Archives West Finding Aid

The Brice P. Disque Papers reflect both his military and civil careers. General Disque was a careful preserver of his major papers, particularly the records of his Spruce Production service, and his life is well documented. The papers, which consist of correspondence, business records, public speeches and radio addresses, autobiographical drafts, and photographs, have been retained in the file order devised by Disque.

The bulk of the collection is arranged alphabetically by individual, organization, or subject and consists largely of correspondence and business records. Major subjects within this series are the Coal Consumers Protective Association, labor relations, the Solid Fuels Administration for War, the U.S. Army, and U.S. Spruce Production Corporation. U.S. Spruce records include monthly records of the wood shipped to United States allies during World War I. Correspondents of interest include Fred G. Clark, Merwin K. Hart, Robert B. Dresser, Herbert Clark Hoover, Fiorella La Guardia, Edward A. Rumley, Wendell Wilkie, Theodore Roosevelt, and Samuel Gompers and conservative political organizations such as the American Economic Foundation, the Committee for Constitutional Government and Sons of the Revolution. This general series is contained in seven boxes ending with a chronological sequence of correspondence in several folders designated "Miscellaneous" by Disque, meaning less than a folder's worth of material on each topic.

Following is a series of Disque's speeches and radio addresses made between 1905 and 1940, arranged chronologically. Subjects covered are commerce, labor, industry, history, military preparedness, poverty, prisons, and international trade. A 1933 speech to the House Ways and Means Committee contains testimony on the equalization of the tariff.

The collection is rounded out by two boxes of what Disque considered personal material. Box 9 contains an assortment of material, including two small series of correspondence separated out from the main series by Disque. First in the box is a file containing handwritten drafts of an autobiography and a scrapbook. Next comes the first series of correspondence named by Disque "Personal. General Correspondence." It covers matters such as the privately financed aspects of the volunteer cavalry. This correspondence is arranged chronologically, 1910-1917. There follows a second series of correspondence which Disque designated the "201 File." It contains letters and telegrams apparently of special significance to Disque, several of which are listed in the Conservative and Libertarian Name Index: one from Theodore Roosevelt regarding the Voluntary Cavalry forces, one from Herbert Clark Hoover discussing the U.S. Food Administration regulations, and one from Samuel Gompers, AFL. The box also contains miscellaneous items such as a carved wooded plaque from the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen and a resolution of the LLLL bearing the seal of the organization. There follows a box which contains a series of nine numbered scrapbooks of news clippings about Disque and his career.

A final box of material was received in 1967. This addendum contains manuscripts of addresses and articles, and correspondence. A list of the titles of the writings and of the correspondence is included in the inventory. Three additional folders containing letters pertaining to Disque's resignation from the Anthracite Institute and from the Solid Fuels Coordination Office conclude the collection.

The collection includes nine albums and some loose images. Eight of the albums are official U.S. Army documentation of the spruce production effort, and include many photographs by Prentiss, some by Kinsey, and some by Cress-Dale. A ninth album holds snapshots of a cavalry encampment in Ohio in 1912. Miscellaneous images include spruce production, inmate recreation and general scenes of Jackson Prison, and scenes related to Disque's later life.

Image numbering is composed of the collection number, the album number, and the page number: PH159_9_34.