What's New

With the addition of new material to the L. S. Donaldson Company Records an updated inventory to the collection has been created. The company for many years operated Donaldson's department store in downtown Minneapolis, and with its 1961 purchase of the Golden Rule department store expanded into Saint Paul. It eventually expanded into suburban shopping malls as well.

Fans of the PBS series "Mr. Selfridge" will be interested to know that the collection includes a small file pertaining to the famous Selfridge & Company department store in London, dating from the same time period as the television series. Included in the file are incoming letters on illustrated letterheads featuring the Selfridge store on Oxford Street. There are also newspaper clippings from London newspapers, and Directors' Reports and balance sheets (1913-1916) sent to Donaldson's officials with Mr. Selfridge's compliments.

Also of note are a set of architectural drawings of the Golden Rule department store building in downtown Saint Paul, designed by Minnesota architect Clarence H. Johnston (1859-1936). Although the Donaldson's and Golden Rule department stores are long-gone, the Golden Rule Building still stands proudly on Robert Street in downtown Saint Paul.

New and Updated Finding Aids - January 2015

Name/Abstract	File No.
Adjutant General: An Inventory of Its Military Service Records, Civil and U.S.-Dakota Wars	gr00667
Service data on Minnesota soldiers who served during the Civil and U.S.-Dakota wars.
Adjutant General: An Inventory of Its Spanish-American War Muster Rolls and Related Records	gr00769
Incomplete sets of muster-in- and muster-out-rolls for the four Minnesota regiments that served in the Spanish-American War. Also, scattered field returns, which provide counts of the numbers of officers and men in various statuses in each company, and casualty returns for the 13th Regiment.
American Immigration Company (Chippewa Falls, Wis.): An Inventory of Its Records	01183
Correspondence, minutes, stock records, land contracts and deeds, land sale and tax records, maps and plats, financial records, and advertisements of this organization formed by lumber companies in Wisconsin and Minnesota to sell cutover lands. This company was a Weyerhaeuser affiliate.
Auditor: An Inventory of Its Audit Reports of Counties	gr00154
Annual or other periodic reports on the examination of the financial affairs of counties by the State Auditor. The reports contain comments and recommendations regarding fiscal procedures; summaries of financial conditions, in general and with respect to fund transactions, investments, bonded indebtedness, and federal revenue sharing; balance sheets and supporting statements; classifications of receipts and disbursements; notes to financial statements; summaries of fixed assets, taxable valuations, and tax levies and returns; and names of officials and verifications of official bonds. In some cases, the State Auditor prepared a management and compliance letter in lieu of a full audit report. Some reports for 1970-1972 were done by the State Auditor’s predecessor, the Public Examiner.
Auditor: An Inventory of Its Audit Reports of County Hospitals and Nursing Homes	gr00155
Annual or other periodic reports on the examination of the financial affairs of county hospitals and nursing homes by the state auditor.
Auditor: An Inventory of Its Audit Reports of Municipalities	gr00156
Annual or other periodic reports on the examination of the financial affairs of municipalities and municipal departments by the state auditor.
Auditor: An Inventory of Its Audit Reports of Regional Organizations	gr00157
Annual or other periodic reports on the examination of the financial affairs of regional development commissions and regional service organizations by the state auditor.
Auditor: An Inventory of Its Audit Reports of Relief Associations	gr00158
Annual or other periodic reports on the examination of the financial affairs of police and fire fighters’ relief associations.
Auditor: An Inventory of Its Audit Reports, Miscellaneous	gr00153
Reports on the examination of the financial affairs of miscellaneous units of government mostly from counties in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, or general reports on local finance and spending.
Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company (Chippewa Falls, Wis.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01185
Accident reports (circa 1895-1909), annual statements (1894-1929), minutes (1879-1929), field notes on Wisconsin land, printed reports (1910) of a board of audit for Medford Township in Taylor County, Wisconsin, land conveyances, abstracts, contracts, profit and loss statements, and other papers of a company which conducted a general lumbering business.
Cuyuna, Minnesota Area Photographs: An Inventory of Photographs	sv000169
Photographic views of flooding in the Cuyuna, Minnesota area in approximately the 1920s. Also included is an image of a woman and children riding a horse-drawn carriage and a group portrait of men outside a tent (possibly miners). Includes digital content.
Daniel and Rhoda Belcher Family Film Collection: An Inventory of Their Films	sv000170
This collection contains the home movies of Daniel and Rhoda Belcher. Daniel Belcher was vice-president of the Bemis Brothers Bag Company (Bemis Bros. Bag Co.), Minneapolis. The family lived at 5115 Dupont Avenue South and 1912 Irving Avenue South, Minneapolis and had a summer home in Minnetonka Beach on Lake Minnetonka (present address is 2321 Huntington Point Road East). Footage focuses on the Belcher’s three daughters: Carolyn, Rhoda and Lois, and in the later years their grandchildren.
David L. Piper: An Inventory of His Virginia Piper Kidnapping-Related Papers	01160
Copies of FBI files relating to the agency's investigation into the kidnapping of Virginia Piper, wife of Minneapolis investment banker Harry C. Piper, Jr., who was taken from her home in Orono, Minnesota in July 1972 and held for a large ransom. Includes interview transcripts, court documents, press releases, and other papers related to the case.
Elmer Albinson: An Inventory of His Films	sv000171
Views of Grand Portage and Pigeon River area in northern Minnesota, stockade at Grand Portage National Monument, and Ojibwa Indians. Some of the footage may have been used in Albinson's film "My Chippewa Home Revisited."
F. Weyerhaeuser and Company (Saint Paul, Minn.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01186
Correspondence (1902-1934); agreements, contracts, and other land and legal papers (1895-1903); annual statements (1895-1934); log accounts (1892-1905); tax records (1923-1938); articles of incorporation (1901); and other papers of [Frederick] Weyerhaeuser and Company and associated lumbering and lumber products companies.
Gamble-Skogmo, Inc.: An Inventory of Their Film and Video Collection	sv000162
Films and videorecordings were used to attract new Gamble-Skogmo franchisers and to promote new programs to current Gamble-Skogmo dealers.
Guybert Marion Phillips: An Inventory of His World War I Photograph Album	sv000172
Views of Paris, Reims, and the French countryside taken by Guybert Marion Phillips while serving in the French ambulance unit S.S.U. 568 during World War I. Album includes images taken in Scotland and London in April of 1919 following the end of the war. Includes digital content.
Homeseekers Land Company (Chippewa Falls, Wis.): An Inventory of Its Records	01184
Correspondence, minutes, legal papers, annual reports (1907-1918), federal income and capital stock reports, stockholder records, accounts, and land and tax records of this company organized in 1910 to manage and sell Wisconsin lands relinquished by lumber companies. They contain information on land sales, titles, and taxation; colonization proposals; financial organization of the company; and the American Immigration Company, Superior Timber Company, and other Weyerhaeuser family interests. This firm was a Weyerhaeuser affiliate.
Humbird Lumber Company (Sandpoint, Idaho): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01187
Profit and loss statements, annual statements and reports, and some correspondence of this company, which manufactured and distributed pine lumber. John A. and Thomas J. Humbird were its presidents. This firm was a Weyerhaeuser affiliate.
Kakagi Lake (Crow Lake), Ontario, Canada Photographs: An Inventory of Photographs	sv000168
Scenic views, circa 1910-1939, of Kakagi Lake (Crow Lake) north of Nestor Falls in Ontario, Canada. Includes views of log cabins, fishing and canoeing parties, early road construction, and American Indians from the area. Includes digital content.
L. S. Donaldson Company (Minneapolis, Minn.): An Inventory of Its Records	01176
Correspondence, minutes, accounting records, scrapbooks, newspaper advertisements, financial and legal files, employee files, photographs, architectural drawings, and building construction and maintenance files documenting the early history of the Donaldson's department store, founded in Minneapolis in 1882. Includes architectural drawings of the Clarence Johnston-designed Golden Rule department store building in Saint Paul.
Landin Family: An Inventory of Its Photograph Album	sv000165
Photograph album containing 26 cabinet cards featuring members of the Landin family, a Swedish-American family from Isanti County. Includes digital content.
Mathew B. Brady: An Inventory of His U.S. Civil War portraits	sv000159
Collection of 45 contemporary portraits of generals and other significant persons active during the United States Civil War (1861-1865) photographed by photographer Mathew B. Brady between 1860 and 1880. Includes digital content.
Minnesota Sheriffs' Association: An Inventory of Its Records	01194
Constitution, bylaws, and list of members (1908); historical reports (1885-circa 2010); board meeting minutes (1960-2011); directories (1918, 1928); sheriffs' histories and biographical information (undated); as well as conference materials (1940-2009) created by the Minnesota Sheriffs' Association, an organization created in 1885 to provide training and education for sheriffs and deputies in Minnesota.
Miss Minnesota 1960 Pageant Participants: An Inventory of Photographs	sv000163
Views of participants of the 1960 Miss Minnesota pageant on floats and parades. Includes views of Miss Shakopee, Miss North Minneapolis, Miss Hopkins, Miss Robbinsdale, Miss Savage and Miss Flame. Includes digital content.
Mississippi River Lumber Company (Clinton, Iowa): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01188
Minute book, logbooks, stock certificate book, journals, ledgers, cashbooks, land records, annual statements, and correspondence of this general logging and lumbering firm that held cutover lands in north central Minnesota. This firm was a Weyerhaeuser affiliate.
Morris LePage: An Inventory of His Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Construction Photograph Collection	sv000166
Snapshots photographed by Morris LePage between 2010 and 2013 documenting the construction of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line (METRO Green Line) from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis. Includes digital content.
Municipal Board: An Inventory of Its Annexation Files	gr00124
Files on requests for annexations of additional land to cities and villages. They include annexation petitions, city ordinances for annexation, plats, correspondence with the Municipal Commission, and commission orders. Some files, particularly for contested annexations, also contain hearing transcripts, legal briefs, court case file documents, municipal planning reports, and other background materials.
Municipal Board: An Inventory of Its Consolidation Files	gr00150
Files documenting requests for the merger of two or more cities or a city and township into a new city. The files may include city council resolutions, petitions, study commission reports, correspondence, and related materials.
Municipal Board: An Inventory of Its Detachments Files	gr00122
Files covering two distinct kinds of detachments: simple detachments of municipal property being rural in character for which no development plans exist; or simultaneous detachment and annexation of incorporated land in which property of one municipality abuts another and is detached and annexed in a single concurrent action.
Municipal Board: An Inventory of Its Incorporation Files	gr00123
Files regarding petitions for incorporation, sometimes including annexations, of various Minnesota cities and towns, primarily in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. They contain petitions, briefs and other legal papers, correspondence, transactional documents, and exhibits. Among the exhibits are transcripts of hearings and proceedings, planning and zoning documents, maps, and sometimes election registers and poll lists for incorporation elections. There is an especially lengthy file on Burnsville and adjacent communities.
Municipal Board: An Inventory of Its Published Records and Reports	gr00875
Reports, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks documenting the board's role in municipal and township annexation, detachment, consolidation, incorporation, development and suburbanization topics.
Municipal Board: An Inventory of Its Section 5 Files	gr00874
Files concerning prospective incorporation or annexation of townships according to population. As well as correspondence, memoranda, and legal and transactional documents, the files include hearing transcripts, city planning documents, building codes, zoning ordinances, and maps.
Natural Resources Department: Division of Fish and Wildlife: An Inventory of Its Wollan (Gordon) Subject Files	gr00877
Subject files kept by Director Wollan documenting the division's administration and management.
North Wisconsin Lumber Company (Hayward, Wis.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01189
Correspondence (mainly 1903-1908), agreements, financial miscellany, land records, and a property map of this company organized for the general manufacture of lumber.
Northern Lumber Company (Cloquet, Minn.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01190
Minutes, stock records, accounting records, and other financial information documenting the logging, lumbering, waterpower, river improvement, railroading, general merchandising, and related operations of the Northern Lumber Co. (1896-1945) and several affiliated companies operating in northern Minnesota. All the companies were controlled by Weyerhaeuser corporate interests.
Northern Pacific Railway Company: Land Department: An Inventory of Its Records	01020
Many series of records created by the Northern Pacific administrative unit responsible for the company’s extensive land holdings, and documenting in great detail the acquisition, surveying and platting, ongoing management, resource usage, and disposition of the lands.
Northern Pacific Railway Company: Maps and Atlases: An Inventory of Its Records	01022
Maps, atlases and related material of the Northern Pacific Railway Company.
Northland Pine Company (Saint Paul, Minn.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01191
Articles of incorporation, minutes, ledgers, journals, log and land books, annual statements, and financial reports of this firm organized to deal in pinelands and lumber, drive logs, improve and dam streams, and build and operate logging railroads. It was consolidated in 1925 with the Mississippi Lumber Company. This firm was a Weyerhaeuser affiliate.
Secretary of State: An Inventory of Its Official Documents (Selected)	gr00244
Selected materials from the Secretary of State's set of official documents.
Secretary of State: An Inventory of Its Official Documents and Index	gr00876
Card index to and microfilm copies of the majority of the official documents kept by the Secretary of State.
Superior Timber Company (Chippewa Falls, Wis.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01192
Minutes, correspondence, deeds, legal documents, annual reports, tax returns, stock certificates, and financial summaries and reports of a company in business (1901-1944) mainly selling cutover lands in Douglas County, Wisconsin. Includes earlier ownership and sale records (1885-1900) of company lands, especially holdings of the Musser-Sauntry Land, Logging and Manufacturing Company, Stillwater; and information on several Wisconsin land and development companies. This company was a Weyerhaeuser affiliate.
Trina Porte: An Inventory of Her Papers	00486
Diaries, correspondence, high school and college papers, poetry, and activism files documenting the childhood, young adulthood, education, family dynamics, romantic relationships, sexual orientation, and protest activities of a Minneapolis lesbian and radical feminist. The collection also describes Porte’s volunteer and professional work as a stagehand in Twin Cities and New York theaters as well as her interest in poetic expression.
Twin Cities Women for Take Back the Night: An Inventory of Its Records	P2376
Articles of incorporation, minutes, financial information, publicity items (including brochures in braille), and related planning materials documenting the activities of an organization that coordinated annual rallies, workshops, and marches in the Twin Cities to protest violence against women and children.
Vera Sparkes: An Inventory of Her Photograph Collection of Rural Churches in Minnesota and Wisconsin	sv000164
Color slides depicting interior and exterior views of approximately 100 rural churches of Lutheran, Episcopal, Catholic and Methodist congregations in rural Minnesota and Wisconsin, photographed between 1969 and 1973 by Vera Sparkes. Views include interior and exterior of buildings and grounds, church cemeteries, stained glass windows, religious murals and paintings, altars and general congregational areas. Also included are index cards containing brief histories to approximately 50 of the churches represented in the collection.
Weyerhaeuser and Rutledge Company (Chippewa Falls, Wis.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society	01193
Minute book (1906-1938), articles of association (1906), stock certificate book (1906-1931), tax records, journals and ledger (1882-1918), and other financial records of this general lumbering firm with lands in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Frederick Weyerhaeuser (senior) and Edward Rutledge were among its incorporators. This company was a Weyerhaeuser affiliate.
William Gates Le Duc: An Inventory of His Papers	01177
Correspondence (1760-1967), Civil War material (1862-1865), United States Commissioner of Agriculture material (1877-1881), financial and business records (1848-1920), literary papers, diaries (1852-1961), letterbooks, photographs, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, notebooks, and other miscellaneous material relating to William Le Duc and his family (Hastings, Minn.) and to the Gardner family of St. Paul (Minn.).

New and Updated Catalog Records