The Kennedy Papers consist primarily of correspondence on his three terms in the Legislature. Although Mrs. Kennedy told a Society representative in 1971 there were additional papers pertaining to her husband's career as well as to her own considerable involvement in the cooperative movement, these have not come into archival custody. The papers consist of correspondence from Polk County constituents, political leaders, and lobbyists, newsletters, and legislative information. The correspondence is arranged by legislative session and then alphabetically by correspondent. Among the prominent letterwriters are A. L. Berquist, Bennie Bye, Bernard Gehrmann, and Merlin Hull. Although correspondence pertaining to his work in the cooperative movement is assumed to have been destroyed, his correspondence does contain references to his interest in the movement. The discussion of legislative matters in the papers is also quite good because Kennedy frankly discussed the situation concerning pending bills and other current issues.
Also of interest in the collection are carbons of his 1941 newsletters, one of the earliest examples of the use of this device by Wisconsin legislators. In addition the collection includes a small file of material concerning specific
bills (1937-1939) filed chronologically and then alphabetically by bill number and a small file of statistical charts and other information concerning legislative matters.
