University of Wyoming
Engineer, businessman, and Republican governor of the state of Wyoming, Frank C. Emerson was born in Michigan in 1882. He received his civil engineering degree from the University of Michigan, and he later came to Wyoming and engaged in banking and other businesses. In 1919, he became Wyoming state engineer. He was elected governor in 1926 and reelected in 1930. Emerson died of pneumonia in February 1931, just after his second term as governor began.
The collection primarily consists Emerson's incoming and outgoing correspondence during his first gubernatorial term. There are also letters of condolence and tributes following his death. The collection also includes clippings, as well as speeches that Emerson gave as both state engineer and governor.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
As of the date of processing, there is one other archival collection created by Frank C. Emerson: Governor Frank C. Emerson Papers, Wyoming State Archives.
Materials were received from Mrs. Jean Emerson Grothe, 1947 and 1966; Mrs. Kelso Morgan, 1972; and David W. Emerson, 1993.
The collection was processed by Roger Simon in December 2017.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
The series includes materials related to Emerson's 1926 gubernatorial campaign.
Includes obituaries and clippings regarding Emerson’s death and funeral.
Ross was Emerson’s Democratic opponent and the incumbent in the 1926 gubernatorial race.
Includes a letter dated August 28, 1929, from and signed by President Herbert Hoover.
Includes sympathy letters regarding Emerson’s death and copies of responses to some sympathy letters from the acting governor and the secretary to the governor.
Regarding Emerson’s death.
Includes a program from the twenty-second annual session of the Governors’ Conference (Salt Lake City, UT), which lists Emerson as speaking on “The Public Domain”; it also lists FDR, then governor of New York, as speaking on “Unemployment and Old Age Pensions.”
Includes the following: (1) a list of expenses for the Governor’s mansion from 1923 to 1926; (2) the 1928 annual report from the Irrigation Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers; (3) proposed legislation regarding investment of the Permanent Funds of the State; (4) a press release from President Herbert Hoover; (5) documents regarding state budgets and taxes; and (6) documents regarding the 1926 political campaign.
A bulletin from the Wheatland General Hospital and “Venturi Meter – Directions – Type M – Register-Indicator-Recorder – Single Float,” bulletin no. 154B from Builders Iron Foundry.
Documents from two court cases dealing with Wyoming water rights: (1)
Emerson graduated from the University of Michigan in 1904. Includes a clipping announcing Emerson’s death and bookplate stating that the book belonged to Mrs. Kelso A. Morgan, who donated the book to the collection.
Includes the following: (1) “Debt – Expenses Slashed – Taxes Cut,” Republican National Speakers’ Bulletin; (2) “Under a Protective Tariff,” Republican National Speakers’ Bulletin; (3) “From Hard Times to Prosperity,” Republican National Speakers’ Bulletin; (4) “Much More about Old Age Pensions,” Old Age Pension Commission of the Fraternal Order of Eagles; (5) “The Times Demand Old Age Pensions,” Old Age Pension Commission of the Fraternal Order of Eagles; and (6) “Recommendation for an Old Age Pension Bill,” Old Age Pension Commission of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Includes stock certificates, a collateral note, and tax notices.
A black-and-white photo of Emerson and five other men, with handwritten notes by Emerson’s wife, Jean, on a small cardboard sheet. According to the sheet, the men are, from left to right, (1) Charles E. Winter (mislabeled as “Senator”)—he served in the U.S. House for 3 terms (1923-1929) and ran for but lost a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1929; (2) John A. Whiting, the seventh state engineer (1927-1933); (3) “Johnson,” a state engineer—possibly Clarence T. Johnson, the third state engineer (1903-1911); (4) Frank Emerson; (5) Elwood Mead, the first state engineer (1888-1889); and (6) Bryant B. Brooks, governor of Wyoming from 1905 to 1911.
Includes an incomplete biography of Emerson, two resolutions from the 1929 Western States Air Commerce and Airways Conference, and minutes of a meeting of the state Game and Fish Commission.