SAMUEL JOHNSON:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
| | |
| Creator: |
Johnson, Samuel, creator.
|
| Title: | Samuel Johnson and family
papers. |
| Dates: | 1882-1980. |
| Abstract: | Personal and political correspondence, family papers,
diaries, financial record books, posters, fliers and handbills, sheet music and
musical programs, and other material of a St. Paul teamster and Socialist Labor
Party official, relating particularly to his involvement in party and political
activities and in Scandinavian choral societies. There are also some papers of
Johnson's daughter Clara (Johnson) Hauerwas. Much of the material is in Danish, some
of it in old script. |
| Quantity: | 3.6 cu. ft (4 boxes, including 15
v.). |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for
shelf locations. |
Samuel Johnson was born in Denmark around 1863. He was living in Dunn County,
Wisconsin, in 1884, and in Hammond, Wisconsin, in 1885. He may also have lived at
one time in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Johnson came to St. Paul in 1886. City directories
indicate that he worked from the 1890s through the 1910s as a teamster, and later as
a "stereotyper" and stenographer for West Publishing Company (1920s-[ca.1931]). Long
active in local Socialist Labor Party organizations, Johnson served as treasurer (of
the St. Paul section?) in the 1900s and 1910s and as state secretary in the 1930s
and 1940s.
Johnson married Thyra Jorgenson ([ca.1870]-1953) on September 27, 1908. A daughter,
Clara Anne-Marie, was born to the couple on October 30, 1909. A son, Earl, was
evidently born later. Clara married Gordon Hauerwas (1909-1973) in 1951, and they
for many years made their home in Roseville, Minnesota, a St. Paul suburb.
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Johnson's correspondence (1882-1955) includes letters from political associates and
from family and friends in Denmark and the United States. Correspondence after 1901
increasingly relates to his activities in the Socialist Labor Party, both in the St.
Paul Section and at the state level. A large portion of the correspondence is in
Danish; English translations have been made for many of the letters.
Socialist Labor Party materials include state executive committee minutes (1945-1948,
1950), St. Paul Section activity (organizer) reports (1946-1947), Minnesota state
convention reports (1948, 1950), miscellaneous organizational files (1893-1951), and
financial records and papers, including bank statements, financial reports and
statements, Weekly People invoices and statements, and
miscellaneous receipts (1894-1948). There are fliers announcing rallies, programs,
and "entertainments" for SLP members and their families.
"Other Files" focus in large part on local Scandinavian-American singing societies,
including the Dania Singing Society, Northwestern Scandinavian Singers Association,
the Norwegian-Danish Singers Association, and the Scandinavian Socialist Singing
Society. There is a folder of unidentified snapshots, and two unidentified oversize
photographs; several newspaper issues; a disassembled scrapbook of Danish-language
newspaper clippings; and a few socialist and election posters.
Much of the material is apparently what was left after an estate or other sale. Many
of the individual documents have prices written on them in pencil.
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These documents are organized into the following sections:
| | |
| | Personal and Family Correspondence and Papers |
| | Socialist Labor Party Materials |
| | Other Files |
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Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Samuel
Johnson and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 13,092
Processing Information:
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, March 1985
Catalog ID number: 990017371570104294
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 151.L.8.2F | 1 | Samuel Johnson Files: |
| | | Correspondence, undated and
1882-1951, 1953, 1955. 18 folders. |
| | | | Includes letters from family and friends, Socialist Labor Party
members and officials, editors and publishers of Socialist and
worker-related publications, and others. Individual correspondents
include Johnson's wife Thyra; his cousin L. (Lars) Johnson, Jackson,
Minnesota; Socialist Labor Party national secretary Arnold Petersen,
New York; John Glambeck, editor of Arbejderen
(The Worker), Chicago; Henning Hansen; and L.E. Nielsen. Some
letters in old Danish script appear to be from Johnson's mother in
Denmark. English translations (filed with the originals) of 129
Danish-language letters were made by Kjetil Djuve of the Minnesota
Historical Society in 1996. |
| | | Diary and account book, [1884?]. |
| | | | Authorship uncertain; may also include Sören Jensen. |
| | | Diary, Dunn Co., Wisconsin, 1884. |
| | | Diary, 1907. |
| Location | Box |
| 151.L.8.3B | 2 | | Memo and account books: |
| | | | 1892-1893. |
| | | | 1895-1896. |
| | | | [ca.1900]-1901. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Clara Johnson Hauerwas Files: |
| | | Correspondence, 1919,
1926-1945, 1950, 1973-1980. 4 folders. |
| | | | Letters from friends and from the Jensens and other relatives. Most
of the letters were written by Gordon Hauerwas, who was stationed in
Camp Gordon, Georgia in 1950. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Miscellaneous family papers, undated and 1905-1980. |
| | | Includes copies of certificates, wedding invitations, report cards, real
estate and mortgage documents, insurance policies, and similar papers
relating mainly to Samuel and Thyra's daughter Clara and their son Earl.
|
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 151.L.8.3B | 2 | Dues cards and similar papers, 1898-1944. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Entertainments, excursions, grand balls, etc., 1894-1925. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Handbills, fliers, and tracts, undated and
1894-1915. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Lectures, undated and
1897-1900. |
| | | Cards and pamphlets listing lectures to be given under the auspices of
the St. Paul and Minneapolis sections of the Socialist Labor Party.
Gives lecture titles, names of lecturers, locations, and dates. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Literature distribution and membership data, [circa 1925]-1932. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Minnesota Socialist Labor Party: |
| | | Financial papers, undated and
1894-1948. 4 folders. |
| | | Minutes of executive committee and some reports, 1945-1948,
1950. |
| | | Organizational files (miscellaneous), 1893-1951. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Party platforms and electoral candidates, undated and
1896-1946. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Socialist Executive Committee, St. Paul Section: Journal, 1944-1947. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Socialist Labor Party of America: Constitution, 1948. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Weekly People subscribers, 1938-1939. |
| | | Subscription list for Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Miscellany, undated and
1894-1940. |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 151.L.8.3B | 2 | Dania Singing Society: |
| | | Membership list and journal, 1913-1914. |
| | | Treasurer's book, 1895-1898. |
| | | | Includes Arbejderen Publishing Company accounts (1896-1900). |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Danish language newspaper clippings, undated and 1895-1937. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 152.E.19.2F | 4 | Dansk Brodersamfunds, undated and 1915. |
| | | Includes a 40-page "Souvenir Program" from the Dansk Brodersamfunds
Konvention, which was held in St. Paul Oct. 11-16, 1915. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Manuscripts (miscellaneous): Essays, reviews, and similar papers, undated and 1899-1943. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Music: Scores, verses, and musical programs, undated and 1896-1938. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Northwestern Scandinavian Singers Association, 1900. |
| | | Includes an "Official Program" and an "Album" (book of songs) from the
Fifth Biennial Musical Festival, which was held in St. Paul, July 6-8,
1900. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 142.C.20.5 | 3 | Newspapers and newspaper clippings: |
| | | Clippings scrapbook, [circa 1894]-1907. |
| | | | Disassembled scrapbook of clippings from an unidentified
Danish-language newspaper(s); housed in a gray archival scrapbook
box within Box 3. |
| | | Johnson High School (St. Paul) Courier,
March 15, 1926. |
| | | Social-Demokraten Danish
language newspaper, July 13, 1896. |
| | | St. Paul Labor newspaper, March 17, 1894. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Photographs (oversize), undated. |
| | | Two unidentified photographs, one of a Socialist Party gathering. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Posters: |
| | | "Do You Want to Buy Socialist Literature?" undated. |
| | | | New York Labor News Company. |
| | | Otto W. Rohland, Jr. campaign for St. Paul city council, undated. |
| | | Socialist Labor Party candidates for president and vice
president, 1896[?], 1900[?]. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Location | Box |
| 152.E.19.2F | 4 | Snapshot photographs, undated and
1942-1944, 1947. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Unidentified membership ledger, 1902-1905. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Unidentified membership record book, 1913-1916. |
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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:
- Choral societies -- Minnesota.
- Danish Americans -- Minnesota.
- Labor movement.
- Music -- Societies.
- Scandinavians -- Minnesota -- Political activity.
- Socialism -- Minnesota.
- Socialists -- Minnesota.
- Working class -- Minnesota -- Political activity.
- Places:
- Minnesota -- Politics and government.
- Persons:
- Djuve, Kjetil, tr.
- Hauerwas, Gordon, 1909-1973.
- Johnson, Clara Anne-Marie, 1909-.
- Petersen, Arnold, 1885-1976.
- Organizations:
- Dania Singing Society (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- Dansk Brodersamfunds.
- Industrial Workers of the World.
- Northwestern Scandinavian Singers Association.
- Socialist Singing Society (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- Socialist Labor Party.
- Types of Documents:
- Diaries.
- Handbills.
- Posters.
- Sheet music.
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