What's New -- May 2023

This month we completed processing and cataloging records of the  Land Stewardship Project, a Minnesota-based grassroots organization that works with farmers to promote an ethic of stewardship of the land (care of farmland, with a long-term view) and organizing for more sustainable farms and rural communities, especially in southern and western Minnesota.

Based largely on the principles of the new movement known as Regenerative Agriculture, the organization works to promote soil health and to keep rivers and watersheds free from farm waste. It advocates for the humane treatment of farm animals, works to help new farmers get started in the business, and advocates for the preservation of the Family Farm in the face of corporate agriculture and large- scale Factory Farms.

The collection sheds light on issues and problems facing traditional, small-scale farmers in an often-difficult economy, soil health, water pollution, the threat of urban sprawl, and farm and rural sustainability.

The records arrived at the Minnesota Historical Society warehouse in early 2022 in some 120 boxes, plastic tubs, and other containers of varying sizes. A team of Historical Society staff members re-boxed the files into standard archives boxes, which were then transported to the History Center, where a seasoned archivist spent the next several months processing them: re-foldering, separating duplicate and extraneous materials, organizing the file sets, and creating a catalog record. Original file folders were often retained, because they feature important information written on them by project staff.

The archivist then created an electronic inventory, a box-by-box folder listing with narrative description, which was then uploaded to the web and linked to an online catalog record.

As completed, the collection consists of 92 boxes of archival materials, and 20 boxes of unwanted items to be offered back to the donor. The original eight file groupings created by Land Stewardship Project staff were preserved.

We are excited to add these records to our manuscript holdings.  They add a new and important perspective to our existing farm-related collections, which already include records of agribusiness, cooperatives, grange lodges, diaries and personal papers of farmers and farm families, agriculture-related files in the papers of our United States senators, and various series in the Minnesota State Archives.

New and Updated Finding Aids - May 2023

Name/Abstract	File No.
Accountancy Board: An Inventory of Its Minutes	gr02480
The minutes record the names of applicants for the certified public accountant examination or re-examination and whether they passed or failed, financial statements, the board's recommendations on legislation, and its actions on cancellation and revocation of certificates, complaints made to the board, and revisions of rules and regulations. A copy of the law establishing the board is found at the beginning of the first volume.
Adjutant General: An Inventory of Its World War I Bonus Files and Index	gr00401
Index to and applications for military service bonus payments to Minnesota veterans of World War I. They include details on the applicant’s military service, proof of residence, proof of honorable discharge, and related data. Includes digital content.
Agricultural Society: An Inventory of Its Century Farm Applications	gr00094
Application forms for residents who wished to have their farms declared century farms, signifying that the farm had been in the same family for 100 or more years. This was begun as a joint project between the State Fair and the Farmer magazine; later the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation became the co-sponsor. Beginning in 2009, sesquicentennial (150 years) farms forms are included. Includes digital content.
Beltrami County: An Inventory of Its Community Health Services Records	gr00350
Administrative records, including policies, minutes, and agendas of the North Country Community Health Services governing and advisory boards and the public health nursing service board and staff. Includes digital content.
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Civil Case Files	gr02470
Files numbered 1-12,591.
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Criminal Case Files	gr02471
Files numbered A1-A84, and 1-1,246.
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Indexes to Case Files	gr02472
Plaintiffs and defendants indexes to District Court civil and criminal case files. Entries include case file number, parties to the case, type of action, date court term commenced, and citation to the register of action volume and page number indexed.
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Indictment Records	gr02473
Indictment record books (1885-1921, 1926-1989) containing names of parties (State of Minnesota is the plaintiff); transcription of the indictment, describing the alleged crime; and name of grand jury foreman and date. An incomplete index is included. Also an unindexed criminal indictment on information volume (1925-1926; Nos. 575-645).
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Land Title Records	gr02474
Land title registration dockets (1910-1981) and decree records (1911-1975). The volumes are indexed.
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Real Estate Tax Judgment Books	gr02475
Record of real estate found to be tax delinquent; includes names of owners, description of the property, year or years for which taxes are delinquent, total tax and penalty, costs, and total amount of judgment. The dates listed are for the years found delinquent; payments to settle the accounts often took years to complete.
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Register and Record of Coroner's Inquests	gr02476
Volumes A and B (1887-1955) include testimony, jury verdicts, and coroner's certificates; Volume E (1961-1968) contains scattered photographs, descriptions, and notes pertaining to suicides and murder cases. The volumes are indexed.
Carlton County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Registers of Actions	gr02477
Register of actions covering civil and criminal case file numbers 1-887 (1871-1898) and criminal case file numbers 168-1340 (1907-1949). The volumes are indexed.
Carlton County: Justice of the Peace: An Inventory of Its Records	gr02478
Civil and criminal docket books (1914-1970) and marriage records (1920, 1930-1964).
Carlton County: Probate Court: An Inventory of Its Records	gr02479
Probate register documenting actions taken in individual probate, guardianship, and insanity cases (1871-1900), final decrees of distribution containing data on decedents' estates and their distribution to heirs and/or legatees (1876-1982), and will records containing copies or transcriptions of the complete text of wills probated by the court (1880-1982).
Carver County: Watertown: An Inventory of Its Financial Records	gr02466
Village finance books (1905 1923), clerk's financial statements (1924 1925), and registers of receipts and disbursements (1923-1984).
Dakota County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Bond and Oath Records	gr02446
Bonds and oaths mainly for county officials.
Dakota County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Business Name Records	gr02448
Business name registers (2 volumes, undated but covering the period 1911-1978); and business name certificates numbers 1322-1706 (1974-1978). Each register entry includes owner's name, business name, and certificate number.
Dakota County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Civil and Criminal Case Files	gr02444
Files numbered 1-24969.
Dakota County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Registers of Actions	gr02445
Cover case numbers 586 through 39926.
Dakota County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Registration and Certificate Records	gr02447
Certification records covering physicians (1883-1974), dentists (1888-1939), optometrists (1901-[1976]), veterinarians (1927-1962), chiropractors (1919-1983), basic sciences (1927-1974), massage (1927), and osteopaths (1917-1955). Also physician suspension notices for 1940-1944.
Dakota County: Lilydale: An Inventory of Its Records	gr02449
City council meeting materials (1976-1979), financial records (1965-1988, incomplete), resolutions (1964-1972, incomplete), comprehensive plan (1980), and city newsletter (1992-2000).
Dakota County: Probate Court: An Inventory of Its Case Files Regarding the LeDuc Family	gr02450
Probate case files, eight estate and one guardianship, relating to various members of the William Gates LeDuc family.
Dakota County: Probate Court: An Inventory of Its Minutes	gr02451
A record of actions taken with regard to each case brought before each day's session of the court; and handwritten copies of various probate orders and judgments.
Dakota County: Probate Court: An Inventory of Its Will Books	gr02452
Copies or transcriptions of the complete texts of wills probated by the courts, accompanied by certifications of authenticity and of filing signed by witnesses and clerks of court. Original wills are found in the probate case files.
Environmental Quality Board: An Inventory of Its Regional Copper Nickel Study Files	gr02359
Reports, studies, correspondence, work plans, subject and background files, project files, and audio-visual materials relating to this major research and environmental assessment project administered by the board. Includes digital content.
Geographic Board: An Inventory of Its Records	gr02465
Administrative records of the board and files on the board-sponsored Minnesota gazetteer project of the Work Projects Administration.
Governor's Loaned Executives Action Program: An Inventory of Its Subject Files of Douglas J. Dayton	gr02463
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and related materials regarding the administration and coordination of the program's activities, publicizing them within and without state government, and recruiting executives from various business firms to serve on program task forces. The files are those of Douglas J. Dayton, LEAP chairman.
Humanities Commission: An Inventory of Its Annual and Biennial Reports	gr02443
Includes a five-year report for 1972-1976.
Humanities Commission: An Inventory of Its Correspondence	gr02442
Letters sent and received by the executive director and various program officers, largely concerning proposals for grant funded projects.
Humanities Commission: An Inventory of Its Grant Files	gr02439
Applications for grant funding, accompanied by related correspondence, financial reports, project reports, and miscellaneous materials concerning grant projects. These files are for approved grants only.
Humanities Commission: An Inventory of Its Grant Information	gr02440
Grant application guidelines, project directors' manuals, grant logs and summaries, some preliminary applications and grants correspondence (1973-1979), grant evaluations and analyses, and National Endowment for the Humanities proposals and reports (1978-1979, 1985-1987).
Humanities Commission: An Inventory of Its Grant Reports	gr02441
Final reports, summaries, and miscellaneous productions that resulted from completed grant projects; apparently never filed with the main set of grant files.
Ruth Juhl: An Inventory of Her Ruth Juhl and Family Collection of Missionary Documents	01499
Thirty-four letters and other documents related to Minnesota Presbyterian missionaries, Dakota bands and communities, and to the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, spanning a pivotal period of time in Dakota and American relations. Most of the material consists of correspondence between Robert Hopkins and Gideon Pond. There are also letters to associates, many of whom were important figures in early Minnesota, and letters to family members. Several census-style lists (1846) contain names of members of Dakota Indian bands in the Minnesota and Mississippi river valleys of Southeastern Minnesota.
Land Stewardship Project: An Inventory of Its Organizational Records	01468
Records of a nonprofit Minnesota-based farm and rural membership organization founded in 1982 that worked with farmers and other rural people with the mission of fostering an ethic of stewardship of farmland and organizing for a more sustainable agriculture and for sustainable communities, focusing especially on soil health, water quality, and healty rural communities. An educational and public policy advocacy organization, it was most active in southern Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Legislature: An Inventory of Its Published Records and Reports (Miscellaneous)	gr02464
Assorted printed, near-print, and photocopied reports and other documents generated by the legislature and its various committees and subcommittees, or produced by other entities for submission to the legislature.
Legislature: An Inventory of Its Reports of Interim and Special Committees and Commissions	gr02484
Primarily reports of short-term interim and/or special-purpose committees and commissions. Also included are some other records of these bodies, and some recurring reports of committees or commissions whose lives extended over several session interims. The reports are printed unless otherwise noted.
Legislature: An Inventory of Its Voyageurs National Park Files	gr02485
Files on the establishment and early operations of Voyageurs National Park in northeastern Minnesota. They include general correspondence; subject files on various development and usage issues; a fact book (1971); files on state house and senate committee hearings (1971); and general and meeting files, including minutes, of the Citizens Committee on Voyageurs National Park.
Legislature: House of Representatives: An Inventory of Its House Journals (Printed)	gr02481
Published record of proceedings of each day's meeting of the House.
Legislature: House of Representatives: House Research Department: An Inventory of Its Research Reports	gr02483
Reports prepared by legislative analysts on topics of substantial interest to legislators. Topics substantially represented in the reports include education, labor/management relations, local and urban affairs, the environment, land use, taxation, and public welfare.
Legislature: Senate: An Inventory of Its Senate Journals (Printed)	gr02482
Published record of proceedings of each day's meeting of the Senate.
Mille Lacs County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Business Name Records	gr02458
Index to business names (1911-1978, 1 volume) and loose business name certificates (1911-1978).
Mille Lacs County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Civil Case Files	gr02455
Files numbered A1-A690, B194-B1171, and 1172-6699. Files for the 1860s may include a few criminal cases.
Mille Lacs County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Coroner's Records	gr02456
Registers of inquests (1887-1984) and inquest files (1878-1984).
Mille Lacs County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Criminal Case Files	gr02457
File nos. 1A-42A and 1-903.
Mille Lacs County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Judgment Records	gr02468
Judgment records of the Mille Lacs County District Court.
Mille Lacs County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Real Estate Tax Judgment Books	gr02467
Real estate tax judgment books of the Mille Lacs County District Court.
Mille Lacs County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Registration and Certificate Records	gr02469
Records or registers for chiropractors, dentists, masseurs, ministers, physicians, veterinarians, optometrists, and basic science certificates.
Mille Lacs County: Juvenile Court: An Inventory of Its Records	gr02459
Court register (1919-1948) and record (1919-1949) and minute books (1959-1985).
Mille Lacs County: Page Township: An Inventory of Its Records	gr02453
Clerk's books (1901-1978); treasurer's books (1901-1980) and annual statements (1919-1983, incomplete); road records (1903-1935), including survey plat and reports; tax records (1901, 1912); audit board reports (1902-1903); annual town meeting minutes (1901-1903); election records (1902-1903, 1956-1986); real property assessment roll (1910); and miscellaneous records, including the purchase of a district school house to be used as the town hall (1966).
Mille Lacs County: Princeton Township: An Inventory of Its Birth and Death Records	gr02454
Birth (1887-1942) and death (1887-1941) records. Also includes death certificate for Winent Myer Radeke (1915).
Mille Lacs County: Probate Court: An Inventory of Its Insanity Records	gr02460
Petitions in insanity, reports of jury or board of examiners, and related orders and commitment documents.
Mille Lacs County: Probate Court: An Inventory of Its Will Books	gr02461
Copies or transcriptions of the complete texts of wills probated by the courts, accompanied by certifications of authenticity and of filing signed by witnesses and clerks of court. Original wills are found in the probate case files.
Minnesota Queer Student Conference: An Inventory of Its Records	P2393
Audio-taped proceedings and other records of the Minnesota Queer Student Conference, held on the campus of the University of Minnesota in May of 1994. Includes digital content.
Nicollet County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Judgment Books	gr02462
Judgment books of the Nicollet County District Court.
Physical Therapy Board: An Inventory of Its Records	gr02053
Administrative rules proceedings files and continuing competency task force minutes. Includes digital content.
Ramsey County: Welfare Department: An Inventory of Its Miscellaneous Records	gr00857
Scrapbooks (1929-1968); burial certificate stubs (1940-1966); Ramsey County Alms House inmate registers (1913-1944; with some admission information back to 1883) and burial records (1895-1923); and Ramsey County Home/Nursing Home records (1920s-2008). Includes digital content.
Joel Sisson: An Inventory of His Green Chair Project Records	01498
Manuals, press clippings, brochures and flyers, photographs, audiocassettes, and videocassettes relating to a Minneapolis-based nonprofit community project, founded by artist Joel Sisson and others, that worked with inner-city youth in the Twin Cities to construct and sell green Adirondack chairs. Project organizers sought to give young people a positive experience, centered in the arts, and to teach them manufacturing and entrepreneurial skills. Includes digital content.
Paul S. Swensson: An Inventory of His Papers	00042
Personal and business papers of a newspaperman who was managing editor of the Minneapolis Tribune (1950-1955) and Minneapolis Star (1956-1961) newspapers, a member of the Hopkins, Minnesota school board, and later executive director of the Wall Street Journal's Newspaper Fund and a journalism professor at Temple and Columbia universities. Includes digital content.
Trade and Economic Development Department: An Inventory of Its Star City Program Files	gr02070
Individual application files and administrative files of this program established to help Minnesota communities with a population between 1,500 and 20,000 develop their organizational, marketing and problem solving abilities through a rigorous course in economic development. Includes digital content.
University Club of Saint Paul: An Inventory of Its Records	01511
Minutes (1911-1985), correspondence (1904-1983), financial records (1911-1985), membership and subject files, F. Scott Fitzgerald Follies production files, and photographs (1973-1983) documenting a men's social club.
War Records Commission: An Inventory of Its World War I Military Service Records	gr00980
Four-page questionnaires, filled out by Minnesota veterans of World War I with biographical data and details of their military service. They occasionally are accompanied by photographs, war letters, or other related material. They are supplemented by similar records for nurses and for Hennepin County personnel of service organizations. Includes digital content.

New and Updated Catalog Records