Greenfield Family papers
Scope and Contents
This collection contains the personal, business, and political materials of the Greenfield family. In addition there are numerous subject files that document the family members' interest in collecting, researching, and writing Montana history. The largest subgroup is for CHARLES D. GREENFIELD, JR., and includes Biographical Material, General Correspondence (1905-1975), Court Papers, Diaries (1904-1909), Financial Records, Legal Documents, Subject Files, Writings (1904-1973),Miscellany, and Clippings. The MARGUERITE GREENFIELD SUBGROUP (which includes records from Independent Ice Company) contains General Correspondence (1903-1962), Court Papers, Diaries (1916-1934), Financial Records, Legal Documents, Printed Material, Subject Files, Writings (1906-1929), Miscellany, and Clippings. The CHARLES D. GREENFIELD, SR. SUBGROUP contains biographical material, general correspondence (1902-1934), court papers, financial records, subject files, writings (1920-1929), miscellany, and clippings. There are also subgroups for Anna Elizabeth Nelson Greenfield including general correspondence (1908-1918), financial records, writings, and miscellany; and for Marietta McBrine Greenfield, including financial records (1888-1896), legal documents, subject files, and miscellany.
Dates
- Creation: 1807-1975
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
Collection open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Biographical Note:
Charles Diggs Greenfield was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1857. After the Civil War he went to Denver where he worked as a newspaper reporter for the Denver Tribune. In 1883 Greenfield moved to Helena, Montana, and worked first as a printer and then as a reporter for The Helena Independent. He also helped write M.A. Leeson's 1885 History of Montana. Sometime thereafter Greenfield became editor of the Montana Record. In 1916 he was appointed Montana Commissioner of Agriculture and Publicity. In 1921 he worked as a development agent for the Great Northern Railway and helped build the Chinook Sugar Factory. Greenfield was a Democrat and served as a member of Montana's Fifth Legislative Assembly. In 1918 he acted as secretary of the Montana Council of Defense. Active in Helena's community life, Greenfield served on both the library and school boards. Greenfield married Marietta McBrine of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1881. They had four children: Marguerite, Charles Diggs, Jr., Marietta, and Thomas Loughran. Charles Diggs Greenfield, Sr., died in Helena on November 25, 1934.
Charles Diggs Greenfield, Jr., was born in Helena, Montana, in 1885. He graduated from Helena High School in 1903. Between 1907 and 1919 Greenfield worked as a newspaper reporter for The Helena Independent and the Montana Record Herald. In 1919 he accepted a position as Montana Director of Publicity and farmed in the Helena valley. In 1923 he joined the office of Montana Life Insurance Company (later Western Life), where he worked in various capacities until his retirement in 1960. In succeeding years Greenfield wrote numerous historical articles for such publications as True West and Frontier Times. He was elected to the Lewis and Clark County Commission (1954-1960) and was a long-time member of the Helena Kiwanis Club. He also received a U.S. Weather Bureau award for keeping precipitation records over a forty-year period. Greenfield married Anna Elizabeth Nelson, daughter of Henry H. Nelson of Vandalia, Montana, in 1913. They had three children: Henry, Ann, and William. Charles Diggs Greenfield, Jr., died in Helena on September 26, 1975.
Marguerite Greenfield was born in Helena in 1883. She graduated from Helena High School in 1900. In 1911 Marguerite started a wholesale and retail ice business, the Independent Ice Company, in Helena. She expanded in 1922 to Elk Park pond on the Continental Divide fifteen miles from Butte. Marguerite sold her business in 1934, and later ran the Ox Shoe Treasure Shop east of Helena. She wrote fiction and nonfiction and was a charter member of the Helena Landmarks Association. Marguerite Greenfield never married. She died in Helena on August 11, 1968.
Extent
4 linear feet
Abstract
Charles Greefield was a Helena, Montana, journalist. This collection (1807-1975) consists of personal, business, and political materials of the Greenfield family. Subgroups include papers for Charles D. Greenfield, Jr., Marguerite Greenfield, Charles D. Greenfield, Sr., Anna Elizabeth Nelson Greenfield, and Marietta McBrine Greenfield.
Arrangement
Arranged by subgroup and series.
Physical Location
7:7-4
Physical Location
7:7-5
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquisition information available upon request
Separated Materials
Artifacts, photographs, and printed material and maps have been transferred to the Museum, Photograph Archives, and Library respectively. See inventory below for more information.
Geographic
- Blackfeet Indian Reservation (Mont.)
- Elk Park (Mont.)
- Fort Assinniboine (Mont.)
- Gould (Mont.)
- Helena (Mont.)
- Helena (Mont.) -- Commerce
- Helena (Mont.) -- Newspapers
- Helena (Mont.) -- Social life and customs
- Helena Fire Tower (Mont.)
- Lewis and Clark County (Mont.)
- Lewis and Clark County (Mont.) -- Commerce
- Lewis and Clark County (Mont.) -- Politics and government
- Montana
- Mount Helena (Mont.)
- Toole County (Mont.)
- Vandalia (Mont.)
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Greenfield Family papers 1807-1975
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Joan Bishop, 1987.
- Date
- 2005
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the Montana Historical Society, Research Center Archives Repository
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT 59620-1201 United States
406-444-2681
406-444-2696 (Fax)
mhslibrary@mt.gov