The Gerald Boileau Papers were collected for use by historian James Lorence. While they provide some insights into aspects of Boileau's career and personal life, the collection includes only a little information about his important role as Progressive floor leader during the 1930s. The information about his career as a Wisconsin judge is also incomplete.
The BIOGRAPHICAL AND FAMILY PAPERS are arranged alphabetically by topic or personal name. Most of the series documents Gerald Boileau's life, although there are miscellaneous materials about other family members arranged under their names: his parents' divorce papers and financial papers of his aunt, Anna D'Aigle, for example. Although brief, Monica Boileau's correspondence suggests the social networking that took place between congressional and staff wives during the 1930s. Her files include letters from Rachel La Follette and Russel Kvale, the wife of fellow Progressive Paul Kvale. There is also a copy of a letter to Mary (last name unknown) that contains many details about a state dinner the Boileaus attended at the White House. Monica's papers also include a 1923 diary.
Gerald Boileau's material in the series consists of general correspondence, speeches, microfilmed biographical clippings, photographs, and personal income tax forms and other financial papers. In addition, the series includes the research materials which James Lorence added to the collection.
The research file on World War I contains a bibliography about the 11th Field Artillery, xerox copies of the unit's orders and other official documents from the National Archives, and original papers about the AEF University at which Boileau studied while in France. Boileau's personal military records were not located, however, having apparently been destroyed during the 1973 federal record center fire. Lorence also acquired a copy of Boileau's FBI file which documents the congressman's left-wing associations during the 1930s.
The correspondence that is filed in this series is not only of a personal and family character, as the series title suggests, but some letters also contain career references. Unfortunately, little of this correspondence dates from Boileau's tenure in Congress. In fact, the most direct reference to his congressional career in the file is a brief 1967 letter to historian Stewart Weiss in which Boileau sought to clarify the distinction between the independent Progressives and Maury Maverick's “Mavericks” with whom Boileau was frequently classed. From this period there is also a letter to Don McKee that refers to Boileau's inability to help with patronage because of his Progressive association. Other letters of the period also allude to Boileau's financial problems.
There are some useful insights in the correspondence about Boileau's role in Progressive politics in Wisconsin after his congressional defeat. These include exchanges with W. B. Bankhead, John W. Boehne, Jr., Patrick J. Boland, B.J. Gehrmann, Frank Kuehl, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., George W. Lippert, John W. McCormack, and others regarding his unsuccessful effort to obtain an appointive position in Washington and his continued interest in running for elective office.
The family letters in the series are also not without political interest, although the majority are personal in content. In a 1937 letter to his brother Ernest, a Wausau journalist, Boileau commented on his Socialist associations. Other letters indicate Boileau's efforts to use his political contacts to aid Ernie's career. In the strictly personal category is a lengthy letter from Ernest in 1923 describing in detail his work as a miner in Butte, Montana. There are also letters from Gerald Boileau to his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Alphonse D'Aigle, in Minocqua during and after World War I and photocopied letters he received from his mother shortly before her death. Several Mother's Day letters suggest his appreciation of his mother's strong impact on his career. Many letters concern his relationship with Anna D'Aigle. When she became a widow and returned to her nursing career at St. Joseph's Hospital in Eau Claire Boileau took over the management of her financial affairs, and her frequent letters describe her life as an elderly widow living and working in a convent. Much later in his life Boileau received several lengthy letters from his daughter Mary Boileau Bailey concerning the placement of her two children in custodial facilities. This correspondence documents well the strains that were placed on her as a result.
Most extensive among the post-World War II personal correspondence are the letters exchanged with his landlord, Nina Kickbusch Griffin. This correspondence is important not only for what it suggests about Boileau's personality and financial situation, but also because Mrs. Griffin was a member of a prominent Wausau family.
Scattered items of interest include a xerox copy of letter from Joe McCarthy (the location of the original is unknown) and a 1939 exchange with his mentor Fiorello La Guardia.
Other files in the PERSONAL AND FAMILY PAPERS are sections pertaining to Boileau's private law practice. These include financial accounts, 1939-1941, and a file on the Leonard-Socony Oil Co. appeal case for which he was an original attorney for the plaintiffs. Speeches, 1935-1968, include a few complete addresses and a larger quantity of dated and undated note cards. Among the complete items is a 1935 radio address reprinted in Public Opinion about the Congressional “Mavericks,” a memorial address delivered on the 1938 anniversary of the death of Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a 1942 campaign speech, and a speech on the negotiated plea of guilty delivered at the 1968 judicial conference. Also included are two recorded speeches. Photographs, the originals of which are available in the Visual Materials Archive, include miscellaneous loose prints and an album of snapshots documenting both his personal and professional life.
Boileau's CAREER PAPERS are arranged chronologically by position.
The early material is limited to a handbill advertising a 1924 speech, literature from his 1926 campaign for district attorney, and a handbill listing the 1928 La Follette Progressive Republican delegate slate. The congressional campaigns are slightly better represented but still incomplete. (In fact, the microfilmed scrapbooks described above provide the most consistent documentation of Boileau's legislative career in the collection.) About the congressional phase of Boileau's career there is campaign literature, financial statements, voting records, and a few issue-based files. The literature for the 1930 campaign gives ample evidence of Boileau's opposition to Prohibition. The 1932 reelection campaign file is similar except that it includes some correspondence. The 1934 and 1936 campaigns are represented only by a few items, one indicating Boileau's endorsement by local representatives of Father Coughlin's organization.
Boileau's legislative accomplishments in Congress are represented only by a file on the Kleberg bill (a 1935 bill to tax oleomargarine) and a file on oleomargarine legislation proposed by Boileau. The Kleberg material includes correspondence to and from constituents and advocacy groups. The similar Boileau bill (HR 9865) is documented by correspondence exchanged with J.D. Beck, Wisconsin Commission of Agriculture, and copies of advertising issued by the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers. The only other legislative material in the collection consists of correspondence and clippings regarding the 1931 redistricting of Boileau's district.
About Boileau's 1942 judicial race, the file includes campaign literature, financial statements, voter lists, correspondence, and letters of congratulations. Boileau's accomplishments during forty years in the judiciary are documented by testimonials, general correspondence, and materials on several professional committees. The file of testimonials includes a copy of Boileau's letter to Lyndon B. Johnson alluding to an association through their mutual ties with Richard Kleberg and Frank Loeffler, Boileau's congressional secretary and former law partner, and Johnson's brief acknowledgment. Among the items in the general correspondence are a 1961 letter regarding opposition to cameras in the courtroom and a memo to Judge Edwin M. Wilkie on the rules of judicial conduct. A few items relate to work on several professional committees: a committee on court reorganization of the Judicial Council, the Criminal Code Advisory Committee, the Ethics Board, and the Governor's Commission on Law Enforcement and Crime. The largest of these documents Boileau's chairmanship of the Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions. It consists of annotated drafts of the jury instructions manual. Surprisingly useful among the judicial records is the material about Boileau's lifelong concern about the financial aspects of his retirement. A side benefit of this concern was the creation of an interesting summary of the changes in the rule governing judicial retirement. Also of note is a file of letters supporting Boileau's appointment to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
