HISTORY TOPICS

1892 Republican National Convention

The 1892 Republican National Convention was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from June 7 to Nomination Hall in Minneapolis, 1892 10. The top two party nominees, incumbent Benjamin Harrison, and his Secretary of State James G. Blaine, were the delegate favorites. Neither politician attended the convention. About 1,800 delegates and alternates did attend with about 10,000 spectators watching at the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition building. Harrison won the nomination on the first ballot.

Whitelaw Reid of New York was Harrison's vice presidential running mate. But Minneapolis did not have the distinction of nominating a president. Grover Cleveland defeated Harrison in the fall presidential election by more than 450,000 votes. Minnesota, however, voted Republican first, Populist second, and Democratic third.

GET STARTED WITH SECONDARY SOURCES:

"African Americans and the 1892 Republican National Convention, Minneapolis," by Iric Nathanson.
Under the lengthening shadow of Jim Crow, African American delegates and local citizens take a stand for human rights amidst the usual convention hoopla.
In Minnesota History, vol. 61, no. 2 (summer 2008): pp. 76-82.
MHS call number: Reading Room F 601.5 .M66 v.61
"'The Ballot Has Been Fought and Won': The 1892 Republican Convention," by Iric Nathanson.
In Hennepin History, vol. 65, no. 3 (fall 2006): pp. 16-29.
MHS call number: Reading Room F 612 .H52 v.65:3
"Convention City: The Republicans in Minneapolis, 1892," by June Drenning Holmquist.
In Minnesota History, vol. 35, no. 2 (June 1956): pp. 64-75.
MHS call number: Reading Room F 601.5 .M66 v.35
My Memories of Eighty Years, by Chauncey M. Depew.
New York: Scribner's Sons, 1922.
Depew seconded the nomination of Harrison at the convention.
MHS call number: E 664 .D4 D39
The Presidential Campaign and Election of 1892, by George Harmon Knoles.
Stanford University, 1942.
MHS call number: E 705 .K57
"The Republican National Convention in Minneapolis," by Ken Green.
In Hennepin History, vol. 55, no. 4 (autumn 1996): pp. 22-29.
MHS call number: Reading Room F 612 .H52 v55:4

PUBLICATIONS FROM THE TIME:

Convention Manual and Visitors' Guide for Delegates, Alternates, and Visitors.
A complete list of delegates and alternates, with addresses, by states ... with Twin City guide for visitors.
Minneapolis: [n.p.], 1892.
MHS call number: JK 2353 1892m
Directory of Delegates and Alternates, Republican National Convention, Minneapolis, 1892, with Plan of Hall.
Minneapolis: [Tribune Job Printing Co.], 1892.
MHS call number: JK 2353 1892d
"The Minneapolis Convention."
In Harper's Weekly, vol. 36 (June 18, 1892): pp. 577-583.
MHS call number: FOLIO AP 2 .H32
Proceedings of the Tenth Republican National Convention: Held in the City of Minneapolis, Minn., June 7, 8, 9, and 10, 1892 ..., reported by Theodore C. Rose and James F. Burke, official stenographers.
Minneapolis, Minn.: Harrison & Smith, printers, 1892.
MHS call number: JK 2353 1892

PRIMARY RESOURCES:

George A. Brackett Papers, 1858-1906
Correspondence concerning the 1892 Republican National Convention. Brackett served as chair of the local arrangements committee and his letter books and correspondence shed light on the event. Politicians he corresponded with include Cushman K. Davis, Frank B. Kellogg, William S. King, Knute Nelson, William Windom, and Senator Washburn. See especially January 3, 1892, letter from Brackett to Washburn; January 5, 7, 16, 1892 letters from Lowry to Brackett; January 8, 1892, letter; a February 17, 1892, letter from Brackett to Fred Brackett; March 17, 1892, letter from McCrory to Brackett; and a November 20, 1886, letter from Washburn to Brackett.
Brackett's nine scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings from throughout the nation regarding the convention.
Brackett's Papers also contain five checks each for $10,000, signed by various members of the local and national committees for convention expenses.
MHS call number: P1547(see the green Manuscripts Notebooks for a detailed list of the boxes (there are 11 boxes, but not all relate to this topic).
William S. King Papers, 1849-1906
This archival collection includes a delegate ticket.
MHS call number: P1598 (see the green Manuscripts Notebooks for more details, there are nearly 100 items, but not all relate to this topic).
Republican National Convention, Minneapolis, Photographs
Views of convention attendees, interiors of Nomination Hall, exterior of Convention Hall and the West Hotel. Originals are in the collection of the Library of Congress.
Restriction: For research only, may not be reproduced.
MHS call number: I.227 (there are 6 b&w prints).
Newspapers
Although the convention ran from June 7-10, newspaper coverage started earlier and ran later than the convention dates. There is also coverage of the meeting in Washington, D.C., in November 1891 where Minneapolis was chosen for the convention city. The footnotes in June Holmquist's "Convention City" article provide lots of specific dates, as do the footnotes in Iric Nathanson's "African Americans and the 1892 Republican National Convention, Minneapolis" article.
Some newspapers that are useful for this topic are:
- Appeal (St. Paul and Minneapolis)
  - Front pages:
    June 11
- Minneapolis Journal
  - Front pages:
    June 2, and cartoon of delegates arriving on an elephant
    June 3
    June 4
    June 6, and drawing of the Expo Building from page 2
    June 7
    June 8
    June 9
    June 10
    June 11
- Minneapolis Times
  - Drawing of delegates arriving at the Convention Hall (June 4, page 1)
- Minneapolis Tribune
- St. Paul Dispatch
- St. Paul Pioneer Press
  - Front pages:
    June 6, and drawing of St. Paul welcoming the delegates
    June 7
Photograph and Art Database subjects that may be useful for this topic:
Check the library catalog for other materials.