HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG3932.AM: Carl Petrus Peterson, 1880-1965
Papers: 1906-1965
Polk County and Lincoln, Lancaster County, Neb.: Attorney, State Legislator, 13th District (1915-1917) and 20th District (1941-1947), State Senator (1919), and Water Reclamation Leader
Size: 1.5 cu.ft.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
C. Petrus Peterson, son of A.W. and Matilda Lindstrom Peterson, was born in Polk County, Nebraska, on March 10, 1880. After completing rural school work at sixteen, he worked on the farm of his Swedish-born parents until he was twenty-one. Peterson then attended the Luther Academy in Wahoo, Nebraska. After graduation he enrolled in Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, receiving an A.B. in 1906. Three years later, Peterson earned his law degree from the University of Nebraska.
Peterson practiced law in Wahoo, Nebraska from 1909 to 1911. He then moved to Lincoln, Nebraska where he was made a partner in the law firm of Whedon and Peterson. In 1914 he established the law firm of Peterson and Devoe. The following year, Peterson began the first of two terms in the Nebraska House of Representatives, representing the 13th District. During World War I, he was Food Administrator of Lancaster County. Peterson became a state senator in 1919. He also served as a delegate to two constitutional conventions and as Lincoln’s City Attorney from 1915 to 1929.
After a long absence from public office, Peterson was elected to his first of four terms in the Nebraska Unicameral, representing the 20th District. He served as speaker in 1945. In 1944, Peterson was instrumental in the creation of the Nebraska Reclamation Association. After serving as president of the Nebraska association for two years, he was elected president of the National Reclamation Association, a position he held through four terms. Peterson also served on the Nebraska Commission on Inter-Government Cooperation and the Board of Managers of the Council of State Governments. A long association with Bankers Life of Nebraska began in 1919 when Peterson served as their general counsel. He became a vice-president in 1947 and after his retirement, in 1955, he remained as a trustee emeritus.
Peterson won many honors for his work in public service. In 1952 he was the thirteenth nominee to the Reclamation Hall of Fame. The University of Nebraska’s Builders Award was presented to him in 1953. He also received the Kiwanis Club distinguished service medal in 1958.
Carl Petrus Peterson died in 1965. He was survived by his wife of fifty-five years, Vera Melquist Peterson, and three daughters.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of one box of manuscript material arranged in five series: 1) Speeches, 1906-1965; 2) Essays; 3) Correspondence, 1911-1965; 4) Certificates; and 5) Miscellany.
This material traces C. Petrus Peterson’s career in public service through speeches, essays, and correspondence relating to his interests. Biographical materials and awards honoring Peterson are also included in this collection.
The bulk of this collection is comprised of the speeches, 1906-1965, of Series 1. These reflect Peterson’s concerns about water reclamation, politics, the Depression, conservation, the insurance business, government and social welfare. These are arranged alphabetically by title. Dates are included when noted on the speech or within the text.
Series 2 contains essays written by C. Petrus Peterson. Of particular interest are autobiographical articles in Folder 1. Other essays, probably written for school courses, are included as well as some written in Swedish.
The correspondence, 1911-1965, of Series 3 includes letters of recommendation, as well as material dealing with his employment with lawyer C.O. Whedon of Lincoln, water reclamation, the allocation of power in the Missouri Basin, his consultant position with the Interior Department, and an amendment to the state constitution to make legislators partisan. Correspondents include Interior Secretary Fred A. Seaton and Senator Carl T. Curtis.
Series 4 consists of certificates honoring C. Petrus Peterson for his academic and public service achievements. The miscellany of Series 5 includes tributes to C. Petrus Peterson, programs for reclamation meetings, and newspaper clippings documenting the honors and awards accorded to Peterson.
Note: For photographs, please see the photo component [RG3932.PH].
INVENTORY
Series 1 – Speeches by C. Petrus Peterson, 1906-1965
Box 1
Folder
- Administrative Absolutism (Walker-Logan Administrative Law Bill)
The American Dream
American Junior Chambers of Commerce National Convention, 1937
The Americanism of George Washington
Are Luxuries Antagonistic to Public Welfare?
Area Home Rule-Delivered at Meeting of Missouri River States Committee, 1949
As a Man Thinks (2 copies)
The Assignment Route or Beneficiary Route to Life Insurance Trusts
Banker’s Life Insurance Company, 1945
Banker’s Life Insurance Companyís 43rd Anniversary
Banker’s Life Insurance Company Convention, 1956
The Beginning of Law Practice - The Campaign of 1920
The Challenge of 1931
The Challenge to Constitutional Government
Commencement Address, undated
Commencement Address, 1956 (3 copies)
Conservation and Reclamation, 1950
The Constitution
The Council of the Indian
Cooperative Individualism (2 different speeches)
The Dammed Missouri
Dedication of Mural by Willard Sheets
Deficiency Judgments
The Doctrine of Overruling Necessity - Education Under Majority Rule
“Erik”
The Essentials of Leadership
Evolution
The Evolution of Consumer Credit, ca. 1963
Face to the Wind, 1932
Federal and State Relations in Water Use and Development-Delivered to the Interstate Conference on Water Problems, 1959 (2 copies)
Fifty Years of Progress, 1937
Financing the Capitol Setting
The First Concession
Four Concession
Four Decades, 1946
Freedom of Conscience and the Public School Curriculum
From the Idol to the Ideal (plus notes) - George Washington and the New Ideal
Giant Power in Nebraska, 1927
The Glory of the Unfinished (2 different speeches)
Hell’s Canyon
Home Rule
How Large Is a Big Company, 1947
Ideals of Bankers Life
Ideals of Bankers Life or the Dream of the Pioneers
Initiative and Referendum
Insurance
Insurance-Cooperative Individualism
Insurance Estates (2 copies)
Is the Accumulation of Large Amounts of Capital in Private Ownership Essential to Social Progress - Key to the West (Nebraska)
Kiwanis Club Award, 1958
Law – The Ultimate National Reserve
Leadership, 1940
Legislative Post-War Problems, 1943
Life Insurance Deals in the Future
Life Insurance in a Changing World, 1952
Lincoln as a Citizen
Lincoln Day Speech (2 copies)
Liquor Control After Prohibition
A Look Ahead - M.V.A.
M.V.A., 1945 (3 copies)
Manpower (2 copies)
Masters of Environment
The Mayflower Compact
Mental Health Clinic
Missouri Basin Survey Commission Statement, 1952
Mobs
The Municipal Coal Yard
National Reclamation Association Address, undated
National Reclamation Association Address, 1952
National Reclamation Association Annual Report, 1955 (2 copies)
Nationalization of Industry
New Models - The One House Legislature (2 copies)
Our City Government
Our Federal Lands, 1960
Our One House Legislature, 1964 or 1965
Our Public Power Development
Our Valley, 1947 or 1948 - The Palace
Pick-Sloan Plan of Water Diversion, 1947
Political Crossroads and Blind Alleys
Post-War Problems Facing the State Legislatures, 1943
The Preservation of American Democracy, 1950
The Preservation of American Democracy in the Light of the Present World Trend, 1950
President’s Message (Reclamation), 1953
The Primary Law
Private Enterprise
Professional Men’s Club
Progress Toward Security
Project of the Agrarian Reform Law
Proposals for Wilderness Areas
Prosperity Under Two Presidents, ca. 1930 - Radio Talk, Campaign of 1928
Reclamation, 1947
Reclamation Program, 1951
The Regulation of Insurance: An Opportunity for the States (2 copies)
Representation in Industry, 1920
Republican Speech
Seventy-Five Years
Social Security (3 different speeches; 2 copies of 1 of the speeches)
Some Municipal Problems
South Dakota Life Underwriters Speech, 1932 - The Spirit of Adventure (2 different speeches; 2 copies of 1 of the speeches)
The Spirit of Life Insurance, ca. 1940
The Spirit of Nebraska (2 different speeches)
A State Plan, 1945
Sunday Shows
Sundials and Clocks, ca. 1926
Tort in Life Insurance
Town and Gown Club, 1950 - The Unicameral Experiment
Unimportant Decisions of Important Consequences
Utilizing Nebraska’s Water Resources
Valedictory-Live and Help Live, 1906
Water Rights Under Our Federal System, ca. 1958
C.O. Whedon
Who Decides Educational Policy in Democracy, ca. 1948
The Year 1918
Series 2 – Essays by C. Petrus Peterson
Box 1
Folder
- Reminiscences, Family History, and Autobiography
- Gustavus Adolphus: The Lion of the North
Pre-Columbian Discoverers Lead the Way North and West
Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle
The University of Nebraska
The Scyld (Lore) Mystery and Its Meaning - Essays written in Swedish
Fragments of Essays
Series 3 – Correspondence, 1911-1965
Box 1
Folder
- 1911, 1913, 1927, 1946 and 1958-1959
- 1960-1965 and undated
Series 4 – Certificates
Box 1
Folder
- Academic, Religious, Public Service, and Fraternal awards (see also oversize)
Series 5 – Miscellany
Box 1
Folder
- Tributes and Programs including Kiwanis Club Award Tribute and Program, 1958; Reclamation Programs
- Newspaper Clippings and Loose Papers
Subject headings:
Conservation — Nebraska
Curtis, Carl Thomas, 1905-2000
Irrigation — Nebraska
Lawyers — Nebraska
Legislative bodies — Nebraska
National Reclamation Association
Nebraska Reclamation Association
Peterson, Carl Petrus, 1880-1965
Reclamation of land
Seaton, Frederick Andrew, 1909-1974
Water — Laws and legislation
Water resources
08-06-2007 Revised TMM
