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John E. Erickson papers, 1883-1958

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Erickson, John Edward, 1863-1946
Title
John E. Erickson papers
Dates
1883-1958 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 149 (collection)
Summary
John E. Erickson was the Governor of Montana from 1924 until 1933, and a U.S. Senator from 1933 to 1934. Collection (1883-1958) consists of correspondence, speeches, subject files, scrapbooks, clippings, photographs, and miscellaneous mementos. Topics discussed include various campaigns and elections, the Democratic Party, Helena local history, the opening of Yellowstone National Park, the Custer Battlefield anniversary, Norwegian-Americans, and Mrs. Burton K. Wheeler. [Photographs and printed materials transferred to the Photograph Archives and Library respectively.]
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

John Edward Erickson was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin, on March 14, 1863, the son of a Norwegian immigrant. A year later his family moved to a Greenwood County, Kansas, homestead. Erickson graduated from Washburn College in Topeka in 1890, and was admitted to the Kansas state bar a year later.

In 1893 Erickson moved to Choteau, Montana, and began his law practice. He served three terms as county attorney, and then was elected judge of the 11th Judicial District for three terms, beginning in 1904. Erickson resigned from the bench in 1915 to move his law practice to Kalispell. Three years later he was appointed to fill an associate justice vacancy on the Montana Supreme Court, but refused to accept the position. Always active in politics, Erickson was a delegate to the 1920 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco and chairman of the Democratic State Committee in 1922. Two years later he received his party's nomination for governor. He defeated the incumbent, Joseph M. Dixon, and assumed the office on January 5, 1925. He was re-elected in 1928 and 1932. Erickson resigned the governor's seat on March 13, 1933, to accept an appointment as U.S. Senator, replacing Thomas J. Walsh who died in office. Erickson was defeated by James E. Murray when he ran for the Senate in November 1934.

Erickson returned to Helena to work again as a lawyer and to serve on the Montana Old Age Commission. On June 27, 1898, Erickson married Grace Vance at Salt Lake City. They had three children, Vance (b. 1901), Ellen (b. 1904), and John Cooper (b. 1908). John E. Erickson died in Helena on May 25, 1946, at the age of 83.

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Content Description

This collection consists of correspondence (1925-1944), speeches (1923-1939), subject files (1904-1936), clippings (1893-1944), and miscellany. Much of the correspondence is congratulatory or in support of his campaigns, with little information on policy or strategy. Speech topics include Woodrow Wilson, Elk Days, Roosevelt's inauguration, the Custer Battlefield, etc. In addition, there are speeches in the subject file Erickson kept. The scrapbooks in the subgroup deal with the Good Roads Convention in Louisiana in 1926, the fiftieth anniversary of the Custer Battlefield in 1926, the opening of Yellowstone National Park, and the Valier Irrigation Project. The scrapbooks also contained numerous photographs which were transferred to the Photo Archives. The newspaper clippings in the collection were arranged and titled by Erickson.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by series. Some material housed in Archives Map Case. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

7:4-1

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Separated Materials

Maps and printed material separated to Library. Photographs separated to Photo Archives. See inventory below for more information.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • General Correspondence

    • Description: B-W (correspondents include H. Bjornson, T.W. Elliot, Ralph Budd, David R. McGinnis, B.S. Robertson, Jerome Williams)
      Dates: 1925
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: C-W (correspondents include Chattanooga News, E.C. Carruth, Dillon Tribune, C.F. Morris, Maurice P. Murphy, Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, Warren Toole, Edmund G. Toomey, Clifford Walker, May Watson)
      Dates: 1926
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: A-W (correspondents include O.C. Adams, Buffalo Creek Sheep Company, Gordon Campbell, Dan R. Conway, Charles Gordon, George E. Hurd, Hydro-Electric Power Association, Thomas Middleton Jones, Max Lowenstein, H.H. Schwartz Jr., J.E. Swindlehurst, Yellowstone County, Yellowstone National Park)
      Dates: 1927
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: A-C (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include Walter Aitken, E.B. Amdahl, Herbert L. Barber, Big Timber Pioneer, Jim Blake, E.V. Blankenship, W.C. Brown, T. Cantrell, Charles M. Russell Memorial Committee, Ed F. Crossfield)
      Dates: 1928
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: D-L (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include Daniels County Clerk of Court, Chris W. Demel, Democratic Party, James C. Dockstader, James Donovan re Big Hole Battle, Flathead County, John A. Fox, Kalispell-Kevin Oil Company, Marcus Lyter)
      Dates: 1928
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: M-R (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include Missoula Drug Company, D.H. Morgan, H. Clyde Nelson, L.S. Olsen, Goodwin T. Paul, W.F. Ruegsegger)
      Dates: 1928
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: S-Y (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include Scandinavian Fraternity of America, H.R. Schlytter, George E. Snyder, Tom Stout, E.J. Stromnes, Howard Toole, Warren Toole, H.J. Toomey, Earl T. Vance, Fred Whiteside)
      Dates: 1928
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: A-W (correspondents include George Arnott, A.E. Erickson, H.R. Green, Chester T. Kennan, Harold A. Lafounte, Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Association, Ludwig Rose, Tom Stout)
      Dates: 1929
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 8
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: C-W (correspondents include F. Denny Curry, Independent Petroleum Association, Montana Oil Journal, Leo L. Totten, Earl T. Vance, Frances D. Whittemore)
      Dates: 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: D-W (correspondents include Democratic Party, Ke-Sun Oil Company, Paul C. Phillips, Walter Smethurst, Stillwater County Commissioners, Burton K. Wheeler, B.C. White)
      Dates: 1931
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: A-E (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include Joe Bosone, Frank F. Bossuot, Boston Mayor James M. Curley, Thomas Cantrell, M.B. Casey, L.E. Cooper re "Slippery Bill" Morrison, Mrs. L.E. Cooper, Chris W. Demel, Democratic Party, Charles H. Draper, Ernest T. Eaton, O.B. Egland, L.M. Erickson)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: F-K (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include Robert S. Good, Charles Gordon, Albert Hopen, Kalispell City Clerk)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 12
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: L-N (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include H.S. Larson, J.A. Lowry, George McCormick, Earl F. McGinnis, Cora M. Marsh, Montana Record-Herald, Montana State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Montana State Council of Carpenters, Maurice P. Murphy, H.L. Myers, Hal Noftalin)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: O-S (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include Jack O'Neill, Gifford Pinchot, H.M. Roberts, Scandinavian Fraternity of America, M.B. Sherrard, J.H. Stevenson, Tom Stout, J.E. Swindlehurst)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: T-Y (primarily congratulations on re-election; correspondents include T.A. Thompson, United States Society, Thomas J. Walsh, J.A. Weaver)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: H-W (re Reconstruction Finance Corporation; correspondents include Claude E. Hamilton Jr., James E. Murray, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Burton K. Wheeler)
      Dates: 1942
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Edward M. Curray
      Dates: 1943
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
      Location: General Correspondence

  • Incoming Correspondence

    • Description: John W. Stanton
      Dates: 1914
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: C-W (correspondents include Will A. Campbell, Charlie P. Donnell, George L. MacGibbon, F.H. Stoltze)
      Dates: 1925
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: A-W (correspondents include Horace M. Albright, A.M. Anderson, American Good Will Association, E.C. Carruth, Clarence H. Howard, W.S. McCormack, Omaha Bee, O.S. Warden)
      Dates: 1926
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: C-U (correspondents include E.C. Carruth, Disabled American Veterans, Frank J. Jennison, Harry M. Ralston, C.J. Seely, J.E. Swindlehurst)
      Dates: 1927
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: A-U (correspondents include A.B. Cook, J.G. Diamond, E.S. Kosen enclosing speech by Wellington D. Rankin, P.W. Murray, Frank H. Nash, C.D. Powell, James T. Shea, Sam W. Teagarden, Tioga Club, O.S. Warden)
      Dates: 1928
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: A-W (correspondents include Anti-Saloon League of Montana, I.M. Brandjord, Maggie Smith Hathaway, W.H. Howe, KFBB, Chester T. Keenan, Burton K. Wheeler)
      Dates: 1929
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: B-T (correspondents include Billings Advertising Company, J.M. Byrnes, Charles H. Clapp, Chester T. Keenan, "Powder River" Jack H. Lee, Joseph P. Monaghan, Oscar Halvorsen Reinholt, Hans C. Roe, George F. Spaulding re Rhodes Scholarships, Sam W. Teagarden)
      Dates: 1930
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: H-W (correspondents include R.F. Hanks, Chester T. Keenan, Rosalta Laist, New Mexico Governor, Elizabeth Peterson, Virginia Governor, R.J. Williams)
      Dates: 1931
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 13
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: A-I (correspondents include American Forestry Association, E.C. Carruth, E.B. Coolidge, Democratic Party, Tom Dooley, Edward E. Elliott, Idaho Governor, Ernest J. Immel)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 14
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: J-P (correspondents include Carl A. Kansala, Andrew P. Larsen, "Powder River" Jack Lee, John Lindquist, J.A. Lowry, Frank R. Marsh, J.E. Murphy, David Murphy Jr., Gerald F.M. O'Grady, Picket-Journal)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 15
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: R-Y (correspondents include Luther H. Reichelderfer, J.E. Ricketts, Ray N. Shannon, M.B. Sherrard, Harry Stanford, T.S. Stockdale, S.A. Stoddard, Gus E. Strand, W.P. Sullivan, J.E. Swindlehurst, United States Society, Virginia Governor)
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 16
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: A-V (correspondents include Will Aiken, I.J.K. Isakson, George Y. Patten, I. Parker Veazey Jr.)
      Dates: 1933
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 17
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: Dean King
      Dates: 1940
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 18
      Location: Incoming Correspondence
    • Description: B-W (correspondents include Frank J. Bell, "Powder River" Jack Lee, H.S. Robinson, Marian P. Stover, Burton K. Wheeler, Mrs. A.E. Williamson)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 19
      Location: Incoming Correspondence

  • Outgoing Correspondence

  • Maps, Photographs, and Printed Materials

    • Description: List of maps and printed materials transferred to the Library; list of photographs transferred to the Photo Archives
      Dates:
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 22
      Location: Maps, Photographs, and Printed Materials

  • Speeches

    • Description: Messages to legislative assemblies
      Dates: 1925-1931
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1
      Location: Speeches
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: 1923-1939, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 2
      Location: Speeches
    • Description: Fragments
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 3
      Location: Speeches

  • Subject Files

    • Description: Campaigns for district judge
      Dates: 1904, 1908
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 4
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Seward J. Erickson
      Dates: 1908
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 5
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Campaign of 1918 for State Senator
      Dates: 1918
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 6
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Montana Supreme Court appointment
      Dates: 1919
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 7
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Democratic National Convention, San Francisco
      Dates: 1920
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 8
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: "League of Nations Foundation: Cause and Cure"
      Dates: 1923-1935
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 9
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Campaign for governor
      Dates: 1924
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 10
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Campaign for governor
      Dates: 1928
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 11
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Campaign for governor
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 12
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: U. S. Senate and campaign of 1934
      Dates: 1933-1934
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 13
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: U.S. Senate and campaign of 1934 [Map Case See Folder MC 122-157]
      Dates: 1933-1934
      Container: Oversize Folder MC 122-157
      Location: Subject Files
    • Description: Montana Old Age Pension Commission
      Dates: 1936, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 14
      Location: Subject Files

  • Clippings

    • Description: "Campaign for County Clerk"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 15
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Scrapbook of political clippings
      Dates: 1893-1921, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 1
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Scrapbook of John Erickson
      Dates: 1900-1909
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 2
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Campaign of 1900 for County Attorney"
      Dates: 1900
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 3
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Democratic State Convention"
      Dates: 1922
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 4
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Campaign of 1924 for Governor"
      Dates: 1924
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 5-7
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Administration 1925-1927"
      Dates: 1925-1927
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 8
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Campaign of 1928 for Governor"
      Dates: 1928
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 1
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Administration 1929-1931"
      Dates: 1929-1931
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 2
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Campaign of 1932 for Governor"
      Dates: 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 3
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Administration"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 4
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "U.S. Senate Appointment and Campaign of 1934"
      Dates: 1933-1934
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 5
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Scrapbook of cartoons of U.S. Senators
      Dates: 1934, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 6
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "John E. Erickson"
      Dates: 1936-1956, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 7
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Bible and Church - Salvaging of Civilization by H. G. Wells; the Bible of Civilization"
      Dates: 1911-1924
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 8
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "A. Lincoln; Jefferson"
      Dates: 1910-1940
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 9
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Crusade Against Evolution per Darwin"
      Dates: 1921-1935
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 10
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Disarmament Conference - Reports by Ida Turbell and H. G. Wells"
      Dates: 1922-1923
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 11
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Helena's Diamond Jubilee"
      Dates: 1939
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 12
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "K-9 Corps at Rimini, Montana"
      Dates: 1944
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 13
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "Montana Products"
      Dates: 1926-1927
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 1
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: "World War II"
      Dates: 1941
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 2
      Location: Clippings
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: 1906-1944, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 3
      Location: Clippings

  • Miscellany

    • Description: Certificates, eulogy, memberships, etc.
      Dates: 1901-1946
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 4
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Conferences of Governors booklets
      Dates: 1927, 1932
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 5
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Notes on court cases, speeches, miscellaneous
      Dates: 1890-1920, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 6
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Political materials re F. D. Roosevelt; T. J. Walsh; Kalispell highways; government publications; Northern Pacific Railroad; etc.
      Dates: 1910-1948
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 7
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Items removed from scrapbook and photo album re Good Roads Convention, Custer Battlefield Anniversary, Yellowstone National Park opening, Valier Irrigation Project, etc.
      Dates: 1925-1927
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 8
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: 1896-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 6 / 9
      Location: Miscellany

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Elections
  • Norwegian Americans--Montana.

Personal Names

  • Erickson, John Edward, 1863-1946 (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Custer Battlefield National Monument (Mont.)
  • Helena (Mont.)--Buildings, structures, etc.
  • St. Peter's Mission (Mont.)
  • Yellowstone National Park

Finding aid prepared by Cindy Brown, 1982.
2005

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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