The Kohler Papers are arranged as GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, APPOINTMENT FILES, NAME INDEX, INVITATIONS, LEGISLATIVE FILES, and SUBJECT FILES. They constitute Kohler's official gubernatorial papers, but they have been catalogued in the Archives as a private manuscript collection because they predate the passage of the 1947 law which defined gubernatorial papers as public records. The collection is also available on microfilm.
There is very little personal material in the collection and very little pertaining to electoral politics. In fact, Kohler himself does not figure prominently in the collection, the majority of the outgoing correspondence consisting instead of letters issued by William L. Smith, his private secretary. Although documentation revealing Kohler's own ideas is limited, the collection does reveal a great deal about his actions and the activities of state government during the initial crisis of the Great Depression. In addition, because Kohler's papers were still in their original order when donated to the Historical Society, the collection is much more revealing about the administrative functioning of the Governor's office than other gubernatorial papers of the period held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin which are arranged in chronological order regardless of subject.
The collection includes four boxes of index cards (Boxes 44-47) which refer to the appointment, invitations, and subject series. Spot checks suggest, however, that the index is not complete and it should not be relied on as the sole means of name access to the collection. Photographs received with the collection have been separated to the Walter Kohler Sr., Name File in the Visual Materials Archive. Scrapbooks and political speeches originally part of this collection were transferred to the Kohler Family Papers. One speech retained in this collection is the printed version of Kohler's 1929 message to the Legislature. It is filed within the SUBJECT FILES. A second speech delivered to the Wisconsin Citizen's Unemployment Committee is also filed in that series.
The GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE consists of alphabetically-arranged letters covering a wide range of topics not included within any of the other series. The most routine letters such as requests for autographs and Blue Books have been weeded. Prominent correspondents in this section include John E. Alexander, Emil Baensch, Meta Berger, John Blaine, A.M. Brayton, W.H. Bridgeman, William G. Bruce, Robert E. Byrd, W.J. Campbell, W.D. Connor, Calvin Coolidge (re Seven Pines), Theodore Dammann, Thomas Duncan, D.C. Everest, Harold S. Falk, Wilbur B. Foshay, Bernard Gettelman, Walter S. Goodland, Halbert Hoard, Daniel Hoan, J.W. Jackson, Frank O. Lowden, Francis McGovern, Oscar Morris, Morgan Murphy, John M. Nelson, John S. Owen, George S. Parker, Gifford Pinchot, F.J. Sensenbrenner, Conrad Shearer, Franklin D. Roosevelt (in Young file), W.A. Titus, George Vits, Aubrey Williams, and C.C. Younggreen.
APPOINTMENT FILES, which comprise a substantial portion of the collection, are more useful than similar material in other gubernatorial papers. First, much of the Kohler correspondence is arranged by appointee name which makes it useful for biographical research about the proposed appointees. Secondly, the files include many letters from legislators and local politicians and business leaders which provide revealing insights into politics on both the state and local levels. Little information about why particular individuals were appointed is included, however.
The appointment files are subdivided into court appointments, state agencies, and county offices, with the court files further subdivided into Supreme Court, circuit court, and county court sections. The Supreme Court files are unusually extensive for a one-term governor because Kohler had the opportunity to appoint five judges, thereby substantially affecting the composition of the court. The Supreme Court files are arranged chronologically by vacancy and then by appointee name. Most letters received support the candidate in question, although a few are negative. Files here concern justices Edward T. Fairchild, Oscar M. Fritz, Chester A. Fowler, George B. Nelson, John D. Wickhem, as well as unsuccessful candidates Levi Bancroft, Gustave Gehrz, and Henry Graass. The circuit court files contain information on F. Ryan Duffy, J.C. Kleczka, Joseph A. Padway, Carl Runge, and other prominent individuals.
Outgoing correspondence in the Appointment series is almost entirely comprised of routine acknowledgements. Supplementing the incoming correspondence and petitions are occasional handwritten notes, lists, and Kohler's own handwritten appointment notebook. Prominent correspondence in this series concerns:
- Athletic Commission:
- C.E. Broughton
- Conservation Commission:
- A.M. Brayton, John B. Chapple, Irvine Lenroot
- Board of Control:
- Louis Allis, W.J. Campbell, Merlin Hull, F.J. Sensenbrenner, George Vits, Ellis B. Usher, Aubrey Williams
- Dental Examiners:
- Ralph Immell, F.J. Sensenbrenner
- Highway Commission:
- A.M. Brayton, George Gilkey
- Industrial Commission:
- William Bruce
- Oil Inspector:
- Merlin Hull, F.J. Sensenbrenner
- Railroad Commission:
- A.M. Brayton, Orland Loomis
- Supreme Court:
- Thomas Amlie, Emil Baensch, W. J. Campbell, Thomas Coleman, Christian Doerfler, F. Ryan Duffy, D.C. Everest, Bernard H. Gettelman, George Gilkey, Merlin Hull, W.P. Knowles, Francis McGovern, Oscar Morris, Orland Loomis, George S. Parker, W.A. Titus, Lawrence C. Whittet
- Vocational Education:
- Conrad Shearer
The small, alphabetically-arranged complaint file consists of letters from citizens about local and state governmental officials and practices. Generally, these concern officials that were not under the governor's direct control, and as a result the governor's response provides little indication of his views other than to recommend an appropriate course of action.
INVITATIONS are arranged chronologically by the date of the event in question. This series also contains a daily log of visitors to the governor's office.
The LEGISLATIVE FILES are among the most important materials in the Kohler Papers. Except for a few unidentified items, the series consists of letters and petitions from citizens, legislators, and advocacy groups about specific pending bills, all arranged by bill number. A few of the more extensively documented bills are also represented by memoranda and support material prepared by legal experts and by various advocates and opponents. Among the most prominent files are those on the Hitt Income Tax Bill (334S); the proposed High Cliff and Seven Pines parks acquisitions (56S and 490S, both of which were vetoed by Kohler); the baking powder labeling legislation (200A); fishing license fees for Wisconsin residents (117S), and chain store regulation (261S). But, by far the most extensively documented is the correspondence concerning successful repeal of the state Prohibition Law.
Alphabetically-arranged SUBJECT FILES document governmental agencies, issues of special concern to Kohler, ceremonial functions such as resolutions and proclamations, and routine responsibilities such as approvals of out-of-state travel by state employees, emergency spending by agencies, and state automobile purchases. (The last-named file has been extensively weeded). Most important of the subject files are the correspondence and reports of the Wisconsin Citizen's Committee on Unemployment headed by Don D. Lescohier (filed under the heading “Unemployment Committee”). Other files of special interest are those on the Bowman Company Milk Strike of 1929 and on contacts with Herbert Hoover about the 1929 Presidential inauguration and the onset of the Depression. Because of the governor's well known interest in aviation, a substantial number of the letters both here and elsewhere in the collection refer to aeronautics. Among the best documented departments are the Conservation Commission, the Board of Control, the Highway Commission, the Industrial Commission, the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Board of Public Affairs, the Railroad Commission, and the Tax Commission.
