CARL WARMINGTON:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
Creator: | Warmington, Carl. | |
Title: | Carl Warmington papers. | |
Dates: | 1924-1992. | |
Abstract: | Papers related to a Minneapolis (Minn.) man's recollections of the Twin Cities jazz scene during the 1920s, his work with various social service agencies during the Great Depression, and his career as an executive with the United Way. | |
Quantity: | 0.4 cubic feet (1 box). | |
Location: | P2281: See Detailed Description section for shelf location. |
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Includes correspondence, typescript reminiscences, diaries, an oral history transcript, newspaper clippings, and photographs related to a Minneapolis (Minn.) man's recollections of the Twin Cities jazz scene during the 1920s, his work with various social service agencies during the Great Depression (1930s), and his work as an executive with the United Way (1930s-1950s). A list provided by Warmington containing brief descriptions of the material is located in the first folder.
Reminiscences related to Warmington's work as a jazz musician recall the Minneapolis Working Boys Band and its alumni's contributions to the development of music in Minneapolis and elsewhere, his membership in Bob Morken's Orchestra and its engagement as a stage band for a vaudeville company, "The Juvenile Follies of 1924," his work with the Breezy Point Orchestra at Breezy Point Lodge in northern Minnesota. (1929-1930), and his memories of prohibition..
A reminiscence (10 p.) entitled, "Memories of the Jazz Age" (1988) contains Warmington's recollections of the Twin Cities jazz scene during the1920s including the music and musicians; the University of Minnesota campus bands; popular Twin City dance halls and late night gathering places; the bookers and dance hall managers; his own work as a musician including jobs on two steamship cruises (1928-1929); his participation in jazz bands around the country since the 1930s; and his involvement with an oral history project interviewing prominent Twin Cities jazz musicians.
Warmington's experiences as a musician on two steamship cruises are documented in two diaries. The first (February 6-March 14, 1928) describes Warmington's tour of the Orient as the leader of a five-piece campus band on board the S.S. President Grant of the Dollar Steamship Line. The cruise left from San Francisco, visited Honolulu, Japan, China, and the Philippines, and returned via the same route to Seattle.
The second diary (March 6-July 10, 1929) and a reminiscence based on the diary (1989) recall Warmington's 1929 world cruise as a band leader on board another Dollar liner, the S.S. President Wilson. Departing from San Francisco the tour's itinerary included stops in Hawaii, Japan, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Ceylon, Egypt, Italy, France, New York City, and Cuba. Other papers related to the cruises include correspondence (1928-1930, 1979-1990), newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Reminiscences related to Warmington's experiences during the depression recount his occasional work as a musician including a job with the Daytons Department Store employee orchestra at Christmas time (1930); a visit he made to a soup line in the Gateway District of Minneapolis; and his work as a civil service examiner with the City of Minneapolis. He was transferred to a job supervising relief rentals in the city (May 1931) and he recalls a few of his clients and a rental policy he devised to stop evictions and cover landlord's mortgage and tax payments.
Warmington was later appointed director of the Men's Bureau (1932), a social service agency for homeless single men. He describes the work that was necessary to meet the agency's expanding case load including the remodeling of a vacant building for offices and dormitory space, the establishment of an alcoholic treatment program, and the employment of the Bureau's clients by the city of Minneapolis as construction workers on a new beltline highway. There is also a group of photographs of the Bureau's clients and the interior and exterior of its building at 210 N. 2nd Street, Minneapolis. Additional details of Warmington's work with the Men's Bureau are contained in a transcript (28 p.) of an interview of Warmington by Lillian Burns (October 10, 1989).
The remaining reminiscences relate to Warmington's career as an executive with the United Way. They recall his involvement with the Community Trust Fund in Madison, Wisconsin and the development of the national Community Foundation movement, various speeches he delivered, and his house and neighbors in Providence where he worked as director of the Rhode Island Community Chest.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Carl Warmington Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession Numbers: 14,839; 15,133; 15,227; 15,851
Processing Information:
Processed by: Frank P. Hennessy, April 1998
Catalog ID number: 09-00041850
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
P2281 | Jazz Musician: | ||||||||||
Reminiscences, photographs, and newspaper clippings, undated and 1924, 1930, 1985-1992. | |||||||||||
Trip to the Orient: Diary, Feb. 6-March 13, 1928. | |||||||||||
World cruise: | |||||||||||
Diary and reminiscences, March 6-July 10, 1929. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1928-1930, 1979-1990. 2 folders | |||||||||||
Photographs, [1929?]. | |||||||||||
Newspaper clipping and miscellaneous printed matter, undated and 1929, 1955. |
The Depression: Reminiscences and oral history interview, undated and 1989. |
United Way: Reminiscences, [1989?]. |
Moving Made Easier (scrapbook), 1953-1969, [199-]. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
The scrapbook is a three-ring binder containing copies of Warmington's 1956 published guide for families moving to a new location, its 1969 revision, and correspondence and other papers about its publication and its origins. |
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:
- Big bands -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.
- Charities -- Administration.
- Depressions -- 1929 -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Homeless persons -- Services for -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Moving, Household--Guidebooks.
- Ocean liners.
- Ocean travel.
- Public welfare -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Resorts -- Minnesota -- Breezy Point.
- Roads -- Minnesota -- Design and construction.
- Tramps -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Vaudeville -- Minnesota.
- Voyages around the world.
- Places:
- Central community (Minneapolis, Minn.).
- Minneapolis (Minn.) -- Economic conditions, 1918-1945.
- Minneapolis (Minn.) -- Social life and customs, 1918-1945.
- Minnesota State Highway No. 100.
- Person:
- Burns, Lillian G.
- Organizations:
- Bob Morken's Orchestra.
- Breezy Point Resort.
- Carl Warmington's Minnesotans (Musical group).
- Dollar Steamship Line.
- Juvenile Follies of 1924.
- Minneapolis Working Boys Band.
- President Wilson (Ship).
- University of Minnesota -- Bands.
- Types of Documentation:
- Photographs.
- Reminiscences.
- Occupations:
- Jazz musicians -- Minnesota.
- Social workers -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.