Milo G. Knutson Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS 116

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Personal Materials include copies of awards, campaign materials (1955-1974), correspondence (1955-1965), photographs (circa 1960s-1970s) and speeches undated; 1946; 1950-1975). The speeches were hand written on rapidly aging yellow legal sized notebook paper and were thus photocopied onto acid neutral paper for preservation reasons.

Newspaper Clippings (undated; 1945-1980) were mainly from the La Crosse Tribune newspaper and the bulk were clipped during Knutson's tenure as mayor of the City of La Crosse. These items were not photocopied for preservation. These give a sense of the context of Knutson's speeches and actions while in office.

La Crosse City Government (roughly 1950-1969) covers City Council , City Departments and Subject files. Subject files are generally local organizations and other governmental units and contain a wide variety of materials. The largest files represent topics that Knutson was most involved with; namely, La Crosse County Government, the Northern States Power Rate Complaint documents and correspondence (1955-1957), the La Crosse Interstate Fair, and the Wisconsin State College (became the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse).

Knutson championed each of his residential and commercial constituents by winning a despute with the Northern States Power Company (NSP) over what he saw as unfair rates. Knutson enlisted the help of __ Clemons, a professor from __, who did the actual comparison of Coulee Region electric rates vs. those of customers in Madison, Wisconsin. After testifying at the Public Service Commission, the ultimate verdict was that La Crosse consumers, and to a lesser extent Eau Clair customers, would see a significant decrease in their rates.

During Knutson's time as mayor, the college wanted to expand its borders east of East Avenue. This necessitated the negiotation and ultimate eviction of the La Crosse Interstate Fairgrounds to new quarters and a financial settlement, then further negiotation with the UW Board of Regents as to a land sale. Eventually this land sale left the city with the municipal pool and the Emerson School grounds and park where it once owned a large tract of land.

Wisconsin State Senate files are arranged in chronological order.

Dates

1945-1980

Creator

Knutson, Milo G. (Person)

Biographical Note

Milo G. Knutson (b. October 12, 1917, d. March 22, 1981) was born in Clear Lake, Iowa, and moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1948 after attending Junior College in Mason City, Iowa, and Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He became General Manager of WLCX Radio in 1948 and joined the radio station WKTY in 1954 and served as News Director from 1955 to 1974.

Knutson continued his radio broadcasts through his political career, which started in 1955 with his election to the position of La Crosse mayor. Knutson served as mayor from 1955 until 1964, frequently winning a wide majority which was often attributed to his charisma on the radio. Knutson quickly established himself as a strong conservative, opposing progressive education and frequently verbally attacking the La Crosse Tribune and local labor unions.

Knutson openly preferred radio and television as more direct forms of communication over newspapers. He relied heavily on both forms of broadcasts when he ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 1964 on the Republican ticket. Knutson acted as his own campaign manager, calling for retrenchment and a constitutional limit on tax rates. He wrote his own speeches, used no campaign buttons or advertisements, and scheduled seven telecasts between August 26 and September 8 alone. He lost the election to fellow republican Warren Knowles and did not run for mayor in the next year.

After dropping out of a second campaign against Knowles in 1966, Knutson was elected State Senator of the 32nd District in the fall of 1968. During his tenure, he gained a seat on the State Building Commission which he kept from 1969 to 1976 and led a legislative investigation committee with a republican majority to examine disruptions in state universities following riots in Madison. He ran unsuccessfully for GOP candidate for the US Senate in 1970 and for Lieutenant Governor next to James Devitt in 1974. In 1976 he ended his State Senate career following several health complications, including a stroke in 1974 that left him with speech problems until his death in 1981.

Extent

20 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The papers span Milo G. Knutson's time as an elected official in both municipal and then state government. The materials were organized into four series: Personal Materials, Newspaper Clippings, undated; 1945-1980, La Crosse City Government, and Wisconsin State Senate.