FERDINAND UEBEL:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Uebel, Ferdinand. | |
| Title: | Ferdinand Uebel and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1881-1957. | |
| Abstract: | Personal and family papers related to Ferdinand Uebel's interest in fencing, his role as a fencing instructor, and his involvement with Twin Cities area athletic and fencing organizations. | |
| Quantity: | 1.35 cubic feet (3 boxes and 1 oversize folder). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Born on February 20, 1873 in Rochester, New York, Ferdinand Uebel first came to Minnesota in 1901 when he worked for Monasch Litho. Co. on a contract making school charts for the Minneapolis Board of Education. After working for various firms in Milwaukee, Chicago, Rochester, and Cleveland, Uebel returned to Minnesota in 1906 to work for the Standard Printing Company on Rice Street in St. Paul.
A member of the American Turners since 1892, Uebel took his first fencing lesson through the Rochester Turnverein at the age of 16. In Minnesota, through his connection with the St. Paul Turners, Uebel organized the first of annual fencing bouts sponsored by the Northwestern Gymnastic Society in 1928. He was an active member of the fencing league, having served as the League's president at least once, as well as an active member of the Northwestern Gymnastic Society, having served as its vice president for a number of years. He coached fencing teams at the University of Minnesota, 1936-1954, and also instructed fencing classes for the St. Paul Turners, Hamline University, Central High School, and other clubs and schools.
Ferdinand's father, H. August Uebel, a tailor who immigrated with his father from Germany to Rochester, New York, was active in the Rochester Turnverein and was a fifty-year member of the American Turners. Uebel's mother immigrated to the U.S. from the town of Feldkirch in Tyrol.
Ferdinand Uebel married Louise Lang, of Rochester, New York, on December 20, 1905. The Uebels had five children. Ferdinand Uebel retired from the Smyth Printing Company in St. Paul in 1948 and died in 1959.
Biographical information was taken from the collection.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
The papers contain correspondence, instructional materials, competition reports and statistics, news clippings, membership cards, printed materials, and other ephemera related to Ferdinand Uebel's interest in fencing, his role as a fencing instructor, and his involvement with Minnesota athletic and fencing organizations.
A photocopy of a diary documenting Uebel's beginnings as a lithographic journeyman in Rochester and Buffalo, New York, and in Boston briefly describes the activities of Turner societies in those communities. The collection also includes political propaganda printed by various organizations, particularly the Communist Party and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, concerning New Deal and World War era national and state politics.
Papers pertaining to the Uebel family consist of Turnverein awards, August Uebel's certificate of membership in the Memorial Association of Monroe County, New York, and a poem (in German) dedicated to August and Elizabeth Uebel by their children and grandchildren on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
A few items are in German. These are noted within the Detailed Description section.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Ferdinand Uebel and family papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 11,699
Processing Information:
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, April 1981 and Monica Manny Ralston, January 1998.
Catalog ID number: 09-00319906
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1243 | 1 | Correspondence with Minnesota Historical Society, 1917-1935. | |||||||||
| Ferdinand Uebel, Diary as a journeyman (photocopy), October 1, 1899-October 1900. | |||||||||||
| Details Uebel's move from Rochester, New York in October of 1899, where he was employed with the Folding Box Co.; to Buffalo, New York, where he worked as an engraver in the lithography firms of Gries & Co. and Courier & Co.; and then to Boston and Revere in May of 1900, where he worked for Forbes. Includes passages referring to the activities of the Turnverein and other German-American clubs in Rochester, Buffalo, and Boston, as well as descriptions of Uebel's sight-seeing excursions and daily activities. | |||||||||||
| Art and lithography, 1930s-1940s. | |||||||||||
| News clippings about local artists, printed programs and entry guidelines for Twin City art exhibits, and miscellaneous printed materials concerning the lithography trade. | |||||||||||
| Turnverein membership cards, 1894-1934. | |||||||||||
| Mechanics Institute (Rochester, N.Y.) admission cards and University of State of New York pass-card of preliminary examination, 1888, 1890-1892. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1243 | 1 | Political materials, [1917]-1952. 3 folders.s | |||||||||
| Includes circular correspondence and printed materials issued by the American League Against War and Facism, the Communist Party of America and of Minnesota, Americans for Democratic Actions, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and other organizations concerning state and national politics primarily during the 1930s and 1940s. Also includes Ferdinand Uebel's membership cards in the Workers Party of America (1925), the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (1936-1937, 1948), and the Communist Party (1946-1947). | |||||||||||
| Physical Education: Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1919-1951. | |||||||||||
| Includes the articles of incorporation of the Newell Park Improvement Association, as well as the constitution and a membership list of the Hamline Playground Association. | |||||||||||
| Northwestern Gymnastic Society: Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1918-1953. | |||||||||||
| Includes a brief history of the society, which, until 1932 when the Minnesota League of Fencing Clubs was formed, sponsored regional fencing bouts. Also includes summary information regarding annual competition participants and winners. | |||||||||||
| Fencing: Newspaper clippings, 1932-1957. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1243 | 2 | Fencing and Fencer's League: Correspondence and related papers, 1932-1954. 10 folders. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1243 | 3 | Fencing: Miscellaneous manuscripts, undated and 1924-1957. 3 folders. | |||||||||
| Includes correspondence, biographical notes, instructional materials, announcements, circulars, tournament programs, competition results and compiled statistics, pamphlets, minutes, and other records concerning Ferdinand Uebel's fencing instruction and related to the Minnesota Division of the Amateur Fencers League of America. | |||||||||||
| Pamphlets, 1925-1957. | |||||||||||
| Various printed materials regarding fencing and athletics including a program from the second gymnastics festival of the Turnverein in the Atlantic region (1895, in German); an instructional booklet written by the fencing instructor of the New Berlin Turnbezirks (1887, in German); the competition rules of the Western Intercollegiate Gymnastic, Wrestling, and Fencing Association (1925); two booklets describing athletics and physical education at the University of Minnesota (1935-1938); and various other programs from meets held at the University of Minnesota. | |||||||||||
| 142.E.1.8 | Family Papers: Awards, Certificates, and Memorial: | ||||||||||
| August Uebel's membership certificate in the Memorial Association of Monroe County, New York, 1881. | |||||||||||
| Ferdinand Uebel's Turnverein tournament awards, 1895-1896. | |||||||||||
| In German. | |||||||||||
| F. August Uebel's Nordamerikanischer Turnerbund 50-year membership certificate, 1906. | |||||||||||
| In German. | |||||||||||
| Herman Uebel's Turnverein tournament awards, 1927-1928. | |||||||||||
| Memorial on the golden wedding anniversary of their parents and grandparents, August and Elizabeth Uebel, 1906. | |||||||||||
| In German. | |||||||||||
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:
- Athletic clubs -- Minnesota -- Competitions.
- Fencing -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area -- Societies.
- German Americans -- New York -- Social life and customs.
- Organizations:
- Amateur Fencers League of America. Minnesota Division.
- Minnesota League of Fencing Clubs.
- Northwestern Gymnastic Society.
- United States -- Politics and government, 1933-1953.
- Types of Documentation:
- Diaries.
- Propaganda, Communist -- United States.
- Occupations:
- Fencing coaches -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.
- Journey workers.
- Lithographers -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
Collapse
All