William M. and Mina N. Prindle family papers
Scope and Contents
The Prindle papers are very incomplete for a family who lived in Duluth from the 1880’s to the 1970s. They consists of color lantern slides, family photographs and portraits, a guest book (scrapbook) of visitors to the Duluth house at 2211 Greysolon Road, photographs of Vassar College, 16 mm films and transfers of film to VHS format in 1993; 56 35mm color negatives of the 2211 Greysolon house rooms and grounds shot by family friend and architect Thomas Shefchik, decades after the Prindle family had sold the building and no longer lived there. The 56 color negatives show: yard, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and other rooms in the large house that still stands.
Dates
- 1883-1972
- Majority of material found in 1906-1972
Creator
- Prindle, William M. and Mina N. Merrill, 1861 Septembe-1944, 1864 April 20-1963 September 9 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use in the Kathryn A. Martin Library, Archives and Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.
Biographical / Historical
William Martin Prindle (1861-1944) was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He started his career in 1879 in railroading. He was an early developer of Duluth, arriving in 1887. He headed his own real estate company by 1893, and encouraged Easterners to invest in the area. He later was a partner with Otto Lachmund in the real estate firm Prindle-Lachmund Company. He was the son of George and Christine Turner Prindle. Mina Netti Merrill Prindle (1864-1963), daughter of Janet Pollay Merrill, developed interests of her own during her husband's travels, donating land for Duluth's parks and serving as a member of the city's park board. They had a daughter in 1893, Muriel Prindle Wood who married Cornelius Ayer Wood December 15, 1915 in Duluth. Muriel (died 1963) and Cornelius (died 1969) had two children, Cornelius Aryer Wood, Jr. (died 2005) and Muriel Prindle Gerlach Ponzecchi. (Muriel was always called Oriole. Her husband is Piero Ponzecchi.)
In 1904, William and Mina Prindle chose William Hunt of the firm Palmer, Hall, and Hunt, as the architect of their new Duluth home built in 1905 at 2211 Greysolon Road. From the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, Mina Prindle chose William A. French and John Bradstreet to decorate the interiors. One of Bradstreet's most important commissions was the Duluth home of William and Mina Merrill Prindle. For the living room, which was removed from 2211 Greysolon and is displayed at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA), Bradstreet used carved sugi-finished wood in furniture that combined contemporary Art Nouveau ornamentation, including lotus leaves and flowers, with Queen Anne-style furniture forms. Bradstreet used glass light fixtures and fireplace tiles manufactured by Tiffany Studios, and Mrs. Prindle incorporated Japanese-style decorative accessories that she purchased from the Craftshouse. She was so respectful of Bradstreet's accomplishment that the interior, finished in 1906, was virtually intact when the MIA acquired it 75 years later. Wheaton Bissell Wood, son of Cornelius Wood, Jr., great-grandson of William M. and Mina Prindle, negotiated removal of room interiors and furnishings to the MIA in 1982.
The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist (founded in 1973, Motherhouse is in Meriden, Connecticut) purchased the house in 1985 for the John S. Duss Memorial Music Conservatory where music lessons were taught to children. The conservatory closed on June 30, 2009, after 27 years of music instruction, and the Sisters sold the 15 room mansion in 2013.
Extent
2.00 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Prindle papers are very incomplete for a family who lived in Duluth from the 1880’s to the 1970s. They consists of color lantern slides, family photographs and portraits, a guest book (scrapbook) of visitors to the Duluth house at 2211 Greysolon Road, photographs of Vassar College, 16 mm films and transfers of film to VHS format in 1993; 56 35mm color negatives of the 2211 Greysolon house rooms and grounds shot by family friend and architect Thomas Shefchik, decades after the Prindle family had sold the building and no longer lived there.
Physical Location
This collection is located at the University of Minnesota Duluth Archives. For more information about this collection or to make an appointment, contact us at libarchives@d.umn.edu or 218-726-8526.
Other Finding Aids
- Architecture Subject Source: Local sources
- Arts Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Childhood and youth Subject Source: Local sources
- Duluth (Minn.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Families Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Houses Subject Source: Local sources
- Lantern slides Subject Source: Local sources
- Photographs Subject Source: Local sources
- Scrapbooks Subject Source: Local sources
- Women Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the William M. and Mina N. Prindle family papers
- Author
- Finding Aid Authors: P. Maus.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Collecting Area Details
Contact The University of Minnesota Duluth Archives and Special Collections Collecting Area
Kathryn A. Martin Library
University of Minnesota Duluth
416 Library Drive
Duluth MN 55812-3001
(218) 726-8526
libarchives@d.umn.edu