MS 6
Nils A. Olsen
Papers, 1925-1965, n.d.

Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

Descriptive summary

creator:

Olsen, Nils A. (1886-1940)

title:

Papers

dates:

1925-1965, n.d.

extent:

1.68 linear feet (4 document boxes)

collection number:

MS 6

repository:

Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access:

Open for research

publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

preferred citation:

Nils A. Olsen Papers, MS 6, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Biographical note
 

Nils Andreas Olsen was born in Herscher, Illinois, on August 31, 1886. He received a bachelor's degree (1907) from Luther College, did master's work (1907-1908) at the Johns Hopkins University, and received his master's degree (1909) in economics from the University of Wisconsin.  He was an instructor in history and economics at Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania, and at Harvard University until 1912 when he undertook the management of several farms.  Olsen entered the United States Department of Agriculture in 1919 as an assistant agricultural economist, and ultimately assumed the leadership of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York.  His main duties with the Society included the management of the farm mortgage division. 

He died in Bronxville, New York, July 27, 1940.  He was unmarried.

 

Collection description
 

The Nils A. Olsen Collection is comprised primarily of papers dealing with Olsen's connection with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department of Agriculture, from 1925 to 1935.  Olsen was an assistant to the Bureau Chief from 1925-28, and was Bureau Chief from 1928 until his resignation in April, 1935.

The greater part of the collection involves a diary kept by Olsen from 1925-1935, dealing with affairs of the Bureau, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the government.  His writings reveal warm friendships with three Secretaries of Agriculture; William Jardine, Arthur Hyde, and most significantly Henry A. Wallace of Iowa, whom Olsen had known for many years.

Olsen had worked with Wallace's father, Henry C. Wallace, when the elder Wallace was Secretary of Agriculture (1921-1924).  The main object of their collaboration, a foreign service for the Department of Agriculture, was finally realized in 1930, after a long battle with the Department of Commerce.  This battle involved Herbert Hoover both as Secretary of Commerce and as President, and probably accounts for Olsen's intense dislike of Hoover.  Olsen's disfavor was not partisan: important New Dealers such as Rexford Guy Tugwell and Henry Morganthau, Jr., also drew his fire.

 

Organization
 

The collection is arranged in three series:

Series 1, Diary, 1925-1935 (chronological)
Series 2, Correspondence, 1925-1965, n.d. (alphabetical)
Series 3, Miscellaneous, 1925-1965, n.d. (alphabetical)

 

 Container list

Description of series

Series 1 Diary 1925-1935
extent:
3 document boxes
description: The papers that form the diary are arranged chronologically. A subject index to the diary appears as an appendix to this finding aid.

Container list

Box Folder Title Dates
1 1 Entries 1-25 1925
1 2 Entries 26-50 1925-1927
1 3 Entries 51-75 1927-1929
1 4 Entries 76-100 1929
1 5 Entries 101-125 1929-1930
1 6 Entries 126-150 1930
2 1 Entries 151-175 1930-1931
2 2 Entries 176-200 1931
2 3 Entries 201-225 1931-1932
2 4 Entries 226-250 1932
2 5 Entries 251-275 1932
2 6 Entries 276-300 1932-1933
2 7 Entries 301-325 1928-1933
2 8 Entries 326-350 1933
3 1 Entries 351-375 1933
3 2 Entries 376-400 1934
3 3 Entries 401-425 1934
3 4 Entries 426-450 1934
3 5 Entries 451-475 1934
3 6 Entries 476-503 1934-1935

 

Description of series

Series 2 Correspondence 1925-1965, n.d.
extent: 1 document box
description: Correspondence is arranged by the name of the correspondent, and chronologically within each file.

Container List

Box Folder Title Dates
3 7 "Cully" Cobb 1931-1932
4 1 Thomas Cooper 1927-1932
4 2 Chester Davis 1928-1931
4 3 W. B. Grimes 1932
4 4 A. M. Hyde 1932-1934
4 5 Anna M. Olsen 1934-1965
4 6 Jesse Tapp 1929-1932, n.d.
4 7 H. C. Taylor 1929-1931
4 8 Lloyd Tenny 1927-1929
4 9 H. A. Wallace 1931-1932
4 10 M. L. Wilson 1925-1932
4 11 Miscellaneous 1925-1936
4 12 Copies of letters sent by others 1925-1932

 

Description of series

Series 3 Miscellaneous 1925-1965, n.d.
extent: 2 folders
description: This series contains biographical information, newspaper clippings, and invitations.

Container list

4 13 Biographies and Obituaries 1925-1940, n.d.
4 14 Documents: Includes newspaper clippings, White House and Diplomatic Corps invitations. 1925-1965, n.d.

 

DIARY INDEX

This is a subject index to Olsen’s diaries. Numbers following subjects refer to individual entries in the diary. Entries sometimes cover several subjects and several dates, and are assembled as Nils Olsen assembled them, and placed in chronological order. The index is not a complete register of all subjects discussed in the diary, nor does it refer to all locations where the subjects that do appear are discussed. The index is meant only as a rudimentary tool, geared toward introducing the researcher to the material.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (Administration),

329, 331, 334, 339, 355, 358, 360, 375-6, 378, 391, 411-14, 431, 435, 450, 457, 465, 475, 477, 480, 497.

Agricultural Regions Conference (1926)

31

Agriculture, Department of (United States),

list of members, Secretaryships of Jardine, Hyde, and H. A. Wallace (not complete) 501.

Anti-Semitism

317, 320, 348, 359, 392.

Banking

28, 37.

Black, A. G. (Successor to N. A. Olsen)

438, 492, 494-6.

Bliss, R. K. (Iowa State University),

428.

Budget, Bureau of the

135.

Byrns, Joseph (Representative: D, Tennessee, Speaker of the House)

400-01, 405, 490-91.

Carr, Wilbur (Assistant Secretary of State, 1926)

57.

Citrus Fruit Report (1926)

Civil Service

463.

Cobb, Cully A. (Editor, Progressive Farmer and Southern Ruralist),

226, 240, 380.

SEE ALSO correspondence.

Commerce, Department of

42, 59, 65, 86, 93, 97, 99, 101, 103-4, 117, 125-6, 130, 133, 143, 267, 273.

Coolidge, Calvin

4, 45.

Cooper, Thomas (Dean, Agricultural College, Kentucky)

159, 207, 208, 240, 428

SEE ALSO correspondence.

Cotton

87, 102, 128, 197, 304, 429, 462, 471, 488

and cooperatives, 319.

Cottonseed crushers code

346

Credit, Farm

219, 388, 481

in Arkansas, 29

in South Carolina, 37

in Minnesota, 41

Davis, Chester (AAA, Head 1933-36)

301, 302, 328, 353, 356, 363, 377, 378, 391, 3983, 404, 405, 420, 440, 446, 447, 465, 470, 472, 473, 474, 475, 479, 480, 485, 488, 495, 497.

SEE ALSO correspondence.

Dawes, Charles

235.

Debentures

93, 141, 288.

Democratic National Committee

448.

Douglas, Louis (Director, Bureau of Budget)

327.

Dunlap, Renwick W. (Assistant Secretary of Agriculture

201, 205, 242, 251.

Eisenhower, Milton S. (Assistant to Secretary of Agriculture; for Public Relations)

382, 443, 496.

Ely, Richard T. (Economist)

234.

Export Bounty

30, 38.

Farm Relief

66-67, 70, 72, 74, 79-84, 87, 90, 249, 293, 301-02, 306, 308.

Federal Farm Board

83, 89-90, 93-4, 98, 102, 107, 1101 112-14, 116, 121, 128, 140, 155-6, 170-73, 180-81, 186, 190, 193, 199, 200, 209, 212, 214, 220, 223, 2262 232-33, 249, 253, 260-61, 274, 289.

Federal Trade Commission

10,

and Tariffs, 92, 149.

Financial Crisis, 1932

2fi4.

Foreign Service

21, 57, 86, 96, 99, 101, 103, 104, 117, 119, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130-135, 139, 140, 142-145, 147, 150, 157, 160, 178, 310, 313, 315, 410.

Frank; Jerome (Legal Assistant to R. G. Tugwell)

320, 321, 343, 356, 359, 372, 373, 375, 398, 432, 433, 440, 449, 490.

Frankfurter, Felix

348.

Gary, Theodore

499.

Gay, Dean (Department of Commerce)

89, 96, 101, 103, 104.

Grain Marketing Company

6, 7, 15.

Grimes, W. E.

SEE correspondence.

Harding, Warren G.

69.

Haugen, Chester (Representative: R, Iowa)

166.

Hearst, Charles E. (Iowa Farm Bureau)

323.

Hoover, Herbert

and Bureau of Mines, 282

as President, 67-8, 72, 74, 76-78, 80-81, 88, 93, 95, 119-120, 123, 134, 136, 141, 143, 149, 156, 158, 162, 176, 179, 181, 183, 190, 203, 208, 209, 215, 220) 223-4, 229, 234, 240-42, 245, 258, 262, 268, 276, 279, 283, 288, 410, 500.

as Secretary of Commerce, 3-7, 20, 35, 39, 57, 69.

Hyde, Arthur M.

as Secretary of Agriculture, 71-74, 76, 79, 80-85, 87-88, 92-95, 106-08, 111-16, 119-124, 127, 129, 136, 138, 143-44, 147, 149-53, 159, 162-65, 169, 171, 173-76, 179, 181, 187, 189, 193-95, 202-203, 207-09, 213, 215-218, 220, 222-24, 229-231, 234-238, 242-43, 245, 247, 248, 253-55, 258, 262, 26,8-74, 283, 288, 290. SEE ALSO correspondence.

Ickes, Harold (Interior Secretary, Roosevelt)

309, 452.

Insurance

12,

Crop, 55.

International Institute of Agriculture, Rome, Italy (1928)

61, 62.

Jardine, William M.

as Secretary of Agriculture, 3, 7, 14-15, 34-37, 45-46, 53, 56-57,

60, 67, 68, 86, 98, 129, 148,l52, 179.

as Lobbyist, 342, 393, 492.

Kellogg, Frank B. (Secretary of State, 1926)

57.

Kiplinger, Walter (News Service owner)

382, 411, 415, 420.

Klein, Julius (Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Service, Department of Commerce)

59, 64, 89, 93a, 96, 98, 103, 104, 119, 124, 143, 277..

Market News Service

40.

Metcalf, Jesse H. (Senator: D. Rhode Island)

58.

Morgenthau, Henry, Jr.

257, 286, 290, 293, 294, 295, 297, 298, 307, 308, 363, 369, 387.

McNary, Charles (Senator: R, Montana)

2, 55, 70, 74, 76, 80, 82, 90, 91, 177, 180, 288, 291, 292, 293, 314.

McNary-Haugen Bill (s)

2, 43, 47, 294.

National Recovery Act

357.

New York Food Marketing Research Council

51.

Olsen, Anna

485.

SEE ALSO correspondence.

Pearson, Drew (Columnist)

9.

Pearson, Raymond (President, Iowa State University)

8, 221.

Peek, George (AAA Director, 1933)

301, 347, 348, 349, 353, 354, 356, 367, 372, 373, 377, 439, 483, 497.

Prohibition

154, 169.

Public Domain

164, 165, 174, 196, 213, 239.

Purnell Act (1925)

8.

Race relations

95, 334.

Rapidan (Hoover's Presidential Retreat)

95.

Reclamation

209, 210, 227, 229, 239.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

235, 258, 271, 276.

Reese, A. E. Miss; (Private Secretary to Senator Charles McNary)

90, 91.

Reference Books (list compiled by N. A. Olsen)

502.

Reno, Milo (Iowa National Farmer's Union, National Farm Holiday Organizer)

338.

Republican National Convention (1932)

253.

Resignation (Olsen's)

318, 492, 493, 494, 495.

Retail Meat Study Conference

22, 23.

Roosevelt, Eleanor

328, 400.

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

as Governor (Presidential Candidate and President Elect),

175, 255, 256, 257.

as President, 290, 302, 305, 369, 373, 381, 392, 432, 451, 488.

Russell, F. M. (Assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture)

15, 34, 44, 45, 56, 63, 75.

St. Laurence Waterway. Project

381, 383, 385.

Secretary's Annual Report (1926)

45, 49, 52.

Senators, United States, list (undated)

498.

State, Department of

57.

Steiwer, Frederick (Senator: R, Oregon)

161.

Stimson, Henry L.

217.

Taber, George (President of the Grange)

93, 141, 227, 369.

Tapp, Jesse

SEE correspondence.

Taylor, Henry C. (First Chief, Bureau of Agricultural Economics)

157, 263, 265, 290, 308, 468, 470

SEE ALSO correspondence.

Teague, C. C. (Assistant Administrator, AAA)

77, 94, 98, 1141 182, 253

Tennessee Valley Authority

364.

Tenny, Lloyd (Chief, Bureau of Agricultural Economics to 1928)

4, 50, 75, 98, 146, 291

SEE ALSO correspondence.

Tincher Bill (1926)

33.

Tobacco

280.

Statistics, 24.

Tugwell, Rexford Guy (Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, 1933-36)

257, 278, 286, 288, 290, 293, 294, 295, 296, 299, 305, 307, 310, 312, 314, 315, 323, 342, 345, 356, 359, 362, 363, 364, 368, 373, 375, 377, 382, 387, 392, 394, 398, 399,,405, 423, 427, 432, 433, 434, 440, 445, 449, 456, 458, 461, 465, 468, 479, 485.

Unemployment

1581 243, 250.

USSR

12 150, 153, 159, 173, 210, 479.

Wallace, Henry A.

as Editor, Wallace's Farmer, 46, 162-63, 224, 278-279.

as Secretary of Agriculture, 290, 293-94, 297, 299-301, 308-312, 320-322, 325-26, 329, 331-33, 335-38, 340-41, 344, 348, 349, 353-56, 370, 372-74, 377, 382-86, 389-90, 393-95, 405, 408, 411, 415-16, 420, 423, 426, 434, 437, 441, 443, 447, 449, 451, 455, 461-62, 465-66, 468, 470-73, 475, 478-79, 482-91, 495-97.

SEE ALSO correspondence.

Wallace, Henry C.

39, 69, 141, 393, 486.

Walsh, Thomas, (Senator: R, Montana)

163, 65, 168.

Watson, James (Senator: R, Indiana)

93, 183, 192.

Westervelt, General

316, 343, 347, 353, 354, 356.

Wheat

60, 87, 90, 106, 180, 222, 242, 245, 396, 408,

Capper Volstad Bill, (1926), 223.

new varieties development, 66.

protein in, 54

Wilson, Flora

111 123, 145, 322.

Wilson, M. L. (AAA, 1933-34, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, 1934-37)

131 14, 16, 17, 256, 257, 263, 266, 278, 290, 425, 470, 492. SEE ALSO correspondence.

Young Republican Committee

225, 230.

 

 
Descriptive summary   |  Administrative information  |  Biographical/Historical note
 Collection description  |  Organization  |  Description of series/container list

Iowa State University Library, Ames, IA 50011
Comments: tzanish@iastate.edu
URL: http://www.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/manuscripts/MS006.html