local politician in Dane County (Wisconsin). The papers document Wagner's political activities as a staff member of several campaigns, including Eugene McCarthy's 1972 Presidential Campaign, Donald Peterson's 1970 gubernatorial Campaign, and other local Madison mayoral campaigns. Also documented are his activities as a member of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, the New Democratic Coalition (NDC), and the History Students Association (HSA) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and as a steering committee member of several local political groups.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01006

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R. Richard Wagner was born September 29, 1943 in Dayton, Ohio. His full name is Roland Richard Wagner, but he was often called “Dick” or “Richard Wagner.”

Wagner received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dayton in 1965. After graduating from college, he went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and finished his M.A. in 1967 and his Ph.D. in 1971, both in American History. While at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he was also a member of the History Students Association (HSA).

As an active member of the Democratic Party, especially of the New Democratic Coalition (NDC), Richard Wagner attended many anti-war organizing efforts, such as the Vietnam Moratorium in 1969, as the NDC representative. On the state level, he worked for the Eugene McCarthy campaign for the 1972 Presidential Wisconsin primary and Donald Peterson's races for Governor of Wisconsin and National Committeeman. On the local level, he worked for Democrats Midge Miller, Leo Cooper, and Dennis McGilligan. In March 1968, he joined the McCarthy election camp first as a volunteer in response to a request from Donald Peterson, the Chairman of the Wisconsin McCarthy for President Committee. Wagner took a more significant role in the McCarthy campaign in 1972; co-chairing the McCarthy for President Committee with Henry Lufler. He also worked as a field director for the 1970 Peterson campaign and traveled around the state speaking and organizing groups of supporters.

While working as a staff member in several major and minor election campaigns, Wagner was also involved in local politics. In August 1971, he was asked to be a member of the Steering Committee of the Community Concerns Committee for the Madison GEF II project. His subsequent years saw further political activities including serving on the County Board of Supervisors for 14 years and as an aide to Governor Martin Schreiber, who appointed him to the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Wisconsin Humanities Committee. He was also appointed by Governor Tony Earl as co-chair of the Governor's Council on Lesbian and Gay Issues.

Wagner has remained active in local politics, serving on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, and involved with the Madison 150th birthday party.

The Wagner papers document R. Richard Wagner's political activities, as a staff member of several campaigns, a Democrat, and a local politician from approximately 1968 to 1974. The papers were created and collected to serve as a reference for Wagner himself and others who might work for Democratic candidates in the future. The collection consists mainly of candidates' position writings and drafts, campaign literature, campaign reference materials, newsletters, booklets relating to the candidates whom Wagner worked for or to Wagner's political activities within the Democratic Party and the New Democratic Coalition.

The papers are divided into three series: MAJOR CAMPAIGNS, LOCAL ACTIVITIES/POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, and WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

The MAJOR CAMPAIGNS series includes two subseries: Eugene McCarthy 1972 Presidential Campaign and Donald Peterson Campaign. The Eugene McCarthy 1972 Presidential Campaign subseries, 1968-1972, documents McCarthy’s second bid for the Democratic nomination for president after his first unsuccessful bid in 1968. The series includes six separate sets of records: Campaign Materials, Campaign Organization and Supporters, Competitors, Democratic Party, Election Reference Materials, and Voter and Media Contact Information. In these files are various campaign related papers, such as McCarthy's position writings, biography, speech manuscripts, mailing lists, press releases, clippings, and correspondence. The papers contain some files reflecting the issues McCarthy was concerned with as well as others' evaluations of McCarthy as a politician. In the McCarthy subseries, researchers can trace how Wagner was involved in the McCarthy campaign and other political activities.

The Donald Peterson subseries include two of his campaigns: the 1970 Governor's Race and the 1972 National Committeeman Race. The 1970 Governor's Race files, 1969-1970, document Peterson's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1970. The papers consist of campaign analyses, campaign events, campaign materials, and supporters' files including writings, press release, clippings, handwritten notes, and ephemera, which reflect Peterson's positions on several political issues and how Peterson and Wagner worked on Peterson's campaign. Peterson's National Committeeman Race files, 1971-1972, consist of correspondence, action reports, speech notes, news releases, and contact lists, which reflect Peterson’s political activities, especially his work for organizational reform within the Democratic Party as a member of the Commission on Rules (also known as the O'Hara Commission) and his 1972 National Committeeman campaign.

The LOCAL ACTIVITIES/ POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS series includes two subseries: Local Activities and Local Political Campaigns. The Activities subseries, 1968-1974, documents Wagner's participation in political activities and includes papers pertaining to the 4th Ward, Citizens for a Better Madison, the General Executive Facility II project, Assembly Bill 314 and Senate Bill 180, Wisconsin Taxation Conference, and the History Students Association of University of Wisconsin-Madison. The 4th Ward materials document efforts to preserve the residential character of Madison, including preserving neighborhood parks from city reconstruction and high-rise development. The papers mainly consist of newsletters and activity reports of incumbent alderman Dennis McGilligan, which were also used for his next aldermanic campaign. The History Students Association file reflects the organization of the HSA and the issues with which the organization was concerned. This file shows the progressive attitudes of the students toward civil rights issues. The file includes papers showing the HSA's rules, preamble, and constitution, a table of meetings, HSA newsletters, and issue writings such as “Support the Black Demands.” The Legislation file documents Assembly Bill 314 and Wisconsin Senate Bill 180. The file includes resolution and handwritten draft regarding the bill prepared by Wagner, the Public Hearing notice of Assembly Bill 314, and writings, such as arguments in support of House Bill No. 2396.

The Campaigns subseries, 1968-1973, document various local election campaigns. Wagner worked for McGilligan's aldermanic campaign as well as Midge Miller's Assemblyman campaign, and Leo Cooper's and Paul Soglin's Mayoral campaigns. Wagner collected many competitors' and former candidates' campaign materials for reference together with the materials of the candidates he was working for, which were extensively documented in the local campaign material files. For example, the Mayoral Election file principally documents the Soglin campaign; however, it includes many papers of the Cooper campaign as well as other candidates' campaigns. In the early 1970s, some of the main issues in Madison were the reorganization of city urban planning and maintaining the local ecological environment. Most campaign materials show the candidates' positions on these issues in addition to biographical information on each of the candidates.

The WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY series includes three subseries: Activities, New Democratic Coalition (NDC) Conference, and State Convention. The papers pertaining to the Democratic Party and the NDC overlap in this collection as Wagner participated in many activities in the NDC and the Democratic Party during the same time period. The Activities subseries, 1969-1974, documents Wagner's activities as a Democrat and/or as a member of the NDC, such as involvement with the Vietnam Moratorium and the NDC transportation group. Some of the activities documented also took place within the context of political campaigns. For example, Register for Peace was planned as one of the rally programs by Democrats. The NDC Conference subseries, 1969-1970, documents NDC Conference issues, action panels, how the NDC was founded and what they pursued as well as papers mentioning the Chicago Convention in 1968. The conference files also contain copies of NDC newsletters and campaign strategy booklets. The State Convention subseries, 1965-1973, includes program booklets, nomination papers, newsletters, the delegates list and its selection memorandum.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Roland Richard Wagner, Madison, Wisconsin. Accession Number: M74-242

Processing Information

Processed by Yeun Jung Choi (Practicum student), 2006.

Mss 1006	Series: Major Campaigns
	Subseries: Eugene McCarthy , 1972 Presidential Campaign
	Campaign Materials
	Information on McCarthy
Box   1 Folder   1	1968
Box   1 Folder   2	1971-1972
Box   1 Folder   3	Local Literature about McCarthy, 1972
Box   1 Folder   4	“McCarthy on the Issues,” 1972
Box   1 Folder   5-6	Newspaper clippings, 1971-1972
Box   1 Folder   7	Newspaper reprints and press releases, 1970-1971
	Press releases, 1971-1972
Box   1 Folder   8	Local
Box   1 Folder   9	National
Box   1 Folder   10	Speech: manuscript, undated
	Competitors
Box   1 Folder   11	Hughes, Harold, 1970-1971
Box   1 Folder   12	McGovern, George, circa 1972
	Democratic Party
Box   1 Folder   13	Dane County Democratic Party, 1971-1972
Box   1 Folder   14-15	Ohio Democratic Party, 1972
Box   1 Folder   16	Wisconsin Democratic Party, 1971-1972
	Election reference materials
Box   1 Folder   17	Delegate selection, 1972
Box   1 Folder   18	Election analysis, 1968
Box   1 Folder   19	Madison ZIP code directory, 1970 October
Box   1 Folder   20	Young Voters Registration Handbook, 1971
	Supporters
	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   1	1971
Box   2 Folder   2	1972
Box   2 Folder   3	Independent Citizens for McCarthy, 1971-1972
Box   2 Folder   4	Madison Campaign Expenses and Finance, 1971-1972
Box   2 Folder   5	Madison McCarthy for President Organizing Committee, 1971
Box   2 Folder   6	National McCarthy for President, 1971-1972
	Voter and Media Contact Information
Box   2 Folder   7	Contact list, undated
Box   8	Dane County card file I, undated
Box   8	Dane County card file II, undated
Box   2 Folder   8-9	Dane County mailing list, undated
Box   2 Folder   10-11	List for Miller, undated
Box   2 Folder   12	McCarthy '72 list, 1972
	Subseries: Donald Peterson Campaign	⇧
	, 1970 Governor's Race
	Campaign Analyses
Box   2 Folder   13-14	Maps, undated
	Newspaper clippings
Box   2 Folder   15	1969
Box   2 Folder   16	1970
Box   2 Folder   17	Poll and date, 1970
	Campaign Events
Box   3 Folder   1	Canvassing, 1970
Box   3 Folder   2	Field Work, 1970
Box   3 Folder   3	Rally, 1970 December
	Campaign Material
Box   3 Folder   4	Campaign manual, undated
Box   3 Folder   5	Literature, 1970
Box   3 Folder   6	Material on issues, 1970
Box   3 Folder   7-8	Press release, 1970
Box   3 Folder   9	Schedules, 1970
Box   3 Folder   10	Speech and position papers, 1970
Box   3 Folder   11-12	Writing, 1970
	Supporters
Box   4 Folder   1	Dane County Friends, 1970
Box   4 Folder   2	MSN Friends, 1970
Box   4 Folder   3	State folder, 1970
Box   4 Folder   4	University Students, 1970
Box   4 Folder   5	University of Wisconsin Friends, 1969-1970
	, 1972 National Committeeman Race
Box   4 Folder   6	Correspondence, 1972
Box   4 Folder   7	Dane County Caucus, 1972
	Democratic National Committeeman File
Box   4 Folder   8-9	1971
Box   4 Folder   10	1972
Box   9	Media contact card file, 1972
Box   4 Folder   11	Peterson state list, undated
Box   4 Folder   12	Supporters, 1972
	Series: Local Activities/Political Campaigns	⇧
	Subseries: Activities
	4th Ward
Box   4 Folder   13	Alderman, 1970-1973
Box   4 Folder   14	4th Ward Organization newsletter, 1972
Box   4 Folder   15	Residents, undated
Box   4 Folder   16	Contact lists, undated
Box   4 Folder   17	James Madison Park, 1972
Box   4 Folder   18	Parks Association Annual meeting, 1974
Box   5 Folder   1	Citizens for a Better Madison (CBM), 1970-1971
Box   5 Folder   2	General Executive Facility II (GEF II) Project, 1971-1972
Box   5 Folder   3-4	History Students Association (HSA), 1968
Box   5 Folder   5-6	Legislation (Bill 180/314), 1971
Box   5 Folder   7	Wisconsin Taxation Conference, 1973-1974
Box   5 Folder   8	Wounded Knee Communiqués, 1973
	Subseries: Campaigns	⇧
	Campaign material
Box   5 Folder   9	1968
Box   5 Folder   10	1972-1973
Box   5 Folder   11	Kathryn F. Clarenbach draft, undated
Box   5 Folder   12	Leo Cooper for Mayor, 1971
Box   6 Folder   1	Mayoral election, 1971-1973
Box   6 Folder   2	Midge Miller for Assembly, 1970
Box   6 Folder   3	Voting location, 1970
Box   6 Folder   4	Voting record, 1971-1972
Box   6 Folder   5	ZIP code, 1970
	Series: Wisconsin Democratic Party	⇧
	Subseries: Activities
Box   6 Folder   6	Democratic general file, 1969-1970
Box   6 Folder   7	General Electric Strike, 1970
Box   6 Folder   8-9	New Democratic Coalition (NDC) Transportation Group, 1970
	Register for Peace
Box   9	Contact card file, undated
Box   6 Folder   10	Newsletters and plans, 1971-1972
Box   6 Folder   11-12	Rally program, 1971
Box   6 Folder   13	Young Voters Registration Handbook, 1971
	Vietnam Moratorium
Box   6 Folder   14	List, 1969
Box   6 Folder   15	Literature, 1969
	Subseries: New Democratic Coalition (NDC) Conference	⇧
Box   6 Folder   16	Conference material, 1970
Box   6 Folder   17	Conference material from other states, 1969
Box   7 Folder   1	National Conference, 1970
Box   7 Folder   2	NDC newsletters, 1970
Box   7 Folder   3	Press file, 1970
Box   7 Folder   4-5	Strategy booklets, undated
	Subseries: State Convention	⇧
Box   7 Folder   6-7	Delegates list, 1972
Box   7 Folder   8	Democratic Party Constitutional Review, 1965-1972
Box   7 Folder   9	Memorandum about Delegate selection, 1972
	Wisconsin Democratic Convention
Box   7 Folder   10-11	1970
Box   7 Folder   12-13	1972
Box   7 Folder   14-15	1973