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

MS 6
Nils A. Olsen (1886-1940)
Papers, 1925-1965, n.d.


Descriptive summary

creator:

Olsen, Nils A. (1886-1940)
title:

Papers
dates:

ca. 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:

 

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 the catalog.

 

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

Biographical Material

1925-1965, n.d.
extent:

2 folders
description:

This series contains biographical information, newspaper clippings, and invitations.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

4

13

Biographies and Obituaries (1 5x8 b/w photograph)

1925-1940, n.d.

4

14

Resignations, Appointments, Promotions and Invitations (White House and Diplomatic Corps)

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.
  •  
  • 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, 155-156, 170-173, 180-181, 186, 190, 193, 199, 200, 209, 212, 214, 220, 223, 226, 232-33, 249, 253, 260-61, 274, 289.
  •  
  • Federal Trade Commission
    • 10,
    • and Tariffs, 92, 149.
  •  
  • Financial Crisis, 1932
    • 2-4.
  •  
  • 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, 67-68, 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, 223-224, 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, 106-108, 111-116, 119-124, 127, 129, 136, 138, 143-144, 147, 149-53, 159, 162-65, 169, 171, 173-176, 179, 181, 187, 189, 193-95, 202-203, 207-09, 213, 215-218, 220, 222-224, 229-231, 234-238, 242-243, 245, 247, 248, 253-255, 258, 262, 268-274, 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, 152, 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
    • 158, 243, 250.
  •  
  • USSR
    • 12, 150, 153, 159, 173, 210, 479.
  •  
  • Wallace, Henry A.
    • as Editor, Wallace's Farmer, 46, 162-163, 224, 278-279.
    • as Secretary of Agriculture, 290, 293-94, 297, 299-301, 308-312, 320-322, 325-326, 329, 331-333, 335-338, 340-341, 344, 348, 349, 353-356, 370, 372-374, 377, 382-386, 389-390, 393-395, 405, 408, 411, 415-416, 420, 423, 426, 434, 437, 441, 443, 447, 449, 451, 455, 461-462, 465-466, 468, 470-473, 475, 478-479, 482-491, 495-497.
    • 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.