What's New

Flags are the theme for this month's highlighted collections. Our examples range from the creation of our first state flag to images of flags flown and drawn at various protests around the Twin Cities this last year.

Act Providing for the Adoption of the State Flag

The fourth of July brings out the star-spangled banner, both in lyric and textile forms. This month one of our highlighted collection items focuses on the Minnesota state flag. This 1893 document appears to be a presentation or display copy of the act providing for the adoption of a state flag, dated April 4, 1893 (1893 Session Laws, Chapter 16). The document is signed by Governor Knute Nelson and Secretary of State Frederick P. Brown. The act actually appoints a commission to adopt a design for a Minnesota State Flag. According to a Minnesota History article (Spring 1992) by William B. Becker, there was a competition for the design of the flag.

Amelia Hyde Center designed the flag, and seamstresses Pauline and Thomane Fjelde embroidered the flag. The state flag has subsequently been revised in 1957 and 1983. The original flag is preserved in the Society's three dimensional objects collection.

Protest collections

Flags, particularly the Stars and Stripes, have been used as instruments of protest and freedom of speech throughout American history. Two of our recently cataloged collections illustrate this and much more in highlighting Minnesotan participation in contemporary national protests. History is now--every day.

The Black Lives Matter protest photograph collection documents the Day of Resistance in Minneapolis on December 13, 2014 as well as the protest site at the Fourth Precinct in November of 2015 after the police shooting of Jamar Clark. With similar concerns about discrimination in response to President Trump's election last fall the the Anti-Trump protest photographs and moving image collection provides views of the march held on November 10, 2016 in Minneapolis.

New and Updated Finding Aids - June 2017

Name/Abstract	File No.
Adjutant General: An Inventory of Its Annual and Biennial Reports	gr01321
These reports provide extensive information on military events involving Minnesotans from territorial days through 2017. Early reports include a statement from the Adjutant General and many pages of appendices containing rosters, muster rolls, supply and ordnance lists, casualty lists, general and special orders, and statistics concerning pensions, arrears in pay, and other claims. Later reports include overviews, mission statements, directory information, accomplishments, budget information, histories, objectives statements, and other reports. The Adjutant General is also the Commissioner of the Military Affairs Department, which was created in 1957 (Minnesota Statutes 190.09). Included in some of these reports are the functions and activities of the Military Affairs Department, as well as the Minnesota National Guard.
Corrections Department: An Inventory of Its Annual and Biennial Reports	gr01319

Corrections Department: An Inventory of Its Published Records and Reports	gr01320
Reports, newsletters, and miscellaneous print and near-print items of or about the Corrections Department. The records cover all aspects of the department's duties and activities, including departmental organization, correctional facilities, rules, regulations, legislation, Community Corrections Act, vocational training, high security facilities, juvenile offenders, parole, women offenders, sexual offenders/sexual abuse, community work service, and arts in prison.
Gary Eberspacher: An Inventory of His Photographs and Moving Images of Minnesota Golf Tournaments	sv000238
The bulk of the collection is group photographs at the St. Paul Ladies Open, renamed Patty Berg Classic in 1975, at Keller Golf Course in Maplewood, Minnesota. This golf tournament was on the Ladies Pro Golf Association (LPGA) Tour from 1973 to 1980. Views also include an image from the Minnesota Golf Classic in 1968 and two silent films of men's golf tournaments held in Minnesota in the 1930s. Includes digital content.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota: An Inventory of its Diocesan Records	p1035
The records of the Episcopal Church, Diocese of Minnesota, cover the period from the arrival of the first Episcopal missionaries into the area in the 1820s through the bishopric of Robert M. Anderson, which ended in 1993.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota. An Inventory of Diocesan Subject Files	p1035h
An assortment of files on diocesan oversight and educational organizations, properties, and history.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota: An Inventory of Its Diocese of Duluth Records	p1035b
Records of the Diocese of Duluth from its inception in 1895 through its 1944 merger with the Diocese of Minnesota.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota: An Inventory of Executive and Administrative Records	p1035c
Minutes, financial and property records, correspondence, and other records of the executive and administrative offices of the Episcopal Church Diocese of Minnesota.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota: An Inventory of Its Miscellaneous Diocesan Records	P1035e
Parish histories, papers of early Episcopal church leaders in Minnesota, marriage after divorce files, and other miscellaneous diocesan records. Includes digital content.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota: An Inventory of Its Parish Record Books	p1035f
Parish registers, minutes, account books and other financial records, photographs, some architectural drawings, microfilm, and other records, primarily of closed parishes but also of some active parishes in the Diocese of Minnesota. Some of the material is in Swedish.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota: An Inventory of the Archdeacon Frederick F. Kramer Files	p1035n
Correspondence, subject files, and other records documenting Kramer's service as Archdeacon in charge of Indian work and dean of the Cass Lake and Northwest deaneries in the Diocese of Minnesota.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota: An Inventory of the Bishop Stephen E. Keeler Files	p1035l
Personal papers and diocesan records created by Stephen E. Keeler during his service as bishop coadjutor and bishop of the Diocese of Minnesota.
Rebecca Wright Gillette: An Inventory of Her Black Lives Matter Protests Photographs	sv000243
Collection documents Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis: the Day of Resistance rally on December 13, 2014 in coordination with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and Million Artist Movement against police brutality and the justice system as well as the protest site at the Minneapolis Fourth Precinct in response to the police shooting of Jamar Clark in November 2015. Includes digital content.
Governor's Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Minnesotans: An Inventory of Its Records	gr00872
Files of Geraldine Sell, chair of the Governor's Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Minnesotans, which was appointed by Governor Rudy Perpich on March 30, 1990 to conduct hearings and gather information about violence and discrimination against Minnesota's lesbian and gay population. Includes digital content.
Willard Nelson Handsaker: An Inventory of His Albums and Slides	sv000239
Annual photograph albums created, written, and illustrated by a St. Paul man who worked as a bridge inspector that document his family, friends, vacations, Northern Pacific Railway job, work trips, local places and events, and major national and international news. Variously titled Handsaker’s photographic annual or Handsaker's annual of photography, the albums begin in 1932 and each cover the course of a year with special sections of "Fifty Years Ago" and "Forty Years Ago" starting in 1950. Notes on photographic equipment and printing processes are often included. Collection also contains a selection of slides, taken between approximately 1940 and 1969, that were used in the albums and contain similar views and events with annotations on the mounts. Includes digital content.
Health Department: An Inventory of Its Maternal and Child Health Advisory Task Force Records	gr01290
Annual reports, manuals, correspondence, meeting agenda packets, photographs, files concerning the Betty Hubbard Award, and other records of the task force.
Health Department: An Inventory of Its Published Records and Reports	hlthpub
Reports, newsletters, and miscellaneous print and near-print items of or about the department.
Highway Department: An Inventory of Its Published Records and Reports	gr01313
Reports, newsletters, and miscellaneous print and near-print items of or about the Highway Department.
Highway Department: Road Design Section: An Inventory of Its Subject Files	gr01314
Correspondence, maps, reports, newspaper articles, drawings, and articles of or about the Highway Department.
Itasca County: Cohasset: An Inventory of Its Birth and Death Records	gr01323
Birth (1903-1950) and death (1904-1908, 1913-1952) records.
Itasca County: Coleraine: An Inventory of Its Birth and Death Records	gr01324
Birth (1910-1948) and death (1910-1952) records and permits for burial or removal (1946-1949).
Itasca County: Deer River: An Inventory of Its Birth and Death Records	gr01325
Birth and death register (1906-1946) and birth and death certificate records (1941-1953).
Itasca County: Grand Rapids: An Inventory of Its Birth and Death Records	gr01326
Birth (1896-1946) and death (1896-1948) records of Grand Rapids township and village.
Legislature: An Inventory of Its Miscellaneous Records of the Legislature	gr00478
A variety of bills, notes, petitions, messages, and other documents created by or submitted to the legislature. Most are from the 1850s and 1860s, and many pertain to the first state legislature of 1858. They have not been correlated with bill files or other more structured records. Includes digital content.
Manuscript Biographies Collections: An Inventory of the Collection	P939
An assortment of manuscript items or groups of related items whose value is largely biographical. They include biographical and autobiographical sketches and notes, wedding and baptismal certificates, appointments, letters, brief reminiscences, school records, clippings, memorial statements, and other personal memorabilia.
Minnesota Volunteers: An Inventory of Cartes-de-Visite	sv000241
This collection contains copy photoprints made from cartes-de-visite of Minnesota Volunteers between 1861-1866 that were collected by Wayne Jorgenson. The collection depicts portraits of officers and soldiers in the following units: First Minnesota Infantry, Second Minnesota Infantry, Third Minnesota Infantry, Fourth Minnesota Infantry, Fifth Minnesota Infantry, Sixth Minnesota Infantry, Seventh Minnesota Infantry, Eighth Minnesota Infantry, Ninth Minnesota Infantry, Tenth Minnesota Infantry, Eleventh Minnesota Infantry, First Minnesota Heavy Artillery, Second Minnesota Light Artillery, Brackett's Battalion, Hatch's Independent Battalion, Minnesota Mounted Rangers, Second Minnesota Cavalry, and Second Company Minnesota Sharpshooters. In addition, there are portraits of non-Minnesota Volunteers who had ties to Minnesota as well as the wives of some Minnesota officers and soldiers. Includes digital content.
Sigurd F. Olson: An Inventory of His Papers	00316
Correspondence, graduate school papers, published and unpublished literary manuscripts, book drafts and publication proofs, film scripts, a bio-bibliography, maps, photographs, research notes, subject files, minutes, speeches and lecture material, schedules, newspaper and magazine clippings, reports, surveys, land use studies and proposals, newsletters, and other printed material related to the literary career and environmental advocacy of Sigurd F. Olson, one of Minnesota's leading outdoor writers and wilderness preservationists. Includes digital content.
Lauren Peck: An Inventory of Her Anti-Trump Protest Photographs and Moving Images	sv000242
Collection documents protests following the results of the 2016 presidential election with images of protesters with signs marching in Minneapolis from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs to Franklin Avenue then returning to the University of Minnesota campus or moving on to I-94 and footage of chants along the march and the cheering on of protesters closing down the I-94 highway. CNN may have live streamed some of the footage, but it is unclear what was used. Includes digital content.
Sheldon Preston: An Inventory of His Preston Implement Company Films	sv000240
Films are advertisements and demonstrations of agricultural equipment, including but not limited to Minneapolis-Moline tractors, Farmhand Company Beet Harvester, and Bobcats. Includes digital content.
Sauk Centre Home School for Girls: An Inventory of Its Annual, Biennial, and Quarterly Reports	gr01316
Annual, biennial, and quarterly reports, detailing the administration of the school.
Sauk Centre Home School for Girls: An Inventory of Its Published Records	gr01318
Reports and a survey dealing with the school's physical facilities, MHS Bulletin and The Sauk Times newsletters, informational pamphlet, a 1976 history, staff survey and self-evaluation, legislative budget request, National Register of Historic Places application, and juvenile sexual offender program evaluation.
Sauk Centre Home School for Girls: An Inventory of Its Subject Files	gr01317
Correspondence, reports, and related materials covering a wide range of topics related to the school.
St. Clements Episcopal Church (Saint Paul, Minn.): An Inventory of Their Records	00768
Records of a St. Paul Episcopal parish founded in 1893 as Emanuel Mission. A church, designed by Minnesota architect Cass Gilbert, was consecrated as St. Clement's Memorial Church in 1895.
St. Paul's On-The-Hill Episcopal Church: An Inventory of Its Records	00122
Church histories, publications, correspondence and miscellaneous papers, minutes of the vestry and congregation, financial records, photographs, audiocassettes, membership information, youth group records, and records of women's organizations of the third Protestant Episcopal church founded (1856) in Minnesota.
Statehood Centennial Commission: An Inventory of Its Audio-Visual Materials	mscc9
Three phonograph records, fifteen reel-to-reel tape recordings, and one filmstrip documenting the Centennial. Includes digital content.
Stillwater State Prison: An Inventory of Its Arrivals and Departures	gr00811
Monthly record (1882-1965, 1972-1980, 1997-1999) of the inmates who were received and released by the prison. Entries for inmates received usually list inmate's name and register (inmate) number, date, county where trial was held, crime, and sentence. Entries for inmates released usually list inmate name and register number, date, and method of release (parole, pardon, etc.).
Stillwater State Prison: An Inventory of Its Employee Pay Records	gr00424
Information may include employee name, job history, pay rate, days and hours worked, reasons for absence, employee signature, and board allowance.
Stillwater State Prison: An Inventory of Its Hospital and Clinic Records	gr00808
Record of inmates treated in the prison hospital or clinic. The hospital register (1905-1912) lists inmate's name, register (inmate) number and medical problem, and the treatment received. The clinic registers, log, and surgery record (1916-1924, 1942-1944, 1958-1964) list the inmate's name and register number, and give a short description of his problem and treatment. The operating room records (1929-1964, 1969) list inmate's name and register number, case number, surgeon and other attendants, type of anesthesia, diagnosis, complications, and surgical findings.
Stillwater State Prison: An Inventory of Its Miscellaneous Financial Records	gr00414
Records documenting a variety of financial transactions of the prison.
Stillwater State Prison: An Inventory of Its Photographs	gr01315
Black and white photographs mounted on linen and tied into two volumes, documenting the prison's construction (1910-1914) and numbered 1-151. The photograph albums cover all aspects of construction, both interior and exterior, and were taken by C.J. Hibbard & Co., commercial photographers from Minneapolis. Also includes black and white photographs of an unknown artist's rendering of an aerial view of the prison, grounds and interior shots, fires, and an open house.
George C. Tanner: An Inventory of His Papers	p1035i
The papers of George Clinton Tanner, registrar of the diocese (diocesan historian) from 1878 to 1920, consist largely of notes, manuscripts, and transcripts of materials relating to 19th century diocesan and parish history.
Transportation Department: An Inventory of Its Published Records and Reports	gr01312
Reports, newsletters, and miscellaneous print and near-print items of or about the Transportation Department. The records cover all aspects of the department's duties and activities, including road conditions and restrictions, planning, public transit, railroads, aviation, funding, speed monitoring, studies and reports of specific highway and railroad projects, environmental impacts, maintenance and repair, light rail, and trucking regulations.
Veterans Affairs Department: Hastings Veterans Home: An Inventory of Its Meeting Minutes	gr01322
Minutes of various committees and councils of the Hastings Veterans Home.

New and Updated Catalog Records

Department of Health. Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Advisory Committee meeting minutes, 2001-2011.

The Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Advisory Committee was established in 1998 by statute. It was created to assist the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, within the state Department of Health, with program planning, implementation, evaluation, and policy consultation for the Federal Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program.

Department of Health. State Trauma Advisory Council meeting minutes and agenda packets, 2005-2012.

The State Trauma Advisory Council was established by statute in 2005 to advise, consult with, and make recommendations to the Commissioner of Health on the development, maintenance, and improvement of a statewide trauma system.

Searle, Rod.

Topics discussed include the River Farm, early life, coming to Minnesota and entrance into politics, Omar Dahle, Minnesota politics in the 1960s and 1970s, opinions on Minnesota Governors, the Humphrey Institute, serving on the Minnesota State University Board, Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission, retirement, and family history.

South Saint Paul (Minn.). Miscellaneous records, 1887-1941, 1967, circa 1970.

Ordinance book, 1887-1927 (1 volume); bond record book, with index, 1889-1941 (1 volume); license register, primarily covering restaurants and liquor licenses, with index, 1889-1933 (1 volume); and Concord Street Urban Renewal project plan, circa 1970 (1 volume); Concord Street General Neighborhood Renewal Plan, March 1967 (1 volume).

St. Peter State Hospital patient recollections.

Recollections of a former patient at St. Peter State Hospital hospitalized January through March of 1952. Subjects discussed include the patient's mental health struggles in the early 1950s; triggering events; what led to being taken to St. Peter State Hospital; and recollections of the hospital, staff, and other patients. The recordings were made by the former patient, one on November 21, 2016 and two parts recorded on December 5, 2016 to retell his story after viewing his hospital file at the Minnesota Historical Society.

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