FLOYD B. OLSON:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Olson, Floyd Björnstjerne, 1891-1936, creator. | |
| Title: | Floyd B. Olson papers. | |
| Dates: | 1923-1974 (bulk 1930-1936). | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, press releases, speeches, newspaper clippings, campaign literature, clippings scrapbooks, a few photographs, and similar material, chiefly for the period when Olson was Farmer-Labor Party governor of Minnesota (1930-1936). Much of the material concerns Governor Olson's death from cancer in 1936. | |
| Quantity: | 4.0 cubic feet (6 boxes and 29 folders in 1 partial box, including 4 volumes). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson was born November 13, 1891 in Minneapolis to Paul Olsen and Ida Maria (Nilsdotter) Olson. He was of Swedish and Norwegian ancestry. He graduated from North High School in Minneapolis in 1909. He earned a law degree from the Northwestern College of Law (a forerunner of William Mitchell College of Law) in 1915, was admitted to the Minnesota bar, and began to practice law in Minneapolis. He was a member of Larrabee & Olson firm from 1915 to 1919. He was assistant Hennepin County attorney from 1919 to 1920, and county attorney from 1920 to 1930. Olson won the Minnesota governorship in 1930, and was re-elected in 1932 and 1934.
Olson married Ada Krejci in New Prague, Minnesota in 1915. The couple had one daughter, Patricia. He died of stomach cancer on August 22, 1936.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
The papers provide information on the Farmer-Labor party, conservation of natural resources, agriculture, education, taxation, cooperatives, labor unions, municipal ownership, state government, and the Farmer-Labor Association and its educational bureau, including a copy of its charter of 1923. There is material relating to a controversy with Senator Anton J. Rockne regarding state relief for the unemployed (1933-1934), gubernatorial elections of 1930, 1932, and 1934, and Olson's death.
There are some items from Olson's term as Hennepin County Attorney, including information on the Citizens Alliance, letters from Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt, and a petition for Olson's removal from office submitted by Howard A. Guilford of the muckraking Saturday Press of Minneapolis.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Floyd B. Olson Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 4807; 9077; 11,671; 11,781; 12,513
Processing Information:
Processed by David B. Peterson, February 2024.
Portrait of Olson used as an illustrative image in this finding aid was taken from the Minnesota Historical Society Sound and Visual collections.
Catalog ID number: 990017326390104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| A.052 | 1 | Speeches, press releases, etc.: | |||||||||
| A-C, undated, 1931-1933. | |||||||||||
| Abolition of compulsory military drill, undated. | |||||||||||
| Banking, undated, 1930-1933. | |||||||||||
| Board of Control, undated, 1931-1932. | |||||||||||
| Commencement addresses, undated, 1933. | |||||||||||
| Conservation, undated, 1931-1933. | |||||||||||
| Cooperation, undated, 1933-1936. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| A.052 | 2 | D-G, undated, 1928-1934. | |||||||||
| Dairying, undated, 1931-1934. | |||||||||||
| Dr. Orr endorsing re-election of Governor Olson on KSTP radio, undated. | |||||||||||
| Election campaigns, 1924-1934. | |||||||||||
| Farmer-Labor Association Educational Bureau material, January 1923-October 1936. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Farmer-Labor Association materials, undated, 1932-September 1936. | |||||||||||
| Farming, undated, 1932-1933. | |||||||||||
| George Washington, undated, 1931. | |||||||||||
| Governor of Minnesota, undated, 1931-1935. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| A.052 | 3 | H-M, undated, 1931-1936. | |||||||||
| Junior Chamber of Commerce, 1933-1936. | |||||||||||
| Keynote address at St. Paul Auditorium, October 3, 1932. | |||||||||||
| Keynote address at St. Paul Auditorium, October 6, 1934. | |||||||||||
| League of Minnesota Municipalities, 1932. | |||||||||||
| Liberty and labor, undated. | |||||||||||
| Minnesota, undated, 1931-1932. | |||||||||||
| Mother's Day, undated, 1930-1934. | |||||||||||
| N-P, undated, 1931-1936. | |||||||||||
| National Recovery Administration, undated, 1933-1935. | |||||||||||
| New York Stock Exchange, undated, 1932-1936. | |||||||||||
| Newspapers and news bulletins, 1931-1932. | |||||||||||
| Norway, undated, 1935. | |||||||||||
| Olson clippings scrapbook (disassembled), approximately 1936-1961. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| A.052 | 4 | R-S, undated, 1931-1936. | |||||||||
| Second Inaugural Message, January 4, 1933. | |||||||||||
| Rockne (A.J. Rockne) controversy, December 1933-January 1934. | |||||||||||
| St. Paul municipal power plant, undated, 1934. | |||||||||||
| Sweden, undated, 1934-1935. | |||||||||||
| T-Y, undated, 1931-1935. | |||||||||||
| Taxation, undated, 1931-1936. | |||||||||||
| Third party movement, undated, 1936. | |||||||||||
| Truck Bill (H.F. 758), undated. | |||||||||||
| Unemployment insurance, December 26, 1932. | |||||||||||
| United States - Canada treaty, October 25, 1934. | |||||||||||
| Wage reductions in state government, undated. | |||||||||||
| War veterans, undated, 1931-1933. | |||||||||||
| WCCO radio, 1932, 1934. | |||||||||||
| Youth, undated, 1932. | |||||||||||
| Pamphlets, booklets, organizational newsletters, undated, 1931-1936. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 144.G.12.4F | 5 | Clippings, undated, 1924-1937, 1961-1974. 2 folders. | |||||||||
| Columbus Memorial in the capitol complex, October 12, 1931. | |||||||||||
| Dedication of Floyd B. Olson statue in the capitol complex, 1958. | |||||||||||
| Includes photographs of Orville Freeman and others with the statue. | |||||||||||
| Dinner in honor of Swedish Consul Nils J. Jaenson and his wife, January 27, 1932. | |||||||||||
| First anniversary Floyd B. Olson's death memorial services, August 22, 1937. | |||||||||||
| Floyd B. Olson Junior High School (Minneapolis), 1963. | |||||||||||
| Floyd B. Olson letters to his daughter and to his wife, 1936. | |||||||||||
| Floyd B. Olson Memorial Day Dinner, September 29, 1951. | |||||||||||
| Floyd B. Olson Memorial Luncheon on the 25th anniversary of his passing, September 9, 1961. | |||||||||||
| Hennepin County Governor Olson Volunteer Committee, 1932. | |||||||||||
| In Memoriam resolution offered by the Minnesota House of Representatives, December 22, 1936. | |||||||||||
| In Memoriam resolution offered by the Minnesota Senate, March 18, 1937. | |||||||||||
| Index (unidentified), 1932. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Letters and speeches, 1924-1938. | |||||||||||
| Letters and telegrams, 1924-1934. | |||||||||||
| Letters from Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932-1937. | |||||||||||
| Mississippi River Nine-Foot Channel project, 1933. | |||||||||||
| Northwestern College of Law commencement, 1915. | |||||||||||
| Petition for the removal from office of Hennepin County Attorney Floyd B. Olson, approximately 1927. | |||||||||||
| Submitted by Minneapolis newspaper publisher Howard A. Guilford. | |||||||||||
| Possible gubernatorial candidacies, 1924, 1928. | |||||||||||
| 1926 campaign for Hennepin County Attorney: Correspondence, 1926. | |||||||||||
| 1930 campaign: Correspondence, 1930. | |||||||||||
| 1932 campaign: | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1932. | |||||||||||
| E. T. Sward letters, 1932. | |||||||||||
| Newspaper advertisements, 1932. | |||||||||||
| Volunteer Committee telegrams, letters, brochures, 1932. | |||||||||||
| 1934 campaign: Correspondence, 1934. | |||||||||||
| Miscellany, undated, 1933-1936. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.D.10.6 | 6 | Scrapbooks: | |||||||||
| Newspaper clippings, 1931-1932. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Political stories and 1932 campaign. Includes some campaign literature and some editorial cartoons at the end. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.E.6.4F-2 | 7 | Newspaper clippings: Final illness and death of Olson, August 1936. 1 volume. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.D.10.6 | 6 | Certificates and diplomas: | |||||||||
| Diploma from North High School (Minneapolis), June 11, 1909. | |||||||||||
| Diploma from Northwestern College of Law, June 11, 1915. | |||||||||||
| Certificate from the Supreme Court of Minnesota admitting Olson to practice before the Supreme Court and all other courts in Minnesota, June 14, 1915. | |||||||||||
| Certificate declaring that Olson is an attorney in good and regular standing ..., January 31, 1930. | |||||||||||
| Election certificate: Floyd B. Olson as Governor of Minnesota, November 18, 1930. | |||||||||||
RELATED MATERIALS
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:
- Agriculture--Minnesota.
- Cancer--Mortality.
- Conservation of natural resources--Minnesota.
- Cooperation--Minnesota.
- County attorneys--Minnesota--Hennepin County.
- Education--Minnesota.
- Governors--Minnesota--Election--1932.
- Municipal ownership--Minnesota.
- Politicians--Death.
- Taxation--Minnesota.
- Labor unions--Minnesota.
- Unemployed--Minnesota.
- Persons:
- Guilford, Howard A., 1888-1934, author.
- Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962, author.
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945, author.
- Rockne, A. J. (Anton Julius), 1868-1950.
- Organizations:
- Citizens Alliance of Minneapolis.
- Farmer-Labor Association of Minnesota.
- Farmer-Labor Party (Minn.)
- Places:
- Minnesota--Politics and government--1918-1945.
- Document Types:
- Photographs.
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