The collection consists primarily of motivational messages written for the employees of the Ralston Purina Company dating from July 1921 through January 1964. Additional items in the collection include William H. Danforth’s obituary, a biography of Donald Danforth, Sr. upon his retirement, and two sets of letters written by Donald Danforth while traveling in 1963 and 1965. The collection is arranged chronologically. Company founder William H. Danforth wrote the weekly Monday Morning Message from 1921 to 1954. The issues of Monday Morning Message from 1921 to 1950 are bound in 13 volumes, which includes large item foldouts and booklets distributed along with the messages. There are only a few weekly issues missing from the volumes. Donald Danforth wrote the Message of the Month from 1956 to 1964; up to three copies of these issues are arranged in folders. Some 1960s issues are also in Spanish and appear in folders after the English issues. Gaps in the motivational messages include: 1927 to November 1930, 1951 to 1953, and 1955. The first inspirational messages were written by other company officers including William Sample, A.F. Seay, and W.K. Woods. William H. Danforth began writing them in October 1921 and wrote all but a very few of the weekly messages through 1950. On occasion, Danforth’s secretary Evelyn J. Leatherbury or another executive wrote the messages. The May 15, 1922, issue is the first to carry the title of Monday Morning Message. Donald Danforth explained in his first Message of the Month in March 1956 that his father’s philosophy in the weekly messages was an important factor in the history and growth of the company that he planned to continue. For the first five years of the Monday Morning Message, William H. Danforth issued one-page messages to his employees. Beginning around 1926, his messages became longer and contained illustrations and photographs. Current news events, sports, books, historical figures, and celebrities all inspired Danforth’s writings. He mentioned Commander Robert Byrd, Major James Doolittle, and Eddie Rickenbacker. Danforth traveled for both pleasure and business, sharing experiences and photographs in his messages. He met many people influential in the 20th century such as Mahatma Gandhi and Charles Lindbergh. In several instances at the beginning of a new year, Danforth set a monthly program for employees to follow (e.g., 01/20/1941). Updates or next steps in the program were then shared at the beginning of each month. He also traveled a great deal, by air and by sea. Danforth sent the April 17, 1933, issue via airmail on TWA stationery with the logo “The Lindbergh Line.” In 1937, the Danforths set out on a trip around the world. In the January 25th message, he included a map with his itinerary (reproduced in Spirit of Purina Mills) and asked employees to set a course of goals matching his travel schedule which they could mail to him at an address which he provided. There are not many mentions of the Great Depression in the 1930s. In the May 22, 1933, message, the verso of a brochure for the 21st Annual Dinner of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce served as the vehicle for Danforth’s message. He was among 1,500 delegates who attended the dinner and heard President Franklin D. Roosevelt speak. In 1935, Danforth alluded to the state of business in the nation several times. On June 3rd, he discussed the Supreme Court’s decision on the National Recovery Act. On August 26th, a chart on U.S. business conditions from 1906 to 1935 accompanied the message. On September 30th, Danforth included a booklet entitled We Are Coming Out of this Depression. Beginning in December 1937, there was often an annual Service Anniversaries booklet bound with the messages. Some years the brochures listed only St. Louis employees and other years they recognized employees nationally. Both William and Donald devoted issues to retiring company executives and also to friends outside the company, such as a Col. Pruitte Smith of Berea College (Nov. 1957). By 1938, Danforth’s travels revealed a world preparing for war. In April, he traveled to Europe and saw British troops in Gibraltar and military preparations throughout Italy. One year later, in April 1939, the Danforth’s visited their grandson at school in Switzerland and then went to Albania to see Merrill Knapp, former Danforth Fellow, who worked in agriculture. Mussolini’s threat to invade Albania came to fruition and the Danforths fled Albania as Italy fired upon Albanian harbors. Danforth titled his April 24th message, “Our Escape from Albania.” During WWII, Danforth used the Monday Morning Message to share news of employees serving in the military and used excerpts from letters written to him. Even before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Danforth reported on December 1, 1941, that there were almost one hundred men called to service. In a demonstration of his commitment to his employees, Danforth explained that he tried “to have each one in our St. Louis plant come through my office…so I can tell him goodbye.” By February 1945, there were over 900 Purina employees in the armed forces. Many issues throughout the war included news of servicemen and women, photographs, and an honor roll of those killed in the war (02/22/1943, 05/31/1943, 07/05/1943, 07/19/1943, 04/03/1944, 06/26/1944, 11/20/1944, 02/19/1945). For example, a booklet, Letters and News from Our Purina Boys in the Armed Forces, was issued on February 22, 1943, which contains letter excerpts from several servicemen (B4/f.1). St. Louisans discussed in the newsletters included Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Hinshaw (Mrs. Hinshaw served in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, 11/08/1943), Curt Scheele (07/26/1943), and Ensign Alice Crusius (06/26/1944). Among those lost in the war included William H. Danforth’s grandson, John Parker Compton, who died in Italy on March 3, 1945, serving with the 10th Mountain Division (04/02/1945, see John Parker Compton Papers, Denver Public Library). William H. Danforth covered a wide range of topics relating to the war. More attention focused on the grain cereal produced by Ralston Purina and its health benefits; “our task is to produce…which means adequately feeding every man in khaki” (03/02/1942). Danforth mentioned his service in Europe during WWI and through the years there are a several photos of the bullet-riddled YMCA sign that hung in his office (e.g., 04/04/1949). In St. Louis, the Red Cross parked its mobile unit at Ralston Purina several times (05/24/1942) and the company won the Edward O’Hare Trophy for the highest war bond purchases in the city (11/01/1943). The St. Louis Cardinals World Series win was also used as a rally point (10/12/1942). Sacrifices for the war effort included decreasing the use of sugar in the Ralston Purina cafeteria (03/30/1942) and the company’s adjustments for the government cutbacks on high proteins in animal feed (03/08/1943). The Danforths' various philanthropic ventures were mentioned every now and then through the decades. Groundbreakings and dedications for several of the twenty-four Danforth Chapels, which were built as part of the educational mission of the Danforth Foundation, were mentioned most often (e.g., Berea College 06/06/1938; Pilgrim Church 05/27/1939; University of Kansas 06/10/1946; Barnes Hospital 01/30/1950). William H. Danforth collected stones to use in his chapels such as a stone from Molokai, Hawaii, and another given to him which once rested on Abraham’s Lincoln’s grave (04/15/1939). In some December issues, the Christmas Carol Association was the weekly topic (12/21/1942; 12/20/1948; 12/12/1949). While former Danforth Fellows were sometimes mentioned, the August 31, 1941, issue is unique in its description of the Danforth Fellowship program for college students. In December 1947, the Purina employees decided to serve a bowl of Ralston Relief Cereal and a cup of coffee at the Christmas party dinner. The money saved on the meals was used to donate cereal overseas (12/08/1947, 01/19/1948). Donald Danforth reported on the dedication of the Farm Youth Center at Purina Farms in May 1958 and included a booklet on the Danforth Foundation’s activities in September 1959. Donald Danforth’s Message of the Month also drew upon current events and celebrities as inspiration. He wrote about the Mercury space capsule and McDonnell Aircraft Corporation (June 1961), St. Louis baseball star Stan Musial (Oct 1963), and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Dec 1963). He also dedicated issues to retiring executives and to board member L.J. Sverdrup and his involvement in the development of the Saturn and Nova rockets (June 1962). In January 1963, Danforth shared his experiences at a meeting he attended in Washington D.C. as a civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army. In the first issue, Danforth explained the company’s reorganization and included photos of board members and some executives (March 1956). He produced a similar issue after his retirement (Jan 1964). As Ralston Purina expanded into Mexico and South America in the late 1950s, Danforth traveled and related news about new facilities and the nations in which they were located. Beginning in 1961, some issues of the Message of the Month appeared in Spanish. One of the most significant issues was dedicated to the dust explosion and subsequent fire at the chow manufacturing plant and elevator at Checkerboard Square (St. Louis) on January 10, 1962 (Feb 1962). It included photographs, reprints of newspaper articles, and facts and repercussions surrounding the event. In the final folder are one set of typed letters addressed to “Family and Friends” written by Donald Danforth while traveling abroad. From January to March 1963, the Danforths went to Central America, South America, and the Pacific. Danforth numbered each of the 1963 letters from 1 to 7. The Message of the Month issues from this time also relate to the facilities and people that Danforth met during this trip. After Danforth’s retirement in 1965, the couple went on a summer cruise to northern Europe and Russia. Danforth wrote a 6-page letter to their children titled,. “Experiences and Impressions.”