Summary Information
Jerris G. Leonard, Jr. Papers 1956-1968 1998-2000
Milwaukee Mss 115
11.2 c.f. (28 archives boxes)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers, mainly 1958-1968, of a Republican state legislator who represented the northern Milwaukee suburbs in the Wisconsin Assembly (1957-1961) and Senate (1961-1969). The collection consists of correspondence to and from legislative colleagues, constituents, Milwaukee businessmen, lobbyists, and Republican Party leaders and an alphabetical subject file containing information about specific legislation, committee assignments, and investigations conducted by the senator. Among the well covered topics are budgets and taxes, the Governor's Commission on Human Rights and open housing, the Governor's Scholarship and Loan Committee, the Kellett governmental reorganization bill, alleged Communist influence of the Daily Cardinal, and pornography. Also included are copies of press releases, speeches and statements, and constituent newsletters and political correspondence relating to Leonard's unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1968 and other Republican campaigns, the Senate Republican Caucus, and other political matters. Prominent correspondents include Raymond Bice, Ody Fish, Walter G. Hollander, Warren P. Knowles, Clifford Krueger, Gerald D. Lorge, John Mitchell, and F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00115 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Jerris Leonard, Wisconsin Republican leader and lawyer, was born in Chicago on January 17, 1931, the son of Jerris G. and Jean Marie Reville Leonard. After his father died when young Leonard was two years old, the family moved to Milwaukee where he attended Rufus King High School and received a B.S. in business administration (1952) and a law degree (1955) from Marquette University. After graduation he began practicing law in Milwaukee. In 1964 Leonard joined the firm of Michael, Best & Friedrich.
In 1956 Leonard was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly. He was reelected without opposition in 1958 and during his second term served as assistant minority leader in the lower house as well as serving on the GOP Policy Committee, the Joint Finance Committee, and the State Building Commission. Leonard was elected to the State Senate from the 4th District in 1960 and reelected in 1964. An acknowledged Republican leader in the legislature despite his relative youth, Leonard made a reputation for his fiscal conservatism, devotion to civil rights, and concern for family issues. In the Senate, Leonard served as assistant majority leader from 1961 through 1966, moving up to majority leader for two years in 1967. In 1963 he was chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and a member of the three-man Committee on Committees. He also served as president of the Wisconsin Agencies Building Corporation from 1963 until 1969. In 1965 the Wisconsin Jaycees named him one of the five outstanding young men in the state. In 1968 Leonard chose not to run for reelection in order to run for election to the U.S. Senate against incumbent Gaylord Nelson. He was defeated, but accepted a position in the Nixon administration as assistant attorney general for civil rights. Leonard remained in that position until 1971 when he became administrator for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. In 1973 he returned to private practice in Washington, D.C., as a partner in Leonard & Ralston. He remained active in the Republican Party, serving as a member of the Reagan transition team in 1980 and the Bush transition team in 1988.
Scope and Content Note
The Jerris Leonard Papers chiefly document his legislative career in the State Senate, although some correspondence from his earlier years in the Assembly is included. For the most part, the papers document his legislative actions and views, as well as the opinions of his constituents on numerous legislative issues, with lesser material on the progress of his political career. Virtually no personal papers are included.
Although the Leonard Papers share the depersonalized, bureaucratic character of most legislative collections of their era, they are, nevertheless, exceptional political documentation. This is due to the relative rarity of their contents (other important Republican political files of the period such as papers of Ody Fish having been destroyed), the high level in state political circles in which Leonard operated, and the unusual frankness of his correspondence style. Without doubt, the collection is one of the better research resources for studying the 1960's in Wisconsin.
The papers received from the senator have been weeded in the Archives in order to remove routine and ephemeral material. The discarded material included duplicates, form letters and orchestrated mail from constituents, routine requests and case work, documentation on legislation more accessible elsewhere, and publications.
The Leonard Papers are arranged as Biographical Material, General Files, and Publicity. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL consists of xeroxed biographical clippings gathered from throughout the collection.
The GENERAL FILES, which make up the bulk of the collection, are subdivided into General Correspondence, Subject Files, and Political Files. The general correspondence is arranged by legislative term and alphabetically by correspondent. Unlike the practice of many legislative offices, the Leonard General Correspondence files were used for correspondence of great value concerning pending legislation and politics, although some discussion of case work and other more routine matters in which Leonard was involved is included. Unfortunately no indexes to these files were received in the archives, and the files for individual letters of the alphabet are extremely disorganized. Although by no means a complete index, the following listing of prominent correspondents will serve as an aid to searching:
- 1959
- Claude Jasper, Philip Kuehn, Arthur Padrutt, John Reynolds, Philip Sellinger, Nile Soik, Roland Steinle
- 1961-1962
- Lloyd Barbee, Patrick Cudahy, Edmund Fitzgerald, Ody Fish, Kirby Hendee, Sam Hay, Connor T. Hansen, Philip G. Kuehn, Warren Knowles, Robert Knowles, Gerald Lorge, J. Earl Leverich, Delbert Kenney, J. Curtis McKay, Robert Pierce, F. James Sensenbrenner, Merrill E. Stalbaum, Carl Steiger, Robert Travis.
- 1963-1964
- David Adamany, Allen J. Busby, Raymond Bice, Richard Cudahy, Charles Davis, Harold Falk, Richard S. Falk, George Greeley, John Gower, Walter Hollander, Edward Kersten, Clifford Krueger, Warren Knowles, Walter Kohler, J. Curtis McKay, Richard McDonald, Jack Olson, Daniel Parker, Arthur Padrutt, Talbot Peterson, Frank Panzer, Maurice Pausch, John Reynolds, Dena Smith, Philip Sellinger, Carl Steiger, F. James Sensenbrenner, Henry Schadeberg.
- 1965-1967
- Raymond Bice, Louis J. Ceci, Charles Davis, Ody Fish, Connor T. Hansen, Claude Jasper, Robert Knowles, Ernest Keppler, Melvin Laird, Reuben LaFave, Bronson La Follette, Richard McDonald, Henry Maier, John Mitchell, Richard Nixon, William Wesley Peters, Merrill Stalbaum, John C. Shabaz, F. James Sensenbrenner, William Steiger, Philip Sellinger, Jess Unruh, Robert Warren
- 1967-1968
- Don Anderson, Allen J. Busby, Manny Brown, Gordon Bubolz, Raymond Bice, Louis Ceci, Art Cerilli, Walter John Chilsen, Charles Davis, Glenn Davis, Lee Dreyfus, Robert Dineen, William Draheim, Herbert Grover, Ann Gaylor, Robert Hubert, E. Harold Hallows, Connor T. Hansen, Robert Hansen, Claude Jasper, William Kellett, Ernest Keppler, Robert Knowles, Warren Knowles, William Kraus, Gerald Lorge, Melvin Laird, Henry Maier, John Mitchell, John K. MacIver, Frank Nikolay, Richard Nixon, Jack Olson, Richard Pabst, Vel Phillips, Gordon Roseleip, Nile Soik, Carl Steiger.
The Subject Files are divided by legislative term, although the division is not strict and some files contain material spanning more than one session. For the earlier sessions in which Leonard served, the files are arranged alphabetically by subject; for the 1965-1966 and 1967-1968 sessions, there is also information concerning specific legislation filed in numerically-ordered bill files. Most of the Subject Files contain a mixture of material types, ranging from correspondence and reports to working drafts of bills. Several files, which are restricted until 2019, consist of material assessing political appointees made by the governor. Filing in the Subject Files was frequently inconsistent, and some correspondence pertaining to topics for which there are individual subject folders may also be found in the General Correspondence. Among the most extensively documented topics in this group of records are files pertaining to budgets and taxes, the Governor's Commission on Human Rights and open housing, the Governor's Scholarship and Loan Committee, the Kellett governmental reorganization bill, alleged Communist influence of the Daily Cardinal, and pornography.
The Political Files are arranged basically by year, with the files spanning the period 1960 to 1968. Some fragmentary Leonard campaign material is included, chiefly in the form of committee correspondence. The rest of the material deals with general Republican Party matters. The researcher should note that political correspondence was not segregated from the general correspondence until 1964, and even after that time filing was not precise. As a result, the General Files should be searched by researchers interested in political history. Especially notable are files on the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee and the publicity produced by the Senate Republican Caucus.
PUBLICITY FILES are arranged by type and then filed in chronological order. Included are speeches and statements, press releases, constituent newsletters, scripts from a radio program broadcast in 1963, and evaluations of Leonard by a university political science class.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Jerris Leonard, Madison, Wisconsin, 1965-1969. Accession Number: M65-114, M69-2
Processed by Noreen Fish (FGH intern) and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1988.
Contents List
Box
1
Folder
1
|
Series: Biographical Material
|
|
|
Series: General Files
|
|
|
Subseries: General correspondence
|
|
Box
1
Folder
2
|
1958-1960
|
|
|
1961-1962
|
|
Box
1
Folder
3-7
|
A-G
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1-6
|
H-R
|
|
Box
3
Folder
1-5
|
S-Z
|
|
|
1963-1964
|
|
Box
3
Folder
6-7
|
A-B
|
|
Box
3A
Folder
1-6
|
C-H
|
|
Box
4
Folder
1-6
|
I-P
|
|
Box
5
Folder
1-6
|
Q-W
|
|
Box
6
Folder
1
|
Y-Z
|
|
Box
6
Folder
2
|
Chronological file, 1963-1964
|
|
|
1965-1966
|
|
Box
6
Folder
3-5
|
A-C
|
|
Box
6A
Folder
1-6
|
D-I
|
|
Box
7
Folder
1-9
|
J-M
|
|
Box
7A
Folder
1-7
|
O-T
|
|
Box
8
Folder
1-2
|
U-Z
|
|
Box
8
Folder
3-4
|
Chronological files, 1965-1966
|
|
|
1967-1968
|
|
Box
8
Folder
5-7
|
A-B
|
|
Box
9
|
B (Continued)-F
|
|
Box
10
|
G-K
|
|
Box
11
|
K (Continued)-O
|
|
Box
12
|
P-S
|
|
Box
13
Folder
1-5
|
T-Z
|
|
Box
13
Folder
6-7
|
Chronological file, 1967
|
|
|
Subseries: Subject files
|
|
|
1958-1962
|
|
Box
13
Folder
8
|
Committee on Committees, 1962
|
|
Box
13
Folder
9
|
Decisions of chair (110), 1961
|
|
Box
14
Folder
1
|
Education (112), 1962, n.d.
|
|
Box
14
Folder
2
|
Education re-evaluation (113), NCSLL Committee on, 1960-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
14
Folder
3
|
Flood control (116), 1960
|
|
Box
14
Folder
4
|
Governmental affairs (117), 1962, n.d.
|
|
Box
14
Folder
5
|
Highways (119), 1960-1964, n.d.
|
|
Box
14
Folder
6
|
Hold-over bills (120), 1961
|
|
Box
14
Folder
7-8
|
Human Rights, Governor's Commission on (121) 1960-1965, n.d.
|
|
Box
14
Folder
9
|
Income Tax Simplification (112), 1958-1961
|
|
Box
14
Folder
10
|
Judiciary (123-124), 1960-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
14
Folder
11
|
Notes
|
|
Box
14
Folder
12
|
Labor (125) 1959-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
1A
|
Legislative Reference Bureau drafts, 1961
|
|
Box
15
Folder
1B
|
Legislative services (126), 1959-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
2
|
Liaison Committee minutes (127), 1961
|
|
Box
15
Folder
3
|
Metropolitan Study Committee (129), 1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
4
|
Milwaukee County Schools (130), 1956-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
5-6
|
Miscellaneous bill files (132-133), 1956-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
7
|
National Conference of State Legislative Leaders (134), 1960
|
|
Box
15
Folder
8
|
Nelson, Gaylord (135), 1958-1961
|
|
Box
15
Folder
9
|
Organization of administrative branch of state government (137), 1956-1961
|
|
Box
15
Folder
10
|
Physically handicapped (141), 1960-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
11
|
Price discrimination (146), 1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
12
|
Proposed legislation (147), 1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
13
|
Radiation (148), 1959-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
14
|
Reapportionment (149), 1961
|
|
Box
15
Folder
15
|
Roll calls (150), 1959-1960
|
|
Box
15
Folder
16
|
Space utilization study (152), 1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
15
Folder
17
|
Tax material (156), 1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
16
Folder
1
|
Tax material (156), continued
|
|
Box
16
Folder
2
|
Twenty-third Amendment (Liberty Amendment) (157) 1959-1961, n.d.
|
|
Box
16
Folder
3
|
Vicksburg National Military Park, Wisconsin Day, 1961
|
|
Box
16
Folder
4
|
Welfare (158), 1959-1963, n.d.
|
|
Box
16
Folder
5
|
Wisconsin Neurological Foundation (159), 1961
|
|
|
1963-1964
|
|
Box
25
Folder
1-2
|
Appointments, 1963-1964
|
|
Box
16
Folder
6
|
Crime investigation files (160), 1963, n.d.
|
|
Box
16
Folder
7
|
Legal holidays (182), 1962-1963
|
|
Box
16
Folder
8
|
Payroll exclusions for employees of the university, (184), 1962-1963
|
|
Box
16
Folder
9
|
Reapportionment, 1964
|
|
Box
16
Folder
10
|
Scholarships , (1959-1964)
|
|
Box
16
Folder
11
|
Telephone rates for telephone company employees (ASB866), 1964
|
|
Box
16
Folder
12
|
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
|
|
Box
16
Folder
13
|
Wisconsin State Building Commission
|
|
|
1965-1966
|
|
|
Alphabetical files
|
|
Box
16
Folder
14
|
Agency shop for public employees (SB248 & AB389), 1965-1966
|
|
Box
16
Folder
15
|
Alienation of affection/abolishing actions, 1965
|
|
Box
16
Folder
16
|
Americanism vs. communism (SB 459), 1965-1966, n.d.
|
|
Box
16
Folder
17
|
Anti-smut literature (SB102), 1965-1966
|
|
Box
25
Folder
3
|
Appointments, ca. 1964-1965
|
|
Box
16
Folder
18
|
Branch banking (AB420), 1965
|
|
Box
16
Folder
19
|
Budget deliberations (AB99), 1965, n.d.
|
|
Box
17
Folder
1-2
|
Cardinal controversy, 1965
|
|
Box
17
Folder
3
|
Consumer fraud, 1965-1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
4
|
Election laws (LRB12), 1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
5
|
Fair housing legislation (SB310 & AB413), 1965
|
|
Box
17
Folder
6
|
Gas tax for recreational boat use, n.d.
|
|
Box
17
Folder
7
|
Harrison Oil company (SB608), 1965-1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
8
|
Highways and highway safety, 1965-1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
9
|
Home and Family Council, 1965-1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
10
|
Huber Law extension, 1963-1965
|
|
Box
17
Folder
11
|
Integrated Family Court study, 1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
12
|
Judicial retirement, 1965-1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
13
|
Juveniles, 1965-1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
14
|
Legislative Council, 1966
|
|
Box
17
Folder
15
|
Mental Health Compact, 1965
|
|
Box
17
Folder
16
|
Milwaukee County taxes, 1966, n.d.
|
|
Box
17
Folder
17
|
Nuclear Facilities Committee, 1963-1966, n.d.
|
|
Box
17
Folder
18
|
Oleomargarine, 1965
|
|
Box
17
Folder
19
|
Operations on mental patients, 1965
|
|
Box
18
Folder
1
|
Outstanding Young Man Award, 1965
|
|
Box
18
Folder
2
|
Polygraphs, 1965, n.d.
|
|
Box
18
Folder
3
|
Reapportionment (Amendment to U.S. constitution SJR22), 1965
|
|
Box
18
Folder
4
|
Silent prayer bill (SB408), 1965
|
|
Box
18
Folder
5
|
Scholarship and Loan Committee, 1965
|
|
Box
18
Folder
6
|
Social Development Commission, 1965-1966
|
|
Box
18
Folder
7
|
State Treasurer, 1966
|
|
Box
18
Folder
8
|
Transfer of real estate, Filing report penalty, (SB207), 1965-1966
|
|
Box
18
Folder
9
|
UW-Milwaukee investigation, 1963-1964
|
|
Box
18
Folder
10
|
UW-Milwaukee Maintenance Department, 1966
|
|
Box
18
Folder
11
|
UW-Milwaukee parking and expansion, 1965-1966, n.d.
|
|
Box
18
Folder
12
|
Water zoning (LRB468), 1965
|
|
Box
18
Folder
13
|
Wisconsin State Building Commission, 1964-1966
|
|
|
Bill files
|
|
|
Assembly bills
|
|
Box
18
Folder
14-15
|
1-588
|
|
Box
19
Folder
1-2
|
615-1037
|
|
Box
19
Folder
3
|
Joint resolutions
|
|
Box
19
Folder
4-9
|
Senate bills
|
|
Box
19
Folder
10
|
Proposed and future legislation
|
|
|
1967-1968
|
|
|
Alphabetical files
|
|
Box
25
Folder
4
|
Appointments, 1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
1-2
|
Code of ethics, n.d.
|
|
Box
20
Folder
3
|
Council of State Governments, 1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
4
|
Educational television, 1967, n.d.
|
|
Box
20
Folder
5
|
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 1966, n.d.
|
|
Box
20
Folder
6
|
Floor debate schedule, 1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
7
|
Highway and highway safety, 1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
8
|
Legislative Organization, Joint Committee on, 1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
9
|
Legislative staff improvement, 1967, n.d.
|
|
Box
20
Folder
10
|
Medical Education Task Force, 1966-1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
11
|
Milwaukee Medical Center, 1966-1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
12
|
Milwaukee school problems, 1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
13
|
Milwaukee teachers, 1967, n.d.
|
|
Box
25
Folder
5
|
Mott Case, 1968
|
|
Box
20
Folder
14
|
Open occupancy, 1967, n.d.
|
|
Box
20
Folder
15
|
Republican Caucus bill assignments, 1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
16
|
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Department of Religious Studies, 1966-1967, n.d.
|
|
Box
20
Folder
17
|
University of Wisconsin Riots, Senate Select Committee on, 1966-1967
|
|
Box
20
Folder
18
|
Whitefish Bay State Park, 1966-1967, n.d.
|
|
Box
20
Folder
19
|
Wisconsin State Building Commission, 1967-1968
|
|
|
Bill files
|
|
|
Assembly bills
|
|
Box
20
Folder
20
|
6-96
|
|
Box
21
Folder
1-6
|
99 (Budget bill)-1103
|
|
Box
21
Folder
7
|
Joint resolutions
|
|
|
Senate bills
|
|
Box
21
Folder
8-9
|
1-55 (Kellett Reorganization Bill)
|
|
Box
22
Folder
1-8
|
55 (continued)-696
|
|
Box
23
Folder
1
|
Joint resolutions
|
|
Box
23
Folder
2
|
Future and proposed legislation
|
|
Box
23
Folder
3
|
Undated and unsigned miscellany
|
|
|
Series: Publicity
|
|
|
Political files
|
|
Box
23
Folder
4
|
State Senate campaign literature, 1960
|
|
Box
23
Folder
5
|
Senate floor leader campaign, 1962
|
|
Box
23
Folder
6-7
|
Political correspondence, 1963-1964
|
|
Box
23
Folder
8
|
Republican State Senate Campaign Committee, 1965-1966
|
|
Box
23
Folder
9
|
Attorney General campaign, 1965
|
|
Box
23
Folder
10-11
|
Political correspondence, 1966-1968
|
|
Box
23
Folder
12
|
Republican Caucus Columns, 1967
|
|
Box
23
Folder
13
|
United States Senate campaign literature, 1967-1968
|
|
Box
24
Folder
1
|
Political science class evaluations of JGL, 1963
|
|
Box
24
Folder
2
|
“How Do You See It?” Radio interview, 1963
|
|
Box
24
Folder
3-5
|
Speeches, 1963-1968, n.d.
|
|
Box
24
Folder
6-8
|
Press releases, 1960-1968, n.d.
|
|
Box
24
Folder
9
|
Statements, 1962-1967, n.d.
|
|
Box
24
Folder
10
|
Constituent newsletters, 1967-1968
|
|
|