MARJORIE HERRMANN COX:

Marjorie Frances Herrmann was born in New York, New York on July 10, 1918 to Augusta Frances Siemering and Raymond Russell Herrmann. She grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and was an active member of the Camp Fire Girls. Marjorie attended Cottey College (1937-1939) in Nevada, Missouri, where she joined the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.). She completed her education at the University of Minnesota (1939-1941). She taught English from 1941-1943. On January 23, 1943, Marjorie married William (Bill) Gould Cox. Shortly thereafter, Bill was sent for military training in the United States, and was later stationed in North Africa, then Besançon, France. From 1943-1945, Marjorie worked and contributed to the war effort from home. She took an engineering drafting course and found a position at the A.O. Smith propeller plant.

After World War II, Marjorie held a variety of jobs and taught in California (1956-1958) and in Minnesota (1962-1978). Marjorie raised six children. She divorced Bill Cox in 1966. She was an active member in her community and became involved with local, state, and national politics. In 1978, Marjorie ran for, but did not win, Minnesota State House Legislature Seat 24A (Dakota, LeSueur, Rice, Scott counties). From 1988-1994, Marjorie served as a Northfield, Minnesota City Council Member. Marjorie Cox died August 25, 2000.

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These documents 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]. Marjorie Herrmann Cox Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 16,121; 17,590; 17,788; 17,792

Processing Information:

Processed by: Calla Smith-Dowling, August 2007; Leif Kopietz, November 2020.

Catalog ID number: 990064673290104294

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The bulk of the collection's correspondence dates from 1943-1945 and originates from Marjorie Cox's husband, students, friends and family in the armed services who were stationed in the United States, the South Pacific, Australia, Europe, and North Africa. Marjorie regularly shipped the men packages, which sometimes contained hand-knit socks and sweaters, hand-drawn cartoons, candy, popcorn, photographs, and books. In return, the men wrote her numerous letters and looked for souvenirs and porcelain to send to her for her collections.

The World War II correspondence chronicles the men's memories of their pre-war lives, boredom of their days, anxiety about where they would be stationed next, and what they would do when they left the service, if they did leave it at all. Although the letters mention V-E Day, the Potsdam declaration, and V-J Day, censors didn't allow the men to describe everything or to answer all of Marjorie's questions regarding what was happening. The letters from Europe express some of what the men witnessed of the destruction and on-going misery wrought by the war.

Additional correspondence ranges from before Marjorie's birth to the far end of the twentieth century. Marjorie kept a bundle of letters from her father to her mother before their marriage. During her two years at Cottey College, Marjorie frequently wrote home to her parents and sister. After graduating, Marjorie participated in a Round Robin letter-writing activity with members of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.). Post-war correspondence consists of exchanges with family and friends, as well as negotiations with businesses and lawyers during Marjorie's separation from Bill. Marjorie also accumulated responses from state senators, governors, and other politicians regarding her political concerns.

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Included are birth certificates, mementos, clippings, poems, yearbooks, teaching certificates, campaign paraphernalia, photographs, a resume, sketches and watercolor paintings, and memorial service information.

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Included are mementos, correspondence, clippings, photographs, wedding plans, and programs. Marjorie Cox added to the scrapbooks throughout her life, but the large majority of material dates from 1918 to 1946.

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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:

Weddings.

World War, 1939-1945.

Persons:

Bacheller, E.K., author.

Carpenter, Ford A. (Ford Ashman), b. 1868, author.

Carveth, C.C., author.

Cox, William Gould, 1919-1982, author.

Cox, William T. (William Thomas), 1878-1961, author.

Garwood, K.W., author.

Herrmann, Frances Siemering, 1888-1977, author.

Herrmann, Raymond R., author.

Rosendahl, P.R., author.

Siemering, Herman M., author.

St. Vincent, Robert, author.

Tufvander, Russell, author.

Waters, Roy, author.

Young, Carl J., 1915-2007, author.

Lamberton, Esther, author.

Organizations:

Camp Fire Girls St. Paul Council.

Cottey College.

Philanthropic Educational Organization.

Document Types:

Photographs.

Scrapbooks.

V-mail.

Watercolors (paintings).

Sketches.

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