Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Cage 823
Kottke, Frank Joseph, 1913-2002
Frank Joseph Kottke Papers
1936-1994
4 Linear feet of shelf space
8 Boxes
This collection consists of three distinct sets of
materials related to Frank Kottke's role as a member of the Citizen's Advisory
Committee for Pullman Public Transit, as a citizen informing U.S. senators and
representatives on his position on matters of public policy, and as a husband
writing his wife during his time with the Army during World War II.
Collection materials are in English and
German
Frank Kottke (1913-2002) was a Professor of Economics at Washington State University
(WSU) from 1961-1979. Kottke, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, earned his PhD from
Columbia University in 1940, was drafted by the Army in 1943, taught at the
University of North Carolina from 1946-1951 and worked for the Federal Trade
Commission as an expert in competition and monopolies. After joining WSU's faculty
in 1961, Kottke taught courses in industrial organization.
In 1938, Dr. Kottke met Dr. Esther Hendee (1903-1974) and the two began a
relationship. Like Kottke, Dr. Hendee was highly educated. She earned a PhD in
biology from University of California, Berkeley and was working at Russell Sage
College, an all-women’s school in Troy, New York. The two married in the fall of
1939 and had their first child, Margaret, in April of 1943. They remained married
until Esther’s death in 1974.
Kottke retired from WSU in 1979 and served on the Citizen's Advisory Committee for
Pullman Public Transit in the 1980s and 1990s. Kottke moved to Spokane in 1994,
where he passed away in 2002.
This collection consists of three distinct sets of materials related to Frank
Kottke's role as a member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee for Pullman Public
Transit, as a citizen informing U.S. senators and representatives on his position on
matters of public policy, and as a husband writing his wife during his time with the
Army during World War II. This collection contains correspondence, minutes and
reports related to public transportation in Pullman, Washington, and clippings
informing his public policy letters to U.S. political figures.
Series 1: Pullman Transit Citizen's Advisory Committee, 1985-1993. This series
consists of papers relating to Kottke's position on the Citizen's Advisory Committee
(CAC) for public transportation in Pullman from 1985-1993 and has been divided into
two subseries.
Subseries 1: Meetings, 1988-1993. This subseries contains minutes and reports from
CAC meetings.
Subseries 2: Subject files, 1984-1990. consists of special reports, correspondence,
budgets, and surveys on topics including bus fare, routes, ads on buses, Americans
with Disabilities Act compliance, student ridership, and a taxi service run by
Pullman Transit.
Series 2: Public policy correspondence, 1975-1994. This series consists of
correspondence about public policy to members of the U.S. House and Senate from
1975-1994. These letters cover a wide range of topics from taxes and deficits to
Medicare and Social Security to Anti-Trust Law and banking. It contains a number of
responses from the offices of Washington state politicians, including Representative
Thomas Foley, Senator Brock Adams, Senator Patty Murray, and Governor Booth Gardner.
It also includes articles collected by Kottke related to the topics discussed.
Series 3: Personal correspondence, 1936-1946. This series consists of the personal
correspondence of Frank Kottke from 1938-1945. It includes incoming and outgoing
letters between Kottke, his family and his fiancée Esther C. Hendee, who became his
wife during the course of this correspondence. These letters fall into two
categories: the initial exchanges between Frank and Esther during the months leading
up to their marriage and letters to Frank from Esther and his family during Frank’s
time in the Army (1943-1945). The latter correspondence includes commentary on
wartime life, long distance relationships, and anecdotes and updates about their
daughter Margaret. The letters reveal the initial apprehensions that both Frank and
Esther felt regarding their age difference, thoughts concerning women in the
workforce, and opinions about appropriate gender roles in 1940s America. Unlike the
rest of the collection, the correspondence was not completely sorted by Dr. Kottke
and its arrangement diverges significantly from its original order. The second
folder includes an introduction by Dr. Kottke explaining his attempts to arrange the
letters and his initial feelings regarding Esther written in 1980.
This collection is arranged into three series: Subseries 1.1 is arranged in reverse
chronological order; Subseries 1.2 is organized alphabetically by the subject
headings Dr. Kottke devised; Series 2 had been organized by Dr. Kottke and is
arranged in reverse chronological order; Series 3 is arranged chronologically.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions apply.
[Item description]
Frank Joseph Kottke Papers, 1936-1994 (Cage 823)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Martin Raish came by a body of correspondence to Kottke and his wife Esther via his
neighbor who purchased the letters from a second hand dealer.
The Frank Joseph Kottke Papers were donated to Washington State University by Kottke
in 1993 and 1994 (MS 1993.23 and MS 1994.30). A latter accession was donated by
Brigham Young University-Idaho archivist Martin Raish in 2011 (MS 2011.29).
This collection was processed by Jason Hogstad and Steven Bingo in 2015.
Kottke provided an oral history for the Centennial Oral History Project Oral Histories,
1982-1988 (Archives 202) in 1987.
The audio interview and transcript was digitized and is available online as part of
the WSU Oral Histories Digital Collection.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Kottke, Frank Joseph, 1913-2002 -- Archives
Hendee, Esther C. (Esther Crissey), 1903-1974
Hendee, Esther C. (Esther Crissey), 1903-1974
Washington State University -- Faculty -- Archives
Local transit -- Washington (State) -- Pullman
Political planning -- Washington (State)
World War, 1939-1945
Love-letters
Washington (State)
Politics and Politicians
Transportation
Series 1
Pullman Transit Citizen's Advisory Committee
1985-1993
Subseries 1
Meetings
1988-1993
1
1
Meeting
March 25,
1993
1
2
Meeting
December 17,
1992
1
3
Meeting
October
1992
1
4
Meeting
May 28,
1992
1
5
Meeting
April 16,
1992
1
6
Special meeting on six year
plan
March 4,
1992
1
7
Meeting
February 20,
1992
1
8
Americans with Disabilities Act
hearing
January 16,
1992
1
9
Meeting
December
1991
1
10
Meeting
October 17,
1991
1
11
Meeting
August 22,
1991
1
12
Meeting
June 20,
1991
1
13
Meeting
April 1991
1
14
Meeting
February 6,
1991
1
15
Meeting
December 20,
1990
1
16
Meeting
October 10,
1990
1
17
Meeting
August 8,
1990
1
18
Meeting
May 16,
1990
1
19
Pullman Transit Annual
Report
May 1990
1
20
Meeting
April 11,
1990
1
21
Meeting
February 7,
1990
1
22
Meeting
December
1989
1
23
Meeting
October 11,
1989
1
24
Meeting
August 9,
1989
2
25
Meeting
February - May
1989
2
26
Pullman Transit Annual
Report
1988
2
27
Meeting
November
1988
2
28
Meeting
April 1988
2
29
Backup data for meeting
April 1988
Subseries 2
Subject files
1988-1993
2
29
Backup data for meeting
April 1988
2
30
Advertisements on buses
1985
2
31
Budgets
1984-1987
2
32
Bus purchase
1986
2
33
Bus storage
1986
2
34
Capital improvements
program
1988
2
35
Charters
1986-1988
2
36
Data for WSU student body impact on
transit
1985
2
37
Dial-a-Ride
1985
2
38
Faculty parking
1989
2
39
Fare - late night express
1989
2
40
Goals
1984-1986
2
41
Pullman Transit Annual
Report
1985
2
42
Pullman Transit Annual
Report
1986
2
43
Pullman Transit commission
1986-1988
2
44
Pullman Transit development
plan
1990
2
45
Pullman Transit system
review
1985
2
46
Ridership
1984-1987
2
47
Small bus
1987
3
48
Taxi
1984-1988
3
49
WSU student cost and input
1986
Series 2
Public policy correspondence
1975-1994
3
50
Public policy correspondence
1994
3
51
Public policy correspondence
1993
3
52
Public policy correspondence
1992
3
53
Public policy correspondence
1991
3
54
Public policy correspondence
May - December
1990
3
55
Public policy correspondence
January - April
1990
3
56
Public policy correspondence
1989
3
57
Pullman cable television
correspondence
1988
3
58
Public policy correspondence
1988
4
59
Public policy correspondence
1987
4
60
Public policy correspondence
1986
4
61
Amendments to antitrust laws
1986
4
62
Public policy correspondence
1985
4
63
Public policy correspondence
1983-1984
4
64
Public policy correspondence
1981-1982
4
65
Public policy correspondence
1975-1980
Series 3
Personal correspondence
1936-1946
5
66
Incoming correspondence to Esther
Hendee
1936-1944
5
67
Correspondence
December 1938
5
68
Correspondence
January 1939
5
69
Correspondence
February 1939
5
70
Correspondence
March 1939
5
71
Correspondence
April 1939
5
72
Correspondence
May 1939
5
73
Correspondence
June 1939
5
74
Correspondence
July 1939
5
75
Correspondence
August 1939
5
76
Correspondence
September 1939
6
77
Correspondence
October 1939
6
78
Correspondence
November 1939
6
79
Correspondence
December 1939
6
80
Correspondence
January 1940
6
81
Correspondence
November 1941
6
82
Correspondence
December 1942
6
83
Correspondence
circa January - March
1943
6
84
Correspondence
January 1943
6
85
Correspondence
February 1943
6
86
Correspondence
March 1943
6
87
Correspondence
April 1943
6
88
Correspondence
May 1943
6
89
Correspondence
June 1943
6
90
Correspondence
July 1943
6
91
Correspondence
August 1943
6
92
Correspondence
September 1943
6
93
Correspondence
October 1943
6
94
Correspondence
November 1943
6
95
Correspondence
December 1943
6
96
Correspondence
January 1944
6
97
Correspondence
March 1944
6
98
Correspondence
April 1944
6
99
Correspondence
May 1944
7
100
Correspondence
June 1944
7
101
Correspondence
July 1944
7
102
Correspondence
August 1944 - November
1944
7
103
Correspondence
December 1 - 19,
1944
7
104
Correspondence
December 20 - 31,
1944
7
105
Correspondence
January 1 - 15,
1945
7
106
Correspondence
January 16 - 31,
1945
7
107
Correspondence
February 1 - 14,
1945
7
108
Correspondence
February 15 - 28,
1945
7
109
Correspondence
March 1945
8
110
Correspondence
April 1 - 15,
1945
8
111
Correspondence
April 16 - 30,
1945
8
112
Correspondence
May 1945
8
113
Correspondence
June 1945
8
114
Correspondence
July - September
1945
8
115
Correspondence
October - December
1945
8
116
Correspondence
January 1946
8
117
Miscellaneous correspondence
undated
8
118
Miscellaneous correspondence
undated
8
119
Miscellaneous correspondence
undated