Title: Robert Colton Johnson Papers and Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1917-1969

Creator:

• Johnson, Robert Colton, 1894-1969

Call Number: PH 1288-PH 1296; PH 4988; WHi(U621-U622); M2015-138

Quantity: 723 photographs and 242 negatives; plus additions of 1.8 cubic feet and 1.0 cubic foot of photographs

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:

Photographs and papers created and collected by Robert Colton Johnson related to his service with the American North Russian Expeditionary Forces (1918-1919), as the state director in Wisconsin of the Civil Works Administration (1933-1934), the United States Navy in Iwo Jima (1943-1945), and work with the Seisel Construction Company and Civil Works Administration in Milwaukee.

Note:

There is a restriction on access to this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ph01288

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Robert Colton Johnson was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin engineering department. Johnson was president of the Seisel Construction Company in Milwaukee, 1949-1961.

This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 2 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.

• Part 1 (PH 1288-PH 1296, PH 4988, WHi(U621-U622)): Original Collection, 1918-1934
• Part 2 (M2015-138): Additions, 1917-1969

Robert Colton Johnson Family Papers, 1902-1960, University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives

Access Restrictions

Use of nitrate negatives restricted. Consult reference archivist regarding access to negatives.

Acquisition Information

Accession Number: M2015-138

	Part 1 (PH 1288-PH 1296, PH 4988, WHi(U621-U622)): Original Collection, 1918-1934 Physical Description: 723 photographs and 242 negatives  Scope and Content Note: Photographs taken by Johnson while Civil Works Administration Wisconsin state director, for State Project 14 (1933-1934). Also includes photographs taken by Johnson while adjunct and chief photographer related to the United States Army North Russian Expeditionary Force (1918-1919).
	United States Army North Russian Expeditionary Force photographs, 1918-1919
PH 4988	Landscapes, villages, and groups of soldiers and civilians
WHi(U621)	Glass plate negatives
WHi(U621)	Nitrate negatives Access Restrictions: Use of nitrate negatives restricted. Consult reference archivist regarding access to negatives.
	Civil Works Administration, Wisconsin State Project, 14 photographs, 1933-1934
PH 1288	Sites, condition of structures, workmen, schoolhouses, courthouses, pumping stations, fairgrounds, and libraries
PH 1289	Construction work on roads, highways, small road bridges, and streets
PH 1290	Engineering and maintenance work to correct soil erosion
PH 1291	Construction work on aspects of public safety, including firewalls, cisterns, sidewalks, and sewers
PH 1292	Women's group sewing projects
PH 1293	Aerial and ground shots of airports
PH 1294	Engineering work on waterways and embankments
PH 1295	Construction and landscaping work in parks and recreational areas
PH 1296	Aerial photographs of construction projects
M2015-138	Part 2 (M2015-138): Additions, 1917-1969 Physical Description: 1.8 cubic feet (1 records center carton and 1 flat box) and 1.0 cubic feet of photographs (2 archives boxes and 1 flat box)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1918-1969, consisting of papers and photographs related to Johnson's service with the American North Russian Expeditionary Force in Archangel, Russia (1918-1919), the Civil Works Administration (1933-1934), the United States Navy in Iwo Jima, Japan (1943-1945), and his work with the Siesel Construction Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). The papers include correspondence with his wife, Dorothy; memos, orders, and correspondence while training and serving in England and Russia; a scrapbook of news clippings from his service in the Civil Works Administration, family correspondence during World War II with sporadic journal entries; reports and ephemera from his service with the USNR; and correspondence, news clippings, and ephemera related to his work in Milwaukee with the Siesel Construction Company and with the various boards and advisory councils on which he served. Also included are Johnson's photographs from England and Russia, the Works Progress Administration, Iwo Jima and Japan during WWII, and various Milwaukee engineering projects including the expressway expansion. In addition, there are two scrapbooks and a photo album kept by Johnson's daughter, Mary Ann, while the family was stationed at Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands (1940-1941) and her summer at Camp Wawbeek in the Wisconsin Dells (1943).	⇧
Box   1 Folder   1	Trench Fortification School training, 1917-1918
Box   1 Folder   2	Correspondence, 1918
Box   1 Folder   3	Correspondence and ephemera, 1918-1919
Box   1 Folder   4	Archangel reports, 1919
Box   1 Folder   5	Archangel reports and memos, 1919
Box   1 Folder   6	American Sentinel, 1919
Box   1 Folder   7	American North Russia Expeditionary Force (ANREF) ephemera, 1919-1957
Box   1 Folder   8	Civil Works Administration
Box   1 Folder   9	Correspondence, 1940-1944
Box   1 Folder   10	Ephemera, 1944-1946
Box   1 Folder   11	104th Seabees ephemera
Box   1 Folder   12	9th Naval Construction Brigade
Box   1 Folder   13	Speeches, 1952-1963
Box   1 Folder   14	Letters of congratulations and thank you notes, 1953
Box   1 Folder   15	Siesel Construction Company, 1952-1954
Box   1 Folder   16-26	Correspondence, news clippings, and ephemera, 1953-1968
Box   1 Folder   27	Correspondence regarding Johnson's death and burial, 1969
Box   1 Folder   28	Certificates
Box   2 Folder   1	Certificates (continued)
Box   2 Folder   2-6	Civil Works Administration scrapbook, 1933-1934
	Photographs
Box   3 Folder   1	Robert and Dorothy Johnson
Box   3 Folder   2	Robert Colton Johnson portraits
Box   3 Folder   3	Robert Colton Johnson groups
Box   3 Folder   4	England and Russia
Box   3 Folder   5	Works Progress Administration
Box   3 Folder   6	Milwaukee expressway
Box   3 Folder   7	Milwaukee Association of Commerce
Box   3 Folder   8	Operation Understanding
Box   3 Folder   9	Siesel Construction Company
Box   3 Folder   10	Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers
Box   4 Folder   1	Iwo Jima
Box   4 Folder   2	Japan
Box   4 Folder   3-5	World War II
Box   5 Folder   1	Mary Ann Johnson photo album, Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, 1940-1941
	Mary Ann Johnson scrapbooks
Box   5 Folder   2	Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, 1940-1941
Box   5 Folder   3	Camp Wawbeek, Wisconsin Dells, 1943