Clarence A. Bottolfsen papers
Scope and Contents
The Bottolfsen papers contain a variety of items. There are three boxes of speeches dating from 1926 to 1961, and one box of correspondence dated 1932 to 1964. There are also folders containing items on the American Legion, the Republican Party, and the Rotary, as well as information on the Craters of the Moon National Monument, Abraham Lincoln, and the Idaho Territorial Centennial. Also included are newspaper clippings and scrapbooks.
The thirteen boxes of C.A. Bottolfsen papers have been separated according to type of material, subject or organization concerned. The speeches have been organized by type where possible, however, many speeches are bound in folders. In this case the speeches have been left in their original order. Correspondence has been arranged chronologically where possible. Letters bound in folders have been left in their original order. Newspaper clippings have been organized by subject; entire sections of newspapers have not been arranged. File cards have been made for the Speeches, Correspondence, History and non-newspaper Miscellaneous Series.
In 2022/2023, the collection was refoldered to straighten out folded papers and remove metal fasteners or bindings. This reduced the size by about 1.5 cubic feet. Information contained on file cards is now also incorporated into the finding aid.
Dates
- Creation: 1858-1964
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
Clarence A. Bottolfsen was born October 10, 1891 in Superior, Wisconsin. While still a boy he moved to Fessender, North Dakota. While in high school he worked as a printer's devil in the local printing shop. The man who owned the shop moved to Arco, Idaho and purchased the Arco Advertiser, a weekly newspaper. Soon he sent for Bottolfsen, then 19, to work for him. The town of Arco is in the Lost River region; the river suddenly disappeared and Arco became a dust bowl. Business dropped off, but Bottolfsen took over the Advertiser and turned it into one of Idaho's leading weeklies. From 1934-1938 he was editor and general manager of the Blackfoot Daily Bulletin. He retired from the newspaper business in 1947, but continued serving as correspondent for several newspapers. He also wrote free lance articles.
Turning to his interest in politics, he served in the Idaho House of Representatives in 1921 and 1923, was chief clerk of the House in the 1925 and 1927 sessions and was again elected to the House in 1929 and 1931, serving as speaker in the 1931 session. In 1938 he began his first term as governor; the following election he was defeated by Chase A. Clark, but in the election following that he defeated Clark for the Governorship. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1944, but was defeated by Glen H. Taylor. He served as chief clerk of the Idaho House in 1949 and 1951; in 1953 he became Deputy Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. Senate. In 1955 and 1956 he was again Chief Clerk of the Idaho House, at the same time serving as executive secretary to Senator Herman Welker. He was elected to the state Senate in 1958, re-elected in 1960, but declined to seek another term in 1962 due to ill health.
Skilled as a parliamentarian, Bottolfsen was elected permanent parliamentarian for the National Education Association at their Detroit meeting in 1937, a position which he held for 17 years.
His other public services include serving as GOP state chairman, 1936-1937, State Commander of the American Legion, 1934-35, past master of the Arco Masonic Lodge, past deputy grand master of the Idaho Masonic Lodge, memberships in the El Korah Shrine of Boise, Arco Chamber of Commerce, and the Arco Rotary Club.
C.A. Bottolfsen died in the Veteran's Hospital, Boise, on July 18, 1964. He had suffered from emphysema for several years.
Extent
8 linear feet
Abstract
Speeches,correspondence, and other papers of Bottolfsen's newspaper business in Arco, Idaho, and his political career.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated January 1966.
Processing Information
Materials in this collection may contain images, language, or other content that may be offensive or disturbing. These materials are a product of a time and place in history and should be viewed within their historical context. To maintain historical accuracy, the materials appear as they were originally created to serve as historical evidence of the social mindsets, occurrences, behaviors, and norms of their time. They do not reflect the current views of the University of Idaho. For more information about how we treat materials with offensive or disturbing content, please see the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Offensive Content Policy https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/policies.html#offensive-material-in-archival-collections.
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Clarence A. Bottolfsen papers
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen. Updated by Amy Thompson in 2023.
- Date
- 1979
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository