MELVIN JOSEPH MAAS
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Maas, Melvin Joseph, 1898-1964. | |
| Title: | Melvin J Maas papers. | |
| Dates: | 1912-1986. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, reports, photographs, diaries, and professional papers of a Republican Minnesota Congressman, long time Marine Corps Reserve Officer, and Chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. | |
| Quantity: | 5.6 cubic feet (13 boxes and 1 oversize folder). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Melvin Joseph Maas was born in Duluth, Minnesota on May 14, 1898, the son of Frank Newton and Rose (nee Brady) Maas. The family moved to St. Paul, where Maas attended public school. Maas graduated from the University of St. Thomas in 1919. He married Katherine Bole on October 9, 1920, and had three daughters before she died January 20, 1929. On December 1, 1934, Maas married Katherine Endress of St. Paul, and they had one son.
Maas was employed as a salesman for several years before being elected to Congress as a Republican from Minnesota's fourth congressional district in 1926, where he served, almost continuously, until 1944. During his congressional career, he focused on Prohibition and national defense, particularly the strengthening of naval forces.
Maas enlisted in the United States Marine Corp aviation unit during World War I, where he was assigned to a year of antisubmarine patrol in the Azores Islands. He continued his military activities throughout his life. After World War I, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve and rose to the rank of major general. As a reservist, he was active in the Reserve Officers Association and several other veterans' organizations. Maas was on active duty in the South Pacific during WWII. He traveled extensively during this time period, visiting, among others, Britain, the West Indies, Portugal, Australia, Pearl Harbor, and also witnessed the atomic bomb test in Bikini Island on June 30, 1946. He was retained in an advisory capacity by the Defense Department during the Korean War. He retired from the reserve in 1952 after going blind.
Maas was a member of the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped from 1954-1964, where he traveled and wrote extensively. Maas died April 13, 1964 in Bethesda, Maryland and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Maas, Melvin Joseph, Melvin J Maas papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 9810; 12,614; 12,785; 16,511
Processing Information:
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Catalog ID number: 001715618
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 1 | Biographical, 1920-1926, 1940, 1944, and 1986. | |||||||||
| Correspondence: | |||||||||||
| Arranged chronologically, materials relate to Maas' political activities, such as his work with labor groups and the repeal of Prohibition; military activities, including defense preparations, associations, reports, postwar concerns, aviation, and Maas' retirement; as well as his endeavors with the physically handicapped. | |||||||||||
| undated and October 1917-November 1929. 10 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 2 | 1930-1944. 9 folders. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 3 | July 1945-April 13, 1954. 9 folders. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 4 | April 14, 1954-1960. 10 folders. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 5 | 1961-July 1964. 8 folders. | |||||||||
| Miscellaneous subject files, 1919-1964. | |||||||||||
| Includes clippings, news releases, reports, photographs, and miscellaneous materials relating or belonging to Maas, such as federal expense accounts and vouchers; physical examination reports for his pilots licenses; Congressional Record extracts; materials compiled as chairman of the National Constitution Day in St. Paul; as well as items documenting Maas' participation in a Naval Affairs Subcommittee inspection tour to study congested conditions at Washington State and Oregon naval facilities. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 6 | Miscellaneous chronological files, undated and 1924-1964. 2 folders. | |||||||||
| Includes news releases, reports, lists, and miscellaneous papers relating to the National Surety Company; political events, such as Maas' campaigns for congress and Prohibition; his involvement with veteran organizations, such as the Marine Corps Reserve and the Military Order of the World Wars; as well as his work as a member of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. Also includes bylaws of the General Melvin J. Maas Memorial Rehabilitation Foundation, Incorporated. | |||||||||||
| Speech files: | |||||||||||
| Includes drafts of speeches written by Maas, including political campaigns; topics of special interest, such as his opposition to pacifism, national defense, Prohibition, commercial airlines (particularly Northwest Airlines), World War II, Pearl Harbor, the unification of the armed services following WWII, and programs for the physically handicapped; as well as printed transcripts of radio programs featuring Maas. | |||||||||||
| undated and 1926-1940. 5 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 7 | 1941-1964 and May 13, 1968. 4 folders. | |||||||||
| Reports, statements, and miscellaneous related materials, undated and 1922-1957. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 8 | Printed materials: | |||||||||
| Programs, invitations, and booklets, undated and 1916-1966. | |||||||||||
| Includes Central High School graduation program from 1916. | |||||||||||
| Citations, awards, and appointments, undated and 1912-1964. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Includes military appointments and awards; appreciations from the military, the government, and civic groups; and other miscellaneous awards and certificates. | |||||||||||
| Political items, undated and 1926-1944. | |||||||||||
| Includes campaign cards, literature, flyers, programs, and miscellaneous materials relating to Maas' campaigns for Congress. | |||||||||||
| Cards, passports, licenses, and passes, undated and 1918-1962. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous ephemera, 1940 and 1963-1967. | |||||||||||
| Includes a political cartoon, biographical compilations and obituaries, as well as a post card reproduction of a World War I poster featuring women in the Marines. | |||||||||||
| Articles, 1921-1964. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 9 | Clippings, undated and 1924-1964. 3 folders. | |||||||||
| Photographs, undated and 1929-1961. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Includes photographs documenting Maas' professional activities, such as receiving awards; World War II era naval air stations; as well as photographs taken of Maas with Hubert H. Humphrey, J. Edgar Hoover, Neville Chamberlain, Pope Pius XII, and various other government and military officials. | |||||||||||
| Diaries: | |||||||||||
| Includes information on Maas' life and career from the age of 15 until one year before his death. The most extensive entries are found in Volumes 38-48 (1953-1963), during the time period of Maas' blindness. At the beginning of these particular volumes, Maas included a glossary identifying acronyms and names of individuals identified within the diary. | |||||||||||
| Volumes 1-10, March 16, 1913-1923. 10 volumes. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 10 | Volumes 11-23, 1924-1936. 13 volumes. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 11 | Volumes 24-34, 1937-1948. 11 volumes. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 12 | Volumes 35-42, circa 1949-1957. 8 volumes. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1530 | 13 | Volumes 43-48, 1958-1963. 6 volumes. | |||||||||
| Personal account book, September 14, 1923-April 15, 1924. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Pilot's record book, United States Army Air Corps, August 1928-April 1931. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| +149 | Oversize materials, 15 items in 1 folder. | ||||||||||
| Citations, certificates, campaign materials, and other papers relating to Maas' career as a congressman and a Marine Corps officer. | |||||||||||
| Certificate of appointment, Temporary Boston Brahmin, undated. | |||||||||||
| Melvin Maas campaign poster, circa 1928. | |||||||||||
| Certificates of election to Congress, November 30, 1928 and November 30, 1934. 2 items. | |||||||||||
| Programs: | |||||||||||
| Veterans of Foreign Wars [VFW] Post 458 convention, St. Paul, Minnesota, circa September 22, 1932. | |||||||||||
| American Legion Tenth District convention, Hudson, Wisconsin, circa May 12, 1934. | |||||||||||
| Honorary citizen, Little Rock, Arkansas, June 19, 1954. | |||||||||||
| Great Seal of the State of California description, September 23, 1954. | |||||||||||
| Presented to Maas by the Sacramento Rotary Club. | |||||||||||
| H. R. 87. Connecticut General Assembly invitation for Maas to address the House of Representatives, March 10, 1955. | |||||||||||
| State of Louisiana appointment of Maas as aide-de-camp to the Governor's staff, September 20, 1955. | |||||||||||
| Honorary citizen, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, September 29, 1955. | |||||||||||
| Healy, Paul. "General." Extension, February 1958. | |||||||||||
| Maas, Melvin J. "Don't Pity us Handicapped," Saturday Evening Post, September 5, 1959. | |||||||||||
| Printed caricature portrait of Maas, undated. | |||||||||||
| Cartoon to General Maas, undated. | |||||||||||
| From the Palookas. | |||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Aeronautics.
- Blind -- Books and reading.
- Blind -- Employment.
- Korean War, 1950-1953.
- Nuclear weapons -- Testing.
- Pacifism.
- People with disabilities -- Rehabilitation.
- Postal service -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Prohibition.
- Veterans -- Societies, etc.
- World War, 1914-1918.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Great Britain.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Pacific Ocean.
- Persons:
- Moos, Charles J., 1880-
- Organizations:
- Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
- United States. Marine Corps Reserve. Officers' Association.
- United States. President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped.
- United States. Congress. House.
- United States. Marine Corps Reserve. Officers' Association.
- United States. Navy.
- Places:
- United States -- Politics and government.
- Alaska -- Description and travel.
- Pacific Ocean -- Description and travel.
- Saint Paul (Minn.)
- United States -- Defenses.
- United States -- Description and travel.
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