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Don Francisco Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: --
Date: ca. 1965

Biographical History

Donald ("Don") Francisco (1891-?) was an American advertising and public relations executive. A native of Lansing, Michigan, Don Francisco was born October 18, 1891, son of Will and Lillian (Burgdorf) Francisco. He received a B.S. from Michigan State University, 1914, his M.A. in 1923, and a PhD in 1949. After graduation he joined the Chicago office of the California Fruit Growers Exchange as a fruit inspector (1914-1915). In 1916 he was named assistant advertising manager (1916-1921) and as such was largely responsible for developing a large consumer market for orange juice. After six years advertising for Sunkist, he moved to Lord and Thomas as co-manager of the Los Angeles office. In 1924 he was named executive vice president of the agency and general manager for the Pacific Coast office, a position he held until 1940.

During the war he served as director of the Radio, Information, and Content Division of the Office of Inter-American Affairs in Washington (1940-1943) and then as Assistant Coordinator (1943-1945). He left the government in early 1945 and returned to New York to direct the Thompson Agency, where he served as vice president, director of J. Walter Thompson until his retirement in 1956. Francisco also served as a consultant to the State Department on national broadcasting and was on the Mass Media Committee of Enesco, as well as being a visiting lecturer at Michigan State University.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Don Francisco Papers consists of correspondence, subject files, manuscripts, promotional material, published material, and scrapbooks.

Correspondence consists of both incoming and outgoing as well as some correspondence of others. Correspondents of interest include William Benton, Nelson Rockefeller, Albert D. Lasker, CIAA, UNESCO, Michigan State University, and various South American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Peru, Uruguay). Correspondence of others consists of Albert D. Lasker's around-the- world letters to his family.

Subject files contains material concerning the California Fruit Growers Exchange, CIAA post-war plans, Florida Citrus Commission, Grocery Manufacturers of America, Michigan State University, USIA South American trip, and photographs and personal material.

Manuscripts consists of annual reports, articles, speeches, and outlines by Francisco as well as some speeches by others.

Promotional material contains material related to the California Chain Store Tax (campaign against), California Fruit Growers Exchange - Sunkist, Florida Citrus Commission, and J. Walter Thompson Company.

Published material consists of articles, books and booklets, and pamphlets about and by Francisco and by others.

Scrapbooks, all oversize, contain photos, clippings and letters relating to the California Fruit Growers Exchange, Boston Conference on Distribution, South American travels, and Crusade for Freedom, and to Francisco generally.

Arrangement of the Collection

All series are arranged alphabetically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Francisco, Don, 1891-1973 -- Archives.

Corporate Bodies

California Fruit Growers Exchange.
United States Information Agency.
United States. -- Office of Inter-American Affairs.

Subjects

Advertising agencies -- United States.
Advertising campaigns.
Orange juice -- Marketing.

Places

United States -- Diplomatic and consular service -- Central America.
United States -- Diplomatic and consular service -- South America.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Correspondence.
Pamphlets.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Speeches (documents)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Don Francisco Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Subject files

Manuscripts

Promotional material

Published material

Scrapbooks

Inventory