00042 PAUL S. SWENSSON: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society Finding aid prepared by David B. Peterson.

MHS finding aid format: Fruin

 Finding aid encoded by Dennis Meissner, November 08, 2004. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Minnesota Historical Society Swensson, Paul S. (Paul Sigfrid), 1907-2001. Paul S. Swensson papers. 1940-2000. Personal and business papers of a newspaperman who was managing editor of the Minneapolis Tribune (1950-1955) and Minneapolis Star (1956-1961) newspapers, a member of the Hopkins, Minnesota school board, and later executive director of the Wall Street Journal's Newspaper Fund and a journalism professor at Temple and Columbia universities. 1.8 cu. ft. (2 boxes). See Detailed Description section for shelf locations. BIOGRAPHY OF PAUL S. SWENSSON

Paul Sigfrid Swensson was born November 11, 1907 at Woburn, Massachusetts. His father, Gustav Sigfrid Swensson, was a Lutheran pastor. His mother, Minnie (Hamburg) Swensson, was a teacher. He attended public schools in Aurora, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, and Mound, Minnesota.

Swensson was a graduate of Mound (Minn.) High School. He attended the Lutheran Bible Institute, St. Paul, in 1924-1925. In 1928 he earned a bachelor's degree at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, with majors in English and biology. He apparently spent the next year in a theological seminary and then in graduate study in history and philosophy at the University of Minnesota (two quarters, 1929-1930).

Swensson was on the Gustavus Adolphus College newspaper staff (1925-1928), serving as editor his final year. His first professional position was at the Mitchell, South Dakota Daily Republic newspaper (1930-1935), where he began as a police news reporter and held a variety of other positions including sports editor, state news editor, and city editor.

Swensson spent most of his newspaper career at the Cowles-owned Minneapolis daily newspapers: at the morning Minneapolis Tribune as copy editor and makeup editor (1936-1942) and at the evening Minneapolis Star as chief of the war news desk and assistant news editor (1943-1944). He served in the United States Army in 1942 and 1943.

Swensson moved to the San Francisco News, where he worked as copy editor, page one editor, and makeup editor (1944-1945). He then returned to Minneapolis as the the Tribune's news editor in charge of content for the morning and Sunday newspapers (1945-1946). He next served as news editor for the Star (1947); assistant managing editor for the Tribune (1948); assistant managing editor for the Star (1949); managing editor responsible for both content and staff at the Tribune (1950-1955); and finally as managing editor for the Star (1956-1961).

In 1961 Swensson left the Minneapolis papers to become executive director of the Newspaper Fund, a foundation affiliated with the Wall Street Journal to attract "bright young people" to careers in journalism. Swensson left the Newspaper Fund in 1968 for Temple University, Philadelphia, where he was a professor of communications. In 1971 he was appointed Associate Director of the American Press Institute, Columbia University, a non-profit educational center dedicated to the continuing development and training of newspaper men and women in the United States and Canada. Swensson served as an associate director of the Institute until he retired in 1975, after which he engaged in newspaper consulting work. He eventually returned to the Minneapolis area, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Swensson served on the Hopkins, Minnesota school board from 1951 to 1961, including five years as its chairman (1956-1961). He served on a variety of church-related and civic commissions and boards.

Swensson married Mildred G. Johnson in 1932. The couple had two children: J. Kenneth Swensson and Paula Kay (Swensson) Cerkvenik. Swensson died in Minneapolis of congestive heart failure on April 12, 2001. His wife preceded him in death.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

The collection consists of correspondence and miscellaneous papers, news clippings, audio recordings, a 16mm movie, and biographical and genealogical information.

There is information about Swensson's journalism career, including his years at the Minneapolis Star and Tribune newspapers and at the Newspaper Fund; his involvement in professional and trade organizations; and about his years of service on the Hopkins (Minn.) school board. There are programs from concerts given by the Minneapolis-based Frederick Hilary Chorale. Of particular interest is a collection of transcribed and bound letters written home by Paul and Mildred Swensson while on a trip to Scandinavia in 1939, and a letter from acquaintances in Germany about the construction of the Berlin Wall. There is little if any information about Swenssson's time at the San Francisco News, or his years at Temple or Columbia universities.

Correspondents include friends and relatives, people in the newspaper industry, Hopkins school district officials, Joyce Hilary, and one-time Minneapolis newspaper colleague Paul Veblen.

RELATED MATERIALS

The Minneapolis Tribune and Minneapolis Star newspapers are in the Minnesota Historical Society newspaper collection.

INDEX TERMS

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: Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989. Journalism. Newspaper editors. Newspaper employees. Pulitzer Prizes. Swedish Americans--Minnesota. Places: Europe--Description and travel. Hopkins (Minn.). Minneapolis (Minn.)--Newspapers. Scandinavia--Description and travel. Persons: Hilary, Frederic, [ca.1909]-1994. Hilary, Joyce, [ca.1919]-. Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978. Johnson, Hilma Rosina, 1884-1987. Salisbury, Harrison Evans, 1908-. Swensson, Gustav Sigfrid, 1869-1948. Swensson, Mildred, d.1996. Veblen, Paul. Organizations: American Press Institute. Frederick Hilary Chorale (Minneapolis, Minn.). Gustavus Adolphus College. Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company. Minnesota. Independent School District No. 274 (Hopkins). Newspaper Fund (U.S.). Wall Street Journal (Firm). Types of Documents: Audiotapes. Motion pictures (visual works). Photographs. Occupations: Journalists. School board members--Minnesota--Hopkins. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Paul S. Swensson Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

 Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,807

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, May 2004

CATALOG ID number: 002904817

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below.

147.B.14.6F 1 American Press Institute, etc., undated and 1961-1977. Articles, clippings, and notes, undated and 1957-1979. Articles, talks, and outlines, undated and 1962-1984. Berlin Wall, undated [ca.1961?].

This file contains a letter in English on Besuchenbüro Berlin stationery (signature illegible), a newsprint map of East and West Berlin, and three 5 x 7 black-and-white photographs.

Biographical information, undated and 1961-1975. Career and professional information, undated and 1948-1986. Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1949-1983. Cowles newspaper management, 1982-1983. Diamond, Frank, undated and 1941-1947.

Diamond was a sportswriter at the Minneapolis newspapers.

Frederic Hilary Chorale, 1977-1992. Gustavus Adolphus College: Nobel Conferences, 1963-1994. 2 folders. High school journalism clinic readership poll, 1957. Hilary, Fred and Joyce: Christmas letters, 1959-1995, 2000. Hopkins (Minn.) School Board: Audit report, 1961. Clippings, undated and 1952-1959. Correspondence, 1950-1959. 2 folders. Hopkins Education Association: News Letter, undated. In-service training for teachers, 1959-1961. Minneapolis Area School Study Council reports, 1961. Minnesota School Board Association, undated and 1961-[ca.1962]. Minnetonka, 1959-1960. Potential superintendents, undated. Proposed school budget for 1961-1962, [ca.1961?]. School appreciation notes, 1959-1961. Miscellany, 1967-1971. Insights into Swensson's Minneapolis years, undated and 1941-1967. Job overtures, undated and 1961-1975. Johnson, Hilma Rosina (1884-1987), 1984-1987. Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions Board, 1955-1961. Minneapolis Tribune: Early 1940s, undated and 1940-1942. Swensson as news editor, 1947-1949.

This file contains some biographical information.

Newspaper research: Star and Tribune (1949-1961), undated. Nilsson family: The Ljus Krona, [ca.1981].

The Ljus Krona, literally a "crown of lights," was a kind of chandelier made of oak in Sweden by Swensson ancestor Sven Nilsson, probably between 1865 and 1870. It held 12 candles and was hung from the ceiling and lighted at Christmas time. It was brought to America by Nilsson's descendants.

On the Road to Our Past: Eleven Letters Home (1939), undated.

These are collected, transcribed, and bound letters written home by Paul and Mildred Swensson while on a trip to Scandinavia in 1939. Includes some biographical information.

147.B.14.7B 2 Personal miscellany, 1944-1945.

This file includes gasoline ration coupons and a purchase agreement for the Swenssons' house at Glen Lake Park, Minnesota.

Personnel tests and studies, undated and 1950-1975. Physical fitness programs, 1948-1961. Pulitzer Prize jury, 1961. Sound and visual materials: Arnold Pilot: Syracuse University, undated. 1 5-inch reel of motion picture film. Harrison Salisbury question-and-answer at Sigma Delta Chi convention, Minneapolis, undated. 1 5-inch reel of audio tape. Martha Swensson piano music, undated. 1 audiocassette. Vice President Hubert Humphrey questions and answers at SDX convention, St. Paul, Nov. 17, 1967. 1 7-inch reel of audio tape. Star and Tribune: Newsroom salaries, 1955-1961. Staff memorabilia, undated and 1944-1981. Star-Tribune staffer mail, 1982-1993. 3 folders. Swensson, Gustav Sigfrid (1869-1948), undated.

Gustav Sigfrid Swensson was the father of Paul Swensson. He was a Lutheran pastor and a missionary to Puerto Rico.

Twin City Regional Hospital Council, 1959. Veblen, Paul: Correspondence with Paul Swensson, 1985-1996. 4 folders.