Milton C. Garber Collection

Collection

Identifier: CAC-CC-021

Staff Only

The Garber Collection contains materials from both his time as Mayor of Enid and as a member of Congress. It includes correspondence, speeches, supporting material, legislation, and publications mostly relating to the period of Garber's congressional career. Garber's legislative interests centered around adjusted compensation for veterans, agriculture, especially the Agricultural Marketing Act, salaries, and wages. The Garber Collection contains speeches delivered in the House and before the Republican National Committee concerning party views of issues, achievements of the party, and the Republican administration.

After leaving Washington, D.C., Garber remained very interested in politics, national affairs, and World War II. The Subject Files for Speeches reflect this interest and contain clippings, news releases, speeches, and notes from 1933-1940s. These materials are arranged alphabetically by topic. Included in this section are scripts from Garber's radio talks given in 1932.

The Post Office Files consist of correspondence relating to the appointment of postmasters and rural carriers and to changes in postal routes in Oklahoma from 1923-1933. The Miscellaneous Files, 1930s-1940s, consist mainly of business and personal correspondence. The Oversized Material, also from the 1930s and 1940s, consists mainly of newspapers. There are also a small number of photographs in the collection.

Dates

1904-1946

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Use:

The University of Oklahoma asserts no claim of copyright over photographs in this collection taken by private citizens. Any publication of such photographs requires the consent of the copyright holder.

Extent

13.75 Linear Feet (9 containers)

Additional Description

Biographical Information:

Born in Humboldt, California, November 30, 1867, Milton Cline Garber was reared on a farm in Iowa where he attended public school. Garber received his college education at Upper Iowa University in Fayette from 1887-1890. He attended law school at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City from 1891 to 1893 and was admitted to the bar in 1893 in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory.

Garber, his father, and brother arrived in Oklahoma in 1893 to make the run into the Cherokee Strip. They settled in Garfield County and established a general store at what became Garber, Oklahoma. Milton Garber married Lucy B. Bradley of Moberly, Missouri, in 1900. In 1902 he accepted an appointment as probate judge to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James K. Beaucamp. In 1904 Garber was elected to this post and served until 1906, when he was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Oklahoma and judge of the Fifth Judicial District. Following Oklahoma statehood, Judge Garber was elected judge of the Twentieth Judicial District and served until 1912. He then resigned to enter the private practice of law. In company with his brother, B. A. Garber, he opened up the Garber oil fields in Garfield County. Milton Garber was also engaged in the newspaper business as president of the Enid Publishing Company and in various agricultural pursuits.

In 1919, Garber was elected mayor of Enid, Oklahoma, and served in that post until 1921. In 1922 he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Eighth District of Oklahoma where he served from March 1923 through March 1933. While in Congress, Garber served on the following committees: Expenditures in the Interior Department, Indian Affairs, Irrigation and Reclamation, Public Buildings and Grounds, Roads, and Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Garber was defeated for reelection in 1932 by E. W. Marland, Democrat of Ponca City.

Following his retirement from the House, Garber served as a co-publisher and editor of the Enid Morning News and the Enid Daily Eagle. In 1942 he was elected to membership in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. While on vacation in Minnesota, Milton Garber died of a heart attack, September 12, 1948. He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Enid, Oklahoma.

Arrangement of Materials:

The Garber Collection is arranged into 6 series: Subject Files, Subject Files for Speeches, Post Office Files, Miscellaneous Materials, Oversized Materials, and Photographs. The majority of the collection is organized alphabetically by topic (or by city for the Post Office Files), while the Miscellaneous Materials and Oversized Materials are arranged topically. The Maps series is arranged chronologically.