Harold W. Mattke Diaries

Collection

Identifier: M/A 0240

Staff Only

Description of Contents

The collection consists of six boxes containing a set of diaries written by Harold Mattke. The diaries consist of handwritten daily entries detailing his daily life and activities, the weather, and events in the news. Earlier entries are only several sentences in length while later entries are a full page.

Some years are missing but the diaries available cover 1940-1942, 1954, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970-1975, 1978-1987, 1989-2000, 2002-2005. The vast majority of the diaries are bound though several years are loose papers.

Dates

Creation: 1940 - 2005

Creator

Mattke, Harold (Person)

Access

The collection is available for use in Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library during the department's open hours.

Biography

Harold Mattke was born February 9, 1923, in Morgan, MN. He attended Morgan High School and graduated in 1940. After high school, he attended the Minnesota School of Business in Minneapolis until he was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1942. He was discharged from the Army in 1945.

After World War Two, Mattke enrolled at Gustavus Adolphus College, graduating in May 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He married Bernice Swenson in October 1948 and the two moved to Minneapolis.

Harold worked a variety of jobs in the Minneapolis area including with J.C. Penny Company, as a life insurance salesman, and with the Board of Pensions of the Lutheran Church in America. He retired in 1988. Bernice worked as a registered nurse at Asbury Hospital (which later became Methodist Hospital) and at Minneapolis General (which later became Hennepin County Medical Center). She retired in 1990.

Harold and Bernice had two daughters (Lynne and Laurie Jo) and one son (Timothy).