YORK LANGTON:

Businessman, peace advocate, and political and community activist, Langton was born in Pembina, North Dakota in 1903 and received his B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1928. He then entered the wholesale and retail hardware business, employed first by Marshall-Wells in Duluth, and later joining the Coast-to-Coast chain in 1938 as manager of franchises, eventually becoming vice president of the firm and establishing many stores before retiring in 1968.

As a peace activist Langton's main interest was the United Nations, particularly the United Nations Association, of which he was Minnesota chairman and a member of the national board. Through his work with the Association and similar groups, he became acquainted with many national and international figures and was instrumental in bringing many of them to Minnesota for rallies and speeches. He was also active in the Minneapolis Roundtable of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the March of Dimes, the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, and various mental health groups. His many activities in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) included the chairmanship of the Hennepin County DFL, and he was an early supporter and friend of Hubert H. Humphrey. Langton died in Minneapolis in 1989.

Biographical information was taken from the papers. Additional information is found in the first folder in box 1.

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The correspondence is largely in the form of subject files containing much information on Langton's associations with many local, national, and international personages including Frances Humphrey Howard, Max Kampelman, Ann Landers, Harold E. Stassen, and Thomas J. Watson, with information on the United Nations, world peace, and disarmament. Of special interest are seven folders of minutes, correspondence, and programs of United Nations Rally, Inc., a yearly affair that brought many speakers of note to the Twin Cities (1979-1985). At the end of the collection is a small group of Langton's speeches (1978-1986) to a number of Minnesota groups revealing his feelings toward the United Nations, peace, disarmament, and human rights.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. York E. Langton Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,897

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, June 1993.

Catalog ID number: 990017293280104294

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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:

Cold War.

Cold War.

Disarmament.

International agencies.

International cooperation.

Political participation -- Minnesota.

Political parties -- Minnesota.

Places:

United States -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union.

United States -- Foreign relations -- 1981-.

Minneapolis (Minn.)

Persons:

Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978.

Howard, Frances Humphrey.

Kampelman, Max M., 1920-2013.

Landers, Ann.

Stassen, Harold E. (Harold Edward), 1907-2001.

Suzman, Susan.

Turck, Charles Joseph, 1890-1989.

Vento, Bruce.

Watson, Thomas J., 1914-.

Organizations:

United Nations.

Types of Documents:

Speeches.

Occupations:

Businessmen -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

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