Warren McGee was a conductor for the Northern Pacific Railroad, a student of railroad history and devoted to his Livingston, Montana community. During the early 1960s, the Interstate Commerce Commission announced plans to grant a merger request by the Northern Pacific Railway Company; the Great Northern Railway Company; Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company; Pacific Coast Railroad Company; Portland and Seattle Railway Company and several smaller rail companies to form the Great Northern Pacific and Burlington Lines, Inc. From 1960 through 1970, Warren McGee was Chairman of the Livingston Anti-Merger Committee. The committee was one of many groups formed in the United States in opposition to the merger. The merger was formally applied for in February, 1961 and finally approved in February, 1970. Warren McGee still lives in Livingston, Montana.
The Livingston Anti-Merger Committee was formed on December 4, 1960 to fight the proposed Burlington Northern merger that included the Northern Pacific Railroad, a primary employer in Livingston, Montana. Among many, hearings were held in Minnesota in 1961 and Montana in 1962 by the Interstate Commerce Commission(ICC). In 1966, the ICC denied authorization of the merger, but in 1967, the ICC reversed that decision and authorized the merger. In 1968, the Justice Department sued the ICC and Burlington Railroad, et al in District Court. The Supreme Court eventually heard the case and Chief Justice Burger wrote the opinion in February, 1970 that finally affirmed the merger. Warren R. McGee (a conductor), as Chairman and Wilbur I. (Webb) Sullivan (an engineer), as Publicity Chairman were the driving forces behind the Livingston Anti-Merger Committee's campaign to thwart the merger. They collected numerous research materials to support their arguments against the merger; wrote briefs; published bulletins, newsletters and broadsheets to the members; had extensive correspondence with many diverse factions; testified and cross-examined witnesses at ICC hearings and succeeded in having the Committee included as an intervening plaintiff in the U.S. Circuit Court proceedings questioning the merger. Many of the documents present in this collection are photocopies. There are many attachments to letters and newspaper clippings. Margin notes, interpretations and commentaries by Warren McGee are interspersed onto many of the assorted categories of papers. Primary concerns of the committee were loss of jobs, the economic repercussions to Livingston and Montana and changing operations of the railroad. Arguments also used included lack of jurisdiction of the ICC, false assumptions of profits, interlocking directorships having undue influence on testimony and falsely asserted fast freight service and shipping issues. A file of papers related to a campaign to distribute $2 bills in the town to highlight the economic impact of the railroad community is also included.
The records of the Anti-Merger Committee of Livingston, Montana have been arranged into 2 series; Series 1 consists of organizational documents including: minutes; financial records; handwritten and typed research notes; rough drafts of position papers, briefs, statements; and research materials to support the committee's arguments. Correspondence includes: Warren McGee, Bernice McGee and Wilbur S. (Webb) Sullivan; individual and organized anti-merger supporters including the Northern Pacific Stockholders' Protection Committee; the Montana Congressional delegation (at the time: Senator Mike Mansfield, Senator Lee Metcalf, Representative Arnold Olsen and Representative James Battin) and other national leaders; Montana legislators (including John Melcher); Montana agencies, in particular the Montana Board of Railroad Commissioners and their counsel, John C. Sheehy; railroad officials and railroad union members; Federal agencies including the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission; Valentine B. Deale, attorney for the Committee before the Federal courts; Burton K. Wheeler; and assorted national and local publications. Newspaper clippings and periodical articles trace the activities of the Committee, other opponents and supporters, and the railroad industry. Collected articles, newspaper clippings, reports and studies corroborating or disproving the arguments for consolidation of the railroads; materials on the Northern Pacific Stockholders and the Russell E. Skeen proxy fight; and ancillary materials including the $2 bill campaign, merger (M-Day), state and federal legislative bills, copies of press releases and speeches and a map with the Montana merged railroad routes drawn in conclude the series. Series 2 consists of copies of testimony, briefs, exhibits, cross-examinations and other papers filed by the litigants with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the ICC Examiner (most relate to Montana hearings and hearings in which the Livingston Anti-merger Committee had an active role); and briefs, motions, and other legal papers before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Supreme Court opinion rendered in 1970 completes the collection. Material stored separately is indicated by ***.
Series 1: Anti-merger Committee organizational and working papers, 1894-1980
Sub-series 1 : Minutes, reports, drafts, research notes and publications, 1955-1970
Sub-series 2 : Financial records, 1960-1970
Sub-series 3 : Correspondence, 1959-1980
Sub-series 4 : Research papers collected to corroborate or disprove the issues, 1894-1970
Sub-series 5 : Ancillary papers, 1960-1970
Series 2: ICC Hearings materials and subsequent legal papers, June 13, 1961-February 2, 1970
Sub-series 1 : ICC Hearings papers, 1961-1968
Sub-series 2 : U.S. courts legal documents, 1961-1970
This collection is open for research.
The records of the Livingston Anti-Merger Committee (LAMC) were donated to Special Collections in 1970, 1974 and 1980 by Warren McGee of Livingston, MT who served as the Chairman of the Committee during its efforts to prevent the merger of the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Burlington and several smaller rail companies into the Burlington Northern Railroad. The 1974 and 1980 papers were donated to illustrate the aftermath of the merger and vindicate the Committee's predictions for the future.
This collection was processed 2009 February 16
The Livingston Anti-Merger Committee (LAMC) organizational and working papers include: minutes; reports; financial records; handwritten and typed drafts of communications, positions and testimonies with notes and miscellaneous papers (mostly produced by Warren McGee); a statistical questionnaire and its results; copies of the newsletters, bulletins and broadsides issued by the committee; copious newspaper and periodical clippings; articles, booklets, pamphlets and other published materials; photocopies of reports and exhibits; and correspondence. Some materials have attachments and many have handwritten editorial comments, margin notes or explanations.
Minutes of meetings; reports; handwritten and typed notes; drafts of speeches, press releases, statements, and correspondence; copies of newsletters, bulletins and broadsides issued by the Committee; numerous newspaper clippings covering all aspects of the merger fight; and related articles, pamphlets and booklets are present in this set of papers.
The Livingston Anti-merger Committee financial records include solicitation letters, lists of donors, receipt books, reports, statements, checks and checkbooks, deposit slips, and bills and receipts.
Correspondence of the Livingston Anti-merger Committee includes letters between supporters, government agencies, governmental officials and legislators, railroad officials and workers, periodical and newspaper publishers, the ICC, Burton K. Wheeler, Valentine B. Deale, John C. Sheehy, and general correspondence of Warren McGee, Bernice McGee and Webb Sullivan. Many are copies rather than originals.
Materials including photocopies of reports and research on consolidation plans, railroad assets, jurisdiction, freight service and complaints, interlocking directorships, impacts on jobs, shipping issues, Montana products and natural resources, and effects on Livingston, Montana. Many materials on the Livingston and Montana Northern Pacific rail operations are original or handwritten records by Warren McGee or Webb Sullivan.
Copies of bills, state and federal plus assorted Congressional Record pages; copies of stockholders meeting minutes, notices to Northern Pacific stockholders, records of the stockholders meetings and Russell E. Skeen's proxy papers (includes written replies); the $2 bill campaign; a file of merger day papers; copies of press releases and speeches. A Montana map with rail routes drawn in comprise this set of ancillary papers.
(includes audiotape of L.W. Menk) - audiotape stored separately in Box 10***
Series 2 is the accumulation of ICC papers including copies of pertinent testimony, exhibits, cross-examinations related to the Livingston Anti-merger Committee and the state of Montana and the legal briefs, motions and appeals before the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Copies of papers of the Interstate Commerce Commission hearings on the proposed merger in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota (in 1961) and Missoula, Helena, Great Falls and Billings, Montana (in 1962) including witness lists, service notices, statements (incomplete), exhibits, cross-examinations, briefs, replies and ICC decisions 1966 through 1968.
W.R. McGee and Wilbur I. (Webb) Sullivan
Legal documents including motions, briefs, appeals and ancillary documents of the United States District Court of the District of Columbia suit (Livingston Anti-merger Committee was an intervening plaintiff) and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case against the ICC merger decision.
(removed from box 7, folder 2)