{"id":59876,"date":"2025-01-31T11:48:24","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T11:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/celebrate-american-archives-month-with-these-fabulous-finds-from-north-dakotas-collections\/"},"modified":"2025-01-31T11:48:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T11:48:24","slug":"celebrate-american-archives-month-with-these-fabulous-finds-from-north-dakotas-collections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Working at the North Dakota State Archives means interacting with our collections on every level. Our team of archivists processes incoming materials, often becoming experts on each collection they touch. Our reference team uses these collections to assist others in access and research, learning many tidbits along the way. Through scanning, skimming, and handling the documentary pages and files of our collections, our staff loves to acquire new knowledge about the many significant things that have happened in our state. Learn more about some of the cool collections staff have recently acquired or rediscovered below!<\/p>\n

Lindsay Meidinger, deputy state archivist<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Did you know the State Archives boasts nearly 10 miles of paper records and a staggering 56 terabytes of electronic records? With so many fascinating collections just steps away, it is quite hard to choose just one to feature in this blog post. So I decided to put my decision in the hands of a random number generator. The result? Folder 2 of Box 4, State Series 31530.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

A plain brown box in the State Archives stacks contains information related to the agency\u2019s past educational outreach efforts.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s inside this unassuming box? It details the activities of the State Historical Society of North Dakota\u2019s education team! These records chronicle over 120 years of educational events and programming, revealing how history has been presented and shared across generations. This specific folder contains programs from 1989.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Box 4, Folder 2 features programs of educational events and symposiums from 1989.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One might wonder, \u201cWhy preserve this?\u201d Well, these documents offer insights for researchers and staff, providing a look at the evolution of outreach and programming by highlighting popular topics, types of interactions, and collective memories. This information helps our current education team build on past projects.<\/p>\n

Virginia Bjorness, head of technical services<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Earlier this year, the State Archives received four digital publications from Michael Gustafson, all relating to the early history of Portal, North Dakota, and the Lanthorn family. Included in the quartet is a short booklet by Wesley C. Engstrom, titled \u201cMerna’s Penny Bank.\u201d This digital booklet documents the struggles of the Union Bank of Portal during the 1920s and the tragic death of the bank manager, who had gifted the penny bank to Merna Lanthorn. Engstrom also includes excerpts from The International<\/em>, the newspaper serving the Portal area at the time, along with pictures of the recently restored bank interior.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

SHSND SA OCLC 1417163131<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Emily Kubischta, manuscript archivist<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The State Archives recently received the records of the Monday Club, a study club for Bismarck women that has operated since 1902 (MSS 11655). In addition to researching and presenting on assigned topics, club women made charitable contributions and worked to make Bismarck stronger. Even though the Monday Club bylaws set a limit capping membership at 20, the club women have a long list of contributions. Some of these include raising funds for the Sakakawea statue on the state Capitol grounds, assisting with the first state sale of Red Cross stamps, advocating for public health by asking for funding for a state tuberculosis sanatorium site and securing the first nurse for Bismarck schools, preparing the first MASH unit locally that was then replicated during World War I, and adopting a French orphan (for one year) after World War I. Included in the records is an album of photographs of the homes of early Monday Club members (early 1900s) and the homes of members in 2002. This album documents some of the historic residences in Bismarck, ties owners to the homes, and demonstrates the continuity of the organization through its many years of active service to the community.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Letters and a postcard photograph to members concerning the adoption of French orphan Marc R\u00e9gnier in 1919. SHSND SA MSS 11655<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The historic residences photograph album shows significant Bismarck homes of the time. SHSND SA MSS 11655<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Larissa Harrison, state government archivist<\/strong><\/h4>\n

You never know what information you will uncover in some collections. State Series 32566 is part of the Department of Transportation\u2019s records. However, this series, covering the district of Grand Forks, includes letters of recommendations from the North Dakota Democratic and Republican parties from the 1930s to 1940s, reflecting the political cronyism of the period.<\/p>\n

Greta Beck, audiovisual archivist<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One of my favorite home movie collections at the State Archives was filmed by Clayton Maw who documented his family’s everyday life and important moments in and around Kidder County from 1949 to 1970\u2014all on 8 mm film. His films cover a wide variety of family milestones like weddings, birthday parties, and graduations, as well as more everyday events like reshingling a barn, stunt car races, harvesting a field, and playing cards.<\/p>\n

Maw loved farming and had a passion for airplanes, hunting, and traveling with his family. These interests are visible in the footage he captured of hunting scenes, family vacations, the Bismarck Air Show, and aerial shots from an airplane of Bismarck and the Garrison Dam. Home movies tell a very personal story through the perspective of a family and give the viewer a more intimate look at what life was like when the films were made.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

This still from Clayton Maw\u2019s 8 mm film shows young children and a dog helping out on a family farm in Kidder County, circa 1955. SHSND SA MSS 11375-00001<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Working at the North Dakota State Archives means interacting with our collections on every level. Our team of archivists processes incoming materials, often becoming experts on each collection they touch. Our reference team uses these collections to assist others in access and research, learning many tidbits along the way. Through scanning, skimming, and handling the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[204,14428,3331,15507,33441,5840,16649,5491,843],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-59876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-history","tag-american","tag-archives","tag-celebrate","tag-collections","tag-dakotas","tag-fabulous","tag-finds","tag-month","tag-north"],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Working at the North Dakota State Archives means interacting with our collections on every level. Our team of archivists processes incoming materials, often becoming experts on each collection they touch. Our reference team uses these collections to assist others in access and research, learning many tidbits along the way. Through scanning, skimming, and handling the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-31T11:48:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"208\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-31T11:48:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876\"},\"wordCount\":882,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png\",\"keywords\":[\"American\",\"Archives\",\"Celebrate\",\"collections\",\"Dakotas\",\"fabulous\",\"Finds\",\"Month\",\"North\"],\"articleSection\":[\"American History\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876\",\"name\":\"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-31T11:48:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png\",\"width\":564,\"height\":208},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Working at the North Dakota State Archives means interacting with our collections on every level. Our team of archivists processes incoming materials, often becoming experts on each collection they touch. Our reference team uses these collections to assist others in access and research, learning many tidbits along the way. Through scanning, skimming, and handling the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-01-31T11:48:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":564,"height":208,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections","datePublished":"2025-01-31T11:48:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876"},"wordCount":882,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png","keywords":["American","Archives","Celebrate","collections","Dakotas","fabulous","Finds","Month","North"],"articleSection":["American History"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876","name":"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png","datePublished":"2025-01-31T11:48:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2024-10-07-Walker-BlogImage1-web.png","width":564,"height":208},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=59876#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota\u2019s Collections"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/59877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59876"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=59876"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=59876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}