The Goodland Papers are arranged as PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL PAPERS and GUBERNATORIAL PAPERS.
The PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL PAPERS consist of pre-gubernatorial correspondence, account books, microfilmed scrapbooks of columns Goodland wrote for the Racine Times-Call, 1922-1932; speeches and press releases as lieutenant governor (1939-1943); personal correspondence from his gubernatorial years; an unpublished biography (ca. 1974) by Goodland's granddaughter, Dorothy Hackler; an unpublished Goodland Family genealogy; memorabilia; and speeches.
The biography by Dorothy Hackler is apparently unpublished. These files include an edited draft (no source documentation is included), research correspondence, and a few miscellaneous original carbons of Goodland correspondence. Mrs. Hackler also donated the unattributed Goodland family history.
The pre-gubernatorial correspondence is quite fragmentary, primarily consisting of letters from his father John Goodland, 1895-1897, then judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, about family and professional matters; a letter drafted by Walter Goodland in 1918 about the importance of endorsing a Republican successor to Senator Paul Husting; and a form letter from Harold Ickes opposing Herbert Hoover's Presidential nomination in 1932. Goodland's writings and public speaking are documented in this series by clipping scrapbooks, a 1944 recording, and a few miscellaneous speeches.
Several scrapbooks containing Goodland's weekly newspaper columns “Comments and Criticisms” are available only on microfilm because of their deteriorated condition. A second category of clipping scrapbooks documented two of the legislative sessions in which Goodland served. Of these, the 1927 volume is available only on microfilm, while two deteriorated, but unfilmable volumes for the 1929 session have been retained as paper.
The speeches file includes some miscellaneous, undated items and a recorded political talk dating from 1944. Additional speeches are included in the General Papers within the folders entitled Press Releases and Messages.
Goodland's papers as lieutenant governor consist of a single archives box containing additional speeches and press releases, alphabetically-arranged general correspondence, and a few topical files.
The file labelled as personal is, in fact, true personal correspondence. Included are extensive letters to and from Goodland's children and grandchildren, his brother, and other relatives. A political family, several of the Goodlands were prominent in politics in their communities as well as serving as sources of political information for the Governor. Similar blurring of the line between politics and personal matters is evident in the correspondence filed here with friends/advisers such as newspaperman and Republican leader William Campbell, Tomahawk attorney George M. Sheldon, and internationally-known economist Martin J. Gillen. Other portions of the personal correspondence section document Goodland's personal finances, the operation of his farm, and some aspects of the 1944 and 1946 campaigns.
The official GUBERNATORIAL PAPERS are arranged as General Papers, Appointment Files, Departmental Reports, and War Files. The General Papers (Boxes 4-50) and the War Files (Boxes 63-67), the most important portions of the series, are arranged as two numeric name/subject files. The General Papers were coded with four digit numbers and the War Files were designated by four digit numbers and the suffix M. The code numbers were apparently randomly assigned as the correspondence arrived in the governor's office. The letters were then arranged for filing into folders containing groups of ten file numbers. When the correspondence for a particular individual, organization, or topic became sufficiently large the material was removed to its own
separately-labelled folder. The Governor's Office recorded the names of all correspondents (including people, organizations, and places) in a Card Index now catalogued as Series 3. This index apparently served as the primary access tool for the Governor's staff; it is still the primary finding aid for the Goodland Papers. In addition to its large scope, the index includes cross references and short content summaries that are useful for browsing.
The Series 3 index contains some topical headings, but they are difficult to use effectively because researchers cannot anticipate their coverage without reviewing the entire thirteen card boxes. The major, individually-foldered topics in the Goodland Papers can be better accessed using an alphabetical list of folder headings prepared in the Archives that is appended to the container list portion of this finding aid.
Because of the apparently random arrangement of the General Papers and the War Files it is difficult to assess their overall value and completeness as historical documentation. It is clear, however, that the papers provide good documentation of Goodland's oversight of the Wisconsin homefront during World War II and the state's relations with numerous wartime federal agencies. Unlike the papers of many governors, the Goodland Papers also reveal much about Goodland the man. Walter Goodland appears to have personally drafted much of his official correspondence and--also unlike many other governors--his official letters are often frank and personally revealing.
Topics which are particularly well documented include the Allis-Chalmers strike, Bangs Disease, the Battleship Wisconsin, deer hunting, gambling, the Gentile League, highway funding, lake pollution, legislative and elective politics, the Mississippi Water Use Council, old age pensions, postwar conversion, rationing and rent control, school consolidation, taxes, veterans' issues and problems, vice, and the Womens Army Corps. There are also discrete files on several controversial pieces of legislation such as the Integrated Bar Bill.
Well documented agencies and organizations include the Aeronautics Commission, the Beverage Tax Division, the Mississippi Water Use Council, the Veterans Recognition Board, and the Wisconsin Council of Defense. Also included are the usual files documenting the ceremonial aspects of the governor's office such as invitations, congratulations, speeches (sometimes titled Messages), and proclamations. For their preservation, Files 0006 Telegrams and 0007 Press Releases are only available on microfilm. Files 0001-0005 were not received in the Archives.
Despite his isolation from the leadership of his party, the list of Goodland correspondents in the General Papers and the War Files are a veritable Wisconsin Who's Who. The most important
are: William J. P. Aberg, A.W. Bayley, J. Henry Bennett, Fred Bassett Blair, David Bogue, John L. Bohn, Chester Bowles, John Bricker, H.C. Brockel, Herbert Brownell, Jr., William George Bruce, Gustave Buchen, James Byrnes, John Byrnes, John Callahan, John B. Chapple, Noble Clark, Thomas Coleman, R.S. Cowie, Leo T. Crowley, Thomas E. Dewey, John E. Dickinson, LaVern R. Dilweg, Edgar G. Doudna, C.A. Dykstra, William T. Evjue, H.J. Fitzgerald, John E. Fitzgibbon, E.B. Fred. William A. Freehoff, August Frey, Bernhard Gettelman, John Goodland, Frank Graass, Howard T. Greene, George H. Haberman, Charles A. Halbert, Julius P. Heil, Daniel Hoan, Kenneth Hones, Merlin Hull, Adolph Kannenberg, Frank B. Keefe, D. J. Kenny, Robert S. Kerr, James J. Kerwin, Warren P. Knowles, Roy E. Kubista, and A.A. Kuechenmeister.
Also Robert M. LaFollette, Jr., James R. Law, Arthur A. Lenroot, Aldo Leopold, B.L. Marcus, John E. Martin, Paul V. McNutt, Jess Miller, Reid F. Murray, Carl N. Neupert, Alvin E. O'Konski, A.J. Opstedal, Cyrus L. Philipp, R.L. Pierce, Milton Polland, Louis Radke, Rudolph M. Schlabach, Frank J. Sensenbrenner, Conrad Shearer, Lawrence H. Smith, Harold E. Stassen, Roy R. Stauff, William H. Stevenson, Arthur F. Stofen, Milo K. Swanton, M.W. Torkelson, Thad F. Wasielewski, A.E. Wegner, Lawrence C. Whittet, Alexander Wiley, Wendell Willkie, Voyta Wrabetz, F.M. Young, and Fred R. Zimmerman.
The Appointment Files are grouped as State Agencies, Counties, and Court appointments. The agencies section is arranged alphabetically by office name, while the county files are arranged by office type (i.e. coroners, district attorneys, etc.) and then alphabetically by county. Court appointments are arranged by court type. A few politicians of statewide prominence such as Raymond Bice, Gerald Boileau, Jess Miller, and G.M. Sheldon are represented. Some correspondence regarding appointments, such as the file on Aldo Leopold's appointment to the Conservation Commission and John Cudahy's appointment to the State Council of Defense are part of the General Papers.
The State Agency Reports Series consists of reports that were submitted to the governor either by statutory requirement or by custom. Published annual and biennial reports submitted to the governor, which are available in the SHSW Government Documents Section, have been removed.
The PHOTOGRAPHS relate to the professional and personal life of Goodland, including images of events attended by Goodland and studio portraits of family members.
