Donald Dresden Papers, 1946-1981
Collection Overview
Title: Donald Dresden Papers, 1946-1981
ID: OGLMC1026
Primary Creator: Dresden, Donald (1910-1982)
Extent: 3.0 Linear Feet
Date Acquired: 08/00/1985. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Literary, University of North Dakota - Alumni
Languages: English
Abstract
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The Donald Dresden Papers, 1946-1981, have been divided into two series:
Series 1: The Marquis de Mores: Emperor of the Bad Lands
Series 2: Other Writings
Fifty photographs were separated and placed in the Photograph File Cabinets.
Collection Historical Note
Donald Dresden was born October 18, 1910, in Larimore, North Dakota. In 1932, he graduated from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. While at UND, he was a member of Blue Key and president of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. In 1934, he earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University.
Between 1934 and 1941, Dresden worked for the Federal Housing Administration in Washington, D.C.; the Edward B. Smith & Co. in New York; the American Radiator Company in Paris; and the American Business Credit Association in New York. In 1941, he joined the United States Army Air Force as a lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps. He eventually rose to the rank of major, and in 1944 became a public relations officer in the European Theater of Operations. While in the army, Dresden worked as a freelance writer selling articles to the New York Times, which led to a position as staff writer after the War.
In 1946, Dresden moved to France and once again became a freelance writer selling articles to many American, French, and British publications. During his stay in France he graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Acadamie de Cuisine de Paris in 1948. With the implementation of the Marshall Plan for European economic recovery, Dresden became Deputy Chief of Information with the American French Mission in 1949. While in this role he founded and edited the French-language magazine Rapports, France-Etats Unis which ran from 1949 to 1953.
Upon his return to the United States in 1953, Dresden accepted a position as public relations director for the National Citizens Committee for Educational Television. Three years later he became an account executive in the Washington, D.C. public relations firm of Robert R. Mullen & Co., handling, among other things, the public relations aspects of the Ford Foundation's quarter-billion dollar hospital grant program. In 1958, Dresden moved to Kiplinger's Changing Times magazine as an associate editor, and in 1959 he became a writer of special articles on economic development for the World Bank. Between 1960 and 1969, he worked for the Scott Paper Company as director of public relations; the United States Information Agency as a public information officer, editor, and writer; the United states Treasury Department as public affairs consultant and ghostwriter; and the Foreign Service Journal as an associate editor. From 1969 to 1976, Dresden wrote a weekly critique of Washington, D.C. area restaurants as the restaurant critic for the Washington Post. Following his retirement from the Post, he continued to write articles on a freelance basis.
Dresden authored three books: Le Chemin de Paris dealt with his wartime experiences and was published in 1946; his second book, The Marquis de Mores: Emperor of the Bad Lands, was published in 1970. This book is a biography of Antoine Amedee-Marie-Vincent Manca de Vallombrosa, better known as the Marquis de Mores, who founded the town of Medora in Dakota Territory in 1883 and lived there with his family until 1887. Dresden's third book, Donald Dresden's Guide to Dining Out in Washington, was published in 1977 and is a review of restaurants in the Washington, DC area. Donald Dresden died November 11, 1982, at 72 years of age.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections
Accruals: Additional materials were donated by Marta Dresden in March 1987 (87-1511).
Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.
Acquisition Source: Marta Dresden, Washington, D.C.
Acquisition Method: Donation; 85-1390
Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Donald Dresden Papers. OGLMC 1026, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in August 2014.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: The Marquis de Mores: Emperor of the Bad Lands],
[Series 2: Other Writings],
[Photographs :],
[All]
- Series 2: Other Writings
- This series contains Dresden’s other writings, including his account of his World War II experiences, Le Chemin de Paris, which was published in 1946. Also included are copies of Rapports, France-Etats Unis, a periodical edited by Dresden from 1949-1953. The series also contains copies of his Washington Post restaurant critiques and other magazine articles written by him.
- Box 2
- Folder 1: L'Aide Americaine a La France, October 1949
- Folder 2: L'Aide Americaine a La France, January 1950
- Folder 3: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, February 1950
- Folder 4: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, March 1950
- Folder 5: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, April 1950
- Folder 6: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, February 1951
- Folder 7: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, April 1951
- Folder 8: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, May 1951
- Folder 9: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, June 1951
- Folder 10: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, July 1951
- Folder 11: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, August 1951
- Folder 12: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, September 1951
- Folder 13: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, October 1951
- Folder 14: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, November 1951
- Folder 15: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, December 1951
- Folder 16: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, March 1952
- Folder 17: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, April 1952
- Folder 18: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, July 1952
- Folder 19: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, September 1952
- Folder 20: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, October 1952
- Folder 21: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, November 1952
- Folder 22: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, December 1952
- Folder 23: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, January 1953
- Folder 24: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, March 1953
- Folder 25: Rapports, France-Etats Unis, May 1953
- Folder 26: "Paris Home Town of the World" - National Geographic Magazine, June 1952
- Folder 27: Rough Draft - "Paris Home Town of the World"
- Folder 28: "ETV-A New Force on the Video Screen" - Signal, July - August 1955
- Folder 29: "Government Jobs by Appointment" - Changing Times, September 1958
- Folder 30: Correspondence - "Government Jobs by Appointment"
- Folder 31: "Watch Out for Rabies," "Hurricanes Are No Joke" - Changing Times, September 1958
- Folder 32: Correspondence - "Hurricanes Are No Joke"
- Folder 33: "Guns Are Safe but People Aren't," "The Public Relations Man," "Black Widow Spiders: - Changing Times, October 1958
- Folder 34: Correspondence - "Guns Are Safe but People Aren't"
- Folder 35: "Divorce," "Need $100 or so to Tide You Over?" "Some Things You Didn't Know About Thanksgiving" - Changing Times, November 1958
- Folder 36: Correspondence - "Some Things You Didn't Know About Thanksgiving"
- Folder 37: "General Quesada's Toughest Command" - The Reporter, March 5, 1959
- Folder 38: "Food Additives" - Quest, January 1960
- Folder 39: "Loans at Work", World Bank, March 1960
- Folder 40: Scott Paper Company Annual Report - 1961- Student Edition
- Folder 41: United States Information Agency 21st Review of Operations, July 1 - December 31, 1963
- Folder 42: "Employing the Unemployable" - Aerospace, Fall 1968
- Folder 43: Rough Draft - "Employing the Unemployable"
- Folder 44: "American Business and Foreign Affairs" - Foreign Service Journal, February 1971
- Folder 45: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" - Dining, December 1971/January 1972
- Folder 46: "Dining in D.C." - Foreign Service Journal, June 1978
- Folder 47: "The Protocol of Dining" - The Washington Dossier, February 1981
- Folder 48: "Robert McDaniel, Washington Gourmet Guru" - The Washington Dossier, February 1981
- Folder 49: "Communication re: American Wines" - Foreign Service Journal, March 1981
- Folder 50: Rough Draft - "Communication re: American Wines"
- Folder 51: "American Painting and Sculpture"
- Folder 52: Le Chemin de Paris, 1946
- Folder 53: The Washington Post Guide to Dining Out in Washington, by Donald Dresden, 1971
- Folder 54: Donald Dresden's Guide to Dining Out in Washington, 1977
- Folder 1: L'Aide Americaine a La France, October 1949
- Box 3
- Folder 1: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1969
- Folder 2: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1970
- Folder 3: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1971
- Folder 4: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1972
- Folder 5: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1973
- Folder 6: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1974
- Folder 7: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1975
- Folder 8: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1976
- Folder 9: "How I Rate Restaurants"
- Folder 10: Miscellaneous Articles
- Folder 11: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Guide to Dining Out, 1971-1976
- Folder 12: Wine Articles
- Folder 13: Food Articles
- Folder 14: Chinese Cooking
- Folder 15: Army Chow
- Folder 16: What Makes a Good Restaurant
- Folder 17: Women Chefs
- Folder 18: Spices
- Folder 19: Wine and Wine Cooking
- Folder 20: Le Bagatelle Restaurant
- Folder 21: Rough Drafts - Pastry Article
- Folder 22: Rough Draft - "The Forgotten Terrapin"
- Folder 23: Rough Draft - "A Thin Slice of Smithfield"
- Folder 24: Rough Draft - "Separate Tables Together"
- Folder 25: Rough Draft - "Delicious Disclosures from Washington's Chefs"
- Folder 26: Rough Draft - "The Sweet Smell of Success"
- Folder 27: Rough Draft - "How I Rate Restaurants"
- Folder 28: Rough Draft - "Good Cheer"
- Folder 29: Rough Draft - "L'Autre Haute"
- Folder 30: Rough Draft - "Bringing Out the Beast"
- Folder 31: Rough Draft - Cruisin' for Burgers"
- Folder 32: Rough Draft - "The Great Steak Search"
- Folder 33: Rough Draft - "Egged On"
- Folder 34: Rough Drafts - "A Matter of Good Taste"
- Folder 35: Miscellaneous Rough Draft Articles
- Folder 36: Miscellaneous Newspaper Articles
- Folder 37: United States Information Agency Press Releases
- Folder 38: United States Treasury Department Documents
- Folder 39: Speeches Ghostwritten by Donald Dresden
- Folder 40: Book Reviews
- Folder 41: Biographical Information
- Folder 42: "Our Far-Flung Correspondents: The Absolute in Grasse." The New Yorker, October 8, 1955
- Folder 43: Plains Fare: The Kitchen is Where the Heart is When the Air Chills to 40 Below,” The Washington Post Magazine, November 30, 1980
- Folder 44: Rough draft of an article entitled "Mansions," undated
- Folder 45: Correspondence regarding the mansion business, 1974
- Folder 46: Miscellaneous pamphlets and one newspaper article on mansions
- Folder 1: Washington Post Potomac Magazine Restaurant Reviews, 1969
- Box 2
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: The Marquis de Mores: Emperor of the Bad Lands],
[Series 2: Other Writings],
[Photographs :],
[All]