Inventor Name
Walker, Clinton
Repository
Minnesota Historical Society
345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102-1906
651-259-3000
http://www.mnhs.org/index.htm
Physical Description
308.0 cu. ft. (276 boxes, 49 oversize folders, 33 unboxed volumes, and 1 map tube); and 8 microfilm reels
Summary
Personal papers and business records of a Minnesota lumber magnate and art collector, and of his descendants. Includes records of the Red River Lumber Company, a family-owned corporation that operated in both Minnesota and California. There are records of a variety of Walker's companies, business partnerships, and his art collection and gallery, as well as papers and business records of his children and grandchildren. The Clinton L. Walker Papers are composed primarily of general correspondence (foldered files and a letterpress book), which relates mostly to Red River Lumber Company (RRLC) business matters and to Clinton's work as an inventor. Most of it consists of carbon copies and original letters passed among Clinton, his brothers, and their father. There is also a good deal of correspondence with attorneys and automobile components manufacturers in regard to some of Clinton's automotive and other mechanical inventions. The series includes some personal correspondence and some subject files, together with a very small amount of his wife's and his son's correspondence. The Clinton L. Walker section is an artificial creation of the cataloger; its original organizational structure appeared to have been destroyed by Walker biographer Clara Nelson. It is composed both of Clinton's own papers and of files kept under his name at the Minneapolis office of the Red River Lumber Company. All of the material is in reverse chronological order, except for Clinton's personal correspondence, which is in regular chronological order. Some folded maps and schematic drawings that were found in various files have been removed, unfolded, and flat-filed. Others have been left folded in their original locations, where it seemed particularly important to potential researchers to do so.
Finding Aid
http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00093.html
