CLINTON MORRISON AND FAMILY:

Clinton Morrison was born in Minneapolis (March 26, 1915) to Angus W. and Sarah Morrison. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University (1937) and his Master of Business Administration from Harvard University (1939) he went to work for Shell Oil Company (1939-1941). During World War II Morrison was assigned to the office of the quartermaster general in Washington, D.C. and served four years in the research and development branch of the military planning division.

After the war Morrison left Shell and went to work for the Vassar Company in Chicago (1946-1948). In 1949 he returned to Minneapolis and worked in the family investment company, The Holding Company; succeeded his father as a director of Munsingwear, Inc.; and in 1951 became a trustee of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts. He served as deputy regional director of the Far Eastern division of the U.S. Foreign Operations Administration in Washington, D.C. (1953-1955).

Morrison joined the First National Bank of Minneapolis in 1955 as head of the closely held business section of the trust department and eventually rose to become chairman of the trust committee (1968) and vice-chairman of the board of directors (1973); he retired in 1979. He was a life trustee and chairman of the board (1969-1972) of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, and for sixteen years was a director and officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, serving as vice-chairman (1974-1975) and chairman of the board (1975-1976), and chairman of the executive committee (1976-1977).

Angus Washburn Morrison was the father of Clinton Morrison (b.1915). He was a graduate of Yale University, and received a Doctor of Medicine degree from The Johns Hopkins University in 1910. He and Sarah Helen Truesdale were married in Minneapolis on June 23, 1914.

Dorilus Morrison (1814-1897), Clinton Morrison's great-grandfather, was a prominent Minnesota lumberman, an owner of the Minneapolis Milling Company, and the first mayor of Minneapolis (1872-1876).

Cadwallader C. Washburn (1818-1882), Dorilus Morrison's first cousin, was a U.S. Congressman from Wisconsin (1855-1861, 1866-1870), served as governor of Wisconsin (1872-1874), and formed the Minneapolis Milling Company.

Robert Bruce Langdon (1826-1895), Clinton Morrison's maternal great-grandfather, was a pioneer railroad builder and a Minnesota state senator (1873-1888). He also built the water power canal on the west side of the Mississippi River and the Washburn "B" mill for the Minneapolis Milling Company; the First National Bank Building in Minneapolis; and several bridges across the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers.

Hiram C. Truesdale (1860-1897), a Minneapolis lawyer, married Robert B. Langdon's daughter Martha. Truesdale founded the law firm of Lawrence, Truesdale and Corriston and in 1897 was admitted as an attorney and counselor for the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1895 he moved to Arizona where on July 8, 1897 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Arizona.

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The papers chronicle the lives of Clinton Morrison, a director of the First National Bank of Minneapolis and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.; his grandfather, Hiram C. Truesdale, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Arizona (1897); his grandmother, Martha Truesdale, and his great-grandfather, Robert Bruce Langdon, a pioneer railroad builder and Minnesota senator (1873-1888). Genealogical records and family histories relate primarily to the Langdon, Truesdale, Washburn, and Cowles families. The collection also includes typescripts of World War II letters documenting Morrison’s work with the office of the Quartermaster General in Washington, D.C.; materials relating to his work with the U.S. Foreign Operations Administration in the Far East (1952-1954); and correspondence and memorabilia (1952-2004) relating Republican national conventions and presidential inaugurals.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Morrison, Clinton, Clinton Morrison and family papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,791; 16,641; 16,696

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Processed by: Frank Hennessy, March 1993.

Additions by: David B. Peterson, June and September 2012.

Catalog ID number: 001729994

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The Dorilus Morrison and family papers are also in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.

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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:

Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Presidents --United States -- Inauguration.

Railroad bridges -- Minnesota.

Railroads -- Minnesota -- Design and construction.

World War, 1939-1945.

Persons:

Cowles family.

Langdon, Robert Bruce, 1826-1895.

Langston family.

Morrison, Angus W.

Morrison family.

Truesdale, Hiram C., 1860-1897.

Truesdale, Martha A., 1863-1952.

Truesdell family.

Washburn family.

Washburn, C. C. (Cadwallader Colden), 1818-1882.

Organizations:

Arizona. Supreme Court.

Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America.

First National Bank of Minneapolis (Minneapolis, Minn.) -- Employees.

United States. Foreign Operations Administration.

United States. Office of the Quartermaster General.

Meetings:

Republican National Convention.

Places:

Minneapolis (Minn.)

Document Types:

Photographs.

Occupations:

Judges -- Arizona.

Railroad engineers -- Minnesota.

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