Summary Information
Harry W. Bolens Papers
1837-1887, 1903-1944
Wis Mss LD; PH 661; PH 1086; PH 1572
1.6 c.f. (8 archives boxes), 115 photographs (3 folders and 1 album) and 3 negatives (3 envelopes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Harry W. Bolens, a Wisconsin manufacturer, inventor, newspaper editor, and politician. The collection consists mainly of two types of materials: papers related to the Gilson Manufacturing Company in Port Washington, and letters and speeches from the period of Bolens' service in the state senate. Some photographs show products of the Gilson Company while others are images of members of the Bolens family and friends.
There is a restriction on access to a portion of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000ld ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Scope and Content Note
The business papers of Bolens' manufacturing enterprises cover the period 1903-1944. Included are profit and loss statements, patent agreements, 3 reports of a labor detective, 1919, and general business correspondence of the Gilson Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of gasoline engines, garden tractors, and chair irons. Also present are similar materials for the Bolens-Enders Printing Company and the Plymouth Phonograph Company.
Materials relating to Bolens' political activities include letters and speeches opposing the state income tax in 1912, when he was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. Bolens served in the state senate from 1933 to 1940 as a conservative Democrat, and the papers for these years contain information on the coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans against Philip La Follette's Progressives. Some of Bolens' speeches, several drafts of bills and amendments, and a manuscript of his study of the University of Wisconsin's finances are also included. His opposition to organized labor, a higher corporate tax, and University president Glenn Frank is clearly reflected in the collection. Among his regular correspondents were Congressman M. K. Reilly and Senator F. Ryan Duffy; and there are also occasional letters from Franklin D. Roosevelt, James A. Farley, and Henry A. Wallace.
Photographs show some of the garden implements and other machinery produced by the Gilson Company. There are also portraits related to the extended Bolens family and their friends, circa 1860-1885, and carte-de-visite and tintype portraits of members of the Bolens family as well as members of the Brown, Runkel, and Van Dorn families. Digital prints for the three negatives are available.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Access is to vintage prints and digital prints only. Consult the Visual Materials Curator or Visual Materials Archivist regarding access to the negatives.
Presented by Mrs. H. W. Bolens, Port Washington, Wisconsin, November, 1953.
Contents List
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Wis Mss LD
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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1837-1887 (including early papers of Eugene Bolens, father of Harry W.)
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Box
1
Folder
2
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1903-1910
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Box
1
Folder
3
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1911
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Box
1
Folder
4
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1912, Jan.-Aug.
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Box
1
Folder
5
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1912, Sept.-Dec., undated
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Box
2
Folder
1
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1913
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Box
2
Folder
2
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1914-1920
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Box
2
Folder
3
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1921
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Box
2
Folder
4
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1922
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Box
2
Folder
5
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1923-1930
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Box
3
Folder
1
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1931-1932
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Box
3
Folder
2
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1933, Jan.-Feb.
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Box
3
Folder
3
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1933, Mar. 1-17
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Box
3
Folder
4
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1933, Mar. 18-31
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Box
3
Folder
5
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1933, April
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Box
3
Folder
6
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1933, May
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Box
4
Folder
1
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1933, June
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Box
4
Folder
2
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1933, July-Dec., undated
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Box
4
Folder
3
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1934
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Box
4
Folder
4
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1935-1936
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Box
4
Folder
5
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1937
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Box
5
Folder
1
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1938
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Box
5
Folder
2
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1939, Jan.-Apr.
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Box
5
Folder
3
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1939, May-July
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Box
5
Folder
4
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1939, Aug.-Dec.
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Box
5
Folder
5
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1940-1944
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Box
5
Folder
6
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Wisconsin Guide Commission correspondence, 1937-1939
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Working drafts of Amendments
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Box
4
Folder
6
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Amendment no. 1A to Bill no. 1A, 1937
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Box
4
Folder
7
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Amendments to substitute amendment 1S. to bill no. 6S
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Addresses, newsclippings, miscellany
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Box
6
Folder
1
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1911-circa 1932
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Box
6
Folder
2
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circa 1933-circa 1938
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Box
6
Folder
3
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circa 1939-circa 1944
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Box
6
Folder
4
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Newspaper clippings, campaign materials, etc., undated
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Box
6
Folder
5
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Materials pertaining to the Bolens Manufacturing Co., undated
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Box
7
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Addresses, articles, miscellaneous, undated
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Diaries
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Box
8
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1896
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Box
8
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1897
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Box
8
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1899
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Box
8
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1900
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Box
8
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1902
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Box
8
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1903
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Box
8
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1904
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Box
8
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1905
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Box
8
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1906
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Box
8
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Wallet with ticket stubs, clippings, miscellaneous
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Box
8
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Index cards, A-Z
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Visual Materials
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Photographs
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PH 661
Folder
1
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Gilson-Bolen Company images of garden implements and machinery produced by the Gilson Company
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PH 1081
Folder
1-2
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Family and Friends, circa 1860-1885
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PH 1572
Box
1
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Photograph Album including cartes-de-visite and tintypes of members of the Bolens, Brown, Runkel, and Van Dorn families
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PH 661
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Negatives
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Envelope
1-3
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Gilson-Bolen Company
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