REPUBLICAN WORKSHOP OF MINNESOTA:

The Republican Workshop of Hennepin County was founded by a group of prominent Minneapolis women as an independent political education organization to educate and better inform the local community about Republican platforms and issues. The idea of a Republican workshop soon branched into other urban areas of Minnesota and, during 1950-1951, a statewide organization was established, known as the Republican Workshop of Minnesota.

The Minnesota workshop set up a national extension committee in 1953 to encourage and aid in the formation of workshops in other states. Requests for help were received and addressed, and through, this committee, workshop organizations were started in two parts of Tennessee and in Iowa. An Indiana workshop was also formed out of the 1952 Women for Eisenhower movement.

In 1955 the National Council of Republican Workshops was incorporated under the statutes of the District of Columbia with four actively participating state workshops: Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, and Minnesota. The National Council also formed an Extension Committee and by 1956 new workshops were established in the states of Illinois and Tennessee.

The overall goal of the workshops was to involve uninterested or disinterested voters in the electoral process. To do so, discussion group leaders began by detailing the individual party structure (local, state, and national levels), and the overall two party system. They clearly outlined the differences between the Republican and Democratic platforms, and then discussed relevant Republican issues. These included the farm policy of the Republican Party, the problems of states rights vs. civil rights, U.S. education policy, the national economy, labor issues, and foreign policy (specifically, U.S. policy towards the Soviet Union and overseas aid).

Prominent Minnesota women in the organization included Mrs. John Pillsbury of Wayzata, Mrs. Stanley Peterson of Minneapolis, and Mrs. Donald Guthrie of St. Paul. Also involved was Elmer Andersen of St. Paul.

During the course of the 1970s and 1980s, the organization seemed to revert to a series of state workshops rather than one united National Council. The Minnesota Workshop disbanded around 1980.

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The records document the history, activities, operations, programs, and policies of a political education organization that originally targeted women of Hennepin County and eventually spread across the nation. Arranged by organizational entities, the records include materials from the Hennepin County Republican Workshop (1945-1966); the Republican Workshops of Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and other Minnesota counties (1955-1972); the Republican Workshop of Minnesota (1946-1980); and the National Council of Republican Workshops (1951-1971).

Common to each entity, the records include articles of incorporation, bylaws, committee files, correspondence, financial records, annual meeting materials, minutes, reports, rosters, brochures, newspaper clippings, sample books, newsletters, and other printed material.

The bulk of the material focuses on the National Council with documentation covering the period 1949-1980. Included within these materials are board meeting minutes, biennial convention files, financial files, committee materials, miscellaneous files, state and local bulletins, and various state workshop files.

The internal operations of the workshops are richly documented with an emphasis on their constant expansion, educational activities, leadership training, relevant political issues, and general promotion of the Republican Party and its candidates. Also included are a number of sample books, or scrapbooks, which document the achievements of the Republican Party at the state and national levels.

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These papers are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Republican Workshop of Minnesota. Workshop Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 11,833; 12,360; 15,115

Processing Information:

Processed by: Monica Ralston, March 1997.

Catalog ID number: 990017336420104294

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1953-1961

1961-1964

1964-1965

1965-1971

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Duplicate copies of the Republican Workshop of Minnesota's statewide bulletin, Education for Action!, is available in the Minnesota Historical Society serials collection.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Associations, institutions, etc -- Minnesota.

Associations, institutions, etc. -- United States.

Congresses and conventions -- Minnesota.

Education -- Political aspects -- Minnesota.

Education -- Political aspects -- United States.

Elections -- Minnesota.

Elections -- United States.

Political campaigns -- Minnesota.

Political campaigns -- United States.

Political clubs -- Minnesota.

Political clubs -- United States.

Political conventions -- United States.

Political participation -- Minnesota.

Political participation -- United States.

Political parties.

Politics and government.

Women -- Political activity.

Women -- Societies and clubs.

Women -- Minnesota -- Societies and clubs.

Women -- Political activity -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Andersen, Elmer L., 1909-2004.

Judd, Walter H., 1898-1994.

Pillsbury, Katharine Clark, 1916-2006.

Organizations:

Hennepin County Republican Workshop.

National Council of Republican Workshops.

Republican Party (Minn.)

Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )

Meetings:

Republican National Convention.

Places:

Minnesota -- Politics and government -- 1951-

Document Types:

Correspondence.

Minutes (administrative records).

Bylaws (administrative records).

Articles of incorporation.

Financial records.

Newsletters.

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