Roy P. Johnson Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2013

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Roy P. Johnson Photograph Collection is an eclectic collection of original and copy photographic prints gathered by Mr. Johnson in connection with his historical research and articles published in the Fargo Forum newspaper. They were accessioned with his papers that were donated by Forum Communications in 1983 and have been processed as Manuscript 147. The photographs have been organized into three series: General images, People, and Early Fargo newspapers. The General Images Series contains three photographs, to include the Halstad High School taken in the 1950s, Joseph Hoeffner’s grave and a copy print of an engraving of a farmer plowing a fire break. The People Series contains the largest number of images and is divided by family, including Rev. A.T. Deming, Alsop, Dana Wright and Luman Tenney. In the general file are images of Rev. Ignatius Tomazin, Mary Farmer Andrews, Charles R. Andrews, and John P. Farmer with a Mrs. Charles (Coffin). The Rev. A.T. Deming images are copy photographic prints of the minister, his wife and family. Johnson acquired these photographs while he was doing research on early area newspapers. Rev. Deming was the first editor for the Red River Gazette at Glyndon, Minn. He died there in 1872. The Alsop file contains photographs of the early Alsop family and their home as well as one of their steamboats that they operated on the Red River. Also included are images from later generations and one that Johnson took of the Alsop home. The Dana Wright file images were taken by Mr. Johnson when visiting Mr. and Mrs. Dana Wright at their home in St. John, N.D. They include photographs of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, their home, and on a trip to a coal mine. Luman Tenney helped found the town of Glyndon, Minn. Mr. Johnson copied historical images he acquired while doing research on Glyndon and Tenney. The file includes copy prints of Luman Tenney, his family, home in Glyndon, and of Theodore Tenney and Col. Alvred B. Nettleton, both taken during the Civil War. The Early Fargo Newspaper Series contains copy prints of the staff at the Fargo Republican newspaper (ca. 1880), Daily Argus staff, the Fargo Times building, and a Fargo Republican Company stock certificate of George I. Foster. The one original print is of John D. Snyder who published the Fargo Evening Post in 1882-1883.

Dates

1860s-1950s.

Creator

Johnson, Roy P. (Person)

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection remain with the creators.

Biography

Roy P. Johnson was born May 1, 1899 in Hendrum, Minnesota and died in Moorhead, Minnesota on February 20, 1963. Mr. Johnson is best known for his work as a reporter-historian for the Fargo Forum, where he worked from 1927 to 1963. After finishing high school in 1916, Mr. Johnson worked at a number of jobs; including as a station manager for the Great Northern Railroad, a telegrapher for Western Union and an Associated Press telegrapher for both the Fargo Courier-News and Fargo Forum. On June 15, 1921 he married Mary Cordelia LeVitre of Moorhead, Minnesota. The couple had no children. During World War II, he served in the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer in public relations and recruiting. He was a member of a number of historical societies in North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and Manitoba. In 1958 he was appointed to the advisory council of the Civil War Centennial Commission, and in 1960 he served as a historical advisor for the Dakota Territorial Centennial Commission, plus two committees for the Minnesota centennial observances.