Dick Kautz papers

Collection

Identifier: Y.USA.70

Staff Only

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

Papers of Iowa agricultural industrialist Richard C. "Dick" Kautz, concerning his volunteer work with the YMCA, primarily in his capacity as chairman of the National Board of the Young Men's Christian Associations, a position to which he was elected in 1970, and his work with the World Alliance of YMCAs. The collection also includes some material documenting his work with the Muscatine, Iowa YMCA, particularly the successful building fund drive he helped lead in 1966.

Dates

1957-2003.
Majority of material found in ( 1968-1980)

Creator

Kautz, Richard C. (Person)

Language of Materials

English

Use of Materials:

This collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright, ownership, and to obtain all the necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials.

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD C. KAUTZ

Richard C. "Dick" Kautz was born 1 August 1916 in Muscatine, Iowa, the son of Carl and Lea Amlong Kautz. He married Mary Elda Stein in 1939. The couple had eight children.

Kautz graduated from the University of Iowa College of Business in 1939. After working for General Electric in Schnectady, New York from 1939 to 1943 he returned to Muscatine to work at Grain Processing Corporation, founded to produce grain alcohol used in the production of butadiene in the WWII Synthetic Rubber program. He became chairman of GPC in 1966. From 1988 until his retirement in 1998, he was chairman of Varied Investments Inc., a holding company of which GPC was a subsidiary.

Kautz was active in the Muscatine YMCA from childhood and became more deeply involved in the 1950s, when he participated in a reorganization study. He later went on to serve as president of the Muscatine Y and then as a member of the National Board of Young Men's Christian Associations of the United States and a delegate to the World Alliance of YMCAs. He was elected chairman of the National Board in 1970. He also served as vice chair of the World Alliance.

In 1996, Kautz and his family donated over $800,000 to the YMCA Archives, by then located at the University of Minnesota. The gift funded a major preservation project and prompted the renaming of the Archives in honor of the family.

Extent

2 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers of agricultural industrialist and YMCA Archives patron Richard C. "Dick" Kautz, documenting his volunteer work as chairman of the National Board of the YMCAs United States and for the World Alliance of YMCAs, as well as for the Muscatine, Iowa YMCA.

Processing Information:

Processed as part of Fast Processing Project II, April 2009, as collection FP132. Material has been minimally processed.

Catalog Record ID number: 9974057609401701