Fun Fact: The State Archives team can’t get enough fun facts! In celebration of American Archives Month, our staff is sharing interesting and unique stories they have learned about North Dakota. Read on for part two of our favorite fun facts about the state! (View part one here.)

Sarah Walker, Head of Reference Services

Did you know that Laura Eisenhuth was the first woman in the United States elected to a statewide office? Eisenhuth, who was living in Foster County at the time, was elected state superintendent of public instruction in 1892. She had been first nominated to run for this office in 1890 but was initially unsuccessful. Eisenhuth served a single term, which lasted through 1894. She was then succeeded by another woman, Emma F. Bates. 

All of this is extraordinary to me, especially since North Dakota continued to struggle with the idea of woman suffrage for many years. The topic recurred in much early legislation in both Dakota Territory and the state of North Dakota, including at the Constitutional Convention. North Dakota women did gain more agency in their lives and were able to vote for president just prior to the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women across the country the right to vote. How interesting that these early women were still eligible to hold these offices and helped others break through the glass ceiling!

Laura J. Eisenhuth, superintendent of public instruction, circa 1894. SHSND SA A1591-00001

Greta Beck, Audiovisual Archivist

I have always heard stories from my grandparents who farmed near Sawyer that Black Butte used to be home to a ski lift and jump. Black Butte rises from the prairie at 1,716 feet and overlooks the Mouse/Souris River Valley, dominating the landscape for miles. With the help of the State Archives newspaper collections, I was able to find articles confirming that Black Butte was used as a ski hill in the 1930s. Prior to becoming a ski hill, Black Butte was used as a meeting and camping place for Dakota and Métis bison hunters.

Emily Kubischta, Manuscript Archivist

In the early 1930s, teacher Gertrude Evart’s history class at Bismarck High School created a model of the four blocks from First Street to Fifth Street on Main Avenue, as they appeared in Edwinton, Dakota Territory, in 1873. Each student handmade one or more of the street features, which included businesses, Camp Hancock, people, fences, flagpoles, a railroad depot, train, sidewalks, signs, a stagecoach, houses, chimneys, windows, wagons, Red River carts, barber poles, and an eagle. Even soldiers were molded and painted for the display. Unfortunately, the model was destroyed while moving it into the newly constructed Bismarck High School in 1935. However, a typed layout of the businesses and list detailing which students created which aspects survives in the George F. Bird Papers (MSS 10216). Both documents tell us a lot about Bismarck’s Main Avenue in the early days.

Edwinton’s Main Avenue, 1873. This photograph shows some of the buildings likely depicted in a model of the street made by Bismarck High School students in the 1930s. SHSND SA C0529-00004

Did you know? The North Dakota State Archives staff are full of fun facts about this state’s history. That’s because we work so closely with collections, books, newspaper articles, and other documentation related to the state. When we discover something bizarre, interesting, humorous, or unique, we have the tools to dig deeper, and we love to share our findings. More proof that it’s a lot of fun to work at the State Archives!

Read on for the first installment of our staff’s favorite fun facts about North Dakota.

Ashley Thronson, Reference Specialist

While I have learned many things about the history of North Dakota since I started working for the State Archives, one of the most memorable tidbits was reading about a memorial adopted by the territorial Legislature in 1879 related to the division of Dakota Territory. A delegation traveled to Washington, D.C., where territorial Rep. John Q. Burbank of Jamestown petitioned Congress with a proposal to divide Dakota Territory along an east-west line. Compared to the current north-south division that created the two states of North Dakota and South Dakota, an east-west split would certainly have been different! This fact also got me thinking of how the territorial divisions impacted and influenced cities and communities. What would Bismarck, Fargo, and other North Dakota towns have looked like in an East Dakota or West Dakota?

Map of Dakota Territory by district, 1884. SHSND SA 978.402 R186m 1884

Matt Ely, Photo Archivist

My favorite North Dakota fun fact is that the Ward County Courthouse fielded men’s and women’s basketball teams in 1909-1910. The formation of the teams was announced on Nov. 18, 1909, in the Minot Daily Optic. The State Archives collections include a picture postcard of the men’s team. Although I have been unable to find the team’s schedule yet, a note on the back of the postcard states that they had a record of five wins and zero losses going into their final game against Minot High School. In the future, I hope to find the result of their final game as well as any information I can on the women’s team.

The men’s basketball team from Minot was commonly referred to as the Court House basketball team, as evidenced in this image, circa 1909. SHSND SA 2006-P-012-00015

Lindsay Meidinger, Head of Archival Collections and Information Management

In 1911, a standpipe and tank were built on the North Dakota Capitol grounds in Bismarck. This water tower was witness to historical moments during the formative years of the state, including the 1930 Capitol fire. Recently, the State Archives received a donation of a photograph of the new capitol building. In the background of the image, the same water tower is visible. Utilizing the State Archives’ online resource, Advantage Archives, we learned that the water tower was “unriveted and taken down” in 1957. Not only was the date it was disassembled discovered, but we also found out that the water tower was sent to Hannaford for its first municipal water system. And it still stands there today!

The water tower looks on as the original North Dakota Capitol burns, December 28, 1930. SHSND SA A3522-00001

Jayne and Sally Strawsine on the North Dakota Capitol grounds in 1948. Notice the water tower to the right of the Capitol building. SHSND SA 11567-00004

These days you’ll find the original state Capitol water tower in Hannaford.

October is American Archives month. To celebrate, we are sharing all things related to the State Archives! Our staff works very closely with our collections, which allows us to gain unique insights into these documents and materials. In this post, we highlight some of our favorite resources that we think have great value for personal history and should be utilized more by the public for genealogical research. Check out the list below, and if you have any questions along the way or are interested in accessing these treasures, don’t hesitate to reach out to our reference staff at archives@nd.gov or 701.328.2091.

Emily Kubischta, Manuscript Archivist

Yeehaw! In 1957, the 50 Years in the Saddle Club was organized in New Town by 22 cattlemen who had been ranching and working with cattle for at least 50 years. The group aimed to keep memories and tradition alive by annually gathering to reminisce, and their efforts resulted in the four-volume series “50 Years in the Saddle: Looking Back Down the Trail,” as well as a variety of biographies and stories of ranchers and other residents of western North Dakota. Although the biographies vary in terms of length and content, they are wonderful resources for genealogists and western enthusiasts alike. There is bound to be a person or topic of interest to anyone researching the Old West in North Dakota in the 50 Years in the Saddle Club Collection (MSS 11366).

Daniel Sauerwein, Reference Specialist

A great genealogy resource in the State Archives is our collection of yearbooks from various schools, colleges, and universities across North Dakota. While they require a little more background knowledge of your ancestors, such as knowing what school they attended, yearbooks are an exciting way to uncover photographs of ancestors from their younger days and learn what they did in school. Whether your ancestor was a star athlete or outstanding scholar, yearbooks also show familial and community ties, since by glancing at surnames you can trace your family’s trajectory through the years. We are always looking for more yearbooks to grow this resource so please consider donating your yearbooks to help preserve this history.

A selection of Bismarck High School yearbooks in the State Archives.

Ashley Thronson, Reference Specialist

A lesser-used resource at the State Archives for genealogy research is the local government collections. County court case files, including probate, civil, and criminal case files, property assessment records, and some township records are found in these collections. These records can be a little difficult to use as they are not digitized, the records are not all in one place, and the records we have for each county may vary. If you are interested in seeing what local government records we might have on your ancestor, check out the local government records pages on our website.

Virginia Bjorness, Head of Technical Services

The State Archives has nearly 1,400 family history books, many containing a treasure trove of research, stories, and pictures! Written and published by current and former North Dakotans (or relatives with ties to the state), these works can be an unexpected gem for genealogists. Some also contain valuable information about the settlement and development of places across North Dakota. Search for your family’s name here.

Lindsay Meidinger, Head of Archival Collections and Information Management

Although probably a bit of an unconventional genealogical resource, the North Dakota news film collections offer a unique glimpse at the past through a visual of the people, places, and activities that our relatives encountered during their lives. Covering nearly every corner of North Dakota and spanning the 1950s to the 2000s, the news film collections contain raw segments, complete stories, and a plethora of sports clips and games. I personally was able to find out more about my own genealogy through the WDAY-TV collection. One day while digitizing some film, I stumbled upon a segment titled “Postman Arrested and Taken to Banquet in His Honor.” My dad once told me about my great-grandfather, Thomas Cullen, who was a mailman in Fargo for 39 years and never once involved in an accident. Sure enough, the news film segment I had just digitized was footage of my great-grandfather! Through this archival news film, I learned that Fargo city officials and police officers decided to surprise him by “arresting” him and taking him to a party honoring his astounding driving record and service to the city.

Postman Thomas Cullen is "arrested" for his exemplary driving record. SHSND SA 10351-2146-00005

Sarah Walker, Head of Reference Services

We have a multitude of collections that provide solid genealogical documentation. However, our oral history collections are some of my favorite sources to use for family history research. Sometimes these oral history interviews are more focused on history than family history, and sometimes they are essentially biographies of the person or people being interviewed. No matter the focus, both history and personal history intertwine and shine through. Even if your family did not contribute an oral history themselves, their contemporaries may have. For example, I discovered in our collections an oral history of the wife of a doctor who took care of my mother’s family when she was young. That was a cool find!

Box of cassettes from the Bicentennial Oral History Collection (MSS 10157).

Almost everyone I know who collects board games toys with the idea of creating their own. I have been playing around with the mechanics of games since I was a kid. Much to the annoyance of my family, I was constantly changing the rules or using the game pieces to create my own game. Even though my family couldn’t understand it, I was experimenting to improve games we often played. Could I make the games more fun? Or even make my own game? Fast forward to today, and I own over 100 board games (or nearly 200 depending on how you count). So when an opportunity came up to design my own game, I had to take it.

The opening occurred during a meeting with our Education and Engagement Manager Laura Forde and Anna Killian, then-site supervisor for the Chateau de Morès State Historic Site. At the time, we were planning a teacher workshop at the Chateau focusing on the 1880s cattle boom. The first thing that came to mind was a premise for a game. I shared it with the group—initially pitching it as a cattle roundup activity—and it made the list. Now I just needed to design the game.

The concept was simple. Make a game based on the children’s card-matching game Memory where you hunt for the cattle that match your brand in a herd. That basic idea was a good start, but I needed to flesh it out a bit more. I thought about what other concepts I would want to convey to my students besides what is a roundup. My list came out as follows:

• Law and order
• Rustling
• The economics of cattle
• Math

As I started thinking about the game mechanics needed to capture these ideas, the biggest challenge appeared to be having too many ideas. I had several ways that I could handle rustling, but which would be best? Playtesting would be needed to answer that question. So I took a couple of days to draft some rules. Writing these rules was the most challenging part, as I had to devise a way to put them on paper so that non-gamers could easily understand them. Once my rules were drafted, the next step was to build a prototype.

There is a surprising amount of math that goes into designing a game. I needed to figure out how many cards to make. It was like solving a dreaded story problem in a math textbook. If the game consists of three rounds, and during each round the players must find four cows to sell, how many cows must each initial herd contain? The answer was 16. To work in the economics of raising cattle, I wanted to find a way to represent the fact that you want to sell cattle in their prime. Players would need to sell the cattle at the right time to get top dollar. If they sell too early or too late the cow would be worth less money. For the game, I represented a year as a round of play. Each round, the players try and find the four best cows to sell. I also had to figure out the different dollar amounts for each cow card and ensure the spread was even among the three rounds. I also worked in a turn counter so that if the players took too many turns trying to find their cattle they would incur a penalty. Now they have an economic choice to either pay the penalty or sell a subprime cow. Once I knew the number of cards needed, I used Photoshop to make quick designs. I spent the next two days cutting out the cards and sliding them into plastic sleeves, placing a playing card between the front and back card to provide stability. Once assembled, I had six full-sized herds and two sets of rules to test.

A pile of cards waits to be cut out and sleeved. Also visible are the Post-It notes used to figure out my card numbers.

Unfortunately, I spaced the cards too close together to feel comfortable using a paper cutter. As a result, I had to cut out all the cards by hand.

My original plan was to have our certified interpretive gallery guide, Tom Chase, test the game with visitors to the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum. I taught him and another interpretive gallery guide, Kristi Carpenter, how to play one afternoon. Though they never had time to try it with guests, playing with them taught me a few things. For example, six players would be too many. Running out of time, I recruited my wife’s family (my usual game group) to spend an afternoon playing the game several times so that I could test the rules. We had a lot of fun, and I got the answers that I needed to my rules-related questions.

Family members Brian and Roxanne Rosin helped me playtest the game and gave valuable insights, such as to make sure the playing cards all had the same backside next time. That design flaw may have given them an unfair advantage during the initial testing phase.

Equipped with my final designs, I had the cards printed just in time for our workshop in Medora. Watching the teachers play the game was fun. Many responded that they enjoyed the game and thought their students would also love it. Being teachers, they quickly picked up on the historical themes. I even had one teacher say that they would love to use it for their economics class. Based on feedback, I will make a few simple changes before sending them the design files and final rules so they can make their own copies of the game.

Teachers play the game as part of our North Dakota Studies teacher workshop at the Chateau de Morès State Historic Site.

This game was only one of many lessons and activities workshop attendees experienced and were able to bring back to their class.

So now that the game exists, what is next? Well, there is some interest in the State Historical Society of North Dakota turning this game into a sellable product. It is currently going through the editors, who are waiting for me to review their suggestions and questions while I write this blog post. We will also work with our new media specialists to improve my Photoshop work. Maybe one day you will be able to buy a copy for yourself. As for me, as much fun as this process has been, I think I will put my budding game design career on hold for the foreseeable future and spend a bit more time playing games with my family.

My wife, Kate, gets some help from our daughter, Auri.

My son, Calvin, checks to see whether a cow matches our brand.

Colby Aderhold, Photo Archives Intern

I am a senior at the University of Mary studying history, philosophy, and classics. This summer I had the privilege of working as an intern at the State Archives. My project was to inventory and organize the Reverend Harold W. Case Photograph Collection at the container level. In total, I inventoried and organized 215 boxes and 17,312 individual items. The collection contains a variety of photographs, including safety negatives, nitrate negatives, tintypes, slides, film, glass, and prints of various sizes. Each item requires different conditions for storage. A part of my job was to make sure these individual requirements were met for each photograph. Negatives were paper sleeved and placed on a shelf; tintypes were put in paper sleeves and given their own boxes. Glass was assessed for damages and scanned, then stored in special boxes on the lowest shelf to avoid accidental shattering. Slides, prints, and film were placed in paper sleeves, and every item, irrespective of type, was given a unique item number.

Throughout the project I was amazed by the Rev. Case’s skill as a photographer! Case, a New Yorker who arrived in Elbowoods in 1922 to serve the Fort Berthold Mission, would work there until much of the area was flooded by the construction of the Garrison Dam. His pictures really captured life around the mission and serve as a time machine for the interested researcher. Below is my personal favorite, which shows a massive crowd gathered to witness the 1934 dedication of the Four Bears Bridge. The image makes the viewer feel as though they are a part of the gathering.

SHSND SA 00041-05211

This internship has taught me the value of organization and the proper methods of archival research. Mistakes were sometimes my greatest teacher. If I left my desk untidy or my cart full of photographs it would result in more difficult and slow work the next day. If I procrastinated due to the difficulty of a specific task, it would only make this already challenging task even harder. I quickly learned to clean up every day before I left the office and to never leave a task halfway done promising to complete it another day. These lessons have spilled over into my daily life and have also resulted in a cleaner house and reduced stress.

Finally, I learned how to properly research sources while working within an archive. Though many aspiring historians must learn how to use an archive from the reading room, I have had the good fortune of learning the inner workings of the State Archives from behind the scenes. This has been a great advantage this summer as I have been doing archival research in the Huntington Library’s collection for my undergraduate dissertation project. Moreover, this skill will prove invaluable as I move forward in my career.

In conclusion, this has been a very successful summer internship, and I cannot wait to return to the State Archives in the capacity of a work-study student.

Connor Grenier, Local Government Archives Intern

Though my internship started in May my hiring process began in March. Graduation was rapidly approaching, and I needed to find a position that could offer me work experience related to my career goals. Back in March, this internship seemed like a promising place to start. Now that the internship is complete, I have gained valuable experience that has better informed what my interests are and where my goals are aligned for the future.

My main project at the State Historical Society was running an inventory survey for the material in the local government archives. My tasks gave me insight into archival work. It was interesting to discover the materials that an archive contains and how these are preserved and processed. The work here is never finished. I find this last point to be the most hopeful as I seek to pursue similar work. While I spent most of my time on the inventory project, I also had the opportunity to engage in other archival duties, such as digitizing audio and video material.

A collection audit form used during an inventory survey of local government archives materials.

This internship has also shown me the other career routes the state offers. Whether it was painting picnic pavilions at a state historic site, touring another department at the ND Heritage Center & State Museum, or networking with my fellow state interns, I was exposed to the different opportunities and options that this field has to offer. I gained a lot of experience from my tasks, but I learned the most from my colleagues here. Getting to know the work of the people around me was very interesting and eye-opening. I got a better sense of what this work requires and the many avenues people could take within the field. I would also like to note that the work environment at the agency is very fun and kind. Everyone here is willing to teach you something you do not know and is not afraid to have a laugh. Overall, I had a positive time in this position, and I hope that the work that I did reflects that.

Here at the State Historical Society, we want to be sure your personal family collections are kept safe for future generations. With that in mind, we’ve prepared some guidance on caring for your collections in the event of potential flood events and water damage. We will look at preventative care tips and suggestions to follow or keep in mind as you work to protect and preserve your family treasures and history before a disaster strikes.

General advice for storing personal collections

Storage of your items should be in a space that has a stable and consistent temperature. The best storage space for home collections is a cool, clean, and relatively dry area with no direct light. We do not recommend storing items in attics or in most basements as these spaces can be humid, and the temperature may fluctuate drastically due to seasonal weather changes.

You should avoid placing items near heaters, radiators, chimneys, vents, electrical sources, and open windows. Take note whether your chosen storage area is at risk of water damage, such as being near plumbing pipes, sprinklers, open windows, vents, or sinks.

1) Housing your personal collection

VHS tapes should be stored upright in cases to prevent damage.

Housing options (basically the containers your collection is placed in) will vary depending on the items. The main consideration is whether these guard against insects and pests, block bright or direct light, and help keep objects clean and free of dust, which can scratch delicate surfaces like those of photographs.

We know people often default to basic plastic bins for storage, but plastic is not a good storage option because it will leach plasticizers that can affect the material within. We recommend acid-free boxes instead. That said, plastic is still better than nothing.

2) Buffered versus unbuffered?

When looking for housing materials online, you may come across both buffered and unbuffered options. If something has been buffered, calcium carbonate (better known as chalk) has been added to the cellulose material and acts as a buffering agent raising the pH level of the paper to be more alkaline. If the item being housed is paper or made of cellulose (like film, photographs, and cotton products) go for the buffered option. But for items that come from animals (e.g., leather, silk, wool, feathers, horsehair, and pearls) use unbuffered. This rule applies to file folders, tissue paper you wrap around objects, and boxes.

3) Considerations for general materials

Audiovisual and magnetic media: The ideal orientation for CDs, DVDs, audio, and video cassettes is to be stored upright like books, as stacking can cause stress and warping. The original containers work well for storage if they are clean and made of inert plastic. Video and audio cassettes should be wound to the beginning or the end, so that content on the tape is not exposed.

Photographs in the State Archives collections are sleeved due to high use by researchers and staff.

Flat/oversize items: For flat paper materials, a file folder is our go-to method, unless it is very weak, has tears, or is heavily creased. In that case, we would place the item in a polyester sleeve. The file folders can be stored flat or upright in a box. Speaking of tears, please do not use regular Scotch tape to fix them! There is special tape and other repair methods if you feel the items need conservation. We also recommend the removal of rubber bands, metal paper clips, and metal fasteners. If the item is oversize/poster size, then storing it may require a bit more creativity, but keep it flat with little to no pressure on top. If you must roll the item, do not roll it too tight, and remember to periodically unroll and roll it in the opposite direction.

Photographs: A common question is whether photos should always be sleeved? If you have many photographs and feel that putting them in sleeves is necessary, then we would recommend at least 3-millimeter-thick polyester, as it is the most chemically inert of the plastics used for archival storage products. But you only really need to sleeve photographs that are handled a lot, show signs of weakness or deterioration, or are of utmost importance to you. Otherwise, leaving photographs loose should not be an issue. Just store them flat or upright with some space in the box since you do not want to exert pressure on the photographs by shoving them tightly into the container.

Textiles, taxidermy, and natural materials: Textiles should be kept on padded hangers or placed flat in watertight buffered or unbuffered boxes (depending on the textile material). They should be stored away from leaky areas and sunlight, which can cause fading. Taxidermy should also be placed away from leaky areas and sunlight but on a high shelf. It’s important to use extreme caution when handling older taxidermy due to the risk of exposure to arsenic. Use coated watertight metal cases when storing wood, rocks, minerals, ceramic, and glass. Uncoated metal objects should be in a dry environment to reduce the risk of oxidation (rust).

Textile artifacts, like this circa 1880s blouse, should be stored in an acid-free box with tissue paper to support the garment. SHSND 1972.00169

While this certainly doesn’t cover every material type and situation you may encounter when caring for and housing your family’s historical items, it is a good place to start. If you have questions we haven’t addressed, our staff are happy to help. For questions related to paper, books, and photographs contact the State Archives at 701.328.2091 or archives@nd.gov. For artifact-related questions, contact our museum staff at history@nd.gov.

*This blog was co-authored with Local Government Archivist Megan Steele and two former museum interns, Zoe Harden and Emily Bruun.