Wesley E. Disney Collection

Collection

Identifier: CAC-CC-013

Staff Only

The Disney Collection consists of 8 linear feet with the majority of the materials covering his tenure in office, 1931-1944. Most of the documents were originally housed in scrapbooks, including newspaper clippings. Of particular note is Disney’s column, “Washington Letter,” that he wrote for local newspapers. There are also lists that contain extensive data about his constituents. The materials cover a variety of topics including prohibition, the Grand River Dam, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the oil industry, labor politics, the Bonus Army, and the New Deal. While in Congress, Disney served on the Banking and Currency and Ways and Means Committees, but the bulk of his legislative records have not survived. The George Schwabe Collection (Schwabe was Disney's successor) contains ten folders of Disney material from 1920-1939 pertaining to Indian Affairs, specifically the Osage Civilization Fund Bill and Pawnee land claims. Presumably, these files were left for Schwabe as background material.

Dates

1909-1958
Majority of material found in 1931-1944

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

13.25 Linear Feet (11 containers)

Additional Description

Biographical Information:

Wesley Ernest Disney, seven-term congressman from Oklahoma's First District, played a long and important role in Oklahoma politics. Reared and educated in Kansas, where he was born on October 31, 1883, Disney was admitted to the bar, and moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1908. While in Muskogee, Disney began his political career by becoming county attorney, and then went on to become a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

While in the State House (1919-1924) Disney, a Democrat, voted in favor of the 18th and 19th amendments and numerous progressive labor laws. He also assumed a leadership role in the impeachment proceedings against then Governor John C. "Jack" Walton. On the merit of his accomplishments he ran a successful campaign for the U.S. House in 1930. He remained in the House until 1944, at which time he commenced a long anticipated run for the Senate against incumbent Elmer Thomas. Disney, by this time an anti-New Deal Democrat, took on the Roosevelt-supporting Thomas, claiming that Thomas was backed by the "CIO goon squads." Disney lost in the primary and lived out his professional life as a lawyer in Washington, D.C. He died in 1961.

Arrangement of Materials:

The Disney Collection is arranged into 3 series: Manuscripts, Oversize, and Photographs. The Manuscripts series is organized according to material type and then arranged chronologically or alphabetically. The Photographs series is organized topically.