00431.inv GIBAS FAMILY: An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society Finding aid prepared by Lara D. Friedman-Shedlov Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul MN.

Manuscripts Collection

 Finding aid encoded by Lara D. Friedman-Shedlov, January 27, 2000 Finding aid written inEnglish August 2008 Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to Version 2002 by Monica Manny Ralston, Daniel Sher, and Joyce Chapman. OVERVIEW Minnesota Historical Society Gibas, Grace Braden. Gibas family papers. 1939-1997. Articles and speeches, news clippings, correspondence, and photographs of Andrew and Grace Gibas and their children, one of the original families of the cooperative community of Circle Pines, Minnesota. 1.25 cubic feet (2 boxes). See Detailed Description for shelf locations. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Andrew Gibas was born in September 1913, and Grace Braden Gibas was born in August 1916. The couple was married June 11, 1939 in Chicago and spent the early years of their marriage there. In early 1944, Andrew, registered as a conscientious objector, was drafted into the Civilian Public Service Camp at Wellston, Michigan. The family moved to Minneapolis when Andrew took a chemistry position with the experiment on starvation being conducted at the University of Minnesota. After his release from the Civilian Public Service, Andrew took a job as chemist for Grace-Lee Products and later for LaMaur, where he became head of research. He retired in 1972.

The Gibases were early experimenters in cooperative living, sharing households with two other families during the early 1940s in Chicago. In 1948, the family moved twelve miles from Minneapolis to the experimental cooperative community of Circle Pines, located in Anoka county. Andrew became a civic leader, serving as the first village clerk (1950-1954) and at age 84 was elected to the village council. He served as chairman of the Circle Pines Utilities Commission for 26 years. In 1951 he and Grace started the village newspaper, the Circulating Pines, which they published until 1994, when it folded for lack of a buyer.

The couple had four children, Murray (born 1942), Allen (born 1945), Barbara (born 1946), and Rebecca (born 1948). Murray was killed by a falling tree in Idaho in 1982.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The collection includes information on the Civilian Public Service during World War II, conscientious objectors, and the Minnesota conscientious objector semi-starvation experiment, as well as newspaper publishing (the Gibases published the Circle Pines local newspaper, the Circulating Pines). A complete series of annual Christmas letters sent by the Gibases outlines major activities and events in the life of the family from 1939 to 1997. Allen H. Gibas' legal files pertaining to the People's Warehouse and to the East-West Bank Tenants Union are also available.

 RELATED MATERIALS

Additional information about Grace Gibas's role in the peace movement is available in Minnesota Women in the Peace Movement, 1945-1960: A Study of Gender and Peace Activism in a Conservative Era, by Jinx Schultz, which is separately cataloged in the Minnesota Historical Society book collection.

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: Conscientious objectors. Starvation -- Experiments. Pacifism. Quakers -- Minnesota. Newspaper publishing -- Minnesota -- Circle Pines. Persons: Gibas, Allen H. Gibas, Andrew. Gibas, Grace Braden. Organizations: Civilian Public Service. East-West Bank Tenants Union (Minneapolis, Minn.). People's Warehouse. Places: Circle Pines (Minn.) -- Politics and government. Circle Pines (Minn.) -- Newspapers. Document Types: Photographs. Titles: Circulating pines. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here] Gibas Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,521; 16,020

 Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Processed by: Lara D. Friedman-Shedlov, October 1999; Shelby Edwards, October 2011

Catalog ID number: 001735857

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION Grace Braden and Andrew Gibas P2356 Annual Christmas letters, 1939-1997.

These letters provide an outline of major activities and events in the Gibas family from the year Grace and Andy were married (1939) through 1997, including career highlights, trips and vacations, moves, and the births, schooling, careers, and marriages of their children and grandchildren. The letter for 1945 is missing its second page.

 Ashadevi Aryanyakan of Sevagram, India: Correspondence, 1952-1953.

Correspondence with Arthur Morgan and others concerning the Sevagram rural university project run by Ashadevi Aryanyakan.

 News clippings and photographs, undated, 1944-1980.

Clippings primarily concerning the village of Circle Pines and the Circulating Pines newspaper (mainly 1960s), as well as photographs of Gibas family photo album pages (1940s).

 Andy Gibas for Circle Pines councilmember campaign flyer, undated. Articles by Grace Gibas, undated, 1964-1997.

Topics include pacifism and its relationship to grass roots politics and newspaper publishing, Quakerism and abortion, Rosalie Wahl, Andy Gibas (biographical information), the Civilian Public Service during World War II, and the starvation experiment conducted by the University of Minnesota with World War II conscientious objectors.

 What's Behind the Energy Crisis, 1973.

Address given by Andrew Gibas as chairman of the Circle Pines Utilities Commission to a convention of the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association.

 Circle Pines: A Utopian Experiment, 1966.

Essay written by Allen H. Gibas, son of Andrew and Grace Gibas.

 Minnesota Women in the Peace Movement, 1945-1960, 1995.

Essay written by Jinx Schultz utilizing material from an interview with Grace Gibas.

 Starving for Conscience: The Minnesota Conscientious Objector Semi-Starvation Experiments, 1994.

Essay written by Shoshanna Matney utilizing material from an interview with Grace Gibas.

 Allen H. Gibas 123.E.12.10F Legal files:

Includes court records, letters, and other records relating to Allen H. Gibas' work as an attorney representing the East-West Bank Tenants Union and the People's Warehouse.

 East-West Bank Tenants Union: Nos. 46,153 and 46,199, Katie Norton v University Community Properties, Incorporated: Briefs and supplemental records, 1976. 5 volumes in 1 folder. University Community Property v East-West Bank Tenants Union: briefs, orders, and correspondence, 1976. Orders, notice of motion, and miscellaneous related materials, 1976. 2 folders. Unlawful detainer, 1976.

Includes orders, correspondence, summons, and related miscellaneous materials.

 Administrative matters and correspondence, 1976. Hearing notes, 1976. Memoranda, 1976. Miscellaneous, 1976. Research materials, notes, 1976. Pleadings, motions, 1976. Statement of facts, 1976. Statutes, 1976. Tenant Union news and information, 1976. Trial: Orders and findings, 1976. Summons, affidavits, and related materials, 1975-1976. Memoranda, 1976. People's Warehouse: Clippings, correspondence, notes, and miscellaneous related materials, 1975-1976. Proof of claims, and newsletter: Conspiracy Exposed! 1976-1977. 2 folders. Affidavits, correspondence, and miscellaneous financial records, 1976-1978. Summons and related correspondence, 1976-1978. Receivers deed and related financial materials, 1976-1978. Taxes, journals, balance sheets, and miscellaneous related materials, 1974-1982.