This part of the collection contains a variety of personal and professional papers, which reflect the activities and wide interests of Rice throughout his lifetime.
Four major series comprise the Additions: Correspondence; Speeches, Articles, and Notes; Legal Files; and a Subject and Organization File. Folders of biographical materials, fragmentary address and phone number lists, and an appointment diary are also included.
Rice's Correspondence, 1924-1975, is a major part of the Additions. Included is some related material, and personal correspondence with (and about) his children, Pamela, Peter (who was killed during World War II), Timothy, and Andrew, and other family members, as well as with legal colleagues and acquaintances throughout the country and the world. Much of the material refers to Rice's legal interests--civil liberties work, teaching, writing and publishing his ideas, and advising on cases; other items pertain to Rice's overseas work and teaching, the rise of Nazism and the coming of war, politics, labor and international law, and leisure activities. The files are fragmentary for 1943, 1944, and early 1945, the period when Rice was in Washington, D.C. Following his return to teaching in 1945, Rice's letters are concerned with the rejuvenation of the University of Wisconsin Law School and preparations for returning veterans. Specifically titled files of correspondence concern similar topics, Rice's political campaigns, the American Bar Association's denial of membership to non-whites, Rice's assistance to friend Benjamin Winsten during the latter's loyalty hearings, and proposed memorials to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. Prominent correspondents include Robert M. La Follette Jr.
Many of the items in Rice's Speeches, Articles, and Notes, are very early compositions. These were written for a variety of purposes--for oral presentation, for radio and conference talks and interviews, and as publishable articles and book reviews. The subjects usually concerned the law, politics, and social justice. Most of the documents are typed and dated, with time and mode of delivery given; many have been annotated by hand.
Rice's Legal Files date from the period after he entered private practice in 1965. The one exception is the file, U.S. vs. Members of the National Committee of the Communist Party of the United States, 1948-1949. Apparently, Rice's advice was solicited by the National Lawyers Guild and others more closely involved with the case, as illustrated through the correspondence, printed statements, and legal papers and briefs. The remainder of the legal files includes legal papers, correspondence, and Rice's notes; most of the cases are local and are not particularly well-documented. An exception was the landmark case of Jerry Rothstein, an unwed father whom Rice represented, who sued to regain his parental rights and custody of his son. Rice maintained a log of the hours he worked as counsel to the firm of Anderson, Bylsma, and Eisenberg, detailing the minutes and hours he spent on each facet of a case.
The Subject and Organizations File contains a variety of material on each topic, such as correspondence, reference materials, Rice's notes and annotations, legal papers and news clippings. All pertain to Rice's legal, political, and personal interests. Particularly noteworthy are his files regarding the American Society of International Law and its nominating committee, of which he was a member; and the World Peace Through Law organization, which Rice enthusiastically supported for many years. Rice's opposition to the ideas and manifestations represented by McCarthyism can be seen in his files on the California Loyalty Oath, the Hatch Act, the House Un-American Activities Committee and the National Committee to Abolish the HUAC, the Mundt-Nixon Bill and the McCarran Act, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. The politics sub-category includes Rice's records of state and national Democratic politics during the 1960s and 1970s, and a small amount of material concerning Philip F. La Follette's 1930 campaign for governor. Mrs. Rice was also active in this campaign. One folder contains correspondence, a speech, programs, and clippings regarding William G. Rice, Sr.'s address and presentation of the Grotius window, Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, the Netherlands, August 25, 1931. The window was a gift of the 800 members of the American bench and bar to the people of the Netherlands.
Notably sparse in the collection are records of Rice's work with and for the American and Wisconsin Civil Liberties Unions. Although some items exist in all series, and in particular in the later correspondence, only Rice's personal interest in civil liberties and human rights is illustrated. The major part of Rice's WCLU records, including his legal case work, is to be found in the collection of the Wisconsin Civil Liberties Union (Mss 479) held by the Archives. There is very little overlap between the records in each collection. Also of interest may be the records of the American Civil Liberties Union (Mss 477 and on microfilm).
