Archives West Finding Aid

The majority of the collection consists of the General Correspondence series. These files frequently include enclosures or accompanying material such as writings, reports, texts of bills, statements and clippings. The correspondence is divided into Agency Files, Subject Files and Legislation Files. The Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee series consists of general correspondence files, arranged chronologically by year, then subdivided by subject. The correspondence in this series contains a large number of enclosures and accompanying items; thus there are many reports, statements, texts of bills, writings and clippings. The Bills series (1949-1955) contain material identical to that in the Legislative files, which begin in 1955; the break in 1955 probably reflects a change in Tollefson's filing practice. The Campaign Letters series (1944 -1946) contains general correspondence from Tollefson's early campaigns, including Tollefson's requests for both electoral and monetary support. The Newsletters (1963-1964) were prepared by Tollefson's office to inform his constituents about some of his work.

In his eighteen-year Congressional career, Tollefson was involved in an extensive variety of issues, as reflected in the great number of different subjects listed in the inventory. However, the papers do reflect some major areas of interest.

First of these is his intense involvement in maritime and fishing industry policies and management. Most of the materials regarding these issues are found in the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee series. These materials relate to the maintenance of the American Merchant Marine, including letters about the $400 million dollar peacetime ship construction and repair program of 1950, of which Tollefson was a key supporter. This series also includes papers about fishing treaties and legislation, particularly pertaining to Alaskan fishing markets. While this series contains the majority of maritime and fishing papers, further material on these topics can be found in other parts of the collection. The Agency Files in the General Correspondence series include Maritime Commission correspondence; fishery-related Subject Files and Legislative Files pertain to specific fishery or maritime legislation.

Another of Tollefson interests was management of natural resources, especially in the Pacific Northwest region. The Agency Files contain correspondence about the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management. The Subject Files include materials on Olympic and Rainier National Parks, Cowlitz Dam and other dams in the Pacific Northwest, as well as files on land management.

The papers provide a view into Cold War politics and policies. The materials include a number of Subject Files on Communism, and this topic arises in other files, such as in the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee files on Alaska and the American Merchant Marine. There are Subject Files on hydrogen and atom bomb tests throughout the collection, as well as recurring Army, Navy, and Defense Department Agency Files. Correspondence with the Veterans Administration and files on various veteran-related legislation document the post-war period.

The papers reflect Tollefson's involvement in commerce and public development. For example, he was involved with the expansion of the Port of Tacoma, as reflected in the Subject Files for 1959 and other Tacoma commerce files. He was an advocate for public housing; the papers contain correspondence with the Federal Housing Administration, Public Housing Administration, the Public Building Service, and the Public Health Service, as well as several Legislation Files on housing.