PHILIP S. DUFF AND FAMILY:

An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Duff, Philip S., 1922-1997, creator.
	Title:	Phillip S. Duff and family papers.
	Dates:	1914-2003 (bulk 1940-2003).
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Correspondence, subject files, editorials, speech outlines, genealogical materials, and miscellany of Phillip S. Duff, Jr., editor and publisher, then columnist, of the Red Wing Republican Eagle and co-founder of the Minnesota News Council.
	Quantity:	8 cubic feet (8 boxes).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Philip S. Duff, Jr. was born in Minneapolis on October 25, 1922. Duff served with the U.S. Navy as an aviator in World War II and graduated from Yale University in 1946.

Duff worked for newspapers in the Minnesota towns of Plainview, Bemidji, and Kasson. From 1951 to 1953, Duff served as a state senator, representing Dodge and Mower Counties.

He settled in Red Wing, Minnesota in 1953, where he established his long-term newspaper career as an editor and publisher with the Daily Republican Eagle and the Red Wing Publishing Company. Much of Duff's writings focused on environmental issues, civic development, public policy, and foreign policy issues, such as nuclear disarmament.

In 1970, Duff served on the Board of the Minnesota Newspaper Association and co-founded the Minnesota News Council. Duff also was active in civic affairs, serving in numerous local and state organizations.

Duff retired as editor of the Red Wing Republican Eagle in 1982, but remained an active columnist and editorial writer for the newspaper.

He married Amanda Florness in 1956, and they had three children: Philip, Anne, and Sarah. Duff and Amanda divorced and he married Carol M. Gross in 1987.

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The papers document Duff and assistant Arlin Albrecht's management of the Eagle; Duff's and the Eagle's involvement in civic affairs and public policy, especially at the county and local level; Duff's personal interests, including involvement in statewide news organizations and in initiatives for world peace and nuclear disarmament; and management of family trusts and Duff's posthumous endowment fund.

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ARRANGEMENT

These papers are organized into the following sections:


	Correspondence and letters

	Subject files

	City of Red Wing subject files

	Philip S. Duff writings, editorials, articles, and speeches

	Personal and family materials

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

Due to the presence of Social Security numbers, access to Trust tax returns are restricted. Files must be reviewed and redacted before they can be used in the Reading Room. Please consult library staff for more information.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Phillip S. Duff and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 17,847

Processing Information:

Processed by: Leif Kopietz, August 2021

Catalog ID number: 9989796640204294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

CORRESPONDENCE AND LETTERS

Location

Box

154.I.1.11B

Letters from Phillip S. Duff to family while attending Yale and letters from sister Molly Duff to family, 1940.

Letters from Phillip S. Duff to family while attending Yale, 1941-1942. 2 folders.

Letters from Phillip S. Duff to family while attending Yale, and miscellaneous family and friends correspondence, 1942-1942.

Letters from Molly Duff to family, 1949-1950. 2 folders.

Letters from Phillip S. Duff to family while working in Minot, North Dakota, Iowa City, Iowa, and Glenview, Illinois, 1943. 2 folders.

Letters from Phillip S. Duff to family while serving with the U.S. Navy as an aviator, 1943-1945.

Letters from Phillip S. Duff to family while working in Washington, D.C., 1946-1947.

Miscellaneous family and friends correspondence, 1914-1915, 1935-1950. 2 folders.

Phil S. Duff letters from when he left college for the Navy Air Force, January 1942-January 1943.

Letters from Phillip S. Duff to family while working in Plainview and Bemidji, Minnesota, 1947-1949.

Miscellaneous family and friends correspondence, 1935, 1943-1945. 2 folders.

Harold Melahn, 1947-1949.

Melahn, a Minnesotan who traveled to Czechoslovakia to observe conditions there, writes primarily to Albert M. Marshall, publisher of the Red Wing Republican Eagle, regarding a proposed series of articles on his observations. Includes a few photographs of an execution squad.

General and Republican Eagle correspondence, 1962-1963. 4 folders.

Location

Box

154.I.1.12F

Correspondence, A-Z, 1964. 25 folders.

Correspondence, A-R, 1965. 20 folders.

Correspondence, Z, 1967.

Correspondence, 1968. 4 folders.

Location

Box

154.I.1.13B

Republican Eagle correspondence, 1968-1969.

Correspondence, A-Z, 1969. 9 folders.

Correspondence, A-Z, 1970. 8 folders.

Correspondence, A-P, 1979-1984. 19 folders.

Location

Box

154.I.1.14F

Correspondence, Q-Z, 1979-1984. 8 folders.

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1981-1984. 2 folders.

Correspondence, 1985-1983. 6 folders.

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SUBJECT FILES

Location

Box

154.I.1.14F

Accord, 1980s.

Nuclear war prevention initiatives.

Berzelius, 1983-1991. 2 folders.

A Yale University secret society.

John Birch Society, 1964-1966.

Rudy Boschwitz, 1970s-1980s. 2 folders.

Brookshaw, 1973-1975.

Letters, clippings, and court documents regarding allegations of improprieties by Wisconsin attorney Wilbur Brookshaw in handling the estate of Hilda Burquist. Duff involved himself on behalf of one of her heirs.

BIPAC (Business-Industry Political Action Committee) of Minnesota, 1981-1982.

Duff was secretary of its board of directors. In 1982, it merged with the Minnesota Association of Commerce and Industry.

Location

Box

154.I.3.1B

Casey Award, 1982.

For distinguished leadership and service in the newspaper industry. Letters of recommendation and congratulations to Duff as recipient.

Clearwater Forest Creative Arts Festival, 1988.

Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy, 1983-1987.

Commercial Realty, Inc., 1954-1966.

Set up by Duff and Albert Marshall with the assistance of Raymond Plank, but never activated.

Cuba, 1985-1987.

Minnesota-Cuba exchange activities.

Goss Newspaper Products, 1976-1978.

Holst, Vogel, Erdmann, 1978-1979.

Regarding lawsuits against Red Wing Publishing Company.

Itasca Seminar, 1984.

Middle East, 1973-1982.

Background information.

Minnesota Association of Commerce and Industry, 1986.

Minnesota News Council, 1978-1988.

Minnesota Newspaper Association, 1983-1992.

Minnesota Newspaper Foundation, 1983-1987. 2 folders.

Minnesota Press Council, 1974-1977.

Minnesotans for Peace in Central America, 1983-1987. 2 folders.

Duff was a member of its steering committee.

National Conference of Editorial Writers 1986-1987.

National Guard (visit to Camp Ripley), 1984.

National Newspaper Association, 1985.

Centennial, and memorial plaque in Red Wing.

Congressman Tim Penny, 1983-1986.

Reader questionnaire.

Red Wing Roundtable: Rethinking National Policies on Preserving Peace and Freedom, 1985-1986.

Republican Eagle, 1978-1981.

Statement of ownership, management, and circulation (1979), and certifications as the official city newspaper.

SALT II Treaty, 1979.

Includes Dave Durenberger materials.

South Africa trip, 1978.

Includes several reports prepared by Duff for publication in the Republican Eagle.

Location

Box

154.I.3.2F

Tax Study Commission, 1984.

United Nations Association of Minnesota, 1997.

Unicameral, 1983-1984.

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities:

Duff took several classes offered by this institution. The files include course outlines, and Duff's notes and papers.

Course CC 107, Christian Ethics, 1987.

Course CH 201, New Testament Interpretation, 1988. 2 folders.

Course CH 202, New Testament Interpretation II, 1987.

Course CH 402, Historical Theology, 1988.

University of Minnesota Committee on Regent Selection, 1985-1990. 2 folders.

Duff was a member of a Regents Selection Study Group.

University of Wisconsin, 1977-1979.

Upper Mississippi Pollution Control Committee, 1962-1965.

Duff was its chairman.

Volstead, 1980s.

A. J. Volstead, and the Volstead House in Granite Falls, Minnesota.

World Federalists Association, Minnesota Branch, 1974-1989. 3 folders.

Duff was a member of its council in the 1970s.

World Policy Institute, 1984-1988.

Yale 1944 (40th reunion), 1983.

Yale: Campaign for Yale, 1978.

Yale Alumni Association of the Northwest, 1980-1985.

Association of Yale Alumni, 1979-1983. 3 folders.

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CITY OF RED WING SUBJECT FILES

Location

Box

154.I.3.3B

Aerial photographs, undated.

Red Wing Area Fund, 1982-1992.

Phil Duff and Arlin Albrecht served on its board of directors.

Red Wing Area Fund: T. B. Sheldon Auditorium, 1985.

Includes an architectural feasibility study and a use of management plan.

Red Wing Charter Commission, undated.

Hay Creek Trails Association, 1967.

Goodhue County Citizen of the Year, 1966-1984.

Kiwanis Club of Red Wing, 1983-1993.

Kiwanis Club foreign visitors, 1988-1990.

Planned Parenthood of Red Wing, 1972.

Recreation Task Force, 1975.

Store possibilities, approximately 1953-approximately 1971. 2 folders.

Duff's and the Republican Eagle's involvement in promoting additional retail development in Red Wing.

Tannery sewage problem, approximately 1966-1968.

Involving the S. B. Foot Tanning Company. A few additional materials are on the Upper Mississippi Pollution Control Committee mentioned above.

YMCA of Red Wing, 1964-1971, 1988-1990. 2 folders.

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PHILIP S. DUFF WRITINGS, EDITORIALS, ARTICLES, AND SPEECHES

Location

Box

154.I.3.3B

Statement of intentions, October 10, 1946.

India articles, undated.

Editorials, 1982-1983.

Duff articles, 1983.

Duff weekly articles, January-June 1985.

Editorials, 1994.

Speech outlines, approximately 1952-approximately 1993. 2 folders.

Phillip S. Duff's writings, 1950s-1960s.

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PERSONAL AND FAMILY MATERIALS

Location

Box

154.I.3.3B

Philip S. Duff, Jr., biographical data.

Duff family genealogical materials. 2 folders.

Location

Box

154.I.3.4F

Duff family genealogical materials. 3 folders.

Miscellaneous personal correspondence, 1971-1995.

Family letters and miscellany, 1985-1994.

Family photographs.

Philip S. Duff, Jr., passports.

State Senate campaign, 1970.

Gale family reunion picnic, 1976.

Philip S. Duff income taxes, 1955-1960.

Red Wing Publishing Company pension plan, Philip S. Duff, 1976-1985.

Philip S. Duff, Sr., estate, 1956-1968.

Philip S. Duff, Jr., trusteeship under will of Philip S. Duff, Sr., approximately 1979-1981.

Philip S. Duff, Jr., family trust matters, 1947-1985.

Philip S. Duff, Jr., investment portfolio, 1956-1972.

Philip S. Duff, Jr., Trust investment portfolio, 1971-1981.

Philip S. Duff, Jr., Trust tax returns, 1969-1981. 2 folders.

RESTRICTED.

Includes the trust's dissolution, 1981.

Philip S. Duff, Jr., Endowment Fund advisory committee, 1999-2003. 13 folders.

Minutes, with attachments, of advisory committee meetings, and supplementary materials on individual projects.

The fund's mission was to support the education of Red Wing area residents about public issues and to encourage individuals and organizations to participate in public affairs, primarily through grant programs.

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CATALOG HEADINGS

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:: Authors and publishers -- Minnesota -- Red Wing.; Charitable uses, trusts, and foundations.; Political planning -- Minnesota.; Civic improvement -- Minnesota.; Journalists -- Minnesota -- Red Wing.; Newspaper editors -- Minnesota -- Red Wing.; Nuclear disarmament.; Peace movements.; Trusts and trustees.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans -- Minnesota.

Persons:: Albrecht, Arlin, author.; Duff, Molly, author.; Duff family.; Melahn, Harold, author.

Organizations:: United States. Navy.; Minnesota News Council, author.; Minnesota Newspaper Association, author.; Red Wing Publishing Company (Red Wing, Minn.), author.

Places:: Goodhue County (Minn.) -- Newspapers.; Red Wing (Minn.) -- Newspapers -- Management.

Document Types:: Photographs.; Speeches.

Titles:: Red Wing Republican Eagle (Red Wing, Minn.).

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