MIDLAND COOPERATIVES, INC.:
An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
| | |
| Creator: |
Midland Cooperatives, Inc.,
creator.
|
| Title: | Midland Cooperatives
records. |
| Dates: | 1917-1982. |
| Language: | Materials in English and Finnish.
|
| Abstract: | Articles of incorporation, minutes, resolutions, financial
information, programs, meeting files, academic theses regarding cooperation,
audiotapes, printed material, and photographs relating to a Minneapolis-based
farmers' oil and merchandise consumer cooperative organized in 1926 as the Minnesota
Co-op Oil Company. The cooperative specialized in marketing light oil products, then
added tires, auto accessories, paint and hardware, farm supplies, household
appliances, groceries, fertilizer, feed and seed, and farm machinery to its
merchandise stocks. The cooperative was merged into Land O'Lakes in 1982. |
| Quantity: | 4.85 cubic feet (7 boxes), 6 master
audio files: WAV (2 GB), and 6 user audio files: MP3 (238 MB). |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for
shelf locations. |
The records document meetings of members and managers, and other facets of Midland's
administration; other cooperative ventures among farmers; and the business of
cooperative refining and marketing, particularly of light oil used on farms.
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Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here].
Midland Cooperatives, Inc. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples
Accession Information:
Accession number: 14,154; 16,043; 17,294; 17,513
Location of Master Files:
Digital masters of the audio material are maintained on the Society's secure
digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance
with archival best practices.
The original audiocassettes were disposed after the material was digitally
reformatted into WAV files.
Processing Information:

Processed by: Bonnie B. Palmquist, 1990
Digitization was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the
vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Digital audio transferred from the master audiocassettes by the Minnesota
Historical Society for preservation purposes, (November, 2019).
Catalog ID number: 990017130650104294
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Location | Box |
151.I.5.1B | 1 | Historical material, undated. 3 folders. |
| | | Includes correspondence, historical sketches, and printed material. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Minnesota Co-op Oil Company, 1926-1928. |
| | | Predecessor of Midland Co-op Oil Company. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Articles of incorporation and prospectus, 1947, 1956. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Board of directors: |
| | | Executive board minutes, 1926-March 1938. 2 folders. |
| | | Board of directors minutes, 1939-1943. |
| | | Subjects under consideration at board meetings, 1937-1938. 2 folders. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Annual Meetings: |
| | | Transcript of 13th annual meeting, June 13, 1939. |
| | | Annual meeting resolutions, 1942-1980. 1 volume. |
| | | Annual meeting programs, 1949-1980. |
| | | Annual meeting (50th), 1976. 2 folders. |
| | | | Contains correspondence, invitations, programs, and other papers. |
| | | Annual meetings, 1977-1982. 6 folders. |
| | | | Background material, activities planned for salesmen and their wives,
planning documents, banquet programs, expense data, and other
material. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Financial materials: |
| | | Financial statements, 1930-1936. 2 folders. |
Location | Box |
151.I.5.2F | 2 | | Financial statements, 1933. |
| | | Financial statements and annual reports, 1927-1951. 1 volume. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Meetings and conferences: |
| | | Managers' conferences, 1973-1982. 7 folders. |
| | | | Conference material, evaluations, minutes, correspondence, and
conference themes. |
| | | Director-Manager conferences, 1974-1981. 5 folders. |
| | | | Workshops, data on responsibilities of managers, correspondence, and
other material. |
| | | February district meetings, 1975-1981. 8 volumes and 1 folder. |
| | | Member education and understanding, Fall 1976. 1 volume. |
| | | Fall district meeting, 1974, 1979-1981. 1 volume and 2 folders. |
| | | | Reports and resolutions. |
| | | Special Fall meeting, 1981. |
| | | | Merger with Land O' Lakes, Inc. |
Location | Box |
151.I.5.3B | 3 | | Special Fall meeting, 1981. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Education: |
| | | Education Department: The counsellor
monthly newsletter, 1946-1947. |
| | | Educational material, 1931-1934. |
| | | | Co-op oil code. |
| | | Educational committees manual, 1941. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Co-op gallonage in Minnesota, 1932. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Co-operative Society of America stock certificate, 1968. |
| | | Copy of 1921 original document. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Co-op youth courses, 1931-1944. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Cooperative oil manual, circa 1934. 3 folders. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | E. G. Cort Memorial Fund, 1945-1949. |
| | | E. G. Cort was the first Midland manager. He died in 1944. |
| | | Includes articles of incorporation. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Local co-op workbook, 1943. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Northwest Cooperative Mills, Inc. (Saint Paul, Minn.), 1966. |
| | | Articles of incorporation, minutes, correspondence, and audits. The
cooperative produced fertilizer, seed, and feed. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Printed material, 1953-1964. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Slide scripts, 1968-1972. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Tornado damage to Fridley warehouse, 1965. |
| | | Includes photograph album and loose snapshots totalling about 50 images. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Twin City co-operatives, 1941. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Warbasse, James Peter: Memorial, 1940-1957. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Pamphlets on consumer cooperation. 1 volume. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Central Cooperatives, Inc. (Superior, Wis.): |
| | | Historical materials, 1917-1942. |
| | | History, 1917-1931. |
| | | | Includes correspondence in Finnish. |
| | | Range Cooperative Federation survey, 1947. |
| | | Merger with Midland Cooperative, Inc., 1966. 2 folders. |
| | | Printed material, 1942-1957. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | George B. Cerny, "Early cooperation in the Midwest," 1938. |
| | | Undergraduate research paper, University of Wisconsin. Folder includes
"Cooperation in the Midwest in the granger era, 1869-1875," reprinted from
Agricultural history, vol. 37, no. 4, also
by Cerny. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Theses: |
| | | Martin Anderson, "Midland's educational program," 1947. |
| | | Paul E. Hauchett, "Federal income taxation: cooperative
associations and their patrons," 1946. 1 volume. |
| | | Marvin John Simon, "Cooperative purchasing of farm supplies," 1933. |
| | | Norman Eugene Taylor, "Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Inc.: its
history and analysis," 1953. |
| | | George M. Beal, Roots of participation in
farmer cooperatives, 1954. 1 volume. |
Location | Box |
143.B.16.14F | 5 | | Wilfred C. Leland, Jr., "The distribution of petroleum products
through user-owned cooperative wholesale organizations," 1940. 1 volume. |
| | | Alpha Smaby notes for Midland history: |
| | | | Notes for Wilfred Leland Jr. thesis, undated. |
Location | Box |
147.L.8.1 | 6 | | | Note cards: |
| | | | | Cover period 1925-1983. Includes excerpts from Midland cooperator newsletter, minutes, and other
sources. |
| | | | | Undated. 1 card file box. |
Location | Box |
147.L.8.2 | 7 | | | | Undated. 1 card file box. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Location | Box |
144.C.16.2F | 4 | Oversize materials: |
| | | Cooperative League of Wisconsin: articles of incorporation, 1937. |
| | | Minnesota Co-op Oil and Midland Cooperative Wholesale clippings
scrapbook, 1927-1937. 1 volume. |
| | | Midland Cooperative Wholesale prospectus, 1948. |
| | | Midland Cooperative Wholesale preferred stock offering, 1945. |
| | | Newspapers: Anniversary editions, 1968, 1973. |
| | | Photographs. 5 folders and 1 envelope. |
| | | | Annual meetings, employees, managers, and refineries. |
| | | Negatives: Cushing refinery, undated. 1 envelope. |
| | | | [0.35 cubic feet empty, oversize] |
Location | |
Internet | | | Audio recordings: |
| | | | Big things ahead by Gordon Mikkleson, May 4, 1952. 1 master audio file (1 hour, 5 minutes): WAV (329 MB) and 1
user audio file: MP3 (40.5 MB). |
| | | | |
Digital audio
|
| | | | 18th Biennial Co-op Congress, November 19, 1952. 1 master audio file (28 minutes, 32 seconds): WAV (144 MB) and
1 user audio file: MP3 (18.6 MB). |
| | | | | Note on container: |
| | | | | Panel includes Mr. Mccolough, Brean Melvin, Ed Whitney, G.W.
Thompson, C Maurice Wieting. |
| | | | |
Digital audio
|
| | | | Joe Gilbert, October 7, 1953. 1 master audio file (1 hour, 30 minutes): WAV (456 MB) and 1
user audio file: MP3 (60.6 MB). |
| | | | | Talks from Andrew Jensen, George Jacobson, Glenn Tomlinson, Art
Smaby, Roy Weir, Gordon Mickleson, and Joe Gilbert. |
| | | | |
Digital audio
|
| | | | Annual meeting featuring George Grim, 1955. 1 master audio file (48 minutes, 16 seconds): WAV (243 MB) and
1 user audio file: MP3 (36 MB). |
| | | | |
Digital audio
|
| | | | Midland open house in Fridley, August 26, 1957. 1 master audio file (1 hour, 19 minutes): WAV (400 MB) and 1
user audio file: MP3 (55.4 MB). |
| | | | |
Digital audio
|
| | | | Midland annual meeting, lady Jackson address, March 26, 1968. 1 master audio file (39 minutes, 20 seconds): WAV (198 MB) and
1 user audio file: MP3 (26.7 MB). |
| | | | |
Digital audio
|
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:
- Consumer cooperatives -- Minnesota.
- Consumer cooperatives -- Wisconsin.
- Cooperative societies meetings.
- Cooperative societies -- Minnesota --
Taxation.
- Petroleum products -- Cooperative marketing.
- Petroleum refineries.
- Tornadoes -- Minnesota -- Fridley.
- Persons:
- Smaby, Alpha, author.
- Cort, E. G.
- Organizations:
- Central Cooperatives, Inc. (Superior,
Wis.).
- Land O'Lakes, Inc.
- Midland Cooperative Wholesale (Firm),
author.
- Northwest Cooperative Mills (Saint
Paul, Minn.), author.
- Document Types:
- Sound recordings.
- Photographs.
- Slides.
- Theses.
- Occupations:
- Farmers.
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