The papers consist primarily of correspondence, memoranda and subject files relating to Kuehl's lengthy career as a government employee and to his personal life. The collection is divided into fifteen series that reflect his many interests, family commitments, political proclivities, and professional development. These files are: Personal; Political; Progressive Republican Al Smith for President Club; Executive Clerk; Executive Secretary; Attorney General; Committee on Indian Affairs; Banking Department; Reconstruction Finance Corporation; American Medical Association; Labor-Management and Welfare-Pensions Reports; First National Bank of Rice Lake; General Subject Files; Albert and Anna Kuehl Estates; and Clippings. The contents of all series, with the exception of Clippings, are organized alphabetically and chronologically thereunder. The Clippings are in chronological order.
Frank Kuehl's PERSONAL papers, 1896 and 1917-1981, reveal his love of family, the depth of his friendships and his interest in financial matters. Biographical information includes an abbreviated family genealogical chart, a copy of Kuehl's passport application, various resumes, and copies of taped interviews conducted by his daughter, Marion Korst, in 1976 and 1977. The interviews are his recollections from childhood to post-retirement. Included are comments on the Progressive movement, his pacifist stand during the early years of World War I, the organization of Governor Blaine's office, Kuehl's association with Robert M. La Follette, Jr., and the merger of the First National Bank of Rice Lake with the First Wisconsin Bankshares Corporation.
The John J. Blaine Family materials consist of correspondence to Blaine and his wife Anna, to their daughter, Helen, and her husband, Donald Farris, and to Anna Blaine's mother, Mattie McSpaden, following her daughter's death in 1938. The Correspondence includes plans for Blaine memorials. Miscellany incorporates odd notes written by Blaine, often barely legible, and statistics. The Desk Calendar indicates some of Kuehl's scheduled activities as well as some of his wife's in his first full year of retirement.
The Family grouping is broken into two major subgroups: correspondence and estates. The Correspondence includes letters from cousins in the United States and Germany, from Kuehl's in-laws, and from his daughters, parents and sisters. However the largest single group of letters were written by Kuehl and Jane Sattre before their marriage in 1923. These charming courtship letters, beginning shortly after their engagement, include nearly a letter a day from one or the other. These touch on their love, their perceptions of their families, their activities, and the world they wanted to live in as a couple. The Estates files include drafts of Kuehl's will written shortly after his wife's death and records of an agency (trust) arranged for Jane Sattre Kuehl in her father's will.
Kuehl's interest in financial concerns are revealed in the Financial materials. Anderson Light and Sales Company records deal with Kuehl's purchase of their outstanding paper, which he contracted to collect for a commission. Collection reports are documents Kuehl prepared for the business on a monthly basis while Contracts Sold delineate the obligations Kuehl agreed to collect. Miscellany includes notes and some correspondence. Kuehl also considered the possibility of investing in silver fox Fur Farming. Investment Literature includes newsletters and flyers from various investment firms. Kuehl executed a number of Loans with various Madison banks from around 1923 through about 1939, using much of the money to invest in stocks and bonds. Kuehl invested in the Midland Bank, Cleveland, and assisted in the incorporation of the Northern Bond Investment Company, Rice Lake. He also considered investments in Newspapers and Real Estate, including an arcade and office complex in Madison. Kuehl purchased Stocks and Bonds on a regular basis and the files dealing with these instruments are organized chronologically. Kuehl along with a group of other Madison investors, including Paul N. Reynolds, Vroman Mason, R. H. Coe and Leo T. Crowley, created the United Investors Corporation in 1928 as a means of consolidating their capital resources for the purchase of exemplary stocks and bonds. It was dissolved in 1941. The Minutes are from stockholders meetings while the Miscellany file includes some correspondence, proxy forms, lists of securities held, annual reports, balance sheets, and a list of stockholders.
General Correspondence, 1896 and 1918 to 1981, is the largest body of records in this series. Most of the correspondence spans the years 1927 to 1981 and touches on the state of Kuehl's family and employment, the economy, politics and religious affairs. Legal Documents include subpoenas. The Pop Factory at Fountain City, Wisconsin, was located on property owned by Albert Kuehl. Following Albert's death in 1937, Frank Kuehl tried to sell the property.
From 1923 into early 1924, Kuehl and Jane Sattre were preoccupied with their marriage. The Pre-nuptual Preparations file consists of wedding plans and concerns related to setting up a household. The Residences files cover the purchase and later rental of the family's homes in Madison and Washington. Tributes to Charles H. Crownhart and Marvin B. Rosenberry are pamphlets executed after their deaths on which Kuehl made notations. The University of Wisconsin files, available only on microfilm, include materials on Kuehl's classroom performance and from his tenure as business manager for the campus yearbook, The Badger. The 1896 date on the Writings by Others folder refers to an excerpt from William Jennings Bryant's “Cross of Gold” speech to the Democratic National Convention of that year.
Kuehl's POLITICAL activities during the 1920s are best seen in this series. The files from the 1924 Elections include materials from the Calvin Coolidge and the Robert M. La Follette, Sr. campaigns, and on delegate selection and participation in the 1924 Republican National Convention. Also found here are records from John J. Blaine's reelection bid against Martin Lueck for Governor of Wisconsin, and research done for the campaigns by the Legislative Reference Bureau. The 1926 Elections files relate to John J. Blaine's try for a U.S. Senate seat, and include a list of significant Progressive Republicans in Wisconsin in 1926 by county, and speech research materials. The 1928 Elections files are sparse, but do contain information on a variety of state elections, and the guide to the Republican National Convention of July 12, 1928 with Kuehl's notations. Miscellany consists of a wide variety of politically related, but otherwise unidentified, papers.
With Blaine's blessing, Kuehl became the secretary of the PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICAN AL SMITH FOR PRESIDENT CLUB, a Wisconsin organization that actively opposed the nomination of Herbert Hoover for President by the Republican Party in 1928. Kuehl organized and ran the campaign out of Madison. The records are on microfilm and they are fairly complete. (The originals have been returned to Kuehl.) Among them are drafts of Campaign Copy ad and pamphlet design, and Financial Records of campaign expenditures reportable to the federal government. The Issues files include statements and strategies for promoting Smith's stands on agriculture, sending food to the German people following World War I, the questions of religion and of prohibition, and appeals to interest groups. Organization and Publicity deals directly with the creation of the campaign staff and the group's attempts to get publicity. Poll lists were obtained from at least seven geographic entities and were used to contact potential voters. The Scrapbook contains newspaper clippings concerning the Club's activities and progress during the campaign while the Speakers file indicates who presented Smith's case to the voters, when and where.
Frank Kuehl's Correspondence as executive clerk to Governor John J. Blaine from March 1922 to December 1923, makes up the whole of the EXECUTIVE CLERK series. In January 1924, Kuehl replaced Ralph Immell as EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, a post he held until January 1927. Files in this series include Executive Contingency Fund check ledgers for the Governor's petty cash fund. Conservation Commission and Oil Department folders, filed under Subject Files-Appointments, document the numerous requests made to the Governor's office for appointment to these offices as well as to a diverse group of other agencies ranging from the Board of Regents to the Industrial Commission. Noted separately, is the deluge of requests for tickets to the 1926 Army-Navy football game in Chicago. Among the other Subject Files are records dealing with the 1922 Coal Crisis and strike, improving the state Education system, and the 1925 controversy surrounding Foundation Gifts to the University of Wisconsin. The 1925 Tax Bill file includes press releases, estimates on revenue raised, and strategies for making the plan palatable to the state legislature. As executive secretary and a lawyer, Kuehl was given the task of handling requests for Pardons, Paroles and Executive Clemency. The Report on the Mental and Physical Condition of Ex-Servicemen from World War I was ordered by Governor Blaine and prepared by William Lorenz about 1924.
In June 1922 two separate storms, one involving tornadoes and the other wind and hail, struck northern and western Wisconsin causing millions of dollars in damage. Kuehl helped coordinate relief efforts for the affected counties. Files on Tornado Relief contain the Red Cross Applications for assistance from affected families. These are arranged alphabetically by family name under county of residence. Also filed here are letters requesting assistance from area business and relief organizations, press releases on the damage, and notes on the levels of aid entering the area.
The 2 c.f. of files accumulated by Kuehl during his service as Assistant ATTORNEY GENERAL of Wisconsin, 1927-1933, cover the wide range of his assignments. He was responsible for overseeing Applications for School District Loans, which brought him into contact with officials of the Public Lands Commission. The Briefs and Cases in this series are those which went before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, or were prepared for argument before the several circuit and superior courts in the state. The Lost Island Case involved a parcel of land just off Buffalo County in the Mississippi River. Kuehl argued for the State of Wisconsin that under the Swamplands Act of 1850 Wisconsin had jurisdiction over this island. The Investigations files consist for the most part of research, done by Kuehl at the direction of Governor Philip La Follette, concerning charges of corruption against several Wisconsin banking officials in the wake of the declining economic activity of the early 1930s. The Opinions of the Attorney General include drafts authored by Kuehl in 1929, and final versions of opinions by others dated in 1919 and by Kuehl from 1927 to 1933. The Research file includes documentation on eminent domain as related to the construction of highways in Wisconsin. The final folders in this series are Subject Files relating to such topics as the Itinerant Physicians Bill of 1929, a Proposed Federal Purchase of Wisconsin Indian Reservation Timber, 1932-1935, and the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association in 1931.
In 1931, while a member of the Attorney General's staff, Kuehl was appointed by Governor Philip La Follette to the COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS. The Correspondence in this series is comprised of Committee letters and letters from Indian and non-Indian residents living on or near reservations, religious and public health officials and relief workers. Expenditures accrued by the Committee are included as well as Grievances of the Indians, Investigations of Indian Claims, and Correspondence and Reports on the Claims by the Committee's field agent, A. P. Jones. Nellie McLaughlin, a public health nurse actively working with the Indians, regularly corresponded with the committee and sent reports and agricultural self-reliance plans. The State Board of Health Reports on Indians discuss the status of Indian health and living conditions from 1930 to 1932; the issue of tapping and control of Water Power on Indian reservations is covered in the final folder in this series.
Also in 1931, Kuehl was granted a leave of absence from the Attorney General's office to become Stabilization Director in the state's BANKING DEPARTMENT. The Analysis of Bank Examinations provides data on the stability and liquidity of many of the banks while the Bank Examiner's Reports from 1932 deal with a few institutions in greater detail. As Stabilization Director, Kuehl was also secretary to the Banking Review Board. Banking Review Board files include Correspondence and Memoranda, Minutes, and Resolutions on Applications to the RFC, all dated in 1932. The Banks files are arranged alphabetically by community. They contain correspondence, some clippings from the local press, and depositors' agreements.
As the Banking Department's representative to the Board of Deposits, Kuehl received requests for funds from banks wishing to stave off dissolution. The Building and Loan Division's P. W. Ramer case involved charges by an Eau Claire resident that he was unfairly denied a business loan by a building and loan association. Weekly reports were prepared by members of the Division and sent to Kuehl as were reports from the Chief Examiner. The Clerical Reports include figures on output and productivity. The Correspondence involving Isabel La Follette indicates her interest in banking problems while the files involving F. A. Springer and the Wisconsin Bankers Association present the attitudes of an individual banker and the views of the bankers' lobbying organization respectively. The Glass-Steagall legislation sought to create the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, allow branch banking and broaden the powers of the Federal Reserve Bank. The correspondence in this segment shows Kuehl actively lobbied Wisconsin's Congressional delegation to oppose the measures. The series includes Memoranda from and to members of the department from 1930 to 1932 and memos written by Kuehl's stabilization clerk, Basil I. Peterson. The Organization and Personnel file includes an organizational chart of the department, proposed physical reorganization of the office itself and some payroll and personnel lists. Requests for copies of Banking Laws came in from other states interested in how Wisconsin sought to stabilize banks, while the file on Stabilized Banks contains a partial list of institutions stabilized in 1932. The Clara M. Lea case, listed under Subject Files, highlights a problem of missing surety bonds during a bank liquidation.
As legal counsel for the RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION (RFC), Kuehl's responsibilities included participation in mining, self-liquidating, drainage and irrigation loans. The Agency Counsel and Field Office Changes are a record of the shifts in RFC personnel both in the field and at national headquarters from 1949 to 1952. Partly at the behest of Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr., two drives were organized to encourage Kuehl's Appointment to the Board of Directors of the RFC, one in 1936 and 1937 and the other in 1945. Kuehl received strong legislative and union support but was never nominated for the position. The Appointments and Call Ledgers are Kuehl's appointment calendar and telephone contact record during his tenure of roughly seven years, 1935 to 1937 and 1940 to 1944. Banking Bulletins of the United States Treasury have notations by Kuehl concerning issues raised in those publications.
The John J. Blaine materials contain records maintained by Kuehl while he worked in Blaine's office from 1933 to February 1934 and those received by that office immediately following Blaine's death on April 16, 1934. Blaine had been a member of the Board of Governors of the RFC. Some of the files relate to problem banks, e.g., the American National Bank of St. Paul; Commercial State Bank of Madison; and the First Wisconsin Bankshares Corporation. Memoranda generally tends to be between Kuehl and Blaine. Much of the material in the Reference folder is statistical data. The Reports of the Review Committee include Applications For Aid from the Northwest Bancorporation, a conglomerate of several northern Plains states banks. Reports on Non-Member Banks, those banks that were not part of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, include analyses of the applicants' financial health.
Kuehl's involvement with mining loans, particularly during World War II, placed him on the mailing list of several mining publications. Selected copies of these publications on which Kuehl made notations, e.g., the Colorado Mining Bulletin and the Pennalula Mining News, have been retained. The Emergency Plant Facilities Contract, 1940, was created in an effort to enlist private capital to finance facilities needed for the production of materiel for national defense. The Legal materials includes Closing Papers on Self-Liquidating Refunds approved by the Board; Dockets pending against debtors that did not repay their RFC loans; Legal Opinions from 1933 to 1935 concerning the agency; and active Litigations in 1943. The Legislative files include copies of hearings and reports on issues pursued by Kuehl; enabling legislation crafted for the creation and extension of the RFC; and a file on the Trust Indenture Bill of 1937 which dealt with the transfer of corporate mortgaged property. Manpower and Mining is a report released by the War Manpower Commission that focused on the productivity of new mining endeavors.
Kuehl participated in efforts to raise funds from RFC employees for the National Defense Drive, also known as the United Service Organization (USO). News excerpts are snippets from the daily press related to the RFC. Operating Papers consist of enabling legislation, executive orders, and rules and regulations defining the purpose and structure of the RFC. Personnel records are of employees Kuehl supervised from 1933 to 1953. Presidential Statements include messages to Congress and press releases from the closing months of the Hoover administration and the beginning of Roosevelt's first term. Projects consist of a sample of undertakings funded by the RFC for which Kuehl drafted the requisite legal documents. These are organized by state and most often refer to irrigation and drainage, bridge-building and mining proposals. State Court Decisions result from suits for repayment filed by the RFC against businesses, municipalities and irrigation and drainage districts that defaulted on loans. The results of the Survey of Manufacturing and Retail Companies, released in 1938, deal with income, output, profit, and crude measures of productivity. The TRAVEL records relate to Kuehl's many trips between 1935 and 1945 to investigate potential mining investments, or with House and Senate committees holding hearings from 1942 to 1947 on RFC mining efforts in western states. During the 1930s, the Wisconsin State Planning Board submitted the prepared draft proposals for the Wisconsin-Fox River Valley Industrial Finance Corporation to Kuehl for comments and suggestions.
The AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA) records accumulated by Kuehl during his four years with the organization provide a solid look at the social and legislative concerns of AMA. Kuehl analyzed legislation; was responsible for legislative publications sent to members; prepared testimony for doctors scheduled to appear before Congress; and lobbied for legislation supported by the AMA. Administrative files cover the organization of AMA and its Washington, D.C. office which employed Kuehl, and include one folder relating to Dr. Elmer Hess, president of the Association from 1956 to 1958; records concerning the House of Delegates, the AMA's governing body; Kuehl's notes on staff meetings; and his Position Analysis. Among the many interests of the AMA reflected in these files are the American Thrift Assembly, which functioned to promote individual savings and to reduce the size of government; medical care of Armed Forces Dependents; Atomic Energy and Radiation; and the Bricker Amendment. If enacted, this amendment would have limited the scope of international treaties to which the United States could be party and imposed controls on the power of the President to negotiate treaties and executive agreements. AMA involvement with Civil Defense and Preparedness as late as 1956 is documented here, as is the problem of adequate preparation of Legal Counsel for Medical Societies, which was considered at a conference sponsored by the Association in 1956.
The AMA advocated restricted access to pharmaceuticals and recommended, for example, that Cortisone and Hydrocortisone be dispensed only by prescription; and it worked with the American Hospital Association through 1956 and 1957 to develop a Definition of Hospital. The AMA fought against the District of Columbia Disability Bill of 1955-1956 and actively pursued changes in the Federal Income Tax code that would benefit its members. Kuehl kept himself informed about Flood Control and on the availability of Ford Foundation Funds to medical schools, teaching hospitals and other medically-oriented institutions; and he participated in the Fourth National Conference on International Economics and Social Development. The AMA's concern about the size, organization and work of the federal government can be seen in the Chamber of Commerce file. This latter organization released a sizable quantity of data on the Hoover Report of 1956 along with papers on strategies for its implementation, and Kuehl participated in the activities of the Citizens Committee for the Hoover Report during 1956 and in the group's Third National Reorganization Conference in 1957. The AMA opposed American membership in the International Labor Organization. The Kintner Case involved a ruling in favor of a doctor who organized a clinic as an association rather than a partnership in order to take the tax advantages.
The largest portion of this segment of the collection are Legislative files. They include correspondence with the members of the 86th Congress during 1958 and information on a number of hearings held by the House, 1954-1958. Messages from the President are statements to Congress and press releases most often dealing with health issues. The AMA supported increases in Military Appropriations and in Military Medical Care. It also maintained a working relationship with the National Association of Manufacturers. Kuehl, representing the AMA, participated in the National Conference on Citizenship and the National Council for Community Improvement, both held in 1956; kept track of funding to the National Institutes of Health and participated in a tour of the facilities in 1957; and attended the New Hampshire-Vermont Medical Convention in 1958, the 1956 convention of the National Society for Crippled Children and Adults, and the North Central Conference, a regional meeting of medical societies. Notes include his jottings from an assortment of congressional hearings. Copies filed here of AMA publications retained by Kuehl include Legislative Analysis, 1956-1958; Special Reports for the 83rd to the 85th Congresses, 1953-1958; the Washington Letter for the same period; and AMA Bulletins, 1950 and 1952, which he annotated. Kuehl attended a Regional Legislative Conference in New York sponsored by the AMA in 1955 and sent suggestions on medical issues to the platform committee of the Republican National Convention of 1956.
Along with the Chamber of Commerce, the AMA vigorously opposed federal School aid legislation which included money for construction of primary, secondary and collegiate facilities. Information on AMA's position on the 1957 School Aid Act is filed in box 60. Extending Social Security benefits to the self-employed, the military, and totally disabled persons over age 50; and lowering the retirement age for women from 65 to 62 as proposed in H. R. 7225 in 1956, was opposed by the AMA. These positions are documented in the Social Security materials. Also found here are records of AMA affiliation with other organizations supporting their position on benefits extension; records relating to other proposed amendments to Social Security legislation; and on the efficacy of private insurance versus Social Security. Kuehl maintained correspondence with the State Medical Society of Wisconsin, through his close personal friend and former law partner, Charles Crownhart, Jr., executive secretary of the state organization. Kuehl was also concerned with the Taxation of Life Insurance Companies and Policies, and expressed the AMA's growing opposition to the doctor draft through his involvement in the David A. Warner case. The last two folders in the series deal with a minimum standard for Whole Milk Butterfat and AMA's disapproval of an extension of Workmen's compensation.
Increasingly disenchanted with his work at the AMA and encouraged to return to federal service, Kuehl accepted an appointment in 1959 as Chief of Welfare and Pension Reports in the Bureau of Labor Standards under the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act. In 1962, the act was amended to make transfer of the office to the Department of Labor possible, thus merging it with Labor-Management Relations, and increasing its powers of enforcement. Kuehl now became Assistant to the Director of the Office of LABOR-MANAGEMENT AND WELFARE-PENSION REPORTS (LMWPR). Administrative records in this series include lists of members of the Advisory Councils, which were created as a result of the 1962 legislation, and comprised of Labor Department officials, private sector employers, union officials, and pension and health plan insurers. Daily Reading Reports were produced by staff members and set in a file accessible to everyone in the office. A file of materials Kuehl accumulated during his fight to prevent the merger of Welfare-Pensions with the Office of Labor-Management Reports is the final file in the Administration materials. Other folder titles in this series are self-explanatory.
The FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF RICE LAKE series contains records from 1928 to 1968 with many gaps. Correspondence between Kuehl and various officials and employees, including the head cashier, dates from 1929 to 1969. Federal Examiner's Reports from 1947 and 1948, copies of Kuehl's Financial Statements made as a member of the Board of Directors and for the approval of loans, as well as his records involving Rice Lake's Merger with the First Wisconsin Bankshares Corporation are found here. Notes on Loans applied for by the bank's customers were kept by Kuehl. The monthly Statements of Condition and Comparative Profit and Loss, 1939-1968, make up the largest group of records in the series. In 1968, the Rice Lake bank was struck during negotiations with the First Wisconsin Bankshares Corporation by the Retail Clerks Union, Local 1116. The union won the first contract negotiated between the bank and its workers.
The GENERAL SUBJECT FILES reveal Kuehl's wide ranging interests, many of which continue long into his retirement. Among these are his active participation in the programs and outreach activities of his church both in Madison and Washington, D.C. He was also a member of the Council of Churches National Capital Area, the Lutheran Laymen's Fellowship of Metropolitan Washington, and the Lutheran Laymen's Movement for Stewardship. He assisted in organizing, developing funding sources, and coordinating the activities of the Peter J. Muhlenberg Memorial committee. This group sought to honor Pastor Muhlenberg, a German Lutheran minister who had fought alongside the colonists during the American Revolution. The church received permission to erect a memorial in the 1960s, but it was not until the eve of the Bicentennial that the project got off the ground. The memorial was completed in 1978.
Prior to American entry into World War II, the Department of Justice asked Kuehl to urge German aliens to register with the Department to avoid possible deportation later. The folder titled “German-American Alien Registration, 1940,” relates to an address Kuehl made to the American German community. The speech, given in German, was filled with references to American and German-American heroes and the bond of mutuality between both peoples. The subject files also include information on many of Kuehl's memberships, including those in the Inter-American and International Bar Associations, the Joint Army and Navy Selective Service Committee, the Kenwood Country Club, the Madison Rotary, the National Press Club, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse alumni associations. Kuehl also had a strong interest in the Impeachment attempt against Richard M. Nixon and kept a file on the National Citizens Committee for the Fairness to the Presidency and a copy of the speech delivered by Dr. John McLaughlin on July 24, 1974, concerning the impeachment drive.
Following their deaths in 1937 and 1953, Kuehl was named executor of the ALBERT AND ANNA KUEHL ESTATES. This group of records includes Clippings from 1950 to 1955, and Correspondence between Kuehl and his mother until her death and with his sisters from 1937 to 1976. Legal records, financial notes and several miscellaneous papers complete the series.
The last series of this collection is the CLIPPINGS file. Dating from 1920 to 1981, the clippings focus primarily on investment, finance, and issues related to Kuehl's many-faceted career. They have been microfilmed.
