Manuscripts Collection
George Arthur Barton was born at Northfield, Minnesota on February 20, 1885, and moved to St. Paul in 1893. In July 1903, immediately after graduating from high school, he was appointed assistant sports editor of the
An all-around athlete in high school, Barton supplemented his income during the early years of his newspaper career as a professional boxer (1902-1909) and as a boxing instructor at the St. Paul YMCA. In 1915 he was appointed a boxing referee by the Minnesota State Athletic Commission. As a referee he presided over more than 12,000 bouts, including 25 in which world champions competed, and gained a national reputation for his impartiality in the ring and for his insistence on stringent controls over professional boxing practices. He was a member of the National Boxing Association of America, now called the World Boxing Association. Barton served on the Minnesota State Athletic Commission from 1942 until his death on May 8, 1969.
Biographical information was taken from the collection and from the opening chapters of Barton's book,
Correspondence, broadsides, programs for athletic events, newsletters, and clippings reflecting Barton's career as a professional boxer (1902-1909), as a sports writer for Minneapolis newspapers (1903-1957), as a boxing referee (ca. 1915-ca. 1940), and as a commissioner and secretary of the Minnesota State Athletic Commission (1942-1969).
The papers contain much information on Minnesota's Golden Gloves amateur boxing program (1930s-1950s), Barton's efforts to promote more stringent regulations for professional boxing, government investigations of boxing practices, and regulatory activities of the National Boxing Association of America. There are also references to other sports in Minnesota; letters from many sport writers, sports officials, and athletes, particularly Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney; and speeches and sports stories by Barton, including those republished in his book,
Also included are minutes, financial reports, and correspondence of the Minnesota State Athletic Commission concerning its regulation of boxing in Minnesota (1942-1957) and Barton's correspondence, miscellaneous papers, and newspapers clippings while on the State Athletic Commission (undated and 1946-1969).
The correspondence and miscellaneous papers, Athletic Commission records, and newspaper clippings are arranged chronologically. The speeches and three folders of miscellaneous sports stories, most of which are not dated, are filed in no particular order. The ten folders of sports stories published in Barton's book,
Barton's book,
For additional records of the Minnesota State Athletic Commission see: Minnesota. Boxing Board: in the Minnesota State Archives.
Data Sheets that provide additional information about these materials are available in the collection, filed in Box 1.
A print version of this finding aid is available in the repository.
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
Accession number: 11,012; 2004-11
Processed by: Anne Levin, July 2004
Catalog ID number: 001715208
Data sheets, which were prepared as part of this inventory, containing detailed information on the contents of each folder in the collection.
The correspondence and miscellaneous papers reflect the full scope of Barton's career as athlete and sportswriter, but concentrate most heavily on professional and amateur boxing. They include broadsides, programs and tickets for athletic events, press passes, letters, newsletters, and a few magazine clippings.
The papers also contain references to wrestling, baseball, University of Minnesota football and other college sports, auto racing, horse racing, and other sports. Barton's correspondence includes letters from many sports officials, sports writers, and athletes, particularly Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney, as well as occasional letters from family friends.
Papers from 1888 through the 1920s consist largely of advertisements for athletic events, letters to Barton engaging his services in booking and refereeing boxing and wrestling matches, and family letters from Barton's son George, a professional musician.
Correspondence from the 1930s through the 1950s includes considerable
information on Minnesota's Golden Gloves amateur boxing program, which
Barton and the
Minutes of meetings, monthly financial reports, and some correspondence, confined almost exclusively to the Commission's responsibility for supervising and regulating boxing in Minnesota.
Transcripts of speeches and notes about his career in boxing, the sport of boxing and safety issues, Minnesota Golden Gloves, and the decline of boxing; sports journalism and Barton's career as a sports writer and editor; and University of Minnesota football, various Minnesota athletes, and other sports topics.
Anecdotes about sports and athletes, clippings of Barton's sports column,
"Sport-O-Graphs," and texts, sometimes in several versions, of sports
stories and articles, originally published in Minneapolis newspapers, that
were collected and republished in 1957 as Barton's book,
The newspaper clippings relate to Barton's career as an athlete and sports writer, sports in Minnesota, regulation of boxing, and the lives of Merian C. Cooper, John Colton, William C. Robertson, and William G. Shepherd, all former Minneapolis newspaper reporters, and L. J. Cooke, University of Minnesota athletic coach and director.
A scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and programs relating to sports activities in St. Paul from about 1902 to 1905, particularly boxing, relay racing, YMCA athletics, and wrestling. Barton is a participant in many of the activities.
Barton's correspondence, miscellaneous papers, and newspaper clippings compiled while he served on the Minnesota State Athletic Commission. The papers primarily relate to boxing in Minnesota.