Guide to the Frank Joseph Kottke Papers 1936-1994
Cage 823

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Creator
Kottke, Frank Joseph
Title
Frank Joseph Kottke papers
ID
Cage 823
Date [inclusive]
1936-1994
Extent
4.0 linear feet, 8 boxes
Language
Collection materials are in English and German.
Abstract
The Frank Joseph Kottke Papers consists of materials correspondence and other records created and collected by Kottke over his adult life. The collection includes correspondence with his family during World War II, records generated from his position on the Citizen's Advisory Committee for Pullman Public Transit, and letters to Washington state politicians in the United States legislature. Dr. Kottke was a professor of economics at Washington State University from 1961-1979.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] Frank Joseph Kottke Papers

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

Frank Kottke (1913-2002) was a Professor of Economics at Washington State University (WSU) from 1961-1979. Kottke, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, earned his PhD from Columbia University in 1940, was drafted by the Army in 1943, taught at the University of North Carolina from 1946-1951 and worked for the Federal Trade Commission as an expert in competition and monopolies. After joining WSU's faculty in 1961, Kottke taught courses in industrial organization.

In 1938, Dr. Kottke met Dr. Esther Hendee (1903-1974) and the two began a relationship. Like Kottke, Dr. Hendee was highly educated. She earned a PhD in biology from University of California, Berkeley and was working at Russell Sage College, an all-women’s school in Troy, New York. The two married in the fall of 1939 and had their first child, Margaret, in April of 1943. They remained married until Esther’s death in 1974.

Kottke retired from WSU in 1979 and served on the Citizen's Advisory Committee for Pullman Public Transit in the 1980s and 1990s. Kottke moved to Spokane in 1994, where he passed away in 2002.

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Scope and Content

This collection consists of three distinct sets of materials related to Frank Kottke's role as a member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee for Pullman Public Transit, as a citizen informing U.S. senators and representatives on his position on matters of public policy, and as a husband writing his wife during his time with the Army during World War II. This collection contains correspondence, minutes and reports related to public transportation in Pullman, Washington, and clippings informing his public policy letters to U.S. political figures.

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Arrangement

This collection is arranged into three series.

Series 1: Pullman Transit Citizen's Advisory Committee, 1985-1993. This series consists of papers relating to Kottke's position on the Citizen's Advisory Committee (CAC) for public transportation in Pullman from 1985-1993 and has been divided into two subseries.

Subseries 1: Meetings, 1988-1993. This subseries contains minutes and reports from CAC meetings and is arranged in reverse chronological order.

Subseries 2: Subject files, 1984-1990. consists of special reports, correspondence, budgets, and surveys on topics including bus fare, routes, ads on buses, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, student ridership, and a taxi service run by Pullman Transit. This subseries is organized alphabetically by the subject headings Kottke devised.

Series 2: Public policy correspondence, 1975-1994. This series consists of correspondence about public policy to members of the U.S. House and Senate from 1975-1994. These letters cover a wide range of topics from taxes and deficits to Medicare and Social Security to Anti-Trust Law and banking. It contains a number of responses from the offices of Washington state politicians, including Representative Thomas Foley, Senator Brock Adams, Senator Patty Murray, and Governor Booth Gardner. It also includes articles collected by Kottke related to the topics discussed. This series had been organized by Dr. Kottke and is arranged in reverse chronological order.

Series 3: Personal correspondence, 1936-1946. This series consists of the personal correspondence of Frank Kottke from 1938-1945. It includes incoming and outgoing letters between Kottke, his family and his fiancée Esther C. Hendee, who became his wife during the course of this correspondence. These letters fall into two categories: the initial exchanges between Frank and Esther during the months leading up to their marriage and letters to Frank from Esther and his family during Frank’s time in the Army (1943-1945). The latter correspondence includes commentary on wartime life, long distance relationships, and anecdotes and updates about their daughter Margaret. The letters reveal the initial apprehensions that both Frank and Esther felt regarding their age difference, thoughts concerning women in the workforce, and opinions about appropriate gender roles in 1940s America. Unlike the rest of the collection, the correspondence was not completely sorted by Dr. Kottke and its arrangement diverges significantly from its original order. The second folder includes an introduction by Dr. Kottke explaining his attempts to arrange the letters and his initial feelings regarding Esther written in 1980. This series is arranged chronologically.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2015

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Acquisition Information

The Frank Joseph Kottke Papers were donated to Washington State University by Kottke in 1993 and 1994 (MS 1993.23 and MS 1994.30). A latter accession was donated by Brigham Young University-Idaho archivist Martin Raish in 2011 (MS 2011.29). Raish came by a body of correspondence to Kottke and his wife Esther via his neighbor who purchased the letters from a second hand dealer.

Processing Information

Jason Hogstad and Steven Bingo processed this collection in 2015.

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Related Materials

Related Material

Kottke provided an oral history for the Centennial Oral History Project (UA 202)in 1987. The interview may be viewed on the MASC Digital Collections website.

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Names and Subjects

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Kottke, Frank Joseph.

Subject(s)

  • Hendee, Esther C. (Esther Crissey), 1903-.
  • Washington State University--Faculty--Archives.
  • Economics teachers -- 20th century--Washington (State)--Pullman--Archives.
  • Local transit--Washington (State)--Pullman.
  • World War, 1939-1945.
  • Love letters.
  • Transportation.
  • Home and Family.
  • Politics and Politicians.
  • Washington (State).

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Detailed Description of Collection

Series 1  Pullman Transit Citizen's Advisory Committee   1985-1993 

Subseries 1 Meetings  1988-1993 

box folder

Meeting   March 25, 1993  

1 1

Meeting   December 17, 1992  

1 2

Meeting   October 1992  

1 3

Meeting   May 28, 1992  

1 4

Meeting   April 16, 1992  

1 5

Special meeting on six year plan   March 4, 1992  

1 6

Meeting   February 20, 1992  

1 7

Americans with Disabilities Act hearing   January 16, 1992  

1 8

Meeting   December 1991  

1 9

Meeting   October 17, 1991  

1 10

Meeting   August 22, 1991  

1 11

Meeting   June 20, 1991  

1 12

Meeting   April 1991  

1 13

Meeting   February 6, 1991  

1 14

Meeting   December 20, 1990  

1 15

Meeting   October 10, 1990  

1 16

Meeting   August 8, 1990  

1 17

Meeting   May 16, 1990  

1 18

Pullman Transit Annual Report   May 1990  

1 19

Meeting   April 11, 1990  

1 20

Meeting   February 7, 1990  

1 21

Meeting   December 1989  

1 22

Meeting   October 11, 1989  

1 23

Meeting   August 9, 1989  

1 24

Meeting   February - May 1989  

2 25

Pullman Transit Annual Report   1988  

2 26

Meeting   November 1988  

2 27

Meeting   April 1988  

2 28

Backup data for meeting   April 1988  

2 29

Subseries 2 Subject files  1988-1993 

box folder

Backup data for meeting   April 1988  

2 29

Advertisements on buses   1985  

2 30

Budgets   1984-1987  

2 31

Bus purchase   1986  

2 32

Bus storage   1986  

2 33

Capital improvements program   1988  

2 34

Charters   1986-1988  

2 35

Data for WSU student body impact on transit   1985  

2 36

Dial-a-Ride   1985  

2 37

Faculty parking   1989  

2 38

Fare - late night express   1989  

2 39

Goals   1984-1986  

2 40

Pullman Transit Annual Report   1985  

2 41

Pullman Transit Annual Report   1986  

2 42

Pullman Transit commission   1986-1988  

2 43

Pullman Transit development plan   1990  

2 44

Pullman Transit system review   1985  

2 45

Ridership   1984-1987  

2 46

Small bus   1987  

2 47

Taxi   1984-1988  

3 48

WSU student cost and input   1986  

3 49

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Series 2  Public policy correspondence   1975-1994 

box folder

Public policy correspondence   1994  

3 50

Public policy correspondence   1993  

3 51

Public policy correspondence   1992  

3 52

Public policy correspondence   1991  

3 53

Public policy correspondence   May - December 1990  

3 54

Public policy correspondence   January - April 1990  

3 55

Public policy correspondence   1989  

3 56

Pullman cable television correspondence   1988  

3 57

Public policy correspondence   1988  

3 58

Public policy correspondence   1987  

4 59

Public policy correspondence   1986  

4 60

Amendments to antitrust laws   1986  

4 61

Public policy correspondence   1985  

4 62

Public policy correspondence   1983-1984  

4 63

Public policy correspondence   1981-1982  

4 64

Public policy correspondence   1975-1980  

4 65

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Series 3  Personal correspondence   1936-1946 

box folder

Incoming correspondence to Esther Hendee   1936-1944  

5 66

Correspondence   December 1938  

5 67

Correspondence   January 1939  

5 68

Correspondence   February 1939  

5 69

Correspondence   March 1939  

5 70

Correspondence   April 1939  

5 71

Correspondence   May 1939  

5 72

Correspondence   June 1939  

5 73

Correspondence   July 1939  

5 74

Correspondence   August 1939  

5 75

Correspondence   September 1939  

5 76

Correspondence   October 1939  

6 77

Correspondence   November 1939  

6 78

Correspondence   December 1939  

6 79

Correspondence   January 1940  

6 80

Correspondence   November 1941  

6 81

Correspondence   December 1942  

6 82

Correspondence   circa January - March 1943  

6 83

Correspondence   January 1943  

6 84

Correspondence   February 1943  

6 85

Correspondence   March 1943  

6 86

Correspondence   April 1943  

6 87

Correspondence   May 1943  

6 88

Correspondence   June 1943  

6 89

Correspondence   July 1943  

6 90

Correspondence   August 1943  

6 91

Correspondence   September 1943  

6 92

Correspondence   October 1943  

6 93

Correspondence   November 1943  

6 94

Correspondence   December 1943  

6 95

Correspondence   January 1944  

6 96

Correspondence   March 1944  

6 97

Correspondence   April 1944  

6 98

Correspondence   May 1944  

6 99

Correspondence   June 1944  

7 100

Correspondence   July 1944  

7 101

Correspondence   August 1944 - November 1944  

7 102

Correspondence   December 1 - 19, 1944  

7 103

Correspondence   December 20 - 31, 1944  

7 104

Correspondence   January 1 - 15, 1945  

7 105

Correspondence   January 16 - 31, 1945  

7 106

Correspondence   February 1 - 14, 1945  

7 107

Correspondence   February 15 - 28, 1945  

7 108

Correspondence   March 1945  

7 109

Correspondence   April 1 - 15, 1945  

8 110

Correspondence   April 16 - 30, 1945  

8 111

Correspondence   May 1945  

8 112

Correspondence   June 1945  

8 113

Correspondence   July - September 1945  

8 114

Correspondence   October - December 1945  

8 115

Correspondence   January 1946  

8 116

Miscellaneous correspondence   undated  

8 117

Miscellaneous correspondence   undated  

8 118

Miscellaneous correspondence   undated  

8 119

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