Title: James A. Frear Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1883-1940

Creator:

• Frear, James A. (James Archibald), 1861-1939

Call Number: Wis Mss MZ

Quantity: 1.2 c.f. (4 archives 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:

Incomplete papers, mainly 1910-1940, of James A. Frear, a Hudson, Wisconsin lawyer and Progressive Republican who held numerous elective offices in state and federal government: assemblyman, 1902-1904; state senator, 1904-1906; secretary of state, 1907-1913; and congressman, 1913-1935. Much of the congressional correspondence is of a routine, congratulatory nature, with letters of autograph value from Presidents Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; Theodore Barton; Guytzon Borglum; Harry Daughtery; John N. Garner; and Gifford Pinchot. Of greater interest are files on an unofficial 1923 congressional tour of Russia meant to re-establish trade relations; Frear's criticism of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, particularly regarding New York Indians; responses from Eleanor Roosevelt, Jeannette Rankin, and others regarding his peace referendum proposal; and correspondence with Cordell Hull, Harold Ickes, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., and others to secure an appointment to the Tariff Commission in 1934. There are also letters of note from John Collier and Edward Keating. Personal correspondence concerns land investments in eastern Montana and the distribution of Frear's autobiography which was published by a vanity press. Best documenting his national political career are weekly letters distributed to district newspapers and campaign literature. These letters also describe his international travel. Frear's early political career is covered only by clippings, 1903-1904, which treat his years in the Assembly. Frear's autobiography, Forty Years of Progressive Public Service, is in the Historical Society's Library.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000mz

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Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. James A. Frear, 1944, 1945, and Marguerite Frear Johnson, New York, 1955.

Processing Information

Reprocessed by Carolyn J. Mattern, 2008.

	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1-8	Chronological correspondence, 1883, 1906, 1910-1940
	Subject files
Box   1 Folder   9	Appointment correspondence, 1934
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Memoirs, 1937-1938
Box   2 Folder   3-4	Montana property, 1910-1912, 1938-1940
Box   3 Folder   1	Native Americans, 1926-1934
Box   3 Folder   2	Russian trip, 1923
	Speeches and Writings
Box   3 Folder   3	Speeches, 1923
	Weekly letters
Box   3 Folder   4-5	1913-1917
Box   4 Folder   1-4	1917-1922; 1927-1934
Box   4 Folder   5	Campaign literature, 1912-1924, undated
	Clippings
Box   4 Folder   6	Scrapbook, 1903-1904
Box   4 Folder   7	Obituaries and general clippings