Summary Information
Joseph F. Handlos Papers
1929-1972
- Handlos, Joseph F., 1891-
Northland Mss V
0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center / Ashland Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of Handlos, a Land o' Lakes, Wisconsin resident involved in the promotion of Wisconsin highways and particularly of U.S. Highway 45, a major tourist route to resort areas in northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Included is correspondence from Wisconsin and Michigan government agencies and legislators; speeches delivered to citizen groups and as legislative testimony; an information file on highways; and records, 1934-1961, of the U.S. Highway 45 Association, a citizens' lobbying organization.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-nort000v ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Born January 15, 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Joseph Handlos entered the labor market in 1905 as an apprentice operating engineer for the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company. In 1908 he moved to State Line (later Land O' Lakes), Wisconsin, where he was employed as a millwright, resort guide, and construction worker. In 1917, he enlisted in the Army and served in Europe during World War I.
Returning to Land O' Lakes in 1920, Handlos became interested in civic affairs and succeeded in winning election as Town Assessor in 1923 and Town Chairman in 1925. He was also a member of the Vilas County Board and served as its chairman, 1931-1933. However, most of his energies were channeled into private citizens' groups, including the Vilas County Taxpayers League, the Wisconsin Citizens Public Expenditure Survey, and the U.S. Highway 45 Association.
The U.S. Highway Association claimed the major part of Handlos' attention. Formed in the late 1920's under the leadership of Walter Olen, president of the Four Wheel Drive Company, Clintonville, Wisconsin, the group was known as the Highway 26 Club until 1934. Membership was composed of people in cities from Hortonville to Pelican Lake who were interested in the improvement of Highway 26, a major tourist route to northern Wisconsin and Michigan's resort country. Handlos became president of the group in 1929 and held that office for more than thirty years. The group's activities consisted mainly of lobbying with the Wisconsin Legislature and with other citizens for highway improvement and for non-diversion of highway funds.
A heart attack in 1964 forced Handlos to decrease his civic activities. At this writing (1972) he is retired, spending the summers at his home in Land O' Lakes and the winters in Florida.
Scope and Content Note
The Joseph Handlos Papers pertain almost entirely to his interest in the Wisconsin highway program and the U.S. Highway 45 Association. The Papers are arranged by type of document and consist of correspondence, speeches, Association records, and a highway information file.
Comprised almost entirely of incoming letters, most of the correspondence concerns Highway 45. The letters are from members of the Wisconsin Highway Commission and other government agencies, legislators, Michigan Highway Commissioner Charles M. Ziegler, the Wisconsin Citizens Public Expenditure Survey, and other officers of the U.S. Highway 45 Association. Typical subjects include the early location of the highway, plans for additional construction, the erection of signs, and traffic counts. Arrangement is chronological, 1929-1967, 1972. The 1972 letter is from Handlos, written in response to a Historical Society request for biographical information.
Also arranged chronologically are speeches given by Handlos, 1934-1965, n.d. Many of these speeches were given as testimony at Legislative hearings and many were delivered at Highway 45 Association meetings and meetings of other citizen groups. Three common topics are the diversion of highway funds to other uses, the county veto power over state highway construction, and excessive government spending.
The U.S. Highway 45 Association records included in this collection consist of minutes, 1934-1955; membership lists; financial reports, 1935-1961; newsletters; press releases; promotional materials; clippings; and miscellaneous items. Frequently included in the minutes and newsletters are summaries of speeches presented to the Association by Wisconsin government officials.
The final group in the Papers is a collection of a variety of types of documents apparently used by Handlos as information sources on highways. Included is financial data on highway budgets, income sources, and construction, equipment, and administrative costs; analyses and background statements concerning proposed legislative measures; resolutions and brochures from the Wisconsin Good Roads Association; and miscellaneous materials such as speeches and statements by other people, a statement of purpose of the Committee of 66, minutes from a 1963 highway users conference, a series of articles from the Highway Research Council, and various other items.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Joseph F. Handlos, Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin, July 8, 1971. Accession Number: M71-154
Processed by Karen Baumann, January 24, 1972.
Contents List
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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1929-1950
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Box
1
Folder
2
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1951-1956
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Box
1
Folder
3
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1957-1967, 1972, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Speeches, 1934-1965, n.d.
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U.S. Highway 45 Association
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Highlights from the Minutes, 1934-1948
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Secretary's Records
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Box
1
Folder
6
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1934-1945
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Box
1
Folder
7
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1946-1955, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Treasurer's Records, 1935-1961
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Newsletters, Press Releases, and Promotional Materials, 1947-1954
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Clippings, unorganized
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Miscellaneous
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Highway Information File
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Box
2
Folder
1
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General Financial Data, 1931-1964
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Financial Data re: Vilas County, 1929-1954
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Legislative Proposals, 1933-1953
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Wisconsin Good Roads Association, 1952, 1956, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Miscellaneous, 1930-1964
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