George H. Wilson Collection

Collection

Identifier: CAC-CC-057

Staff Only

The Wilson papers include materials from the years 1927-1983. While the bulk of the documents cover Wilson's congressional career (1949-1950), there are materials from his service in various judgeships as well. Topics and types of materials found in the Wilson papers are those which one would normally find in a congressional collection and include correspondence, press releases, legislation and reports, publications, speeches, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous. The collection is arranged in seven series-subject, committee, post office, miscellaneous, addition, oversize, and maps.

Dates

1927-1985
Majority of material found in 1949-1950

Creator

Wilson, George H., Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 8th district (1949-1951), 1905-1985 (Person)

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

53.58 Linear Feet (40 containers)

Additional Description

Biographical Information:

George Howard Wilson was born in Matoon, Illinois, on August 21, 1905. He and his family moved to Enid, Oklahoma, in 1910, where he attended public schools and graduated from high school in 1922. Following his graduation from Phillips University in Enid, he attended the University of Michigan Law School and later transferred to the University of Oklahoma Law School, where he received his L.L.B. degree in 1929. That same year, he married Myrna Kathryn Reams. The couple had four children.

Wilson joined the law practice established by his father in Enid. He served as a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1934 to 1938 and as city attorney of Enid from 1939 to 1942. From 1942 to 1946 he served as a colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Department of the Army. A Democrat, he was elected to the Eighty-first Congress (1949-1951) as a representative of Oklahoma's Eighth Congressional District. Though he served only one term, Wilson was on the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. As a member of the Subcommittee on Public Health, Science, and Commerce, he and other congressmen were charged with considering legislation for a national health program. They toured western Europe to investigate such programs. Following his defeat in 1950, he resumed his law practice in Enid. In 1951, he was named director of the Division of Criminal Investigation of the State Department of Public Safety. The following year, he was appointed as a state judge and later served in various judgeships. Wilson died in Enid on July 16, 1985.

Arrangement of Materials:

The collection is divided into 8 series:

1) Subject

2) Committee

3) Post Office

4) Miscellaneous

5) Addition

6) Oversize

7) Maps

8) Photographs

The Subject Series is arranged alphabetically by subject. The Committee Series is arranged alphabetically then chronologically by year. The Post Office Series is arranged alphabetically by town where a post office is located. The Miscellaneous Series is grouped by material type with the grouping of correspondence files arranged alphabetically. The Addition Series is arranged alphabetically. The Oversize Series is arranged alphabetically by subject with scrapbooks sorted to the end of the series. Many of the photographs in the Photographs Series are arranged into groups based on event or content.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Wilson gave his congressional papers to the University of Oklahoma in 1950. The Wilson family donated additional materials from the former congressman's judicial career as well as some personal items to the university in 1987.