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Wesley A. D'Ewart papers, 1936-1973

Overview of the Collection

Creator
D'Ewart, Wesley Abner, 1889-1973
Title
Wesley A. D'Ewart papers
Dates
1936-1973 (inclusive)
Quantity
5 linear feet
Collection Number
0294
Summary
The Wesley A. D'Ewart Collection contains campaign materials, speeches and writings, correspondence, and research materials accumulated by Mr. D'Ewart. Subjects include campaign materials and election returns pertaining to the campaigns of D'Ewart and others between 1936-1973, papers and correspondence pertaining to D'Ewart's nomination for Assistant Secretary of the Interior in 1956, papers and materials relating to public land and water management, papers and materials relating to Communism and anti-Communism, photographs of D'Ewart, his Park County ranch, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, and Montana Governor Hugo Aronson.
Repository
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Languages
Collection materials are in English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Biographical Note

Wesley A. D'Ewart was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 1, 1889. He attended the public schools of Massachusetts and Washington State College in Pullman, Washington. He later moved to the Wilsall, Montana area and worked for the Forest Service and in ranching. In 1936, D'Ewart was elected to the Montana House of Representatives and then to the State Senate in 1940. In 1945, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives by special election, representing Montana's Eastern District. He took the seat vacated due to the death of Representative James F. O'Connor. D'Ewart was reelected to 4 succeeding Congresses but failed to win a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1954. D'Ewart was an avowed opponent of Socialism and Communism from his earliest political campaigns. In the early 1950s, he supported U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist crusade. In 1954, D'Ewart unsuccessfully campaigned for the U.S. Senate seat held by Montana's Democratic U.S. Senator, James Murray. D'Ewart delivered speeches linking Sen. Murray with the Communist movement. The Montana for D'Ewart Committee compiled and published a booklet entitled "Senator Murray and the Red Web Over Congress." D'Ewart served as Assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. from January 1955 to September 1955. He then took the post of Assistant Secretary of the Interior until July 1956, when the Senate Committee on the Interior declined to re-approve him, largely due to partisan efforts against him. D'Ewart's anti-Communist campaign against Senator James Murray for the U.S. Senate had angered both Murray and the Democratic Party. The controversy over D'Ewart's nomination for Ass. Sec. of the Interior generated a great deal of coverage and correspondence. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson appointed D'Ewart to the position of Special Representative to the Secretary of Agriculture from August 1956 to October 1958. D'Ewart continued to be deeply involved in land and water issues during his retirement from political life. He was a serious follower of Montana elections from 1936 to the 1970s and took an active role in Republican politics, not only as a political candidate, but as a Republican Party activist and strategist.

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Content Description

The Collection contains campaign materials, speeches and writings, correspondence, and research materials accumulated by Mr. D'Ewart. The collection is arranged by general subject, including campaign materials and election returns pertaining to the campaigns of D'Ewart and others between 1936-1973; papers and correspondence pertaining to D'Ewart's nomination for Assistant Secretary of the Interior in 1956; papers and materials relating to public land and water management; and materials relating to Communism and anti-Communism. There are photographs of D'Ewart, his Park County ranch, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, and Montana Governor Hugo Aronson. Other subjects photographed include views of Yellowstone National Park and Interior Department award ceremonies and erosion damage at Coulee Dam. Within this series is also a undated taped speech by D'Ewart.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Series 1 University of Montana Collection 15 Series 2 Campaigns and elections, 1936-1973 Subseries 1 - Election Returns, 1936-1970 Subseries 2 - Campaign and political materials and correspondence, 1950-1973 Series 3 Nomination for Assistant Secretary of the Interior, 1956 Series 4 Public land, water, and agriculture issues, 1945-1972 Series 5 Communism and Socialism, circa 1950s Series 6 Speeches and speech materials Series 7 Photographs

Acquisition Information

Papers, speeches, campaign materials, correspondence and photographs pertaining to the career of Wesley D'Ewart were donated to Montana State University by D'Ewart between 1960 and 1973. D'Ewart first donated papers to the University of Montana, but in 1972, UM transferred its D'Ewart collection to the Special Collections Library at MSU for purposes of consolidation. This indefinite loan was made permanent 2020 November 24. MSU accession numbers 1038 and 2071 have been incorporated within this collection.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2009 May 18

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Anti-communist movements
  • Communism
  • Elections--Montana
  • Erosion--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Legislators--United States
  • Political Campaigns
  • Public lands--United States
  • Ranches--Montana--Park County--Photographs
  • Water-supply
  • Water-supply--Government policy--United States

Personal Names

  • Aronson, J. Hugo (John Hugo), 1891-1978--Photographs
  • Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969--Photographs
  • Goldwater, Barry M. (Barry Morris), 1909-1998--Photographs
  • Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous ), 1913-1994--Photographs

Corporate Names

  • United States. Congress. House
  • United States. Department of the Interior

Geographical Names

  • Grand Coulee Dam (Wash.)
  • Montana
  • Montana--Politics and government
  • Montana--Politics and government--20th century
  • United States--Politics and government--1945-1989
  • Yellowstone National Park--Photographs

Form or Genre Terms

  • Audiotapes
  • Campaign speeches
  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Photographs

Kim Allen Scott, 2009; corrected and updated by Jodi Allison-Bunnell, 2023
2023

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

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