FRANK A. CARLE:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Carle, Frank Austin, 1851-1930. | |
| Title: | Frank A. Carle papers. | |
| Dates: | 1884-1927. | |
| Abstract: | The collection documents Carle's career as a journalist in Indianapolis, St. Paul, Portland (Ore.), and Minneapolis; his acquaintances with many prominent politicians, journalists, and artists; his attendance at national political conventions beginning in 1876; his European and other foreign travels (1911-1913); his philosophy of life; and his reactions to the many events of his lifetime. | |
| Quantity: | 0.4 cubic feet (1 box). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for shelf location. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Newspaperman Frank A. Carle was born in Spencerport, New York (July 21, 1851), the son of John and Catherine (Spencer) Carle, and was educated at the University of Wisconsin (1869-1871) and the University of Michigan. He was employed by the following newspapers: managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press; managing editor of the Portland Oregonian; editorial page editor of the New York Commercial-Advertiser (1897-1900) and the Minneapolis Tribune (1901-1912); and the Minneapolis Journal. During World War I he worked as a "dollar-a-year" man in the Ordnance Department. He married Mary Elizabeth Bardeen (May 15, 1873), who was born in 1845 and died in 1895. There were three daughters born to the couple: Katherine Elizabeth (1879-1912), Mary Edith (1880-1885), and Wilhelmina Spencer (1885-1888). Carle died in 1930.
See the first folder in the box for more biographical information.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Frank A. Carle Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 2086; 13,896
Processing Information:
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, November 1997
Catalog ID number: 09-00320532
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P2261 | 1 | Biographical sketches of Carle and a brief genealogy of the Carle family, undated. | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P2261 | 1 | Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1884-1924. | |||||||||
| Illuminates Carle's friendship with a wide variety of individuals including artists, journalists, writers, architects, and politicians of note in Minnesota and elsewhere. Letters of particular interest are summarized below: | |||||||||||
| A long letter, partially illegible, from Joseph A. Wheelock, editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, to Carle, describing his visit to Europe and his meetings with other journalists, undated. | |||||||||||
| From Minnesota statesman Cushman Davis, containing his assessment of the Democratic Party (November 10, 1884), his arrival in Washington, D.C., as senator with a description of his living quarters there (November 22, 1887), and a telegram (July 24, 1894) relating to the possible passage of the tariff bill. The letters reveal Davis' wit and literary style. | |||||||||||
| From James B. Angell, president of the University of Michigan, thanking Carle for his efforts to obtain for the university acceptance of high school graduates, June 18, 1885. Carle's acquaintanceship with Angell is described in Carle's "Forty Years in Journalism." | |||||||||||
| John H. Holliday, Indianapolis, describes the 1888 Republican National Convention and Benjamin Harrison's prospects for the presidential nomination April 10, 1888. | |||||||||||
| From writer Ella Wheeler Wilcox describing an article to be written by her (July 10, [1886?]). | |||||||||||
| From dramatist Bronson Howard reminiscing on their meeting in Portland, Oregon (August 8, 1893.) | |||||||||||
| A letter (L.S.) from William McKinley on his election as governor of Ohio (November 11, 1893), and a letter from a White House aide thanking Carle for his support and discussing some Republican opposition to McKinley's policies (December 16, 1896.) | |||||||||||
| A letter from Booker T. Washington, thanking Carle for his interest in Tuskegee Institute, and stating his philosophies on Black education (December 28, 1903.) | |||||||||||
| From artist Rufus E. Zogbaum with information on his proposed painting of the First Minnesota Regiment at Gettysburg for the governor's office, Minnesota State Capitol (November 17, 1904.) | |||||||||||
| A letter from Minnesota businessman Thomas Lowry, Rome, mentioning the assassination of Grand Duke Serge, and giving some information on his Italian trip (February 22, 1905.) | |||||||||||
| From the writer Edward S. Martin, describing his efforts in getting "Wells into the country" (December 6, 1906.) May have referred to the writer H. G. Wells. | |||||||||||
| From the artist Cadwallader Lincoln Washburn, son of William Drew Washburn, thanking Carle for his words of support, and stating his determination to pursue his art career (April 9, 1907.) | |||||||||||
| From Governor John A. Johnson, thanking Carle for his support of the formation of the Minnesota Tax Commission (April 29, 1907.) | |||||||||||
| A letter from Major E. L. Zalinski, with mention of architect Cass Gilbert (October 14, 1908.) | |||||||||||
| From Charles S. King, Milwaukee, reminiscing on his lunch with Carle and Theodore Roosevelt, and discussing the controversy over Frederick A. Cook's discovery of the North Pole (December 23, 1909.) More information on King and Theodore Roosevelt will be found in "Forty Years of Journalism," pp. 35-38. | |||||||||||
| A letter from Cass Gilbert describes the beginnings of his work on the Woolworth Building, New York City, and the design changes necessary to fit existing conditions (December 17, 1910.) | |||||||||||
| From Minneapolis architect Edwin H. Hewit mentioning his architectural plans for the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Minneapolis (September 17, 1910.) | |||||||||||
| A letter from Senator William D. Washburn, Naples, Italy, indicating his support for presidential candidate William H. Taft (March 28, 1912.) | |||||||||||
| A letter from Earle V. Pierce, Minneapolis (April 25, 1912) and a copy of Carle's reply (undated) relating to Carle's newspaper article, "The Law of the Sea," which dealt with the Titanic disaster. Also included is a copy of the article. | |||||||||||
| Other brief letters from prominent individuals include: John Lind (undated); General Alfred Terry, Fort Snelling (March 4, 1886); General Nelson A. Miles (September 9, 1903); Minnesota Congressman Frederick C. Stevens (July 10, 1906); Railroader James J. Hill (September 27, 1911); Reverend Marion D. Shutter (July 15, 1911); journalist John Talman (December 13, 1912); statesman Frank B. Kellogg (November 16, 1918); and John R. Van Derlip, Minneapolis Institute of Arts (December 7, 1921). | |||||||||||
| Other items of interest, interfiled chronologically with the correspondence, include a complimentary pass for the Great Northern Railway signed by James J. Hill (1907) and passports issued to Carle (September 29, 1911, March 5, 1915, and April 18, 1922). | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P2261 | 1 | Typescripts of Carle's articles on various subjects, undated and 1897-1927. | |||||||||
| Theory of the Supermen--Women Equality, undated. | |||||||||||
| Freedom in Education, undated. | |||||||||||
| Is against compulsory education and defends private schools. | |||||||||||
| The Black Mountain, April 30, 1897. | |||||||||||
| A discussion of the history of Montenegro | |||||||||||
| Freedom of the Seas and Francis Wall, [1919?]. | |||||||||||
| Details the efforts of Francis Wall (1859-1919) to aid the Seaman's Union to obtain better working conditions for seamen. | |||||||||||
| [What is Happiness?], 1919. | |||||||||||
| A Full Life, Josephine Murphy (1891-1918), October 1919. | |||||||||||
| At the dedication of the Josephine Murphy Memorial Library, Littlefork. She was a member of the Minneapolis newspaper family. | |||||||||||
| The Uplift of War, [1919-1920?], | |||||||||||
| Discusses war as a unifying force. | |||||||||||
| Knowing Good and Evil, [1920s?]. | |||||||||||
| On Women's equality. | |||||||||||
| A Study of Government, August 1924. | |||||||||||
| On the American form of government. | |||||||||||
| America for Peace, August 1927. | |||||||||||
| Reflections on the Geneva Conference on naval limitation; postwar economics; repayment of war loans; and the belief that the wealth of the United States will lead to U.S. supremacy in all things, including arts. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P2261 | 1 | Newspaper articles, photocopies by Carle, undated and 1902-1927. | |||||||||
| Contains information on women's equality; citizenship in the twentieth century; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the Republican Party; Minneapolis government; Francis Wall and the Seaman's Act of 1915; and a series of nine articles (December 26, 1912-March 4, 1913) with many details on his extensive trip to Europe, North Africa, and the Far East, with information on scenery, political events, civilian life, and other matters in the Mediterranean islands, Naples, Genoa, Sicily, Ceylon, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Yokahama, and Honolulu. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P2261 | 1 | Forty Years of Journalism, 1872-1912, 3 folders (117 pages), typed copy. | |||||||||
| Reminiscences containing a wealth of detailed information on his journalism career; his acquaintance with many journalists, politicians, and other prominent individuals; and family matters, including the death of his wife and three daughters. Although the reminiscences are undated, internal evidence indicates that they may have been written between 1915 and 1922. The document is summarized below: | |||||||||||
| The first pages describe his association with the University of Michigan from which he graduated in 1874, and its president, James B. Agnell; his early career (1874-1879) in journalism on the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and the Troy Times, and the Indianapolis Times, the latter during the 1876 presidential campaign; his employment at the St. Paul Pioneer Press (1880s), with descriptions of the Washburn "A" Mill explosion and his coverage of the 1880 Republican National Convention, describing problems in relaying new stories and offering vignettes of prominent Republicans including James G. Blaine, Ulysses S. Grant, James A. Garfield, and Roscoe Conkling. | |||||||||||
| During 1881 (pp. 15-21) Carle accompanied the survey conducted by the Canadian Pacific Railroad and James J. Hill for a proposed Canadian transcontinental railroad, passing through unsettled areas which would later be developed into farms and wheat growing lands. | |||||||||||
| At this time he was invited by James J. Hill on a trip around Lake Winnipeg, and later went by canoe to the Lake of the Woods and overland across the prairies. His articles on this trip were later published in pamphlet form. These pages also contain his reminiscences of Joseph Wheelock and James J. Hill. He also met a number of prominent Canadian railroad officials, including Thomas L. Rosser, Sir George Stephen, W.B. Angus, and John MacDonald. | |||||||||||
| Details on Northern Pacific Railroad president Henry Villard, and the completion of the Northern Pacific transcontinental railroad, and the "Golden Spike" ceremony (pp.21-28) are revealed by Carle, who accompanied the expedition to Gold Creek, Montana, with information on the tour of Little Big Horn battlefield; the gold spike ceremony; descriptions of the railroad cars and guests; impressions of the country; and his visits to the West Coast towns of Portland and Tacoma. | |||||||||||
| Carle mentions his impressions of many St. Paul citizens (pp. 28-29), including Alexander Ramsey, Dillon O'Brien, and Christopher O'Brien, a mayor of St. Paul. | |||||||||||
| He also attended both the 1884 Republican and Democratic national conventions (pp. 30-32). The Republican convention was characterized by the actions of the "reform" group led by Senator Edwards, Carl Schurz, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry Cabot Lodge, and their support of incumbent Chester A. Arthur. Due to a split among the group Arthur lost the nomination to James G. Blaine, who lost the election to Democrat Grover Cleveland. During the campaign, Carle travelled through many states observing the campaign and writing articles on it. He also observed the Minnesota Republican State convention in Detroit Lakes, and gives his impression of Knute Nelson and Solomon G. Comstock. Pages 35-36 of the reminiscences describe his personal relationship with Theodore Roosevelt from 1884 to 1898. | |||||||||||
| Pages 36-38 contain memories of his visit to Milwaukee; his opinions of the writings of Ella Wheeler Wilcox; meeting the Indian fighter Charles King; acquaintance with Helen Barlett, book editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, and her subsequent career; mentions of Samuel McClure and Rudyard Kipling's visit to the United States (1890s); and his acquaintance with other members of the Kipling family. | |||||||||||
| The sections dealing with Carle's life in Oregon (pp. 40-44 and 47-58) describe his work on the Portland Oregonian; persons he met there; Francis Wall and the Seaman's Act of 1915 (pp. 43-44); and Oregon politics. | |||||||||||
| Carle attended the 1888 Republican and Democratic national conventions (pp. 44-46), further emphasizing the continuing conflict between the reformers and "stalwarts," and the 1896 national conventions (pp. 59-70), which centered around the subject of free coinage of silver as opposed to the gold standard. He describes William Jennings Bryan's speech to the Democratic convention and his nomination. Carle states his opposition to the silver issue and his opinion of Bryan. At this time, Carle details the financial aspect of the free silver campaign, the tariff issues, his relationship with McKinley, and his work for his campaign in Oregon. | |||||||||||
| For a while, Carle lived in New York City and was employed by the Evening Journal (pp. 71-78). He describes his meetings with Nicholas Murrary Butler, Elihu Root, and artist Ernest Wood; his membership in the University and Century clubs; social and cultural activities; Columbia University; and other meetings with artists and writers. At this time, the Spanish-American War broke out, and he describes his opposition to it and friends who participated in it. | |||||||||||
| In 1900 Carle made his first trip to Europe (pp. 78-92), and describes the Azores, Naples, Capri, Rome, Florence, and Venice; meetings with American artist Abbott Thayer, and with Lockwood and Kim Kipling (pp. 81, 84-85); and then to France and England, where he met Minnesotans Thomas Lowry, Stanford Newell, Clinton Morrison, and David Atwater. | |||||||||||
| The rest of the reminiscences (pp. 93-117) detail his association with the Minneapolis Tribune and its owners, the Murphy family, and with Herschel Jones, owner of the Minneapolis Journal; his travels to the Great Lakes region; reminiscences of William Watts Folwell, James K. Hosmer, Edwin H. Hewit, and writer Darragh Aldrich; and such institutions as the Minnesota Historical Society, Informal Club, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, University of Minnesota, and the Cathedral Church of St. Mark. | |||||||||||
| More trips to Europe are described in pages 102-111. The 1911 trip to England contains interesting observations on his attendance at a House of Commons session at which time the issues of women's suffrage and the first old age pension bills were debated. | |||||||||||
| The last pages describe his work with the Ordnance Department (p. 114), in the war refugee program, and in the Fatherless Children of France, from which he adopted two children. His last visit to France was in 1922. | |||||||||||
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, American.
- Architecture -- United States.
- Artists -- United States.
- Authors, English.
- Journalism -- Minnesota.
- Newspapers.
- Ocean liners.
- Political conventions -- United States.
- Political parties -- United States.
- Politics Practical -- United States.
- Presidents -- United States -- Election.
- Shipwrecks -- Atlantic Ocean.
- Travelers -- Minnesota.
- Voyages and travels.
- World War, 1914-1918 -- War Work.
- Places:
- Asia -- Description and travel.
- Canada -- Description and travel.
- Europe -- Description and travel.
- Europe, Eastern -- Description and travel.
- Minnesota -- Capital and capitol.
- Minnesota -- Politics and government, (1858-1950).
- Minneapolis (Minn.).
- New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel.
- Oregon -- Description and travel.
- Saint Paul (Minn.).
- United States -- Politics and government.
- West (U.S.) -- Description and travel.
- Persons:
- Ames, Charles W. (Charles Wilberforce), 1855-1921.
- Angell, James Burriel, 1829-1916.
- Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886.
- Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893.
- Bross, Ernest, 1860-1923.
- Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925.
- Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
- Cook, Fredrick Albert, 1865-1940.
- Davis, Cushman Kellogg, 1838-1900.
- Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881.
- Gilbert, Cass, 1859-1934.
- Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901.
- Hewitt, Edwin Hawley, 1874-1939.
- Hill, James J. (James Jerome), 1838-1916.
- Holliday, John H. (John Hamphen), 1846-1921.
- Howard, Bronson, 1842-1908.
- Johnson, John Albert, 1861-1909.
- Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936.
- Little, Philip, 1857-1942.
- Lowry, Thomas, 1843-1909.
- McKinley, William, 1843-1901.
- Martin, Edward Sanford, 1856-1939.
- Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839-1915.
- Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
- Shutter, Marion Daniel, 1853-1939.
- Stevens, Frederick Clement, 1861-1923.
- Talman, John, 1851-1936.
- Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827-1890.
- Van Derlip, John Russell, 1860-1935.
- Villard, Henry, 1835-1900.
- Washburn, Cadwallader Lincoln, 1866-1935.
- Washburn, William D. (William Drew), 1831-1912.
- Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.
- Wheelock, Joseph Albert, 1831-1906.
- Organizations:
- Democratic Party (U.S.).
- Informal Club (Saint Paul, Minn.).
- Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
- Northern Pacific Railroad Company.
- Republican Party (U.S.: 1854- ).
- Woolworth Building (New York, N.Y.).
- Types of Documents:
- Reminiscences.
- Occupations:
- Journalists -- Minnesota.
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