Part 1 (Mss 292, Audio 254A): Original Collection 1903-1959
Physical Description: 3.2 cubic feet (8 archives boxes) and 1 tape recording 
Scope and Content Note

The John S. Bordner Papers contain both personal and professional materials including correspondence; subject files relating to Bordner's many interests and activities; copies and drafts of essays, articles and pamphlets; research notes and data; news clippings; magazine clippings; financial and tax records; reminiscences and biographical material; press releases; religious and church materials; maps and tables; various programs and notebooks; birth, marriage, and school records; and miscellaneous materials. The papers are organized into two main series, PERSONAL PAPERS and PROFESSIONAL PAPERS. The PERSONAL PAPERS are divided into seven subseries; the PROFESSIONAL PAPERS into fifteen.

The PERSONAL PAPERS contain reminiscences and biographical material; incoming correspondence; financial and tax records; family records; and church and religious materials. In addition there are copies of Bordner's Ph.D. thesis and miscellaneous materials.

The personal history materials include news clippings about Bordner's retirement and his obituary. There are also reminiscences written by Bordner in 1956-1957, described by him as "the story of my life in short episodes and not as a chronological narration."

Incoming personal correspondence, the second subseries, constitutes about half of the personal papers. It is organized by subject and chronologically thereunder. The majority of the correspondence is composed of letters and cards from Bordner's daughter Jean to her family during the period 1936-1948. Most of the other correspondence deals with the mortgage on and condition of Bordner's farm land in Rusk County between 1939 and 1947. There is also a small folder of incoming correspondence for Bordner's wife and some miscellaneous correspondence.

Included in the financial records subseries are real estate receipts for Bordner's property in Dane and Rusk Counties. There are also copies of his income tax returns for the late 1930s and early 1940s and some miscellaneous receipts.

The family records include retirement records, Bordner's birth certificate and marriage record, and a 1926 grade school transcript for Jean Bordner.

The church affairs/religious materials contain some correspondence and a financial report about the First Congregational Church of Madison, of which Bordner was a member. There are also various study guides, Christmas messages from the Bordner family, notes, and miscellaneous items.

The thesis subseries contains original drafts of Bordner's 1908 Ph.D. thesis as well as a reprint of it.

The miscellaneous papers include programs, a partially completed daily calendar for 1950, a humorous "arrest" warrant, and an original poem by Jean Bordner (circa 1925).

The PROFESSIONAL PAPERS contain general correspondence and other subseries on Bordner's activities and interests. The subseries which follow the correspondence are filed in a more or less chronological order, beginning with material on Bordner's days as a county agricultural agent in Indiana. Subsequent subseries contain materials on the Wisconsin Land Economic Inventory; the Wisconsin Cooperative Housing Association; Wisconsin cooperatives; national/ out of state cooperatives; the 1935 state religious conference on the cooperative way of living; Kagawa day in Madison (1936); various other seminars/conventions on cooperatives; educational materials on cooperatives; the Tennessee Valley Authority; the sun and the weather; philosophical essays written after Bordner's retirement; general economic developments; and miscellaneous materials.

The general correspondence covers the period 1934-52, with a few scattered items from 1929, 1954 and 1958. There is no correspondence for the years 1948 and 1953. The largest segment of the correspondence is for the period 1935-39. The correspondence is organized chronologically and alphabetically thereunder.

The materials dealing with Bordner's days as an Indiana county agricultural agent include news clippings, a field notebook of sketches and agricultural information and a pamphlet on rural life compiled by Bordner.

The Wisconsin Land Economic Inventory subseries includes a variety of articles, papers and speeches by Bordner. There are also materials indicating the general purposes of the Land Economic Inventory, subject files on various topics ranging from cranberry marshes to assistance to veterans, some correspondence regarding an agricultural bulletin (organized chronologically), county maps, statistics relative to Wisconsin, and miscellaneous materials.

The Wisconsin Cooperative Housing Association subseries contains general correspondence for 1936-38, 1940, 1945-46 (organized chronologically); materials relating to the establishment, organization and history of the Association and its Crestwood project; financial records and audits. In addition there are maps and directories of Crestwood, various subject files, some directors' newsletters and reports, general information on cooperative housing in the United States and Europe, and miscellaneous items.

Included in the Wisconsin cooperatives subseries are materials on six different Wisconsin cooperatives. There is also general information about the Rural Electrification Administration in Wisconsin as well as reports on farm and oil cooperatives in the state and a 1935 mailing list of Wisconsin cooperatives.

The national/out-of-state cooperatives subseries contains scattered material on two national cooperatives and three state or local cooperative organizations.

The subseries dealing with the 1935 state religious conference on the cooperative way of living contains correspondence (organized chronologically) and files on planning, the conference program, and mailing lists.

The Kagawa Day subseries is organized similarly to that on the 1935 state religious conference and, in addition, contains materials on Toyohiko Kagawa and his teachings and maps of Japan.

The subseries on other cooperative seminars/conventions includes files on eight such conventions or seminars, most of which took place in the middle or late 1930s. Half of these conferences were held in Wisconsin.

The educational materials subseries contains general educational materials on cooperatives, lesson plans, bibliographies of cooperative literature and published articles by Bordner. In addition there are notes on cooperatives, handbooks on Wisconsin cooperatives, information on overseas cooperatives and news clippings describing opposition to cooperatives.

The TVA subseries contains pamphlets giving general information on the project and describing its accomplishments. There are also press releases and speeches and articles by TVA director Arthur Morgan.

The sun and weather subseries includes numerous article drafts, drafts of and a copy of Bordner's 1949 pamphlet Sun, Energy and Weather, tables, charts, and maps. It also contains two folders of the correspondence of State Forester Williams Morris on sunspots and the forest fire hazard, scientific news clippings, a folder on planetary behavior, a manuscript on radiant energy and animal ecology, and miscellaneous materials.

The philosophical essays subseries contains copies of two general papers written by Bordner after his retirement.

The subseries dealing with general economic developments contains reports, news clippings, and magazine articles on economic trends and problems in the U.S. and other countries.

The miscellaneous subseries includes scattered information on a wide variety of subjects covering the period 1934-1957.

Series: Personal Papers

Subseries: Personal History

Biographical information, obituary 1947, 1959

Drafts of reminiscences, 1956-1957

Audio recording of Reminiscences, 1956 March 2
Alternate Format: Available online.

Scope and Content Note: Frank Elliott interviewed John Bordner in Madison, Wisconsin. Bordner discusses various agricultural innovations with which he was involved in the early part of the 20th century, such as crop fertilization and treating livestock diseases like brucellosis and hoof-and-mouth disease. He also talks about establishing agriculture programs at vocational schools, the institutions put in place to help impoverished farmers, and the problems facing African Americans, particularly sharecoppers, in the South. Note: the first thirty seconds of this recording are of poor audio quality.

Transcription of recorded reminiscences

Subseries: Personal Correspondence

Letters and cards from daughter Jean

1926 February
Physical Description: 1 item 

1936 October-December

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942 January-July

1943 September-December

1944

1945 January-November

1946

1947

1948 January
Physical Description: 1 item 

Incoming correspondence, mortgage on Rusk County farm land 1939-1946

Letters - from Mrs. Vern Davis on Rusk County farm land, 1943-1947

Incoming correspondence, Mrs. Bordner 1937, 1940-1941, 1948

Miscellaneous incoming correspondence, 1928, 1937-1938, 1940-1941, 1944, 1947, 1954, undated

Subseries: Financial Records

Rusk County farm property, deeds, circulars 1936-1937, 1940, 1945, undated

Real estate tax receipts and statements, 1940-1946

Wisconsin income tax returns, 1938-1939, 1941-1946, 1948

Federal income tax returns, 1939-1940, 1944, 1947-1948

Miscellaneous receipts and statements, 1941, 1944, 1947

Subseries: Family Records

Birth certificate, marriage record 1946
Physical Description: Photostats 

Grade school transcript, Jean Bordner 1926

Retirement papers, 1947

Subseries: Church Affairs/Religious Materials

Correspondence, First Congregational Church of Madison 1935

Cooperative economics, 1935

Missions seminar, 1955

Financial report, First Congregational Church 1956

Christmas messages, 1953

Study leaflets, China, Puerto Rico, Mexico 1948-1950

World peace, 1950-1952, undated

Christian social action, 1957-1958, undated

Study guides, Stewardship, World Task, Worship 1955, 1958, undated

Evangelism, spiritual life 1956, 1958-1959, undated

Notes

Miscellaneous

Subseries: Thesis: drafts and reprint of Ph.D. thesis, 1908

Subseries: Miscellaneous

Original poem, Jean Bordner circa 1925

Programs, brochures 1903, 1936, 1940, 1943-1944

Humorous "arrest warrant", 1944

Daily calendar, 1950

Series: Professional Papers

Subseries: General Correspondence

1929-1934
Physical Description: 2 items 

1935-1939

Alanne-Crews

Edwards-Halonen

Hammerschmidt-Knapp

Ladwig-Voltz

Warbasse-Wood

Bird-Warbasse, 1940-1944

Black-Wisconsin Association of Cooperatives, 1945-1947

Derlinger-Munch, 1949-1952

1954, 1958
Physical Description: 2 items 

Undated general correspondence

Subseries: St. Joseph County, Indiana, Agricultural Agent

Field notebook, 1913-1919

"Rural Life Progress Report," pamphlet, compiled by Bordner 1918

Subseries: Wisconsin Land Economic Inventory

General purposes, 1938, undated

"And Where Do We Go From Here", 1928

"Evaluation of Land In Terms of Human Utilization", 1930

"Land Utilization Based on a Land Inventory", 1930

"The Use of Wisconsin Land", 1935

"Why Soil Erosion", 1938

"Theory of Land Use and Taxation", 1938

"Rural Change", 1939

"Land and Population," 1939

"Inventory of Wisconsin Lands," 1940

"Trends in Wisconsin Land Use", 1940, 1942, undated

"Schools in Northern Counties", undated

"When Is a Wilderness Despoiled", undated

"Land, Its Use and Appraisal" undated

Tenancy and the rural church, 1937

Cut-over area of Wisconsin, 1939, undated

Roadside Development Council, 1940

Farm size, 1940, undated

Assistance to veterans, 1946, undated

Correspondence regarding bulletin #238, 1943 December-1944 May

Cranberry marshes, 1947, undated

Postwar food supplies, 1947, undated

Press releases, 1947

Recreation in Wisconsin, 1937, 1951, undated

Forage crops, pasture lands undated

Rural planning, undated

Trees and erosion, undated

WPA Land Mapping Project, undated

Wisconsin area and population statistics, undated

County maps, undated

Miscellaneous materials, 1947, undated

Subseries: Wisconsin Cooperative Housing Association

General correspondence

1936-1938

1940, 1945-1946
Physical Description: 2 items 

Establishment, organization 1936, undated

History, 1939, undated

Financial records, audits, annual statements 1937-1942, 1946-1947, 1951, undated

Newsletters, 1937, 1938, undated

Federal Housing Administration, 1936-1937, undated

Building construction, Crestwood 1937, undated

Utility installation, Crestwood undated

Layout maps, Crestwood 1937, undated

Surveyor's map of Crestwood subdivision, 1937

Crestwood Christmases, 1938, 1941

Stockholders meeting, 1941

Crestwood directories, 1947, undated

Parks and recreation, 1942, 1945, 1951, 1953-1955

Board of Directors report, 1951

Glen Oaks, 1951

Cooperative housing, United States, Europe 1937, undated

Miscellaneous, 1936-1938, 1950-1951, undated

Subseries: Wisconsin Cooperatives

Rural Electrification Administration, 1935, 1936, 1939, 1947, undated

Oil cooperatives in Wisconsin, 1933-1935

Farmer cooperatives in Wisconsin, 1941

Mailing list of Wisconsin cooperatives, 1935

Waukegan Cooperative Trading Company, circa 1935

Central Cooperative Wholesale, 1936-1937, undated

Insurance Cooperative Agency, 1937, 1945-1946, 1949, 1953, undated

Madison Consumers Cooperative, 1942, undated

Dairyland Power Cooperative, 1947, 1953, undated

Madison Consumers League, constitution and bylaws undated

Subseries: National/Out-of-State Cooperatives

The Cooperative League of the U.S.A., 1935

Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative Association, 1935

Westchester Federation of Consumers Clubs, 1939

Farmers Union programs, Louisiana, North Dakota 1939

Cooperative Health Federation of America, undated

Subseries: State religious conference on the Cooperative Way of Living, 1935

General correspondence, 1935

Planning, 1935

Program, 1935

Mailing lists, 1935

Subseries: Kagawa Day in Madison, 1936

General correspondence, 1936

Planning and publicity, 1936

Program, 1936

Mailing lists, 1936

Federal Council of Churches and Kagawa, 1936, 1938

Kagawa teachings, 1936, 1938, undated

Japan, maps undated

Subseries: Seminars/Conventions on Cooperatives

Northern League Convention, 1935

Indiana seminar on consumers cooperation, 1935-1936

Economics of Brotherhood conference, 1935

Wisconsin Cooperative Club, 1935

Wisconsin Institute of Cooperative Economics, 1935-1936

Anders Hedberg program on cooperation, 1935

School of Living Conference, 1937

Wisconsin Association of Cooperatives, 1956

Subseries: Educational Materials on Cooperatives

General educational materials, 1933, 1935-1937, 1946, undated

Lesson plans and instructional materials, 1936, 1941, 1946, undated

Handbooks on cooperatives and cooperation, undated

Articles by Bordner on cooperation, 1936, undated

Bibliographies of cooperative literature, 1935, undated

Notes on cooperatives, undated

Opposition to cooperatives, 1936, undated

Cooperatives overseas, undated

Subseries: Tennessee Valley Authority

General information, 1933-1934, undated

Accomplishments, 1934-1935, 1941, 1947, undated

Press releases, 1933-1934, 1939, 1940

Arthur Morgan, speeches, articles 1933-1934

Subseries: The Sun and the Weather

Drafts of Sun, Energy and Weather 1949

Sunspots and crops, article drafts, notes 1948, undated

Sunspots and climatic conditions, article drafts 1947, undated

General correspondence of William Morris (forester of Land Economic Inventory) on sunspots, 1945-1948

Correspondence of William Morris regarding article on forest fires and the sunspot cycle, 1946-1947

Sunspot cycle charts, 1834-1944

Precipitation tables for Wisconsin, 1837-1950

Runoff tables for Wisconsin, 1914-1948

Tables, sunspots, temperature, and rainfall 1914-1948

Water level discharge tables, 1946-4198

Ionospheric data, 1949

Daily solar indices tables, 1957-1959

Zurich sunspot numbers, 1951-1952, 1958

Isochrone map, undated

Manuscript, "The Role of Radiant Energy in Animal Ecology" circa 1947

Clement Wragge, undated

Planetary behavior, 1949

Miscellaneous clippings on scientific subjects, 1946-1954, undated

Subseries: Philosophical Essays

"The Philosopher's Job", 1945

"The World of Tomorrow Through Democratic Gradualism", 1951

Subseries: General Economic Developments

America and postwar economic conditions, 1942, undated

Overseas economic developments, 1946-1947, 1950-1951, 1953-1954, undated

Foundation for the Study of Cycles, 1949

Subseries: Miscellaneous

Wisconsin Unemployment Compensation Act, 1934

Social Science Research Council, 1935

American Society of Planning Officials, 1935

Teaching methods, 1936-1938

Abraham Lincoln, 1943

World government, 1946-1947

Atomic bomb control, 1945, 1947

Traffic safety, 1951

George Washington Carver, undated

Clippings and miscellaneous, 1938, 1941, 1947, 1957, undated