Minnie D. Craig Papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 282

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Minnie D. Craig collection consists mainly of her handwritten autobiography and two scrapbooks. The 99 page autobiography is incomplete and ends about 1946. The first scrapbook of newspaper clippings deals with Mrs. Craig’s political career in North Dakota, while the other deals with the Craig family, beginning with Virgil L. Craig, who managed the 4,000 acre farm at Spiritwood, North Dakota. The farm belonged to Edward O’Brien of Thomaston, Maine, from 1884 until it was sold in 1902. The collection also includes Mrs. Craig’s handwritten reminiscences of the Craig family and Mr. O’Brien. The correspondence file has very little material, and the few pamphlets concern chiefly Maine.

Dates

1904-1955.

Creator

Craig, Minnie D. (Minnie Davenport), 1883-1966. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute does not hold the copyrights.

Biography

Minnie D. Davenport was born at Phillips, Maine, on November 4, 1883, the daughter of Marshall and Aura (Prescott) Davenport. Following high school graduation at Phillips, Minnie attended Farmington State Normal School and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She married Edward O. Craig in July, 1908. Although a native of Maine, Edward was president of the bank at Esmond, North Dakota, where the couple resided while in North Dakota. After becoming interested in politics during the 1919 Legislative Session, Mrs. Craig was elected in 1923 to the North Dakota House of Representatives where she served for six terms, culminating in 1933, as the first woman speaker of a House of Representatives in the nation. Minnie also was the state president of the Nonpartisan Clubs for two years and Republican National Committee woman from 1928 to 1932. In 1933, Mrs. Craig was appointed state worker for the Federal Emergency Relief Agency. In the 1935 Legislative session, Minnie was named assistant to the chief clerk and was chief clerk in 1937 and 1939. In 1946, Mr. & Mrs. Craig retired to California where he died in 1947. Mrs. Craig continued to live there until moving to her original home at Phillips, Maine, in 1959. She died on July 2, 1966 at Farmington, Maine.

Extent

.4 Linear Feet (.4 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Minnie Craig was elected in 1923 to the North Dakota House of Representatives where she served for six terms, culminating in 1933, as the first woman speaker of a House of Representatives in the nation. The Minnie D. Craig Papers consists mainly of her handwritten autobiography and two scrapbooks. The 99 page autobiography is incomplete and ends about 1946. The first scrapbook of newspaper clippings deals with Mrs. Craig’s political career in North Dakota, while the other deals with the Craig family.

Provenance

Donated by Minnie D. Craig, 1954, 1955, and 1956 (Acc. 282).

Related Resources

Additional Minnie Craig papers at University of North Dakota Department of Special Collections (OCL 1059), and State Historical Society of North Dakota (Mss 20721).

Separation Record

The following non-manuscript items were removed from the Minnie D. Craig Papers and have been sent to the section indicated. Books (Library book collection, consult the main library catalog for call number and location).

Annals of the Town of Warren by Cyrus Eaton, 1851. History of Thomaston, Rockland and South Thomaston, Maine by Cyrus Eaton, 1865. Photographs (Institute photograph collection)

16 O’Brien Farm at Spiritwood, North Dakota, Craigs, and portrait of Minnie D. Craig (with descriptive listing).