ROBERT HANDSCHIN:

Handschin organized co-operatives in farming communities throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest and was the Director of Economic Research for Grain Terminal Association of Minnesota (GTA) for 33 years (1948-1981), reporting directly to general manager Myron William Thatcher. Before joining GTA Handschin was a legislative representative for the National Farmers Union from 1938-1943. He was also a lobbyist for GTA after he retired in 1981.

As research director for GTA, his primary responsibilities consisted of finding and preparing economic and legislative information for management as requested or personally developed on a day-to-day basis. Handschin also wrote speeches for management and represented GTA at meetings, conventions, and the Board of the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives.

Handschin graduated from the University of Illinois Phi Betta Kappa in math in 1932. He was a member and president of the Minnesota Geological Society and was an editorialist for the FU Herald and its successor, the Co-Op Country News. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Balance Association from about 1976-1979, and a director of the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives. He died in 1997 at the age of 86.

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The collection consists of the research and subject files he compiled, correspondence, and the records of the Environmental Balance Association (EBA). The research files include reports, papers, articles, clippings, notes, and some correspondence. They cover a wide range of topics, from the history of Grimm alfalfa, bread pricing to local issues, in particular the development of a grain terminal site on the Mississippi River in Minnesota. Subject files consist of papers on Handschin's involvement with international training and a short biography he wrote of Myron William Thatcher, first General Manager of GTA.

The records of EBA include the by-laws and Constitution, financial information, background information, Board of Directors meeting and related materials (which include newsletters, minutes, reports, and more), testimony regarding the designation of the Mississippi River as critical habitat, and the summary proceedings of the Examining Minnesota's Environmental Future conference. Also included are a few subject files covering reserve mining, the liquidation of EBA, Minnesota's environmental future, and the designation of the Mississippi River as critical habitat.

Also included is a set of published and printed material from various sources, including the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, the Minnesota Farmers Union, and the Northern States Cooperative League.

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Access Restrictions:

Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Robert Handschin Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,185

Processing Information:

Processed by: Alex Kent, December 2009.

Catalog ID number: 990070192880104294

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Handschin represented the Grain Terminal Association management at a number of meetings, conferences, and conventions. These files include minutes, notes, talk outlines and notes for speaking engagements at various meetings, reports, and related papers. Also included is a pin likely worn by Handschin at the annual meetings.

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Research files compiled by Handschin for various projects and papers and other purposes, often at the request of and for M. W. Thatcher. As Research Director for GTA Hadschin tracked legislative and economic issues, issues related to Minnesota, and some others. Also included are research files compiled as an editorialist for the Farmer's Union Herald and as a legislative representative for the National Farmers Union. Research files include clippings, reports, notes, some correspondence, Congressional Record inserts, papers by Handschin, and newsletters from various associations. Arranged alphabetically by topic and then chronological within each topic.

Subject files include correspondence, reports, notes, and clippings. The types of materials in the subject files are similar to the research files.

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Includes correspondence between Handschin and members of the Board of Directors for GTA, M. W. Thatcher (General Manager of GTA), B. J. Malusky (successor to M. W. Thatcher), and others both within and outside GTA. The correspondence is often related to Handschin's role as Research Director. Also included are miscellaneous reports, papers, notes, and some clippings related to the correspondence.

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Handschin was a member of the Board of Directors, and temporary office manager in 1979. The Environmental Balance Association of Minnesota, Inc. (EBA) was established in 1975 as a non-profit organization "of labor, farming, and educational groups and individuals who support a quality environment and a healthy economy for the people of Minnesota." Some of the main goals were to provide leadership in economic and environmental areas, and to conduct independent research for interested parties. The association went bankrupt in 1979.

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In alphabetical order by title/publisher.

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Restricted. Photocopies of these items can be found in the research files on grain in France.

Location

Reserve 98

Grain in France:

Receipt given by Jean de St. Martin for grain brought to the monks of the Priory of Grain, 1322. 1 item : vellum ; 5 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.

Handwritten in ink, in Latin.

Digital version

Charte de Robert de Wargnier, bailly du roi a Caen, Caen, Normandy, France, May 15, 1368. 1 item : vellum ; 6 1/4 x 11 in.

Handwritten in ink with part of the original seal still attached to the document.

Digital version

List of storage places and kinds of grain stock by the Army of Sambre and Meuse, December 1795-January 1796. 3 items ; 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 in.

The Army of Sambre and Meuse was establishing grain store houses for the French Republic. In French.

Digital version, 1 item

Digital versions, 2 items

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Grain Terminal Association corporate records are available in the Minnesota Historical Society's manuscript collection.

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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:

Agriculture and politics -- Middle West.

Agricultural subsidies -- Middle West.

Grain elevators, Cooperative -- Minnesota.

Grain -- Cooperative marketing -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Thatcher, M. W. (Myron William), 1883-1976.

Organizations:

Environmental Balance Association.

Grain Terminal Association (Minn.).

Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

Minnesota Association of Cooperatives.

Minnesota Farmers Union.

Northern States Cooperative League (U.S.).

Reserve Mining Company.

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