Title: Luke W. Wilson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1933-1977

Creator:

• Wilson, Luke W. (Luke Woodward), 1912-1985

Call Number: Mss 1013; PH 6459

Quantity: 4.4 c.f. (10 archives boxes), 22 photographs, and 4 posters (3 folders and 1 oversize folder)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers, bulk 1936-1954, of Luke Wilson, an investigator, researcher, campaign worker, and freelance writer. Included are investigative and background materials used as evidence for the Senate Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor (1936-1940) in its investigation of oppressive labor practices of agricultural companies in California. Also included are publications of the Army Morale Services Division (1942-1946), which later became the Information and Education Division, some of which Wilson either researched or helped write as well as materials related to Wilson's testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security, which was investigating Communist activity in the U.S. government and army. In addition, there is extensive material for both the Progressive Party and the American Labor Party (1948-1953), focusing on 1948 presidential candidate, Henry Wallace, and 1949 New York mayoral candidate, Vito Marcantonio.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01013

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Luke Woodward Wilson was born to Luke and Helen Woodward Wilson, in Evanston (Cook County), Illinois on June 13th, 1912, and died in April of 1985 in Bethesda, Maryland. He studied at Dartmouth College and graduated in 1934. After graduation, Wilson worked in Washington, D.C. for the National Institute of Public Affairs, recruiting interns interested in working in Washington. In 1936, Wilson became an investigator for the Senate Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, also known as the La Follette Committee and the Civil Liberties Committee, headed by Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr. of Wisconsin.

While an active member of the Committee, Wilson lived in San Francisco, California, where he was responsible for investigating oppressive labor practices. Wilson gathered information about corporate farms and related industries to be used in Senate hearings regarding the mistreatment of workers belonging to unions, including information on strikebreaking, espionage, and company police activities. During 1938, Wilson was back in Washington managing case files and mail for the investigations and then returned to San Francisco when the Committee received more funding. He served on the Committee until 1940. That same year, Wilson married Ruth Ferguson, from Stockton, California, a labor organizer for the Communist Party.

In 1942, Wilson was drafted by the Army. He was sent to Texas for basic training and then attended the School for Link Trainer Instructors in Illinois. Wilson was then transferred to California to teach navigation. In 1944, Wilson was transferred to the Morale Services Division of the Armed Forces in Washington and trained at an information and orientation school in Virginia.

Wilson served overseas in France and England before returning to the States in 1945. Back in Washington, he worked for the Army Morale Services Division, which became the Army Information and Education Division, under Major Julius Schreiber, performing research for Army fact sheets. Wilson also compiled labor related material for an issue of Army Talks, an Information and Education publication. He was discharged from the Army as Technical Sergeant in 1946.

Following his enlistment, Luke W. Wilson was a Washington Representative for the Progressive Citizens of America (1947) and became involved in the Progressive Party's 1948 Presidential candidacy. He served as a Washington Representative for the Henry Wallace campaign. At the same time, Wilson was actively involved as a member of the Party. He and his wife were the Massachusetts State Delegates and attended the 1948 Party Convention in Philadelphia.

Concurrently, Wilson worked on the campaign committee for Vito Marcantonio. Marcantonio, already a Congressman, was the New York mayoral candidate for the American Labor Party. Wilson managed the 8th Assembly District for Marcantonio's campaign from 1948 until the election, while remaining involved in the Progressive Party until 1952. Wilson was responsible for the canvassers and election district captains.

After 1952, Wilson was a freelance writer and researcher, living in Massachusetts. In 1954, Wilson was subpoenaed to appear before the Jenner Committee or Senate Subcommittee of Internal Security. The Senate was investigating subversive activities within the United States Government and Army. The purpose of the committee was to expose members of the Communist Party. After the hearings, Wilson continued to write, but never published.

The Luke W. Wilson papers, which date approximately from 1933-1977, with the majority of the documents dating 1936-1954, contain information on California labor issues and strikes; investigations of the Senate Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, including violation of civil liberties and rights to free assembly; Army Morale Services Division publications; the Progressive Party's 1948 Presidential campaign and the Party itself; New York's 1949 mayoral third party campaign and the American Labor Party; and Senate hearings from 1954 documenting the investigation into Communist activity in the government.

The types of documentation contained in the collection include handwritten notes; testimonies; newspaper articles, leaflets, bulletins, flyers, and other publications; memorandum; newsletters; speeches; press releases; correspondence; bills and reports. There are some photographs and posters and a large amount of voter ephemera.

The collection is arranged into seven series based on a chronology of Wilson's activities: SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, ARMY MORALE SERVICES DIVISION, PROGRESSIVE PARTY, AMERICAN LABOR PARTY, SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNAL SECURITY, NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE, and VISUAL MATERIALS. Within each series, files are arranged alphabetically by subject.

The COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR series, related to Wilson's investigation for the Committee (1936-1940), documents the way in which the government handled its investigation of labor practices and violation of civil liberties in the late 1930s. Wilson was responsible for collecting evidence for the Senate hearings in the San Francisco, California area. All of the evidence was related to the activities of unions and organizations, in this area, and the corporations which employed the people of the unions. Organizations represented include: Associated Farmers; United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers; Farm Research Committee; National Labor Relations Board; Longshoremen and Warehouse Union; National Federation for Constitutional Liberties and Civil Rights Council. Evidence included printed materials; interviews of witnesses; testimonies and court proceedings; photographs; information on unions and farm companies; information on labor camps.

There is extensive background material documenting California strikes, during the time between 1933-1939, with the greatest amount of documentation for the years 1938-1939. The strikes affecting San Francisco, Madera, Yuba City, Marysville, Stockton, Salinas, Nevada City, and Westwood, is documented by firsthand and secondhand witness reports about strikebreaking activities and labor meetings. This portion of the collection shows who was being investigated, what practices were being employed, who the victims were, and the relationship between the committee and its members, both in the field and in Washington. These activities are documented by correspondence, memorandum, and the background materials. That Wilson was an integral part of this process is demonstrated in the collection through his notes and reports to Washington.

This series also includes notes, and chapter outlines (perhaps for a book) written by Wilson regarding the LaFollette Committee and labor practices. Also included are Oppressive Labor Practices Bill and Record (1939, undated). There are a few pieces of correspondence (1953-1956), mostly requesting Senate materials. In addition, there is an article written by Jerold Auerbach, titled, “LaFollette Committee the CIO”, published in Wisconsin History Magazine, with a letter from Auerbach (1964). These files were created later in Wilson's life when he was a freelance writer and researcher.

The ARMY MORALE SERVICES DIVISION series documents Wilson's service in the Army (1942-1946) with the Army Morale Services Division, which later became the Army Information and Education Division. The materials are dominated by Army publications, including orientation and education materials. There is also a file of Henry Morganthau speeches and a few Army manuals. There is little evidence of particular duties performed by Wilson while he worked for the Army and little documentation. What is significant about this aspect of the collection, is the number of publications published by the Army Information and Education (I. and E.) Division, which document one way the Government went about indoctrinating soldiers during World War II. There are several volumes (I-V) of Army Talks in the collection, ranging from 1943-1946. Also present, are several information bulletins and orientation fact sheets (1945-1946) concerning the I. and E. Division's orientation program, some of which Wilson either researched or contributed. There is a copy of Program in Three Parts (circa 1943), which relates to the Re-enforcement Orientation Program, and a copy of The Nazi Record (1945). Lastly, there are some GI Roundtable Series publications, used as education materials for soldiers (1944-1945).

The PROGRESSIVE PARTY series documents, primarily, the 1948 Presidential Campaign of Henry Wallace, former Secretary of Agriculture and Vice-President to Roosevelt. It also documents the founding of what is referred to as the third Progressive Party. Wallace played a role in founding the Progressive Citizens of America (PCA) in 1946, which merged with the National Citizens Political Action Committee (NCPAC) to become the Progressive Party in 1948. During the campaign, Luke Wilson was a Washington Representative for the Party. He was responsible for informing Party Headquarters of which Bills were on the Floor and which Senators and Representatives were in favor or opposed to such Bills. This is evidenced by memorandum sent from Wilson to Party Headquarters in New York. He and his wife were also the Massachusetts state delegates for the party in 1948.

With regard to the Progressive Party (1948-1953) and the Wallace campaign there are press releases; campaign materials, including Wallace songbook, flyers, booklets, fundraising notices; National Committee meeting minutes and Party delegate lists; New Party Convention materials and plans (1948, 1950); Wallace speeches and public opinion polls; Party memos, bulletins, fact sheets; voting records; a Manual of Political Action, published by the NCPAC about how to campaign and a copy of the party paper-The Citizen (1948). There is also a small portion of the collection dedicated to other Progressive candidates, such as Vincent Hallinan for president (1952) and his running mate Charlotta Bass, the first African-American woman to run for national office.

Lastly, there is material documenting anti-Progressive sentiments. There were many people opposed to Wallace, because of his Communist sympathies. In upstate New York, citizens voiced their opposition in the Adirondack Observer. Wilson's wife had the radio air advertisements for Wallace, for which she paid. The controversy which ensued is documented in the Observer.

The AMERICAN LABOR PARTY series includes Vito Marcantonio campaign material (1946-1950) and Party information (1948-1949). The materials largely document the 1949 mayoral campaign and Marcantonio's career for the time immediately before the campaign and through his re-election campaign (1950), up until his death (1953). There is little documentation on the Party as an organization, but more as a presence in the campaign. Similar to the Progressive Party material, there are news clippings; press releases; speeches given by Marcantonio including, I Vote My Conscience; legislative bulletins; flyers, booklets, fundraising notices, party brochures and large amounts of voter ephemera; voting records; and Marcantonio's Congressional record (1935-1949). There are campaign materials which show the candidate’s influence with and support from minorities, including Italian, Puerto Rican and African-American populations. In addition, there are files of special topics which represent the issues Marcantonio fought to support, including housing and rent, naturalization, education, and foreign born. Related to Wilson's involvement in the campaign, there are assignments of canvassers to his district, records of canvassers and their votes; a notice on how to canvass; Marcantonio form letters and one personalized letter to Wilson; other election voter material and information, including pledge cards and voter cards. This part of the collection does not shed much light on the extent to which Wilson played a role in the campaign for Marcantonio. There is hardly any personalized correspondence and little to document what Wilson’s duties were outside of managing the 8th Assembly District.

The SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNAL SECURITY series documents a portion of the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security, also referred to as the Jenner Committee, the purpose of which was to expose anyone remotely associated with Communism in America. The Committee's stated goal was to investigate un-American and subversive activities in the Government. Wilson was subpoenaed, in 1954, to appear before the Committee to determine if he was a member of the Communist Party before, during, or after his service in the Army. Wilson's involvement is documented by news clippings, correspondence with his lawyer, background materials, and a copy of the Senate Hearing (with his testimony). The significance of this portion of the collection is that it documents the Red Scare and the means by which the Government went about abolishing Communism.

The NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE series contains one folder, with correspondence to Luke and his wife Ruth from the NCI and a copy of “The Record”. In the 1939, Luke's mother donated a portion of their estate, in Bethesda, Maryland to the NCI, after Luke's father died of cancer in 1937. The letter is sent on the 40th anniversary of his father's death, stating that Luke and his wife were missed at the celebration.

Included in the VISUAL MATERIALS series are photographs related to the Committee on Education and Labor series. There is one photograph for the Farm Research Committee, used in one of their newsletters. There are 20 photographs of a strike by cannery workers, which took place in Stockton, California (circa 1939). Accompanying the photographs, is a list describing each photograph, numbered 1 to 20. Another photograph is related to the Progressive Party materials and shows a banner for the New Party Convention, held in Philadelphia (1948). In addition there are 4 posters for the American Labor Party, 3 of which are for Marcantonio's campaign; the last poster is for the release of Willie McGee.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mark Greene from the American Heritage Center, at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 2005. Accession Number: M2006-013

Processing Information

Processed by Jennifer Graham (Practicum student), 2006.

Mss 1013	Series: Committee on Education and Labor
	Background materials
Box   1 Folder   1	Bulletins, Uniform Crime Report, 1935
Box   1 Folder   2	California vs. Pat Chambers, et al., 1937
Box   1 Folder   3	Convention proceedings, California State Federation of Labor, 1937-1938
Box   1 Folder   4	Farm Research Committee, 1941
Box   1 Folder   5	La Follette bill/statement/testimony, 1939
Box   1 Folder   6-8	Land companies, undated
Box   1 Folder   9	Miscellaneous, 1937, 1939-1941
Box   2 Folder   1	Miscellaneous, 1938-1940
Box   2 Folder   2-3	National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, 1940-1942
Box   2 Folder   4	Notebooks, 1938
Box   2 Folder   5	Notes on labor, 1936-1937
Box   2 Folder   6-7	Police files/reports, copies, 1934-1940
Box   2 Folder   8	Republic Steel Corporation case and report, 1937
Box   2 Folder   9	Simon Lubin Society publications, 1939
Box   3 Folder   1	Correspondence/memos, 1937-1940
	Strikes
Box   3 Folder   2-3	Madera/San Joaquin/Kings counties (cotton), 1939
Box   3 Folder   4	Marysville, 1939
Box   3 Folder   5	Nevada City/Westward Purge, 1940
Box   3 Folder   6	Stockton, 1935-1939
Box   3 Folder   7	Wilson, Ruth Ferguson, miscellaneous, circa 1934
	Writings/research material
Box   3 Folder   8-9	Correspondence, 1953-1956
Box   3 Folder   10	Notes/chapter outlines, 1959
Box   3 Folder   11	Oppressive labor practices bill, 1939
Box   3 Folder   12	Oppressive labor practices (CLC) record, undated
	Publications
Box   3 Folder   13	Auerbach, Jerold S., “La Follette Committee and the CIO,” 1964
Box   3 Folder   14	Huberman, Leo, The Truth about Unions, 1946
	Series: Army Morale Services Division	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1	American Veterans Committee, 1946
Box   4 Folder   2	Army manuals, 1942-1943
Box   4 Folder   3	Morgenthau, Henry, speeches, 1946
Box   4 Folder   4	Navy demobilization program, 1945
	Publications
	Army Talks
Box   4 Folder   5	Volume 1, 1943
Box   4 Folder   6	Volume 2, 1944
Box   4 Folder   7	Volume 3, 1945
Box   4 Folder   8	Volumes 4-5, 1945-1946
Box   4 Folder   9	Guide and discussion for information materials, circa 1945
Box   4 Folder   10	Army Talk orientation fact sheets, circa 1945
Box   4 Folder   11	GI Roundtable Series, education manuals, 1944-1945
Box   5 Folder   1	Information bulletins, 1945-1946
Box   5 Folder   2	The Nazi Record, 1945
Box   5 Folder   3	Prostitution and the War and correspondence, 1942
Box   5 Folder   4	Reinforcement Orientation Program, circa 1943
	Series: Progressive Party	⇧
Box   5 Folder   5	Campaign material, 1952
Box   5 Folder   6	The Citizen, newspaper, 1948
Box   5 Folder   7	Convention, 1952
Box   5 Folder   8	Convention call/platform, 1948-1949
Box   5 Folder   9	Fact sheets, 1952
Box   5 Folder   10-11	General, 1949-1952
Box   6 Folder   1-5	General, 1952-1953
Box   6 Folder   6-7	Legislative memos, 1947-1949
Box   7 Folder   1	Manual of Practical Political Action
Box   7 Folder   2	Memos, 1951
Box   7 Folder   3	National Citizens Political Action Committee/FDR memorial dinner, 1945
Box   7 Folder   4	National Committee meeting/reports/state figures, 1948
Box   7 Folder   5	News clippings, 1946, 1954
Box   7 Folder   6	Newsletters, 1951-1952
Box   7 Folder   7-8	Voting records, 1947-1952
	Wallace, Henry
Box   7 Folder   9	Addresses, 1948
Box   7 Folder   10	Broadcast/Adirondack Observer, 1948
Box   7 Folder   11	Campaign ephemera, 1948
Box   7 Folder   12	Press/campaign material, 1948
	Series: American Labor Party	⇧
Box   8 Folder   1-3	Canvassing and voting records/information/forms, 1944, 1947-1950
Box   8 Folder   4	Fact sheets, 1948-1949, 1952
Box   8 Folder   5	Form letters, 1942-1954
Box   8 Folder   6-9	Press releases, 1939-1943, 1949, 1950
	Marcantonio, Vito
Box   9 Folder   1	Articles on, 1942, 1949-1950
Box   9 Folder   2	Bills introduced by, 1936, 1939-1942, 1945, 1949-1950
Box   9 Folder   3	Biographical material, undated
Box   9 Folder   4-6	Campaign ephemera, 1948, 1950, 1952
Box   9 Folder   7	Congressional record, 1935-1949
Box   9 Folder   8	Correspondence, 1938-1941, 1944-1950
Box   9 Folder   9	Memorial and report, 1953-1954
Box   9 Folder   10	Miscellaneous, 1935, 1940-1941, 1946, 1948, 1950
Box   9 Folder   11	Post-American Labor Party, 1953-1954
	Special topics
Box   10 Folder   1	Education, 1950
Box   10 Folder   2	Foreign born/German American Bund, 1939
Box   10 Folder   3	Housing/rent, 1949
Box   10 Folder   4	Puerto Rico/naturalization, 1939-1943, 1948, 1950
Box   10 Folder   5	Speeches, 1936-1937, 1939-1952
Box   10 Folder   6	United Public Workers of America statement, 1950
	Series: Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security	⇧
Box   10 Folder   7	Articles, 1953-1954
Box   10 Folder   8	Background, 1953-1954
Box   10 Folder   9	Correspondence/subpoena, 1954
Box   10 Folder   10	Notes, 1954
Box   10 Folder   11	Senate Hearing/report, 1954, 1955
Box   10 Folder   12	Un-American activities, on, 1947, 1950
	Series: National Cancer Institute	⇧
Box   10 Folder   13	Correspondence/NIH Record, 1977
PH 6459	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
Oversize Folder	American Labor Party Posters
	Photographs
Folder   1	Support the farm credit, circa 1940
Folder   2	Stockton strike, circa 1939
Folder   3	Progressive Party convention, 1948