Title: The Papers of the Sperati Family, 1888-1952
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 6 series.
The first series, Correspondence, comprises the great majority of the collection. The series is arranged starting with the correspondence between Carlo A. Sperati and his wife Emma Hoffoss Sperati. First in the series is correspondence to Emma Hoffoss Sperati from Carlo A. Sperati from 1887-1891. Next in the series is correspondence from Emma Hoffoss Sperati to Carlo A. Sperati from 1888-1891. Finishing out the series is correspondence to Carlo A. Sperati from friends and family dating from 1882-1939.
Series II contains Carlo A. Sperati’s time as faculty At Luther College. This series first includes daybooks and expense accounts kept by Carlo A. Sperati from 1893-1917 and a daybook kept by Sigvald Sperati, son of Emma Hoffoss Sperati and Carlo A. Sperati, in 1936. Also included in this series are clippings collected from Luther College Concert Band tours from 1916-1942 while Carlo A. Sperati was the director of the Concert Band. Programs from concerts either given by or directed by Carlo A. Sperati from 1887-1936 are also included. A napkin saved by Emma Hoffoss Sperati from a picnic in 1904 is included as well. The napkin is signed by several Luther faculty and alumni. Closing out the series is a collection of sermons given by Carlo A. Sperati during his tenure at Luther College.
Awards, Honors and Memorials make up series III. Included in this series are Awards and honors received by Carlo A. Sperati by the Norwegian-American Lutheran Church. In 1891 Carlo A. Sperati graduated from Luther Seminary, and his diploma is part of this series. Also included are the wills of Carlo A. Sperati and Emma Hoffoss Sperati as well as memorials to them from friends and family from Carlo A. Sperati’s death in 1945 and Emma Hoffoss Sperati’s death in 1952.
The fourth series contains Scrapbooks. This series contains, first, one scrapbook put together for Carlo A. Sperati in honor of his 80th birthday in 1941. The scrapbook contains a collection of letters from students, alumni, faculty and governmental representatives. Next in this series are scrapbooks collected by Sonja Strom Scarseth, granddaughter of Carlo A. Sperati, while she was a student at Luther College from 1949-1953. This series also has a family photo album and two herbaria of pressed plants created by Emma Hoffoss Sperati as a young woman.
Series V includes the poetry of Emma Hoffoss Sperati. The series includes handwritten and typed copies of poems by Emma Hoffoss Sperati written between 1920 and 1940. Some of the poems were dedicated to children and grandchildren of Emma Hoffoss Sperati.
Series VI contains Realia. Included is a tin cookie box where most of the correspondence in Series I was stored by Carlo A. and Emma Hoffoss Sperati.