This series consists of Gaylord Nelson's administrative papers as governor, while his papers as U.S. Senator from 1963 to 1980 are a separately catalogued manuscript collection.
The gubernatorial papers are arranged as INDEX CARDS, APPOINTMENTS, BILL FILES, SUBJECT FILES, CORRESPONDENCE, POLITICAL FILES, and PUBLIC RELATIONS FILES. In general, the papers are less complete than the papers of other Wisconsin governors of his era. They consist of the main office file, and except for a few folders obviously belonging to Robert F. Lewis, Nelson's agricultural adviser, and Stan William's file on the Governor's Coordinating Committee on Traffic Safety, there are no organic files documenting the functions of other policy staff. (Some files of Nelson's pardon counsel are part Series 94 Executive clemency correspondence, however.) Only a few photographs were part of the Nelson Papers. Those images that were received by the Archives are filed in the Gaylord Nelson Name File in the Visual Materials Archive. Finally, like most Wisconsin gubernatorial collections of the mid-twentieth century the papers are official administrative records containing virtually no true personal papers in the gubernatorial records and disappointingly few glimpses of the governor as a person.
Access to names in the Nelson Papers is aided by an INDEX FILE. The index applies to all sections of the collection, although its thoroughness is not known.
The APPOINTMENT FILES consist of correspondence from citizens requesting nomination to official positions, together with many letters of support. These files are arranged alphabetically by position title, except that all court appointments are filed alphabetically under the heading “judicial appointments,” and then primarily arranged by county. Although Nelson's appointment correspondence is similar to many other administrations, the fact that he was the first Democrat to be elected governor in twenty-five years meant that Nelson presented members of his party with their first appointment opportunity in many years. As a result, this correspondence is useful not only for its documentation of the prospective appointee and office in question, but also for its documentation of state and local political concerns. Many files contain letters from party head Patrick J. Lucey, as well as from county and local political leaders.
The BILL FILES, which are arranged by session and then by bill number, are among the most useful portions of the Nelson papers. Included are correspondence from citizens and advocacy groups, and memoranda prepared by Nelson's legal adviser Bruce Thomas. Among the most extensively documented bills are the files on Nelson's compromise modifications of the tax system. Much additional information on this topic is included in the SUBJECT FILES.
The SUBJECT FILES consist of alphabetically filed correspondence from government officials and private citizens, informational memoranda, reports, notes, and clippings on a wide variety of issues and administrative concerns. Among the most important topics are civil defense, conservation, the House Un-American Activities Committee, Menominee tribal termination, and, as noted above, taxes.
The CORRESPONDENCE section is subdivided into a General File and an Agency File. The General section is filed by letter of the alphabet and then arranged chronologically. Correspondence regarding the operation of a state agency or committee or a topic closely related to agency function may be found in the Agency section. The Nelson Papers include extensive files on major agencies such as the Attorney General, the Conservation Department, the Highway Commission, the Industrial Commission, the Motor Vehicle Department, the Public Service Commission, and Department of Public Welfare, but there are also useful files on smaller and temporary agencies and committees that Nelson skillfully used to achieve his legislative aims such as the Committee on Water Pollution, the Governor's Committee for the Employment of the Physically Handicapped, and the Governor's Committee on the United Nations.
The most extensively documented agencies names are represented, as they were during Nelson's administration, by two types of correspondence: folders entitled “correspondence” and folders entitled “files.” Those labelled as “correspondence” consist almost entirely of constituent letters and Nelson's replies; the folders entitled “files” contain the suggested replies drafted by the department, together with a limited quantity of correspondence, memoranda, and reports regarding agency operations. The letters in the “files” section are useful for their documentation of agency policy and the rationale behind particular responses. In order to track a complete constituent contact with the governor, a researcher will need to use both categories. In addition to the “files” and “correspondence,” a few agencies, such as the Attorney General, the Conservation Department, and the Investment Board, are represented by separately-foldered opinions, minutes, land records, and other types of documents. These files were retained because they were not part of the Archives' separately catalogued holdings on that particular agency.
In general, the agency correspondence is disappointing, for while it provides ample documentation of citizen views of and interactions with state agencies, it contains limited evidence of Nelson's involvement in agency administration or his impact on policy. Some of this agency-filed constituent correspondence is useful on its own merits, however. The correspondence on conservation, for example, is quite extensive. The correspondence with Attorney General John Reynolds is also notable, for it includes many informal rulings on the constitutionality on proposed laws and policies.
The POLITICAL FILE consists of some miscellaneous material about politics, together with correspondence regarding public appearances during the 1958, 1960 and 1962 campaign seasons. These are by no means true campaign files, but, rather, a few miscellaneous political items found in the Governor's office when the Nelson Papers were transferred to the Archives. Included are press releases, statements, and policy papers from the 1958 campaign; a script for the “Paper Curtain” which was produced by Dore Schary and narrated by Nelson for the 1960 National Democratic Convention; questionnaires, correspondence and a copy of the “Nelson Record” from the 1962 campaign; and miscellaneous party materials.
The PUBLIC RELATIONS FILES consist of official greetings and statements, proclamations, press releases, scrapbooks, schedules, speeches, and memorabilia. The press releases, which are extensive and filed by chronological number and available only on microfilm, are an important and basic source for study of the Nelson administration. The releases are preceded by a chronological list of all items that provides a handy research aid, together with a subject index of the 1960 releases. (Similar indexes for 1959, 1961 and 1962 were not received). In addition to regular releases, this file contains “The Governor Reports,” a special newspaper column for weekly newspapers. Clipping scrapbooks, also only available on microfilm, provide important background and context for research using other papers in the series. They were microfilmed at Senator Nelson's request in 1981-1982, and the originals transferred to the public library in Clam Lake, Wisconsin, his home town. Nelson's speeches appear incomplete, although many more are available as part of the press release section. Nelson's public speaking and appearance schedule is represented by two calendars, as well as by material in the press release section.
