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Grace Wick Papers, 1888-1962

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Wick, Grace, 1888-1958
Title
Grace Wick Papers
Dates
1888-1962 (inclusive)
1928-1951 (bulk)
Quantity
6 cubic feet, (7 boxes)
Collection Number
Mss 49
Summary
Papers of an Oregon political activist who began as a New Deal Democrat in the 1930s and ended as a right-wing Republican in the 1950s. Includes correspondence, such as letters to and from right-wing activist Gerald L.K. Smith; writings; subject files; and ephemera.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

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

Grace M. Wick of Portland, Oregon, was a right-wing activist known for her outspokenness and flamboyant behavior. A prolific letter writer, she maintained an extensive correspondence with political figures in Oregon and nationally. Wick ran twice unsuccessfully for Congress in the Third District. In May 1935, she paraded down Broadway in a slogan-covered barrel to protest her lack of employment.

Born in Iowa in 1888, Grace Wick lived in Chicago, New York, and Boston and was a stage actress before moving to Central Point, Oregon, with her husband George Merritt in 1922. Grace Wick began her political activities in Oregon the same year by campaigning for Democrat Walter Pierce for Governor. After her divorce in 1924 and an attempt to start a film career in Hollywood, she returned to Oregon in 1926. Wick campaigned against Pierce in his bid for reelection because of his refusal to stay the 1925 execution of Archie Cody, a relative of Buffalo Bill Cody, for the murder of the sheriff of Harney County. Wick later claimed that a satirical pamphlet, "The Mascot," which she wrote and published, was responsible for Pierce's defeat.

Grace Wick moved to Portland in 1927 and was secretary-treasurer of the Oregon State Women's Smith for President Club in 1928. She ran for Congress in 1934 as a "Progressive Democrat," pledging full support of President Roosevelt and the New Deal. In 1936 she ran as an Independent, after having her name placed in nomination through a convention held in a beer hall. By 1937, having become frustrated with the Democratic party establishment in Oregon, Wick began to cultivate connections with Republican political figures. Her views became increasingly right-wing within the next few years. She chaired the local auxiliary of Sons of Union Veterans, an anti-immigrant organization, and became a strident anti-Semite, disseminating propaganda materials and corresponding with others of similar persuasion. Wick opposed U.S. entry in the Second World War and actively corresponded with leaders of the isolationist Mother's Movement and with congressional opponents of intervention. Wick's activities during the war led to her being questioned by an Army board on suspicion of disloyalty.

In the post-war period, Grace Wick opposed the establishment of the United Nations and U.S. involvement in Korea, while supporting a presidential candidacy for Gen. Douglas MacArthur. In 1951 she became Oregon state chairwoman of the newly formed American Woman's Party, led by Blanche Winters of Detroit, and conducted an unsuccessful petition effort to qualify the party for the Oregon ballot.

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Content Description

Correspondence series includes letters to and/or from Walter Pierce, Charles Martin, Guy Cordon, Rufus Holman, Charles McNary, Rush Dew Holt, Hamilton Fish, James Farley, Blanche Winters, Gerald L. K. Smith, Lyrl Clark Van Hyning, Agnes Waters, and William Kulgren. The personal correspondence subseries, in addition to correspondence, contains writings by Grace Wick and ephemera, mostly from her stage career. The publications series includes the newspapers of Central Oregon publisher Sid Pierce, newsletters of Elizabeth Dilling Stokes, 46 issues of the isolationist publication, Woman’s Voice, and political and metaphysical publications of William Dudley Pelley and William Kulgren. The subject series contains correspondence and publications as well as ephemera. Organizations represented include several from the isolationist Mother’s Movement, as well as the later American Woman’s Party. Individuals include Gerald L. K. Smith, Rev. A. W. Terminiello, and Agnes Waters. Topics covered include internationalism, racial segregation, communist subversion, and the fluoridation of water.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Grace Wick Papers, Mss 49, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Series A: Correspondence, 1912-1958

Series B: Publications, 1928-1952

Series C: Subject files, 1891-1958

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Estate of Grace Wick via Myrtle Goldsby, 1959-1960, Accession 8180.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Anti-communist movements--Oregon
  • Antisemitism--Oregon
  • Nativism--Oregon
  • Neutrality--United States
  • New Deal, 1933-1939
  • Right-wing extremists--Oregon--Correspondence

Personal Names

  • Smith, Gerald L. K. (Gerald Lyman Kenneth), 1898- --Correspondence
  • Cordon, Guy, 1890-1969--Correspondence
  • Farley, James Aloysius, 1888- --Correspondence
  • Fish, Hamilton, 1888- --Correspondence
  • Holman, Rufus Cecil, 1877-1959--Correspondence
  • Holt, Rush Dew, 1905-1955--Correspondence
  • Kulgren, William--Correspondence
  • McNary, Charles Linza, 1874-1944--Correspondence
  • Pelley, William Dudley, 1890-
  • Pierce, Sid.
  • Pierce, Walter Marcus, 1861-1954--Correspondence
  • Terminiello, A. W. (Arthur W.)
  • Van Hyning, Lyrl Clark--Correspondence
  • Waters, Agnes--Correspondence
  • Wick, Grace, 1888-1958--Correspondence
  • Winters, Blanche--Correspondence

Geographical Names

  • Oregon--Economic conditions
  • Oregon--Politics and government--1859-1950
  • Oregon--Politics and government--1951-
  • Oregon--Social conditions.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Letters
  • Publications


2003

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