21 containers. (10.5 linear feet of shelf space.) (6000 items.)
Collection Number:
Cage
294
Summary:
Correspondence, clippings, notes,
reports and other papers re: real estate and appraisals, professional
organizations, politics and government. Included are correspondence and notes
of W.J. Carrothers re: appraisal of lands for public works projects.
Repository:
Washington State University Libraries
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special
Collections
Funding for encoding this finding
aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Fred C. Ashley was born in Spokane in 1899. After his graduation from
Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, he was commissioned an U.S. Army
balloon officer, but the war ended before he had an active assignment. After
the end of World War I, he returned to Spokane and was employed by several
firms in the automotive and insurance fields until 1938. In that year, he
organized his own real estate business. In the 1950's he specialized in real
estate appraisals and he and his associates became active in condemnation
proceedings involving public works projects. Ashley ultimately became one of
the leading figures in the appraisal profession and in recognition was elected
to senior membership in the American Society of Appraisers, an organization of
which he was regional governor from 1964 to 1968. As an adjunct to his real
estate interests, he was a developer and builder of residential homes in
Spokane during the early 1940's. He was also a rancher in the Colville area
from 1946 to 1963.
Ashley entered politics as a Republican about 1940. He served in the
Washington State Legislature as representative from Spokane County from 1942 to
1947. He sponsored the Teacher's Retirement System Law of 1947 and several
pieces of aviation legislation. He also authored a wartime resolution
commending the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. About 1948,
Ashley became a Democrat, and from 1952 to 1958, he served as Stevens County
Democratic Chairman. He was an organizer of the 1952 Adlai Stevenson campaign
and a delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention. He ran
unsuccessfully for the Washington State Senate in 1954 and 1958, and in 1960
was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Congressman representing the Fifth
District of Washington.
Active in the public electric power movement in both Washington and
Idaho, Ashley was for a time a member of the Bonneville Power Administration
Advisory Committee. He received another important appointment in 1959 when he
was made a member of the Washington State Advisory Board on Public Assistance,
and remained a member until its dissolution in 1965. He also held appointment
as Director of the Stevens County Civil Defense Unit for several years during
the 1950's.
Content Description
The papers of Fred Ashley are concerned with his various activities
from 1941 to 1970. Approximately one-half relates to real estate appraisals
performed by Ashley, or his associate W. J. Carrothers, during the 1950's and
1960's. Although this material contains some private appraisals, much of it is
concerned with public works projects, such as the John Day Dam, the Albeni
Falls Dam and various highway construction projects. The appraisal papers, as
well as certain real estate transaction records, have been retained in Ashley's
working arrangement.
The collection also contains material relevant to real estate and
appraisal organizations, especially the American Society of Appraisers.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
This collection is open for research use.
Restrictions on Use :
Literary rights in the unpublished writings and other properties in
this collection are reserved by Washington State University Library.
Preferred Citation :
[Item Description]. Cage
294, Fred C. Ashley
Papers. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The portion of the collection relevant to real estate and appraisal
organizations has been arranged into chronological series. The remainder of the
collection, also in chronological order, is made up of partial records of
various business enterprises, personal papers and photographs, and political
papers. Of the political and governmental papers, half relate to the Washington
State Advisory Board on Public Assistance; the other half is concerned with
electoral and legislative politics.
Acquisition Information :
The Washington State University Library acquired the papers of Fred C.
Ashley, real estate broker and appraiser, rancher, businessman and political
figure of Spokane and Colville, Washington, as a gift from Mr. Ashley in
1970.
Related Materials :
Further Fred C. Ashley papers are located in
Cage
501.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Series 1: Political and
Governmental Papers.
Container(s)
Description
Correspondence. This sub-series
contains personal political correspondence relative to the Washington State
Legislature, the Washington State Democratic Party, the National Democratic
Convention of 1956, political appointments and expressions of opinion. Included
is correspondence with Mon Walgren, Arthur B. Langlie, Albert Rosellini, Lon
Johnson, Daniel Evans, Warren Magnuson, Henry Jackson, Tom Foley, Don Magnuson,
Luke Wright, Adlai Stevenson, Averell Harriman, Stuart Symington, John F.
Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert H. Humphrey, and others. , 1942-1970
Box
Folder
1
1
1942-1944
1
2
1946-1951
1
3
1953-1957
1
4
1958
1
5
1959-1970
Box
Folder
2
6
The "Palestine Resolution".
Copies of House Joint Memorial No. 1, 1944 Session, letters of support for the
resolution and printed material relative to the Palestine situation.
, 1944
2
7
1947 Legislature Session Bills,
with changes and revisions noted., 1947
3
8
Stevens County Democratic
Party, 1954-1962
3
9
Election returns and
maps, 1950-1962
3
10
Democratic National
Convention, 1956
3
11
Clippings and
Pamphlets, 1954-1960
3
12
State Senate
Campaigns, 1954; , 1958
3
13
Campaign for United States
Congress, 1960
3
14
Political
Miscellaneous
State Advisory Board on Public
Assistance. This sub-series contains correspondence with members of the Board
and with officials of the Department of Public Assistance, reports of the
Board, minutes of meetings and supplementary information collected for the
Board's consideration.
American Society of Appraisers.
Letters, printed materials, circulars and reports of the American Society of
Appraiser's Northwest Regional Office, both before and during Ashley's tenure
as Regional Governor. Also included is correspondence of the various local
chapters that made up the regional unit. , 1958-1969
Box
Folder
6
20
Regional Office, 1958-1961
6
21
Regional Office, 1962
6
22
Regional Office, 1963
7
23
Regional Office, 1964
7
24
Regional Office, 1965-1966
7
25
Regional Office, 1967-1969
7
26
Billings Chapter, 1961-1964
7
27
Vancouver, B.C.
Chapter, 1962-1964
7
28
Portland Chapter, 1962-1964
7
29
Seattle Chapter, 1961-1964
7
30
Spokane Chapter, 1963-1964
Box
Folder
8
31
Real Estate Organizations. This
group contains papers relative to the Spokane Realty Board, National
Association of Realty Boards, Idaho Realty Board, National Association of Farm
and Land Brokers, and the Spokane Real Estate Trader's Club, 1943-1967
Personal papers. This group
contains some "random" papers relative to Ashley's insurance policies,
charities, book clubs and activities. Included is material from the American
Platform Association, a public speaking group, and the text of a speech on the
mental health of financial executives. Also included are Ashley resumes and a
short biographical sketch. , 1945-1965
8
34
Photographs. Portrait and photograph of
Ashley, his family, and professional and political associates. Some identified.
Included is a presentation portrait of Warren Magnuson. , 1943-1967
Correspondence. Letters regarding
appraisal contracts and bills for services. , 1960-1962
Appraisal notes, papers, and
reports. Notes, reports, and maps relative to the John Day Dam, the Ice Harbor
Dam, the Priest Rapids Dam, the Albeni Falls Dam, Bonneville Power
Administration, the Kalispell and Cut Bank Air Force Station, and highway
projects. , 1951-1962
Box
Folder
19
70-71
Washington State Highway
Department, 1959-1962
Federal Government (public
works and military agencies)
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Personal Names :
Ashley, Fred C., 1899- --Archives
(
creator)
Carrothers, W. J.
Subject Terms :
Legislators --
Washington (State)--Correspondence
Real estate
business--Washington (State)--Spokane--Records and correspondence
Real property
--Valuation--Washington (State)--Spokane--Records and correspondence
