JOSEPHINE CARPENTER AND FAMILY:
An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Carpenter, Josephine, 1935-2017, creator. | |
| Title: | Josephine B. Carpenter and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1935-2016. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Family history materials kept by Josephine Benz ("Nicky") Carpenter, granddaughter of George G. Benz, the president of wholesale liquor firm Geo. Benz & Sons, and of Adolf Bremer, president of the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Co., and great-granddaughter of St. Paul pioneer brewer Jacob Schmidt. She and her husband, Thomas Kimberly Carpenter, were noted for their many involvements in community service and philanthropy, and she for many years was an educational consultant based in Wayzata, Minn. The papers consist of biographical, genealogical, and historical data on the Benz, Bremer, Carpenter, Hamm, and Schmidt families; a few files reflecting her philanthropic activities; and family photographs and memorabilia. | |
| Quantity: | 1.25 cubic feet (2 boxes) and 34 image files: JPEG (107 MB). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Josephine Louise Benz ("Nicky") Carpenter, daughter of George W. and Louise (Bremer) Benz, was born in St. Paul, June 29, 1935. She graduated from The St. Paul Academy and Summit School (1953) and Vassar College (1957). She attended the University of Munich and the Goethe Institute. In 1977 she began an educational consulting business in Wayzata that matched students with appropriate colleges. She served on many boards, especially those of the Minnesota Orchestra, Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at St. John's University, and Vassar College. She married Thomas K. Carpenter in 1970. She died August 14, 2017.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Josephine B. Carpenter and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 17,496
Processing Information:
Processed by: Lydia Lucas, October 2017; Leif Kopietz, March 2025
Catalog ID number: 9989871340004294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| 152.E.8.1B | 1 | Family information: | |||||||||
| "Four Pioneer St. Paul Families," by Paul H. Giddens, approximately 1994. | |||||||||||
| Photocopy of a history of the Benz, Hamm, Schmidt, and Bremer families, including a few photographs. | |||||||||||
| "Miscellaneous Family Items of Interest," compiled approximately 1993. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous historical data on the Benz, Bremer, and Schmidt families, and a diary of a 1985 family trip with Louise Bremer Benz to Germany to investigate family history. | |||||||||||
| Benz family. | |||||||||||
| Benz family biographical and genealogical data; will of George W. Benz; a few family letters and memorabilia; a summary of a reminiscence by Louise Muller; information on the dissolution of Geo. Benz and Sons. | |||||||||||
| Benz, Louise Bremer: Funeral and estate. 1999. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Bremer family. | |||||||||||
| Family biographical, genealogical, and historical data; information on the Otto Bremer Foundation (2014). | |||||||||||
| Carpenter family. | |||||||||||
| Family biographical data and memorabilia; biography of Nicky Benz Carpenter; obituary of Thomas K. Carpenter (2014); letter from Tom's son George announcing his marriage (1986). | |||||||||||
| Hamm family. | |||||||||||
| Biographical, genealogical and historical data and memorabilia, including a 45-page biographical reminiscence by Theodore Hamm's granddaughter, Louise Marie Muller. | |||||||||||
| Schmidt family and Schmidt Brewery. | |||||||||||
| Primarily historical information on the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Co. | |||||||||||
| Woehrle, Charles, 1943-2011. | |||||||||||
| Nicky Carpenter's uncle. Two 1943 letters while in military service, and information on his incarceration in a German prison camp and on a 2011 documentary on his experiences there. | |||||||||||
| Nicky Benz Carpenter papers: | |||||||||||
| Nicky Benz/Tom Carpenter wedding announcement and publicity, 1970. | |||||||||||
| Nicky Carpenter awards, commendations and memberships, 1957-2014. | |||||||||||
| Association of Fundraising Professionals, Twin Cities Philanthropist of the Year, 2007. | |||||||||||
| Awarded to Nicky Benz Carpenter. Awards luncheon program, her speech, publicity, and miscellany. | |||||||||||
| Minnesota Orchestral Association, 1993-2003. | |||||||||||
| Photographs, clippings, and memorabilia reflecting the Carpenter family's involvement with the Minnesota Orchestra. Tom Carpenter's grandfather was a founder and first president of the Minnesota Orchestral Association, and Nicky was its chair from 1990 to 1995. | |||||||||||
| Malta Study Center, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, St. John's University, 2010-2011. | |||||||||||
| Nicky was a member of Friends of the Malta Study Center. | |||||||||||
| Order of Malta, American Association, 2010-2014. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Information on its grants program and its 2014 annual meeting. Nicky was a member of its board of directors and its grants protocol committee. | |||||||||||
| Speeches and articles, 2007-2016. | |||||||||||
| Articles by and about Nicky Carpenter, interview responses, and three speeches, all focused on her philanthropic activities. | |||||||||||
| Vassar [College] development, 2014. | |||||||||||
| Photographs: | |||||||||||
| Benz and Hamm family photographs. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Benz family cemetery photographs. | |||||||||||
| Nicky Benz childhood photographs. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Portraits of her, family portraits and snapshots, and children's' parties. | |||||||||||
| Nicky Benz photographs as teenager and young woman. | |||||||||||
| Nicky Benz/Tom Carpenter wedding photographs. | |||||||||||
| Nicky Benz Carpenter in later life. | |||||||||||
| Internet | Philanthropist of the Year, November 19, 2007. 34 digital images: JPEG (107 MB): | ||||||||||
| Photographs of the award celebration. | |||||||||||
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| Box | |||||||||||
| 152.E.8.1B | 1 | "Cowboys and Friends, Glacier National Park, Montana," 1938. 1 volume. | |||||||||
| Western trip with Adolf Bremer, approximately 1939. | |||||||||||
| Blackfeet Indians, 1939, 2001. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Photograph of Adolf Bremer with a group of Blackfeet; photocopies of other group photographs of Blackfeet; information on the tribe's efforts to obtain back payments on government revenues from tribal lands (2001). Compiled by Charles Woehrle. | |||||||||||
| Benz family home? | |||||||||||
| Carpenter family photographs. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous photographs. | |||||||||||
| A few unidentified family portraits; a packet of photographs of the UCross Land Company's Wyoming ranch (owned by Nicky's brother-in-law Raymond Plank). | |||||||||||
| Photograph album, residence of George W. Benz, White Bear Lake, Minn. August 1999. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Videotape, Benz children, 1935-1943. 1 videocassette (VHS). | |||||||||||
| An annotation on the side panel says "16 mm films, 2 hrs. 7 mins." | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 153.A.17.4F-2 | 2 | Photographs. 2 folders. | |||||||||
| Nicky Benz childhood photographs and portraits; Benz and Bremer family portraits. | |||||||||||
| Edward Bremer newspaper clippings, 1987. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Photocopied clippings from the Bremerton, Washington Sun, on Edward Bremer's life and death and on town history. | |||||||||||
| Memorabilia, 1950s-2013. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Three recognition certificates to Nicky Benz Carpenter; racing sloop Falcon (Mark Bremer) photographs and race results (1950s); USS Minnesota honorary commissioning committee members (including Thomas Carpenter), 2013. | |||||||||||
| [0.50 cubic feet empty, half-height] | |||||||||||
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:
- Charitable uses, trusts, and foundations.
- Family foundations -- Minnesota.
- Philanthropists -- Minnesota.
- Persons:
- Benz, George W., author.
- Benz, Louise Bremer, author.
- Bremer family.
- Bremer, Adolf, 1869-1939, author.
- Carpenter family.
- Carpenter, Thomas K., author.
- Hamm family.
- Muller, Louise Marie, author.
- Schmidt family.
- Woehrle, Charles B., author.
- Organizations:
- Geo. Benz & Sons, author.
- Jacob Schmidt Brewing Co., author.
- Otto Bremer Foundation, author.
- Minnesota Orchestral Association, author.
- Vassar College, author.
- Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, author.
- Knights of Malta. American Association, author.
- Friends of the Malta Study Center, author.
- Document Types:
- Diaries.
- Digital images.
- Genealogies (histories).
- Photographs.
- Videocassettes.
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