What's New

Hubert H. Humphrey Digitization Project

This is the fourteenth and final installment of our NHPRC funded project to digitize Hubert H. Humphrey's speeches and marks the debut of the sound recordings finding aid which features over 100 digitized sound files in addition to a chronological list of speeches on reels, cassettes, and discs. We used the grant to develop in-house practices and sustainable procedures for audio reformatting, preservation, description, and access to these recordings.

Listen to a selection of Humphrey's speeches here, and compare them with the written speeches - he often strayed from the planned text. His powerful words are embodied in his 1964 acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination (audio/text) at the Democratic National Convention. On other occasions, they provided inspiration to champion civil rights (audio/text), they injected humor during a politically fraught time (audio/text), and they served as a reminder of our own mortality during one of his final speeches, an address to the National Cancer Society (audio/text). The speeches digitized from this collection highlight Humphrey's contributions to and passion for U.S. and Minnesota politics, they provide a soundtrack for a turbulent time in our history, and ultimately allow his voice to reverberate through the ages.

This final installment also marks the completion of our project. The time can be measured with some impressive statistics: 90,122 pages of text equaling 4,173 files; 81 speeches totalling over 35 hours of audio. The extensive content and ease of access make this project a success and we are pleased to share the digitized content with users everywhere.

The amount of content digitized is significant in its own right, but we were able to provide context for the material. The finding aids for the speech text files and for the sound recordings are arranged chronologically and at the item level, which, when known, provides the name of the speech, location, and date. This information allows users to make comparisons between the text and the audio to get a sense of where Humphrey spoke on a certain day and what message he relayed. Additionally, each finding aid fills in gaps for the other, so users can check both if searching for a specific speech.

Our work on this project helped us establish parameters for digitizing materials, and assisted us in creating new workflows for digitizing sound materials. Going forward, we can use this knowledge to give other collections the same treatment and further increase access to these materials.

This project was awarded the support of a $46,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) administered by the National Archives.

Learn more about how the NHPRC helps preserve records of enduring national historical value and promotes their public access and interpretation through archival and documentary programs.

Learn more about the Humphrey digitization project and our progress in our second interim interim report to the NHPRC.

New and Updated Finding Aids - September 2013

Name/Abstract	File No.
Pat Benincasa: An Inventory of Her Falling Water Skylight Papers	01112
Drawings, photographs, notes, and other material relating to St. Paul artist Pat Benincasa's Falling Water Skylight, the winning entry in the 1989 Percent for Art Minnesota Judicial Center Skylight competition.
Clay County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Civil and Criminal Case Files and Index	gr00762
Civil and criminal case files, interfiled as a single integrated set. The location of the 1919-1950 files is unknown.
Commerce Department: Banking Division: An Inventory of Its Registers of Claims and Dividends for Closed and Liquidated Banks and Trust Companies	gr00761
Registers documenting scheduled payments to the depositors and creditors of liquidated banks and trust companies, as authorized and established through the liquidation proceedings.
Howard Conn: An Inventory of His Papers	01107
Sermons, writings and addresses, booklets from annual fall lectures on theologians and religious movements, appreciation booklets, and a photograph of Howard J. Conn, D.D., longtime senior minister at Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis.
Martin D. Gensler: An Inventory of His Papers	01111
Biographical information, some photographs, and files of an aide to United States Senator Paul D. Wellstone, relating especially to the issue of compensation for atomic veterans, military veterans who had been subjected by the United States government to human radiation experiments for purposes of gathering information on the retention and absorption of radioactive material by the human body, as well as military service personnel who were stationed in Japan or who were prisoners of war there. Included also are some newspaper clippings about Wellstone, his political activities, and his work as a senator.
Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities: An Inventory of Its Published Records and Reports	gr00758
Publications either created or collected by the Council pertaining to all aspects of its duties and responsibilities. Included are incomplete runs of the Council's News Letter, News Briefs, and Futurity; annual, quarterly, and program performance reports; annual work plans; monthly activity reports; three-year and five-year state plans; the Council's May 1976 philosophy and mission statement; and a variety of related manuals, instructor's guides, guidelines, analysis, and reports. The latter cover such diverse topics as facilitated communication, medical assistance, legislation, positive learning, school integration, Welsch v Noot, state hospitals, community involvement, early intervention, the state schools for the blind and deaf, quality indicators, individual plans, education and training opportunities, and technology.
Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities: An Inventory of Its Chronological File	gr00757
Incoming and outgoing letters and memoranda, regarding all aspects of the daily administration of the Council, including the activities of its directors, assistant directors, planners, grant administrators, and various office staff. Also present in the files are work plans, program materials, reports, and other related documentation.
Governor: Ventura, Jesse: An Inventory of His Correspondence Files	vent08
Governor Ventura's correspondence with state officials and legislators, other governors, federal officials and congressional members, foreign governments and consuls, and the general public; and memoranda of the Governor's staff.
Governor: Ventura, Jesse: An Inventory of His Daily Schedules	vent05
Listing of the Governor's meetings, appearances, conferences, and other events on an hour by hour basis (1999-2002).
Governor: Ventura, Jesse: An Inventory of His Speeches	vent07
Texts of the Governor’s speeches, talking points, testimony transcripts, and statements.
Governor: Ventura, Jesse: An Inventory of Its Communications Office Records	gr00765
Mainly materials collected by the office to document the Governor and Lieutenant Governor's public personas, through articles written about them; interviews and speeches given by them; and appearances at promotional and ceremonial events. Items featuring the First Lady, Terry Ventura, the Governor's Chief of Staff, Steven Bosacker, and assorted other staff members are also present. Includes digital content.
Hubert H. Humphrey: An Inventory of His Sound Recordings	01098
Sound reels, discs, and cassettes of numerous speeches, remarks, addresses, and appearances by Hubert Humphrey. Some recordings made by other politicians and family are also included. Includes digital content.
Kandiyohi County: An Inventory of Its Marriage, Death, and Birth Records	gr00763
Marriage, death, and birth records for Kandiyohi County, including marriage records from Monongalia County, which merged with Kandiyohi in 1870.
Karen Community Oral History Project: An Inventory of Its Oral History Interviews	oh138
The Karen are an ethnic minority group in Burma and Thailand. In southern Burma, in Kawthoolei state, the Karen have been involved in a struggle for independence since the end of World War II. The Karen villages continue to suffer frequent attacks and persecution from Burma's ruling military junta. Many Karen fled to safety across the eastern border into Thailand. Since 2000, Karen have been arriving in Minnesota. At the time of these interviews over six thousand Karen live in Minnesota. Interviewed by David Zander.
Lyon County: Auditor: An Inventory of Its Tax Lists	gr00760
Incomplete set of tax lists for the years 1873-1898, 1941, 1950-1951, 1960-1961, and 1970.
Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission: An Inventory of Its Audio-Visual Materials	gr00259
Mainly copies of photographs collected by the Metropolitan Airports Commission [MAC] from the private collections of Vince Doyle, Bill Ellis, and Noel Allard, and from the Minnesota Historical Society. They are divided into four series: individuals; events and airport scenes; aircraft; and aerial views.
Hjalmar Petersen: An Inventory of His Papers	p1059
Correspondence, campaign literature, reports, printed items, clippings, and scrapbooks documenting Petersen's career as city clerk (1918-1924) and mayor (1928) of Askov, Pine County (Minnesota); editor of the Askov American (1914-1968); Minnesota state legislator (1931, 1933), lieutenant governor (1935-1936), and governor (1936); and state railroad and warehouse commissioner (1937-1942, 1954-1967). Included are materials from his legislative, unsuccessful gubernatorial (1938, 1940, 1942, 1946), and U.S. senatorial (1958) campaigns on Farmer-Labor and Democratic-Farmer-Labor party tickets.
Public Safety Department. Office of Drug Policy and Violence Protection: An Inventory of Its Make the Peace Campaign Records	gr00766
The records document all aspects of the program, particularly the association between the government agencies and Lynch Jarvis Jones and the products produced by the latter. Included are sound and videocassettes of television and radio promotions and shows, advertising scripts, and posters used during the various campaigns, including a series of WB23 [KMWB-TV] segments and appearances by the program's community outreach director Cordelia Anderson; a capture of the program's website; and correspondence, marketing plans, reports, and survey materials. Includes digital content.
John B. Sanborn: An Inventory of His Papers	P1981
Register of litigations, official military correspondence and reports, miscellaneous personal correspondence, reminiscences, a personal memorandum and cash book, and certificates of appointment providing insight into the career of an army officer, lawyer, and state legislator from Minnesota.
Robert Ormsby Sweeny: An Inventory of His Papers	01110
Manuscripts on historical topics, letters, newspaper clippings, and other papers of a Saint Paul pharmacist, naturalist, and artist noted for his pencil drawings of early Saint Paul, of Native Americans, and of scenes throughout Minnesota.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Abstracts of Sales	slo002
Abstracts of sales of the various categories of trust fund lands by the state of Minnesota to private parties.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Approved Lists	slo005
Approved lists for various categories of state trust fund lands selected by the state of Minnesota from the federal domain for specified public purposes under a number of Congressional grants.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Approved Lists for Congressional Railroad Land Grants	slo004
Lists of lands approved by the U.S. General Land Office for transfer to those railroad companies that had received grants of land from Congress to aid in construction of their lines.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Patent Records for State Trust Fund Lands	slo011
The State Land Office's copies of the patents that constituted the original conveyance of title from the state of Minnesota to the purchasers of state trust fund lands.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Railroad Deed and Patent Records	slo009
Copies of patents transferring title to railroad grant lands from the federal government to the state of Minnesota; and copies of deeds issued by the state of Minnesota to railroad corporations for grant lands and rights of way.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Record of Sales of State Trust Fund Lands	slo015
Summary records of the sale of trust fund lands by the state of Minnesota to private parties.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Special Certificate Record	slo017
Special certificates (Nos. 1-889) issued to new purchasers of forfeited state land that had originally been sold as school, swamp, internal improvement, or other trust fund land.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its State Subdivisions Plats:	slo016
Plat book containing drawings of school, salt spring, and internal improvement lands that were subdivided and sold in parcels of less than 40 acres; supplemented by files of maps, field notes, and a few letters regarding the resurvey or platting of various parcels of state land.
State Land Office: An Inventory of Its Swamp Land Records	slo019
Records documenting Minnesota's acquisition, management, and disposition of swamp lands.
Veterans Affairs Department: An Inventory of Its Casualties Buried Outside Minnesota	gr00746
Reports of burials of Minnesota soldiers who died in the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II, and were buried outside Minnesota. Each report may list name of veteran, war and units served in, date and place of induction, date and place of birth, date and cause of death, address at time of death, attending physician, funeral director, name and address of next of kin, place of burial. The information on many of the forms is incomplete. These reports are also not comprehensive.
Wilkin County: District Court: An Inventory of Its Civil and Criminal Case Files	gr00764
Civil case files (1883-1950) and criminal case files (1917-1955). The civil case files prior to 1917 may include criminal cases. Also one 1922 civil case file transcript.

New and Updated Catalog Records

Berry, Amos Osmon. Civil War diary.

Diary covering Berry's service in the First Minnesota Regiment from May 23, 1861 to July 3, 1863. Includes a typed transcript (1958).

Sargent, Van Buren Whipple. Civil War memoir.

Photocopy of a handwritten memoir of Van Buren Whipple Sargent recounting his service in Company F, 27th Iowa Volunteer Regiment (1862-1865). Accompanied by a file of biographical data compiled in 2013.

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