The Frank R. Neu Papers, 1946-1972 (primarily 1954-1968), is a small collection comprised of biographical information and materials relating to his newspaper career and association with the ADA as public relations director.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, 1920-1972, consists of one folder which includes miscellaneous clippings and publicity materials relating to various aspects of Neu's career. It also contains a biographical sketch and index (calendar) prepared by J. Carroll Bateman prior to the donation of the papers to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Unfortunately, the collection affords only sketchy documentation of Neu's career as a country newspaperman. Among the NEWSPAPER MATERIAL is one issue of Country Correspondent (January, 1946), a magazine concerned with improving the quality of rural journalism. The collection also includes the original (1952) edition and a revised version (1953) of Co-operatives: Agriculture's Best Bet, together with several editorials and comments about the publication.
The AMERICAN DAIRY ASSOCIATION MATERIAL, 1954-1968, divides into five categories: speeches, external articles and manuscripts, ADA publications, in-house material, and reference material. The speeches, 1959-1968, were presented to various national dairy and public relations and advertising audiences including several chapters of the Public Relations Society of America. The researcher will find that the August 4, 1966 speech which appeared in Bateman's index is missing from the collection.
The file of external articles and manuscripts which deals entirely with the concerns of the dairy industry, consists of materials prepared for non-ADA publications. The authorship is not explicitly stated in all cases, but Bateman's index suggests that all articles and manuscripts in the file were written or at least edited by Neu. Of special interest is a series of manuscripts written for Hoard's Dairyman.
Material Neu wrote and/or edited for ADA publications make up the bulk of the collection. These include Dairy Promotion Topics, a quarterly report; PR Tips for Dairymen, a monthly newsletter, and For Your Information, a weekly mimeographed bulletin. Also included are Dairy Digest, a monthly bulletin later entitled Dairy Newsletter and Dairy Promotion Reporter. The Moo News, published monthly for employees of the ADA and state affiliates, and The Dairy Reporter, a quarterly, were partially written by Neu. The collection also includes several informational advertisements and a file of occasional publications which Neu helped to prepare.
The in-house material contains inter-office memoranda and a membership communications manual. The reference material consists of a preliminary report on the American dairy farmer and the ADA compiled by the department of rural sociology at the University of Missouri.
