Title: Wisconsin. Department of Administration: John C. Gibson File
Inclusive Dates: 1952-1965

Creator:

• Wisconsin. Department of Administration

Call Number: Series 2247

Quantity: 3.2 c.f. (8 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:

Papers of John C. Gibson (b. 1921), a career civil service employee of the Executive Department and the Department of Administration at a time when the management of Wisconsin state government was centralized and much improved. Gibson was director of the Division of Departmental Research of the Executive Department (1958-1959) and director of the Bureau of General Service (1959-1962) and deputy director of the Bureau of Purchases and Services (1962-1964) of the Department of Administration. Records of the Division of Departmental Research in the series include management, administrative and budgetary studies and reports on industrial development, building plans, records management, the development of the executive budget, and other issues prepared for Governors Walter Kohler, Jr. and Vernon Thomson. Records of the Department of Administration that are included concern activities such as budget preparation; building programs and space management, especially the completion of the Hill Farms State Office building; the introduction of data processing; and centralized state printing. Of special note is a study of official travel by state employees in 1960. The file also includes departmental correspondence (1954-1965) detailing relationships with other state agencies, local governments, industry and private organizations. There are also annual and progress reports, agency studies, and departmental memoranda and circulars.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ser02247

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John Curry Gibson was a career state employee. Unfortunately, only the outline of this career is known. Gibson was born in 1921, raised in Madison, Wisconsin, and graduated from West High School. In 1946 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in business administration. After working as a clerk with American Exchange Bank he began working for the State Audit Department in 1953 as an accountant. About 1954 he began working in the Division of Departmental Research in the Governor's Office. This office which had been created by statute in 1939 was responsible for investigating the operation of administrative agencies, departments, and institutions, boards, and commissions and for advising the governor on the operation of state government. In 1956 Gibson became assistant research director and shortly thereafter (circa 1958) he was promoted to the position of research director. As such, he was the governor's chief advisor on governmental administration. In 1959 the Legislature created the Department of Administration, combining in it the former Bureaus of Engineering, Personnel and Purchases, the Department of Budget and Accounts, and the Division of Departmental Research. The new department was divided functionally into six branches. These were the bureaus of Engineering, Finance, General Services, Management, Personnel, and Purchases. The department was given the responsibility of assisting other agencies of state government and anticipating and resolving administrative and financial problems which might confront state government. An important component of this last responsibility was to act as the governor's chief policy advisor and financial manager in the preparation of the state budget.

John Gibson was assigned the position of director of the Bureau of General Services in the new division. As such he was responsible for many of the housekeeping services of state government including maintaining and operating the state Capitol and other state office buildings; operating the Capitol switchboard; administering Central Stores, the record center, and shipping, mail, and messenger services; administering state printing; and acquiring and leasing space for state agencies.

In 1962 DOA was reorganized and the Bureau of General Services was combined with the Bureau of Purchases to created the Bureau of Purchases and Services. This new entity assumed all the responsibilities of the Bureau of General Services as well as control of all purchasing and construction contracts.

As a result of this structural reorganization Gibson was appointed deputy director of the bureau. In this capacity his primary responsibility was space allocation and state printing. In 1964 he was appointed director of Reproduction Services, a position which reported directly to the commissioner of DOA. Later during the 1960s he became assistant director of the Bureau of Financial Operations. Gibson retired during the early 1980s.

This series consists of a file maintained by John C. Gibson during his tenure in several different state government positions from 1954 to 1965. Unlike most state governmental records which are transferred to the State Archives directly from the office that created them, these papers, which included correspondence, memoranda, reports, circulars, manuals, and directives, were apparently moved by Gibson from one functional responsibility to the next and then transferred to the Archives as a group in 1965.

The papers were received in great disorder, with little evidence of the original file structure. A large quantity of material was unfoldered. As a result, the papers were reordered in the Archives into two series of subject files: one related to the DIVISION OF DEPARTMENTAL RESEARCH and the other to the DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION. The remaining material for which no appropriate subject heading could be determined was grouped into a chronological CORRESPONDENCE file spanning the entire period documented by the series.

Many of the files established in this way are incomplete, and few subjects are treated in depth. Many also fail to document the reason why they were in Gibson's custody. Taken as a whole, however, the series represents not only Gibson's own activities, but also the functions of the offices in which he worked. Few other records of the Department of Administration during its early years are in archival control, and consequently this file has high evidentiary value.

The DIVISION OF DEPARTMENTAL RESEARCH material (1954-1959) documents the activities of the division under governors Walter Kohler, Jr., and Vernon Thomson, both of whom used the division as a personal management tool and investigative aid. Many files from this period relate to the division's relation with the governor. In some cases the correspondence contains marginal notes from the governors to Gibson or instructions that a reply was to be drafted for the governor's signature. In other cases the original correspondence (both incoming and outgoing) from the governor's file is included. It is likely that Gibson was also responsible for drafting statements, speeches, and other documents for the governor.

With the exception of a folder of historical material which begins the series, this section is arranged alphabetically by keyword. The two topics covered in greatest depth are the preparation of the executive budget and the size, operation, and expansion of state office buildings. Also of special interest is the correspondence concerning the controversial transfer of the state archives from the Historical Society in 1957 and the unsuccessful effort in 1955 to improve management of state government by means of a proposed Division of Central Services.

Records in the DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION section are also arranged alphabetically with the exception of a folder of historical background on the organization of the department and the 1962 reorganization which can be found at the beginning of the subject files. The material overlaps the preceding section in one important area. In both agencies Gibson was involved with space utilization and planning for the future space needs of state agencies. During the period documented here the Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison was completed, and a major topic documented in these files concerns the process of assigning space in the building to various departments and coordinating the move to the new space. During his tenure at the Bureau of General Services (1959-1962), the department began investigation of data processing by state agencies. Several folders of reports and studies elaborate this effort and provide some information on the early IBM System (RAMAC) purchased by the state. There is also extensive information in the form of reports, studies, notes, and statistics on the management of the Printing Division. The largest quantity of material about DOA concerns a 1960 survey of the need for state-owned vehicles. Approximately 500 survey forms completed by state employees contain anecdotal information about the activities of state employees as well as documenting the process of gathering management improvement information.

Processing Information

Processed by Helmut M. Knies (1993 intern with Carolyn J. Mattern).

	Series: Division of Departmental Research
Box   1 Folder   1	History, 1958
Box   1 Folder   2	Administration of state government plan, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   3	Appropriation analysis, 1957
	Budget
Box   1 Folder   4	Executive office, 1957-1959
Box   1 Folder   5	Notes and correspondence, 1957-1959
Box   1 Folder   6-7	Worksheets, 1955-1959
	Buildings
Box   1 Folder   8	General projects, 1957
Box   1 Folder   9	Long range plans, 1959
Box   1 Folder   10	Population statistics, 1955-1956
Box   1 Folder   11	Site report, 1952
Box   1 Folder   12	Space needs, 1955-1958
Box   1 Folder   13	Trust Fund, 1957-1958
Box   1 Folder   14	Central Services, Proposed Division of, 1955
Box   2 Folder   1	Check mailing practices, Questionnaires, 1955
Box   2 Folder   2	Communication System, 1958
Box   2 Folder   3	Contract payment procedures, 1957
Box   2 Folder   4	Emergency Board, 1956
	Engineering Bureau
Box   2 Folder   5	Management study (JCG), 1955
Box   2 Folder   6	Reports, 1955
Box   2 Folder   7	Federal-State Action Committee, 1958
Box   2 Folder   8	Federal-State relations, 1959
Box   2 Folder   9	Fiscal notes on pending legislation, 1957
Box   2 Folder   10	Group health insurance, 1958
Box   2 Folder   11	Industrial development, 1956
Box   2 Folder   12	Industrial Development Advisory Committee, 1955-1956
Box   2 Folder   13	Insurance survey, 1955
Box   2 Folder   14	License plates, 1956-1958
Box   2 Folder   15	Mail service centralization, 1957-1958
Box   2 Folder   16	Medical licensing forms, 1957
Box   2 Folder   17	Merit Award Board, analyses of employee suggestions, 1954-1955
Box   3 Folder   1	Notarization study, 1958
Box   3 Folder   2	Parking at State Fairgrounds, 1957
Box   3 Folder   3	Personnel Advisory Committee, Report on statute review, 1956
Box   3 Folder   4	Procurement report (JCG), 1955
Box   3 Folder   5	Purchases, 1956
Box   3 Folder   6	Purchasing procedures and analysis, n.d.
Box   3 Folder   7-8	Records Management, 1955, 1957-1958
Box   3 Folder   9	Research Council proposal, 1958
Box   3 Folder   10	Salary study of administrators, 1955
Box   3 Folder   10a	Telephone, 1957
Box   3 Folder   11	Travel advance study, 1956
	Series: Department of Administration	⇧
Box   3 Folder   12	History (Organization and reorganization), 1959-1962
Box   3 Folder   13	Administrative practices manual, 1961-1963
Box   3 Folder   14	Budget documents, 1959-1963
Box   3 Folder   15	Budgetary Control Reports (DOA), 1959-1960
Box   3 Folder   16	Buildings and grounds, 1960-1963
Box   3 Folder   17	Central Stores, 1960-1963
	Data processing
Box   4 Folder   1	Committee, 1959
Box   4 Folder   2	Correspondence, 1958-1961
Box   4 Folder   3	Notes
Box   4 Folder   4	Polaris Corp. proposal, 1962
Box   4 Folder   5	Reports and studies, 1960-1961
Box   4 Folder   6-7	Hill Farms State Office Building, 1959-1963
Box   4 Folder   8	Information brochure, 1960
Box   4 Folder   9	Maintenance plans and reports, 1960-1963
Box   4 Folder   10	Milwaukee State Office Building, 1959-1962
Box   4 Folder   11	Personnel, 1960-1965
Box   4 Folder   12	Personnel lists (DOA, partial), 1960
	Printing Division
Box   4 Folder   13	Duplicating unit in DMV, 1962-1963
Box   4 Folder   14	Miscellaneous studies, 1960-1962
Box   4 Folder   15	Notes, n.d.
Box   4 Folder   16	Reports, 1960-1962
Box   5 Folder   1	Specifications and statistics, 1961-1963
Box   5 Folder   2	Publications inventory, 1960
Box   5 Folder   3	RAMAC (IBM) System, 1958-1960
Box   5 Folder   4	Records Center reports, 1959-1961
Box   5 Folder   5	Remodeling, 1963-1964
Box   5 Folder   6	Rental of office space, 1959
Box   5 Folder   7	Reports, 1958-1964
	Space utilization
Box   5 Folder   8-10	1959-1961
Box   6 Folder   1-2	1962-1964
Box   6 Folder   3	Travel study, 1960
Box   6 Folder   4-10	Questionnaires
Box   7	Questionnaires, continued
Box   8 Folder   1-2	Questionnaires, continued
Box   8 Folder   3	Unemployment benefits reports, 1959
Box   8 Folder   4-13	Series: Correspondence, 1954-1965	⇧