S. Rae Logan Papers, 1897-1971

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Logan, S. Rae (Simon Rae), 1885-1970
Title
S. Rae Logan Papers
Dates
1897-1971 (inclusive)
Quantity
7.75 linear feet, (16 boxes)
Collection Number
Mss 054
Summary
S. Rae Logan was a Montana and Illinois progressive educator. The collection provides extensive documentation of Logan's career as an educator in rural Montana schools and in the well-known progressive Skokie School of Winnetka, Illinois. It also documents his lifelong and in-depth interests in progressive education, character and religious education, right-wing extremism and its relationship to academic freedom in both K-12 schools and universities, and taxation and its relationship to education funding.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for creating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Simon Rae Logan was born on April 29, 1885 in Rutherford County, North Carolina. He came with his parents to Montana in 1898 and for a time lived near Stevensville, Montana. He attended the University of Montana--Missoula for one year, but graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in 1908. From 1909 to 1912, he ranched near Arlee, Montana. He was a manager of Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose campaign for Missoula County in 1912. In 1913, he was asked to become school superintendent of District 28, Missoula County, when it included a large area from Pablo to south of Arlee. He was a pioneer in the consolidation of one-room schools into centers that offered schooling through high school. He was also instrumental in the formation of the County and Village Teacher's Association in 1913; the group later became a department of the Montana Teacher's Association. He taught school and was a school administrator in Lake County and was school superitendent in Hardin, Montana, from 1919 to 1926. While there he pioneered methods of individual instruction and conducted short winter courses for adults. During those years he was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Executive Board of the Montana Farmer's Union, and the Legislative Committee of the Montana Teacher's Association. He led the fight for a graduated income tax to provide state support for public schools. This measure failed at the time, but gained support in later years.

He then became a school administrator in Winetka, Illinois, in 1926 and remained in that position for 21 years. He believed deeply in citizen responsibility in a democracy, and worked actively to promote democratic citizen education at the junior high school leve. He was active in the Northern Illinois Superintendents' Round Table and headed a committee that studied and reported on conditions in the state's correctional schools. He also taught summer school at the University of Montana, Northwestern University, the University of Nevada, and Brigham Young University. As a longtime member of the Progressive Education Association, he was asked to address the International Education Association meeting in Nice, France.

He retired from school work to homestead at Charlo, Montana, where he raised cattle until he was 80 years old. He received distinguished service awards from the Lower Flathead Schoolmasters' Association and the University of Montana chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.

He was married to Frances Logan; they had five children: Herma Biermann, Eileen Hodges, Katherine Tugendhat, Ernest Logan, and Frank Logan. He died in February 1970. She was later married to Harold Guy Merriam; she died in 1993.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains biographical materials, correspondence, subject files, speeches and writings, printed materials, materials of the Logan's ranch in St. Ignatius, and photographs. It provides extensive documentation of Logan's career as an educator in rural Montana schools and in the well-known progressive Skokie School of Winnetka, Illinois. It also documents his lifelong and in-depth interests in progressive education, character and religious education, right-wing extremism and its relationship to academic freedom in both K-12 schools and universities, and taxation and its relationship to education funding. His autobiography, begun by him and completed by his wife, Frances, documents his career and beliefs as an agitator for educational and social change. There are materials on the Logan's St. Ignatius, Montana, ranch. Family and professional photographs document his ancestors in North Carolina, educational experiences, and schools in which he worked.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number], S. Rae Logan Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in seven series:

Series I: Biographical1969-1971, 5 folders

Series II: Correspondence, 1906-1970, 2.23 linear feet

Series III: Subject, 1926-1949, 2.5 linear feet

Series IV: Speeches and Writings, 1923-1968, 1 linear foot

Series V: Printed Materials and Scrapbooks, 1913-1970, 1.75 linear feet

Series VI: Logan Ranch, 1931-1948, 0.25 linear feet

Series VII: Photographs, 1897-1968, 0.5 linear feet

Custodial History

The papers remained in the possession of Logan's wife until they were donated to the Archives.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Frances Logan, 1973 and 1981.

Processing Note

The collection was originally arranged and described as LC 54; materials received in 1981 were integrated into the collection but not reflected in the finding aid. In 2004, the collection was re-numbered as Mss 054, rearranged, and a new finding aid was prepared and encoded.

Separated Materials

Photographs of Logan's classmates at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, were separated and transferred to the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  Biographical, 1969-1971Return to Top

5 folders

This series contains biographical information about S. Rae Logan and detailed genealogical information about his ancestors. There are notes on family photographs now located in Series VI.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Index to articles by and about S. Rae Logan, Skokie, and Winnetka schools
undated
1/2
Logan family history
undated
1/3
Logan family history, notes on photographs
undated
1/4
Biographical
1969-1971
1/5
Obituary and memorial service
1970

Series II:  Correspondence, 1906-1970Return to Top

2.25 linear feet

This series contains Logan's personal and professional correspondence. It mostly includes incoming correspondence, but there are carbon copies of Logan's outgoin letters in many cases as well. The series is arranged chronologically. The bulk of the series focuses on Logan's education-related activities in Montana and Illinois, including the formation and maintenance of professional organizations and necessary exchanges with government officials to conduct business. For instance, he wrote the Missoula County Sheriff about illegal gambling in Arlee, Montana, that affected are schoolchildren. There are many long letters from editorial writer Quincy Sharpe Mills and from Carleton W. Washburne, a fellow educator and military man during World War II; he apparently carried out a long personal correspondence with both. There are many exchanges with politicians on both educational and other matters, including Joseph Dixon (on Roosevelt's Bull Moose campaign) Jeannette Rankin, Thomas J. Walsh, John M. Evans, and Mike Mansfield. He exchanged many letters with University of Montana--Missoula and Montana State University (Bozeman) faculty, and had a strong interest in the Louis Levine case at the University of Montana. He also continued his contact with the president and faculty at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The correspondence documents his active interests in religious and patriotic education, the cooperative movement, and democracy in schools. Post-retirement letters document his interest in promoting a Columbia Valley Authority (to be modeled on the Tennessee Valley Authority) that include more political correspondence;' he was also interested in water and irrigation issues on the Flathead. Some letters are also addressed to his wife, Frances, but the series does not include any replies from her.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/6
1906
1/7
1912
1/8
January-July, 1913
1/9
August-September, 1913
1/10
October, 1913
1/11
November, 1913
1/12
December, 1913
1/13
1914
1/14
1915
1/15
1916
1/16
1917
1/17
1918
2/1
1919
2/2
1920
2/3
January-June, 1921
2/4
July-December, 1921
2/5
January-June, 1922
2/6
July-December, 1922
2/7
January-June, 1923
2/8
July-December, 1923
2/9
January-June, 1924
2/10
July-December, 1924
2/11
1925
2/12
January-June, 1926
2/13
pre-1926
2/14
1927
3/1
1928
3/2
1929
3/3
1930
3/4
1931
3/5
1932
3/6
1933
3/7
1934
3/8
1935
3/9
1936
3/10
1937
3/11
1938
3/12
Simmons affair at the University of Montana--Missoula
1938-1941
3/13
1939
3/14
Mission Range Credit Union
1939-1940
3/15
1940
3/16
1941
3/17
January-June, 1942
3/18
July-December, 1942
3/19
Federal Communications Commission, NBC and CBS refusal to sell air time to co-op
1942
3/20
Inland Steel, labor problem
1942
3/21
1943
4/1
1944
4/2
1945
4/3
January-June, 1946
4/4
July-December, 1946
4/5
Retirement
1946
4/6
1947
4/7
1948
4/8
1949
4/9
1949
4/10
Flathead project
1948-1950
4/11
Columbia Valley Authority
1949-1950
4/12
Flathead Irrigation and Power Project
1949-1950
4/13
1950
4/14
1951
5/1
1952
5/2
1954
5/3
1955
5/4
1956
5/5
1957
5/6
1958
5/7
1959
5/8
1960
5/9
1961-1962
5/10
Co-ops and American Legion
1962
5/11
1963
5/12
Co-ops and American Legion
1964
5/13
1965
5/14
1966-1967
5/15
1968-1969
5/16
1970
5/17
post-1926 and undated
5/18
D.D. Cooper
1948-1969
5/19
John F. Kennedy
1958-1960
5/20
Logan's parents
1910-1937

Series III:  Subject, 1926-1949Return to Top

2.5 linear feet

This series contains materials collected by Logan for his educational and community activities. Most materials document his time at Skokie School, and include newsletters and other communications with faculty, parents, and students; materials from holidays and graduation; materials used to accompany slide lectures he did about the school; and materials from the student council and other leadership groups within the school. Materials in this series also document his deep and lifelong interest in right-wing extremism and its effect on eduction and academic freedom in Montana. There are many materials collected from the John Birch Society and similar groups, especially those who had active groups in Montana and Lake County. There are also a few materials related to taxation and its effect on educational opportunities in Montana.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
5/21
Flooding of North Branch, Chicago River
1936-1940
5/22
Academic freedom
undated
5/23
Bicycle law, Skokie
1941
6/1
Biology, Skokie School, course outline
undated
6/2
Biology, Skokie School, questionnaire
undated
6/3
Character education (Religious education)
undated
6/4
Children's letters, Skokie School
1931-1945
6/5
Citizen's Commission of Education, Montana
1948-1949
6/6
Civil rights: American Civil Liberties Union memo on the Red Scare
Malcolm Sharp
1947
6/7
By-Laws of Consolidated Dairies of Lake County, Inc., Ronan, Montana
1944
6/8
Co-op milk route, North Shore Co-Op
undated
6/9
Designing Education for the Future
1967
6/10
Discipline
undated
6/11
District #28 (Missoula County, Mont.)
1965
6/12
Joseph M. Dixon: sketch by K. Ross Toole and clippings
1971
6/13
Writings on economic citizenship and the corporation
undated
6/14
Writings on educational philosophy, "What are Schools For?"
undated
6/15
Board of Education [Skokie]
1946
6/16
Materials on extremism, clippings, John Birch Society
1962-1969
6/17
Materials on right-wing extremism
1961-1966
6/18
Correspondence on extremism
1961-1967
7/1
Extremism, John Birch Society
1962-1968
7/2
Extremism, Congressional Record
1961-1963
7/3
Extremism, Congressional Record
1961-1965
7/4
Extremism, "A Report of the Public John Birch Society Meeting" held in Cut Bank, Montana
1963
7/5
Extremism, Group Research Report
1963-1966
7/6
Extremism, Lake County, Montana
1964-1968
7/7
Extremism, letters to the editor
1965-1966
7/8
Extremism, Montana
1962-1964
7/9
Extremism, pro
1961-1962
7/10
Extremism, pro
1963-1964
7/11
Federal Union
1941
7/12
Field studies (school field trips)
undated
8/1
Graduation program, Skokie School
1946
8/2
Graduation ritual, Skokie School
1940
8/3
Holiday festival (script), Skokie School
1945
8/4
Homework, field studies
undated
8/5
Individual instruction
1945
8/6
Lecture trip, Cooperative League
1946
8/7
Mexican trip, United States Department of Agriculture Extension Service
1941
8/8
Mobile classroom (field studies)
undated
8/9
New citizens
undated
8/10
Northern Illinois Superintendents Round Table
1938-1939
8/11
Parliamentary practice aids
undated
8/12
Principal's conference
1941
8/13
Programs, meetings of education groups
1931-1941
8/14
Readings for democracy
undated
8/15
Religious education, school and religion
1932 and undated
8/16
Religious Education Association, minutes and bulletins
1928-1935
8/17
Retirement party skit
1946
8/18
Rochdale Institute, reports
1941-1948
8/19
Salary schedules, Winnetka Public Schools
1946-1948
8/20
Scripts, Skokie School
undated
8/21
Service assembly, Skokie School
1946
8/22
Shoplifting, property committee, Skokie School
1945
9/1
Skokie School: Achievement of graduates
1943-1948
9/2
Skokie School: Council and organizations
1944
9/3
Skokie School: faculty bulletins
1931-1935
9/4
Skokie School: faculty bulletins
1937-1938
9/5
Skokie School: faculty bulletins
1938-1939
9/6
Skokie School: faculty bulletins
1940-1941
9/7
Skokie School: faculty bulletins
1942
9/8
Skokie School: faculty bulletins
1945-1946
9/9
Skokie School: Skokie School Law books
1940-1945
9/10
Skokie School: Letters to parents and students
[1926]-1941
9/11
Skokie School: Letters to faculty
undated
9/12
Skokie School: Organizations: Council, corporations, committees
1940-1945
9/13
Skokie School: School council
1935-1944
10/1
Skokie School: Junior High School: Organizations, advisors
1931 and undated
10/2
Skokie School: Organization sponsors
1929 and undated
10/3
Skokie X-Press
1940-1946
10/4
Taxation
1946-1947
10/5
Taxation: Equality of opportunity
undated
10/6
Winnetka Teacher's Council Bulletin
1938-1941
10/7
Carleton Washburne, by and about
1928-1969
10/8
Winnetka schools, scripts to accompany slides
undated
10/9
Winnetka schools, brochure
undated

Series IV:  Speeches and Writings, 1923-1968Return to Top

1 linear foot

This series contains Logan's published articles, speeches, and his autobiography (posthumously completed by Frances Logan), These Things Should Be. Published articles appeared in a variety of education publications and appear here in their published form. Speeches, almost all given in education settings, also include a talk given at a memorial service. The bulk of the series is the typed manuscript and one copy of These Things Should Be, which details his life and career and has an introduction and commentary added by Frances Logan.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
10/10
1923
10/11
1926
10/12
1928
10/13
1929
10/14
1932
10/15
1933
10/16
1934
10/17
1940
10/18
1941
11/1
1942
11/2
1943
11/3
Teachers' Council talk
1944
11/4
1945
11/5
1946
11/6
1947
11/7
1952
11/8
1954
11/9
Memorial service for Charles Stark
1959
11/10
1964
11/11
Resume of Montana Education Association presidency in 1925
1964
11/12
1968
11/13
Camp Douglas talk
undated
11/14
Unpublished
undated
11/15
Undated (after 1946)
11/16
Miscellaneous
undated
11/17
Articles in preparation
undated
16/1
These Things Should Be, Frances Logan introduction and commentary
undated
16/2
These Things Should Be, Part I
undated
16/3
These Things Should Be, Part II
undated
16/4
These Things Should Be, Part III
undated
16/5
These Things Should Be, Part IV
16/6
These Things Should Be, copy first half
undated
16/7
These Things Should Be, copy second half
undated

Series V:  Printed Materials and Scrapbooks, 1913-1970Return to Top

1.75 linear feet

This series contains a variety of materials that document S. Rae Logan's career and interests. They include articles about him and Winnetka Schools by others, clippings on topics of interest to him, awards and certificates, and a two-volume scrapbook of mixed materials assembled for his sixtieth birthday in 1945.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
11/18
Clippings, articles about S. Rae Logan and Winnetka Schools by others
1931-1939
11/19
Clippings, articles about S. Rae Logan by others
1945-1946
11/20
Clippings, articles about Skokie School by others
1948-1950
11/21
Clippings
1915
11/22
Clippings, Montana
1913-1919
11/23
Clippings, Montana
1919-1926
11/24
Clippings
1948
11/25
Clippings, Co-ops
1926
11/26
Clippings, Co-ops and American Legion
1947
11/27
Clippings, District #28, Missoula County, Montana
1919
11/28
Clippings, District #28, Missoula County, Montana
1969-1970
11/29
Clippings, "Events S.R. Logan would have enjoyed knowing about"
1970
12/1
Clippings, Lake County (Montana) tax base
1970-1971
12/2
Clippings, Missoulian (sale of)
1917
12/3
Clippings, Monopoly
1939-1941
12/4
Clippings, Montana Power Company
1969
12/5
Clippings, Senate race
1924
12/6
Clippings, Skokie
1926-1947
12/7
Clippings, University of Montana
1968
12/8
Maps, Rutherford County, North Carolina; Winnetka, Illinois
undated
12/9
[Collected articles, Montana Education Association materials, University of Montana teaching contract]
1924-1926
12/10
[Collected articles]
1950
12/11
[Pieces of letters and articles]
undated
12/12
Articles on co-ops, economics
1932-1940
12/13
Articles on education
1928-1941
12/14
Dedication of Clayton Washburne School, Winnetka
1969
12/15
Articles and pamphlets, John Dewey
1931
12/16
Articles, Flathead irrigation and power project
1948-1949
12/17
Awards and certificates
1956
13/1
Awards and certificates
1916-1966
15/1
Educational Statesmanship, Volume 1
"Compiled by his fellow-teachers on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday"
[1945]
15/2
Educational Statesmanship, Volume 2
"Compiled by his fellow-teachers on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday"
[1945]

Series VI:  Logan Ranch, 1931-1948Return to Top

0.25 linear feet

This series contains materials about the Logan ranch in St. Ignatius, Montana. It includes material on agricultural practices, buildings, cattle crops, and well drilling, but mostly concerns the leases and activities of tenants that rented the ranch while the Logans lived in Illinois.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
13/2
Agricultural practices
1937-1946
13/3
Building construction
1935-1948
13/4
Cattle
1939-1948
13/5
Crops
1936-1945
13/6
Land, McVey and Spooner
1936-1937
13/7
Land, Home 40, Upper 80, McPeck, English
1931-1936
13/8
Land, Burchett L. Logan
1931
13/9
Ranch, Stevensville, tenants, Lamoreux
1943-1944
13/10
Ranch, tenants, Magini
1939-1946
13/11
Ranch, tenants, McFadden
1931-1934
13/12
Ranch, tenants, Tooker
1931-1938
13/13
Ranch, tenants, Wining
1937-1938
13/14
Well drilling
1935

Series VII:  Photographs, 1897-1968Return to Top

0.5 linear feet

This series contains primarily Logan family photographs and images of S. Rae Logan. They are mostly well-identified and include his ancestors, parents, siblings, early Montana and North Carolina scenes, his college days in Chapel Hill, the St. Ignatius, Montana, ranch and surrounding areas, Distict #28 and Winnetka Schools scenes, and images from Hardin, Montana.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
14/1
Family photographs
undated
14/2
Logan 60th birthday, 80th birthday
1945, 1965
14/3
1951-1952
14/4
[National Bison Range]
undated
14/5
University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill, professors and classmates
[1908]
14/6
Confederate States Veterans & Friends and courthouse, [illegible], North Carolina
S. R. Logan second from right, front row. File also contains North Carolina currency from Civil War.
1897
14/7
District #28, Missoula County, Montana
undated
14/8
Frank Graham, Ben Washburn, Charles Amos Buck
undated
14/9
Hardin, Montana, school
undated
14/10
S. Rae Logan
[1904]-1968
14/11
Logan family
undated
14/12
Winnetka schools
undated
14/13
Family and professional
undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Academic freedom--United States
  • Education, Rural -- Montana
  • Education--United States --Finance
  • Educational change
  • Moral education
  • Progressive education -- Illinois--Winnetka
  • Progressive education -- Montana
  • Public schools--Illinois --Winnetka
  • Public schools--Montana --Hardin
  • Public schools--Montana --Saint Ignatius
  • Ranches--Montana--Saint Ignatius
  • Religious education
  • Right-wing extremists -- United States
  • Rural schools -- Montana
  • School taxes -- Montana

Form or Genre Terms

  • Autobiographies
  • Personal papers
  • Photographs
  • Speeches, addresses, etc., American

Occupations

  • Ranchers--Montana -- Saint Ignatius
  • School superintendents --Montana

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • University of Montana--Missoula--Students