The James Adams Papers pertain entirely to his four-year tenure (1970-1974) as mayor of Menasha. Included is an extensive biographical clipping scrapbook; correspondence, reports, and background material pertaining to his efforts to implement user fees to fund an enlargement of the municipal sewerage treatment plant; correspondence, speeches, financial reports, and publicity material pertaining to his unsuccessful 1972 congressional race; and correspondence on a fundraising effort for the city ambulance service. Although limited, the files on the Menasha Sewerage Commission are of considerable interest, for they document the myriad pressures brought to bear on a small community by the federal government, the state Department of Natural Resources, representatives of the local paper industry, property tax payers, and others as it attempted to deal with the problem of water pollution.
The biographical scrapbooks are extensive, and they document well Adams' reputation as an activist mayor. At the conclusion of the general chronological clipping file is a separate segment of clippings concerning the role played by Adams in uncovering municipal corruption, an investigation which led to a statewide probe of municipal corruption by the state attorney general's office in 1973.
Because of the large amount of poor quality paper, the entire collection has been microfilmed. With the exception of a few photographs and some political memorabilia, the originals were returned to the donor.
