Cuneo Family Papers
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Loyola University Chicago ~ Archives & Special Collections UA2010.03 Cuneo Family Papers Dates: 1868-2000, No Date (bulk 1930-1978) Creator: Cuneo Family Extent: 35.01 linear feet Level of description: Folder Processor & date: Melissa Nye, August 2013 Administration Information Restrictions: Restrictions apply. Consult archivist for information. Copyright: Consult archivist for information. Citation: Loyola University Chicago. Archives & Special Collections. Cuneo Family Papers, 1868-2000. Box #, Folder #. Provenance: The Cuneo Family Papers were placed to the Loyola University Chicago Archives & Special Collections as part of the 2009 gift of the Cuneo Mansion and Gardens to Loyola University Chicago by John F. Cuneo, Jr. Separations: Approximately 0.5 linear feet of duplicate materials was removed and discarded. See Also: Cuneo Museum and Gardens – Hawthorn Farm Construction records; Cuneo Family Financial Papers; Office of the Director, Barbara Hirschfeld; Administrative records; Museum Records. Biographical Sketch The Cuneo family is best known for the wealth, commercial enterprises, and philanthropic endeavors of John F. Cuneo, the founder of The Cuneo Press and owner of the mansion and ground that became the Cuneo Mansion and Gardens in Libertyville, Illinois. John F. Cuneo started his career as an owner of a book bindery but acquired his wealth through large scale purchasing and management of printing press operations across the United States. Cuneo expanded his business by purchasing a number of dairies in Illinois in addition to the presses he owned across the United States. In addition, Cuneo established a philanthropic organization, the Cuneo Foundation, to raise money and aid a variety of organizations. As devout Catholics, the Cuneo family was particularly devoted to aiding Catholic organizations. John F. Cuneo was first married to Florence B. Hill in 1905, whom he later divorced in 1917. His second marriage was to Julia Shepherd Cuneo in 1930, with whom he had two children, John Jr. and Consuela. Cuneo’s father, Frank Cuneo, was an esteemed Chicago businessman and president of Garibaldi and Cuneo, a produce firm, as well as an investor in Chicago real estate. Cuneo also had a brother, Americo F. Cuneo, to which this collection includes a scrapbook of his obituaries and letters of condolences upon his death in 1968. Their family’s history in America is traced back to Cuneo’s grandfather, John B. Cuneo, who came to the United States from Italy and started the family business as a local Chicago grocer. The Cuneo Mansion in Libertyville, Illinois, formerly the estate of Samuel Insull, was purchased and refurbished by Cuneo in 1937. The mansion served as the family Cuneo Family Papers, 1868-2000, No Date Page 1 Loyola University Chicago ~ Archives & Special Collections estate; it and the other extensive properties owned by Cuneo in the northwest suburbs served as sites where Cuneo dabbled in equestrian and agrarian interests. Cuneo eventually came to found Hawthorn Mellody Farms and Hawthorn Mellody Farms Dairy, where he raised cows, hogs, ponies, horses, poultry, and distributed dairy products. Ever the entrepreneur, Cuneo turned the farm and dairy into a tourist attraction complete with a zoo, where children and families could watch cows being milked, view and pet animals, and see firsthand what day to day agricultural processes were like. The dairy was reported to distribute 400,000 pounds of milk daily to the Chicagoland area. Towards the end of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as John Cuneo aged, parcels of the land were sold off, as well as the dairy operations. The estate, which was bequeathed to Cuneo’s son, John Jr., was donated to Loyola University Chicago in December 2009. John Cuneo Sr. had indicated in his will that after the death of his wife, Julia, he wished for the mansion to be used for educational purposes. Scope and Content The Cuneo Family Papers consist of 35.01 linear feet spanning the years 1868- 2000 and contains correspondence, photographs, books, reports, notes, brochures, publications, certificates, artifacts, greeting cards, postcards, meeting minutes, catalogs, newspaper clippings, programs, and scrapbooks. Subjects covered include family life, social life, religious life, art dealings, and business enterprises. Contents within the series are arranged alphabetically with a few exceptions as stated below in the series’ description. Series 2: Social Life is arranged in two main groups. The first contains affiliated organizations and events that the family members were involved in and attended. These are listed alphabetically. The second group contains items relating to their equestrian hobby. Series 3: Personal Correspondence series is arranged in four main groups: Letters of Condolence upon the death of a family member; Correspondence by the name of the receiver of the letter; Greeting cards; and Postcards. Folders are arranged alphabetically and items within are arranged chronologically. Series 14: Paintings & Sculpture is arranged in four main groups: Paintings and Sculptures, arranged by artist’s name; Correspondence, arranged alphabetically; Exhibitions, arranged chronologically; and General items, arranged alphabetically. Series 1: Personal Papers, 1868-2000, No date, Box 1-9 Contains materials relating to the family’s personal life including: address books, artifacts, books, brochures, diplomas, notebooks, family trees, patent, plaques, publications, recipes, scrapbooks, stationary, stock certificates, and wills. The bulk of the series dates from the 1930s to the 1970s. Series 2: Social Life, 1922-1990, No date, Box 10-13 Contains materials relating to the family’s social life including organizations they were affiliated with and events they attended as well as their activities in breeding horses and participating in and attending horse shows. Items include: dance cards, tickets, membership cards, membership certificates, menus, yearbooks, rosters, and programs of banquets, operas, theatre shows, and horseshows. Notable items include a ticket to “The Cuneo Family Papers, 1868-2000, No Date Page 2 Loyola University Chicago ~ Archives & Special Collections Long Count” boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney on September 22, 1927, and a ticket to the Army vs. Navy Football game at Soldier Field in 1926. Series 3: Personal Correspondence, 1925-1978, No date, Box 13-17 Contains personal correspondence written between the immediate family as well as from friends and extended family members. The series contains four groups: greeting cards; postcards; correspondence; and condolences received upon the death John F. Cuneo and of Josephine M. Shepherd. Featured in the correspondence is a letter from William Randolph Hearst to John F. Cuneo in 1938, and some Christmas cards from William Randolph Hearst Jr. and John William Hearst. Series 4: Cuneo Press Inc., 1925-1978, No date, Box 18-22 Contains materials relating to Cuneo Press Inc. including: annual reports, correspondence, meeting minutes, and photos. The series also includes publications of the Cuneo Press Inc. such as the Cuneo Topics and the Cuneo Christmas Book, both arranged chronologically. It also contains photos and brochures of the company’s exhibition at a Century of Progress International Exposition Chicago 1933. Series 5: Cuneo Estate, 1930-1984, No date, Box 22-24 Contains materials relating to the family’s estate in Libertyville, Illinois. The series contains catalogs of furniture and antiques, an appraisal of the house, invoices, correspondence, and lace and fabric samples. The series also includes information on the remodeling of the boarding house, and the building of the greenhouse. Series 6: 1500 Lake Shore Drive Apartment, 1928-1982, Box 24-25 Contains materials relating to the apartment located at 1500 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois. The series includes correspondence, inventory of the apartment, invoices, and lease agreements. Series 7: Hawthorn Circus Corporation, 1952-1975, No date, Box 26-27 Contains materials relating to the Hawthorn Circus Corporation managed by John F. Cuneo Jr. The series includes contracts, correspondence, letterhead, magazines, photos, tour schedules, as well as an informal accident report written by John F. Cuneo Jr. in 1958. Series 8: Dairy Farms, 1936-1950, Box 27 Contains materials relating dairy farms other than the one located at Hawthorn-Mellody Farm. The series contains corporate records of the Westwood Farms Dairy Inc. and the Winnetka-Libertyville Dairy Inc. Series 9: Hawthorn-Mellody Farm, Dairy, and Zoo, 1912-1998, No date, Box 28-32 Contains materials relating to the Hawthorn-Mellody Farm including when it functioned as a dairy and as a zoo. The series contains advertisements, correspondence, inter-office memos, ledgers, guidebooks, stationary, weight tickets for hay, reports, maps, newspaper clippings, coloring books, a business card, a map, and promotional materials such as Cuneo Family Papers, 1868-2000, No Date Page 3 Loyola University Chicago ~ Archives & Special Collections brochures, books, postcards. A section of the series focused on the Carriage Museum located on the farm includes catalogs, advertisements, correspondence, and newspaper clippings. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. Series 10: Milwaukee Golf Development Corporation, 1956-1975, Box 33 Contains materials relating to the Milwaukee Golf Development Corporation and its development of the Golf Mill Shopping Center and the Golf Mill State Bank. The series includes correspondence,