GRACE CARLSON:
An Inventory of Her Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Carlson, Grace, 1906-. | |
| Title: | Grace Carlson papers. | |
| Dates: | 1929-1986. | |
| Abstract: | Biographical information, correspondence, newspaper clippings, speech transcripts, lecture notes, photographs, and miscellaneous materials relating largely to Carlson's activities in the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) (1939-1949) and as a professor of psychology at St. Mary's Junior College, Minneapolis (1954-1986). Carlson resigned from the party in the early 1950s, and retired from St. Mary's in 1979, but remained on its faculty as a volunteer. | |
| Quantity: | 1.75 cubic feet (2 boxes and 1 unboxed item). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for shelf location. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Grace Carlson, Socialist Workers Party activist and political contender, was born in St. Paul (Minn.) on November 14, 1906, the daughter of James A. and Mary (Nuebel) Holmes. She was educated in Catholic Schools in St. Paul, graduated from the College of St. Catherine in 1929, and received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota in 1930 and 1933 respectively. From 1933 to 1940 she was a lecturer at the university and a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the Minnesota Department of Education.
Carlson joined the Socialist Workers Party in 1940 and ran for the U.S. Senate. She then worked as a party organizer in Minnesota and New York. In 1941 she was imprisoned, along with 18 other party members, for treason under the Smith Act and served 16 months. In 1948 she was the party's candidate for vice president of the United States. After 1948 she left the party and taught at St. Mary's Nursing School (Minneapolis) for many years. She moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1985 and died there on July 7, 1992.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Materials concerning Carlson's SWP involvement consist largely of correspondence (1939-1945). The 1943-1945 correspondence, during Carlson's imprisonment under sedition charges, consists of almost daily communications between Carlson and her family and friends, and contains detailed information on prison life; family concerns; political activities, particularly the merger of the Minnesota Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties; and World War II. Other SWP papers include a speech, "Women in Prison," which Carlson delivered throughout the U.S. after her release (June-November 1945), and speech transcripts, newspaper clippings, flyers, and other papers relating to the party's 1948 presidential campaign. Farrell Dobbs and Carlson were presidential and vice-presidential candidates. A few letters from former party colleagues (1980s) and an FBI report on Carlson (1945) are also included.
The rest of the collection documents Carlson's career at St. Mary's Junior College. Included are lecture notes, class schedules, grades, information on alumnae activities, programs, college committee materials, and similar files. There are also a folder of materials on communes (1971-1972) and one containing photographs of Carlson, family, and friends, including an autographed portrait of Leon Trotsky and one from the 1948 campaign.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Grace Carlson Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 14,657
Processing Information:
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, January, 1992
Catalog ID number: 09-00040324
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| 146.K.12.7B | 1 | Biographical information. | |||||||||
| Pre-Socialist Workers Party correspondence and miscellaneous Papers, 1939-1942. | |||||||||||
| Socialist Workers Party files: | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1939-1945. 12 folders. | |||||||||||
| Notes kept by Carlson while in prison, [1943-1945?]. | |||||||||||
| Sedition trial (1941) and appeal (1943): Newspaper clippings and Carlson's notes on the trial. 4 folders. | |||||||||||
| Civil Rights Defense Committee, 1944-1945. | |||||||||||
| "Women in Prison," by Grace Carlson. Speech and tour materials, June-September 1945. | |||||||||||
| 1948 Presidential campaign (Farrell Dobbs-Grace Carlson): | |||||||||||
| Background materials, 1944-1948. | |||||||||||
| Meeting flyers and related papers (including Carlson's diary-account book). | |||||||||||
| Newspaper clippings and magazine articles. | |||||||||||
| Carlson's articles on health published in The Militant, 1942-1949. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous information on the Socialist Workers Party: | |||||||||||
| Correspondence with party members and FBI reports on Carlson, 1954-1983. | |||||||||||
| St. Mary's Junior College (Minneapolis) files: | |||||||||||
| Carlson's speeches and lecture notes, 1954-1982. 4 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 146.K.12.8F | 2 | ||||||||||
| Lecture notes, schedules, grades, and related class papers: | |||||||||||
| Human growth and development, undated and 1979. | |||||||||||
| Man in society, 1970-1971. | |||||||||||
| Psychology of adjustment, 1971-1973. | |||||||||||
| Psychology of aging, 1975, 1980. | |||||||||||
| Social psychology, 1966-1984. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Alumnae reunions, 1950-1984. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence and memoirs, 1961-1984. | |||||||||||
| Programs, committees, and miscellany relating to the college, undated and 1961-1984. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| General correspondence and miscellany, 1929-1972. 5 folders. | |||||||||||
| Communes: Notes and clippings, 1971-1972. | |||||||||||
| Photographs, [193-], [197-]. 14 images. | |||||||||||
| A small collection of studio portraits and snapshots of Grace Carlson, her family, and associates. Items of particular interest include a snapshot from the 1948 presidential campaign, featuring Carlson and others, and an autographed photograph (photocopy) of Leon Trotsky. | |||||||||||
| Reserve 24 | Leon Trotsky photograph, 1940. 1 item. | ||||||||||
| An autographed photograph of Trotsky presented to Carlson. | |||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
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:
- Catholic teachers -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Catholic universities and colleges -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Civil Rights Defense Committee.
- Civil rights -- United States.
- College teachers -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Communism -- Minnesota.
- Communist parties -- United States.
- Communists -- Minnesota.
- Education, Higher -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Junior colleges -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Labor and laboring classes.
- Philosophy, Marxist.
- Political crimes and offenses.
- Political prisoners.
- Presidential candidates -- United States.
- Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 1948.
- Prisons -- West Virginia.
- Psychology -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis -- Study and teaching.
- Radicalism -- Minnesota.
- Sedition.
- Students -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Women and socialism.
- Women -- Political activity -- Minnesota.
- Women prisoners -- West Virginia.
- Women teachers -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- World War, 1939-1945.
- Places:
- Minneapolis (Minn.).
- Persons:
- Cannon, James Patrick, 1890-1974.
- Dobbs, Farrell.
- Dunne, Vincent R. (Vincent Raymond), 1889-1970.
- Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979.
- Trotsky, Leon, 1879-1940.
- Organizations:
- Civil Rights Defense Committee.
- Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
- Democratic Party (Minn.).
- Farmer-Labor Party (Minn.).
- Socialist Workers Party.
- St. Mary's Junior College (Minneapolis, Minn.).
- United States. Federal Industrial Institution for Women, Alderson, W. Va.
- Types of Documents:
- Diaries.
- Speeches.
- Occupations:
- College teachers.
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