Ronald M. Hubbs was born April 27, 1908 in Silverton, Oregon. He was the son of George W. and Ethel (Burch) Hubbs. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oregon. Hubbs joined the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company in 1936 as a special agent in Oregon and Washington. From 1937 to 1941 he was an agency superintendent in San Francisco.
Hubbs served in Europe and North Africa with the United States Army during World War II. He was a recipient of the Legion of Merit, and was discharged with the rank of colonel.
In 1946 Hubbs was made general manager of St. Paul Fire and Marine's Southern California branch office. In 1948 he came to St. Paul as an assistant to president Archie B. Jackson. In 1952 he was made vice president, and in 1959 executive vice president. Hubbs became president of the company in November 1963, and served in that capacity until 1973, during which time the St. Paul Companies, Inc. was created as a holding company parent to the St. Paul Fire and Marine. Hubbs retired as chairman of the board in 1977, and thereafter devoted his time to a variety of educational, civic, cultural, philanthropic, trade, and business organizations.
Hubbs served on a variety of corporate boards, was a board member and president of the Minnesota Historical Society, and was head of the F. R. Bigelow Foundation. He was a longtime champion of adult literacy programs, and was also instrumental in establishing the Chinese language program in the St. Paul school district.
Hubbs married Margaret Stewart Jamie of Hilo, Hawaii, on September 9, 1935. The couple had one son, George James. Hubbs died on November 25, 1996.
Includes correspondence, subject files, minutes, newspaper clippings, meeting agenda booklets, reports and other printed material, talks (speeches), and two insurance-related books to which Hubbs was a contributing author.
The files contain information about the business administration graduate programs of the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul); Hubbs' close association with the Charles A. Lindbergh Fund; and his interest in and involvement with a variety of foundations, libraries, educational institutions, and cultural organizations. There is information about Asian refugees in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area; Hubbs' service on corporate boards; his interest in literacy programs and issues; photographer F. Jay Haynes; the insurance industry; and the history of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company and the St. Paul Companies.
Correspondents include St. Paul Companies officials and other business executives, insurance industry officials, staff and board members of the various organizations with which he was involved, foundation officials, and several individuals whom Hubbs was evidently mentoring, or who were seeking his advice and guidance on career matters.
Several articles by Hubbs appear in
A variety of print materials relating to the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company and to the St. Paul Companies are found in the Minnesota Historical Society serials and book collections.
Access to papers less than 25 years old requires written permission.
Quotation or publication, beyond the fair use provisions of the copyright law, from records less than 25 years old requires written permission.
Accession numbers: 14,118; 14,220; 14,640; 14,833; 15,408; 15,653; 15,763
Processed by: Bonnie Palmquist, October 1989 and March 1993
Additions by: David B. Peterson, February 1999 and September 2001
PALS ID number: 09-00027965
Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below.
Includes a history of the Minnesota Foundation, 1978.
Miscellaneous St. Paul Fire and Marine and St. Paul Companies-related memos that Hubbs apparently considered valuable for personal or sentimental reasons.
Includes correspondence and reports.
A young businesswoman who Hubbs evidently befriended or mentored.
Correspondence mainly concerning Norton Simon, a director and stockholder.
Project for the Completion of the Capitol Grounds, St. Paul.
Hubbs served on the board of trustees.
Includes correspondence, menoranda, and minutes of meetings of the board of trustees.
Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Minnesota School of Management, and a Hubbs-supported nominee for the position of Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Includes correspondence, some minutes, and a reader survey. Hubbs was a member of the board.
A conservative think tank in Minneapolis. Stephen B. Young was chairman.
A fund established in 1977 to honor the 50th anniversary of Lindbergh's New York to Paris flight. The fund made grants to "individuals and projects which address themselves to the achievement of a balance between nature and technology or to resolving conflicts which have arisen between these two worlds."
Much of this relates to continuing controversy surrounding the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
Correspondence and an evaluation of a project to teach Chinese in high schools.
President (1938-1948) and chairman of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company.
Hubbs was a member of the President's Council.
Correspondence concerning funding for the writers' programs in Minnesota schools. Also includes newspaper clippings about the St. Paul History Theater.
Correspondence between William C. Norris of Control Data and Hubbs relating to a jobs program originated by Norris.
Drake was St. Paul Companies president (1973-1978, 1982), CEO (1973-1984), and chairman (1977-1984).
DuRand was president of Minnesota Diversified Industries.
Republican United States senator from Minnesota.
Underwater explorer and marine scientist; president of Deep Ocean Engineering, San Leandro, California.
Hubbs was a director.
Hubbs was a member of the advisory council. Includes material on "Managing Conflict in an Era of Change" (1978).
Hubbs evidently was active in the Episcopal Church.
Hubbs was a director.
Includes membership list.
A Hubbs book review of
Correspondence, evaluations, and background material relating to fund raising and foundations.
Hubbs was a director.
Correspondence, printed material, and membership lists relating to the Great Books reading and discussion groups in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Correspondence and newspaper clippings relating to Scott Walker and the Graywolf Press.
Correspondence and biographical information on F. Jay Haynes, Jack Ellis Haynes, and Lida Haynes, photographers in Minnesota and Montana.
A project of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce. Includes correspondence, reports, and printed material.
Minutes and correspondence relating to the Hill Monastic Library at St. John's University (Collegeville). Hubbs was a director.
Includes information about an "International Conference on the Implications of Soviet `New Thinking'" held at Macalester College, Oct. 9-12, 1987.
The institute was located at St. John's University (Collegeville, Minn.). Hubbs was a director.
Hubbs was a director. Includes minutes and correspondence.
Includes correspondence with officials of the International Insurance Society, Inc.
Jackson was president of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (1948-1963).
Hubbs was chairman of the Hill Papers Committee. Includes minutes and correspondence.
Correspondence and printed material relating to the Children's Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota.
Nomination for the YWCA Annual Recognition event.
Kolderie was a Senior Fellow at the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
A seminar sponsored by the Minneapolis Foundation.
Correspondence and information on donations made to restore the Old Federal Courts Building in St. Paul.
Includes information about the Technology for Literacy Center, St. Paul; the Saint Paul Lifelong Literacy Center; Minnesota Adult Literacy Campaign; and Literacy Network, Inc.
Minutes, correspondence, and reports relating to a foundation-supported organization providing services to literacy programs and projects in the Twin Cities metropolitan area from 1981 to 1985 and on a statewide basis from 1985 to 1986. Includes a notebook on Adult Literacy Basic Education Services.
Correspondence, minutes, reports, budget material, and printed material relating to the campaign.
Report prepared by the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation Wilder Research Center.
Correspondence and reports.
A program funded by many foundations, and operated by the St. Paul Public School System, to address the problem of illiteracy among adults.
Questionnaire on issues facing corporate boards of directors.
Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial information, and printed material relating to an organization concerned with increasing the knowledge of Chinese culture and language. Its name was later changed to Midwest Asia Center.
A report prepared by the Midwest China Center for the F. R. Bigelow Foundation.
Concerns Midwest China Center's long-range planning grant.
Hubbs was a director. Includes correspondence, committee reports, and minutes.
Correspondence and newspaper clippings relating to the establishment of a center for the printed word.
Hubbs was a director.
Hubbs was director of the Society and a member of the executive council.
Concerns salary of Minnesota Historical Society director Russell Fridley.
Hubbs was a director of the commission.
Includes information on VIE, a project of the Junior League of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Retiree Volunteer Center.
Recommendations for Elizabeth Musser, Barbara Flanagan, and Frank Marzitelli.
Correspondence, minutes, history, and financial statements (1987-1990) of a research center formed to encourage research into, and development of, business in the Upper Midwest.
Hubbs was a director.
Hubbs was on the Cultural Advisory Committee of St. Paul.
Fund raising material for support of the theater.
Apparently an educational reform proposal or theory developed at or sponsored by the Institute for Philosophical Research. Adler was director of the institute.
Former executive director of Crime Stoppers, Inc. He was interested in literacy programs and issues.
Hubbs was member of the President's Advisory Committee.
Refers to Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome occurring in Southeast Asians.
Includes articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules, and an organizational plan.
Hubbs was a director.
Scarlett was an originator of Minnesota Coalition for a Smoke Free Society 2000.
Includes Hubbs' description of the company's views on "open area offices" (1962), the company's long range plan (1958-1963), a statement of company "purpose, objectives, and guidelines" (1971), company guidelines for interviews with financial analysts (1967), information about the Alexander Wilkin Papers, and a few miscellaneous notes about company history.
St. Paul Fire and Marine, Saint Paul Mercury Indemnity Company, and Mercury Insurance Company.
Letters received from, and Hubbs' responses to, insurance executives, business associates and contemporaries, St. Paul Fire and Marine field offices, friends, and others.
Hubbs was a contributing author.
Hubbs wrote the first chapter of this book, "Overview of Insurance Operations."
Address to employees of Western Life and The St. Paul Companies.
Remarks introducing David Lilly, chairman of the Toro Company, and David T. McLaughlin, Toro Company president and CEO, at a Newcomen Dinner.
Unidentified commencement address on literacy.
Alexander Wilkin was the first president of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company.
Hubbs was a director.
Hubbs was a director.
Hubbs was a director. Includes minutes and correspondence.
Hubbs was a trustee.