Denis Wadley was active in the revitalization of the Minnesota chapter of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) in the late 1960s and served as its vice chairman for one year before being elected chairman at the age of 29 in 1969. He held this office for three years and served the following year as the organization's executive director. In later years, he functioned as executive secretary and vice president. Wadley was an active member of the national ADA from 1961 and was also involved with the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and a number of other political organizations.
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Wadley was a graduate of DeLaSalle High School and held degrees from Mankato State College and the University of Minnesota. He worked as a librarian, high school teacher, legal researcher, and book reviewer, and served as an aide to then Lieutenant Governor Rudy Perpich. Wadley ran an unsuccessful campaign in 1973 for a position on the Minneapolis Library Board.
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is the oldest independent liberal political organization in the United States. It was created in 1947 by leaders of the Union for Democratic Action (UDA), a liberal group that had been organized in 1941 to oppose fascism in the United States and abroad. Following World War II, the UDA's leaders became increasingly anti-communist and they reorganized as the ADA to portray their organization as specifically democratic in purpose. The ADA positioned itself as a progressive organization, supporting expansion of New Deal programs, protection of civil liberties, involvement with the United Nations, and aid to other democratic peoples.
In the years that followed, the ADA encouraged liberal action on civil rights and civil liberties issues, the Vietnam War, the move to impeach President Richard Nixon, nuclear arms control, apartheid, workers' rights, women's issues, increases in the minimum wage, and the Federal budget and tax policy.
The Minnesota chapter of the ADA was provisionally organized at a meeting of about 100 people on March 9, 1947. By the time a statewide convention was held three months later, its membership had swelled to 250. During its first years, the chapter concentrated on expanding membership throughout the state, publishing a newsletter, developing a state program, campaigning for continued national rent control, and revitalizing the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). The latter activity was so successful that, by the late 1950s, the chapter found it difficult to maintain a separate existence outside the party.
The Democratic Party's involvement with the Vietnam conflict appears to have been a major factor in the revitalization of the ADA in Minnesota. The chapter was rechartered in April 1968 and held an organizing convention the following November. The invitation to the convention presented the ADA as a liberal organization free from party ties. In the following years, the chapter focused on national issues such as the draft, drug legislation, gun control, spying, migrant workers, and tax reform. On a local level, issues such as the size of the state legislature, gay rights, and bail reform were addressed. The chapter also endorsed candidates on a nonpartisan basis and produced surveys of the Minnesota legislature, rating individual legislators on a selection of issues deemed important by the ADA.
Historical information on Denis Wadley was taken from the collection. Information on the ADA was taken from: Americans for Democratic Action Papers, 1932-1965: A Guide to the Microfilm Edition, edited by Jack T. Erickson; Americans for Democratic Action: Its Role in National Politics, by Clifton Brock; The ADA: Americans for Democratic Action, Its Advocates in Government, Its History and Its Program, published by the Minnesota Republican Party; the ADA Web site (http://adaction.org/); and the collection.
The Minnesota ADA files and related papers mainly comprise the organizational records of the Minnesota chapter of the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). The records, which were compiled by Wadley, consist of bylaws, minutes, correspondence, financial records, membership records, newsletters, news releases, newspaper clippings, subject files, and committee files. The main topics covered by these papers include: the draft, drug legislation, gun control, spying, migrant workers, tax reform, the Minnesota legislature, gay rights, and women's issues.
Also included in the collection are a small number of Wadley's personal papers, which concern his campaign for the Minneapolis Library Board, his firing from a teaching position, and his involvement with other political organizations and issues.
These records are organized into the following sections:
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin holds the records of the national
organization of Americans for Democratic Action. A guide to the records,
Accession number:13,102; 13,524
Processed by: Candice L. Hart, November 2000
Catalog ID number:09-00320742
Correspondence consists of memos to committee and board members; letters to voters and newspapers supporting endorsed candidates; and letters to and from candidates. Also included is a list of proposed questions for candidates running for Minneapolis mayor and city council in 1977. The minutes mainly record interviews with and endorsements of candidates for a variety of local and national offices.
Correspondence consists of letters to legislators on various issues; memos to the board; and letters from the Gay Rights Legislative Committee. Also included are the legislative program procedures from the Massachusetts chapter and the Pennsylvania chapter's 1971-1972 State Legislative Voting Record. Most of the minutes are from the Legislative Survey Committee and mainly record decisions on which bills to include in the 1973 survey. The minutes of one 1977 meeting of the Legislative Committee are also included.
Materials consist of correspondence, notes, statements, newspaper clippings, reports (by the ADA and the Minnesota Conservative Union), and lobbyist registration forms. Subjects include lobbying priorities and lowering the state's age of majority.
Materials mainly consist of policy statements on a variety of issues, including American Indians, farming, taxes, abortion, and social security.
Correspondence from the 1940s consists of letters to Richard O. Hanson from the Minnesota ADA chapter and informational materials on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Materials from 1968 deal mainly with the reorganization of the Minnesota chapter, and 1969 correspondence mainly concerns preparations for the chapter's second state convention.
From 1970 to 1973, most of the correspondence is to and from Denis Wadley in his capacities as chapter chairman and executive director, with much of it concerning organizational issues with the national organization. In 1970, other subjects include the Northern States Power Company nuclear power plant at Monticello, the formation of an ADA chapter on the campus of Winona State College, and Hubert H. Humphrey's candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Subjects covered in 1971 include the Vietnam War and the draft. In 1972, subjects include: the 25th national convention; a national board meeting held in Minneapolis; national, local, and state elections, including internal controversy over the chapter's support of Allan Spear over John Cairns for state senator and the financial statement for Volunteers for Spear; state redistricting; and the 1971 legislative survey. In 1973, major topics include the funeral industry, gay rights, abortion, and the movement to impeach President Richard Nixon.
From 1974 to 1983, most correspondence is to or from chapter presidents Doris Caranicas and Lois Gibson and covers a variety of subjects.
Materials consist of a cash book covering January 1972 to May 1973; monthly dues reports to the national ADA office; records from a party held in honor of national ADA president Leon Shull; forms from contributors to the ADA Carter-Mondale Committee; information concerning financial reports to the state Ethical Practices Board; and membership dues lists from 1974.
Materials consist of correspondence, reports, copies of legislative bills, and other background information on the topics.
Materials include mailing lists, lists of prospective members, lists of delegates/alternates, lists of Minnesota ADA office holders, and an undated membership list.
Materials from the 1940s include one set of minutes, the officers' report (both from 1948), and a progress report from the steering committee for the 1949 legislative conference. From 1969 to 1981, minutes from the state board meetings, state conventions, and some committees, reports from national board meetings and state committees, agendas, resolutions, and meeting agendas are included.
Topics in 1969 and 1970 include the NSP power plant in Monticello, endorsement of Earl Craig for Senator rather than Hubert Humphrey, and the first legislative survey. Issues in 1971 include drugs, tax reform, rent control, the draft, gun control, spying, and tuition grants. Major topics in 1972 were rural development policy, rent control, sabbatical-type vacations for all Americans, and the Mideast. In 1973 subjects included the United Farm Workers strike, abortion, tax relief for the elderly, the "Demogrant" program, Wounded Knee, affirmative action, and gay rights. From 1974, minutes cover mainly internal matters.
One folder contains ADA newsletters, which cover the same major subjects found in the correspondence and minutes. The second folder contains undated enclosures that announce various events.
Clippings are mainly from Minnesota newspapers and cover ADA activities. Major topics include the Humphrey vs. Craig DFL primary contest for U.S. Senate and other ADA endorsements, the draft, state redistricting, and gay rights.
Subjects are the same as those found in the correspondence, minutes, and newspaper clippings.
One photograph of Wadley and one of Wadley and a group of unidentified people.
American Conservative Union publications, including
Informational pieces from the Minnesota Clergy and Laity Concerned.
Miscellaneous papers.
Booklets and articles written by Davies, including
Campaign literature, newspaper clippings, and other papers.
Democratic Planning Group newsletters and other papers.
Informational pieces on voucher systems.
The Federal Trade Commission's "Trade Practice Rules for the Funeral Service Industry" and "Antitrust Aspects of the Funeral Industry."
Miscellaneous papers, including publications of the Gay Rights Legislative Committee and the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights. Subjects are the protest over Northwestern Bell's hiring policy and state legislative bills dealing with human rights and sexuality.
ADA's analysis (35 pp.) of the early months of Wallace's 1948 presidential campaign.
A state senate candidate questionnaire tally, a report on the state senate judiciary committee, list of registered lobbyists in 1973, and information on a proposal to reduce the requirements to ratify an amendment to the state's constitution.
Conference on Alternative State and Local Public Policy newsletters and other miscellaneous papers touching on unions, foreign policy, Chilean political prisoners, torture, and the Kemp-Roth tax cut plan, among other subjects.
One copy of the
Miscellaneous papers, including the Minnesota party's Application for Exemption from the Provisions of Minnesota Laws 1974, Chapter 470, Section 20, and two partial lists of application supporters.
Campaign to Stop Government Spying newsletters and miscellaneous papers concerning the FBI and CIA.
Miscellaneous papers, including
Miscellaneous papers regarding grape and lettuce boycotts.
Correspondence regarding a study of voter registration procedures in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
Miscellaneous papers on the subjects of day care, abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment, and sex discrimination.
Miscellaneous papers, including Young Americans for Freedom issue statements, newsletters, and correspondence.
Materials include letters to Wadley, newspaper clippings, and other materials that relate to Wadley's firing from a teaching position at Holy Trinity High School in Winstead, Minnesota, his 1973 campaign for Minneapolis Library Board, his testimony at a trial of a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of income tax credits to parents of non-public school pupils, and his support of the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life.