Available for use in the Manuscripts Division reading room. Advance notice is requested.
There are no restrictions on the use of materials in this collection. Copies can be requested if the condition of the originals warrants it.
Cone and Peterson papers (N 84), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
The collection was donated to the Northwest Architectural Archives by Gerhard C. Peterson on October 5, 1981.
The collection is organized alphabetically by commission name.
Earle Cone was born in Northfield, Minnesota in 1905 and graduated from the University of Minnesota and Harvard University. He entered partnership with Fred Slifer in St. Paul in 1936 and remained in the firm until 1948. In 1950 he established a partnership with Gerhard Peterson. Cone died in St. Paul in 1980.
Gerhard Peterson was born in Westby, Wisconsin on September 12, 1907. He attended Mechanic Arts High School in St. Paul from 1922 to 1925, then entered the University of Minnesota, where he graduated in 1930. He received a master's degree in architecture from Harvard in 1937. Peterson worked for several Twin Cities area firms, including Toltz, King & Day (1931-1935), Ellerbe & Co. (1936-1938) and Lang and Raugland (job captain, 1946-1949). He served as president of Northfield Architects in Northfield, MN from 1949-1952. During World War II, he was a draftsman at Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, DE. Peterson entered partnership with Earle Cone in 1950. Peterson retired from practice in 1972 and died in Minneapolis on May 10, 1994.
Cone & Peterson specialized in church design and their work is represented throughout the entire Midwest, the Far West and Canada.
The collection includes original drawings, photographs, correspondence, and business records for various structures, mostly churches in the Upper Midwest. Buildings represented include Christ Lutheran Church (North St. Paul, 1963); St. Mary's Church (Winona, MN, 1938-1939); Grace Lutheran Church (Newcastle, WY, 1959); Our Savior's Lutheran Church (Blaine, MN, 1970-1977); Rainy Butte Lutheran Church (New England, ND, 1958); St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church (Minneapolis, 1948-1949); St. John's Lutheran Church (Mound, MN, 1963); and Trinity Lutheran Church (Chamberlain, SD, 1961).
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the Manuscripts Division.
Slifer and Abrahamson papers (N 11)
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.