Joan Adams Mondale was born in Eugene, Oregon on August 8, 1930. She was one of three daughters of Eleanor Jane (Hall) Adams and Rev. John Maxwell Adams. Dr. Adams was a Presbyterian minister and for many years was chaplain at Macalester College in St. Paul.
Joan attended public schools in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the Summit School (high school) in St. Paul. She graduated from Macalester College in 1952, with a major in history and minors in art and French. After graduating from college she worked at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
In 1955 Joan married Walter F. Mondale. The couple had three children: Theodore, born October 12, 1957; Eleanor Jane, born January 19, 1960; and William Hall, born February 27, 1962. In 1964 the Mondales moved to Washington, D.C. after Walter was appointed to a vacant senate seat.
Walter Mondale was elected vice president of the United States in 1976, serving in that capacity from 1977 until 1981 under president Jimmy Carter. During this time Joan Mondale served as the Carter Administration's "ombusdman for the arts." In 1987 the Mondales returned to Minnesota. Over the years Mrs. Mondale campaigned extensively for her husband, particularly in connection with the 1976, 1980, and 1984 presidential contests. She has also long been interested in, and served as an advocate for, the arts. In 1977 President Carter appointed her Honorary Chairperson of the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. She has served as an official of several arts and crafts organizations.
The Mondales lived in Japan from 1993 to 1996, while Walter Mondale served as United States ambassador to that country. During that time Mrs. Mondale was particularly immersed in Japanese art.
The collection documents Joan Mondale's activities as a politician's wife and as an advocate for and promoter of the visual and performing arts. There is some overlap with the Walter F. Mondale Papers, which are also at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Trip and speaking files, which include itineraries and speeches, form the bulk of the collection. They document Mrs. Mondale's many trips throughout the United States and abroad, including campaign appearances and speaking engagements as an advocate for the arts. There is information about Democratic politics and politicians; election campaigns; Macalester College; Mrs. Mondale's interest in and support of the visual and performing arts; artists and art exhibitions; Japanese art; and the Mondales' life and activities in Japan. Correspondents include politicians and their wives, political supporters, campaign workers, family members and friends, officials of Macalester College, artists, and members and officials of arts organizations, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center.
These records are organized into the following sections:
The Walter F. Mondale Papers are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.
Joan Mondale's Vice Presidential Office Files are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.
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.
Until January 1, 2007, access to the collection requires written permission.
Until January 1, 2007, quotation or publication beyond the fair use provisions of the copyright law requires written permission.
Accession numbers: 14,299; 15,412; 15,513; 15,785; 15,853
Processed by: David B. Peterson, March 1992; additions April 1999 and January 2004
PALS ID number: 09-00036751
Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below.
Include itineraries, the texts of speeches, correspondence and memoranda, and background information. These files are in chronological order and encompass campaign stops, arts-related and other speaking engagements, state visits, vacations, and the like. A small phonograph disk is in box 9, and there are four 5 1/4" floppy computer disks in box 15 containing documents written in WordStar.
John Eaton School fund raiser.
Includes phonograph record.
"Selection '85."
Film premiere.
Design and architecture.
Dukakis for president.
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
D'Harnoncourt was the George D. Widener Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
CIMAM was a special group of museum directors and curators from around the world.
Four 5-1/4" disks containing documents written in WordStar.
These files consist mainly of letters, cards, and faxes received by Joan Mondale (1960-1996), as well as some two-way correspondence (1981-1984). Letters received include wedding invitations, birthday cards and greetings, birth and graduation announcements, Christmas cards and letters, sympathy cards received at the time of the death of Mrs. Mondale's mother (1991), and newspaper clippings and snapshot photographs. Much of the material concerns political activities, art exhibitions, and the Mondales' lives and activities while living in Japan. Correspondents include politicians and their wives, political supporters, campaign workers, family members, artists, and members and officials of arts organizations.
General subject files focus largely on political topics, and include information about political figures such as Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and George McGovern; material related to presidential election campaigns (1964, 1976-1984) and inaugurations; information about Walter Mondale and his political career; and files pertaining to such things as Native Americans, the Vice President's House, and women's issues. There are also some files of personal information, including genealogical data and files on each of the Mondale children.
Mainly notes on scraps of paper and a few newspaper clippings.
Monthly articles written by Joan Mondale for
Christmas card mailing lists, Winston & Strawn law firm office directories, vice president's staff, Kennedy Center trustees, dinner party guest lists, American Craft Council trustees, etc.
Full Opportunity and Social Accounting Act of 1967.
Accompanying slides are in Box 36.
Transcript of an interview with newly-arrived Ambassador and Mrs. Mondale, Monday, October 17 [no year given].
A Saint Paul-based nonprofit agency assisting women in need of employment.
Arts-related files include information about artists, exhibitions and performances, the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Museum Services Board, and other arts-related programs and organizations.
This file includes a number of photographs.
This was a political action committee for the arts.
This was an all-day seminar beginning at the Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.
This concerns a video production produced by Marlboro ARTS, Marlboro, Vermont; the video itself is not here.
Refers to an art collection or exhibit at the Deputy Chief of Mission's residence in Tokyo, the house where the Mondales were living temporarily while the ambassador's residence was being renovated.