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[Haxprook Series Xo.

MINNESOTAHISTORICAL SOCIETY


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OFFICERSG iiEo.N- S. Ives. PresidentFrkderk- a. Fogg, l-'irsl I'icc-Pn-sidcnt^\II.l.IAM W. FoLWELi.. Second Vice-PresidentS(.i.0N J. Buck. SecretaryI'VKRKTT H. Baili;v, Treasurer

'^7r^17:27557CONTENTS

II STORicAi, Sketch . .

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Orgamzatiox axd MiI lie executive committee consists of the presi- ' "e Historical Brii.DiXG. . .

(iviit.tbe secretary, tlic treasurer, and to appointed -, ,, ,lu-mbers. FKLPERir A. Fogg and F.dward P. Sax- j , ' '""' ^""'"'''""''' TuE Reference Departmext.

ADMINISTRATIONSdi.i.x J. Hl-i-k. Superintendent\\.\Kn:s fiiiAM. Archeoloiiistfv \\'. G. \-AH,. Librarian.''>is Talmax. Xeics/'a/^er Librarian'"iti. B. Virtue, Curator of Manuscriptsuiii.orGiiR.v M. Haikoik Jr.. Curator of the

"lit Accessions axd Catai-ogi-e DepartmentsHE Xewspaper Division'ME MANrSCRIIT Div:sioN

i lllE PlKLIC ArCHI\XS.K.'i'llf MlT^C-.T,.HE MuseumThe Research axd Editoriai. Division.1-ii-i.n Work

History Activities 43


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The principal activities of the society dur- >ing the fifties consisted of the holding of meet- |ings at which papers were read and the pub- \lication of a series of pamplilets calledAnnals. A beginning was made in the accuniu-'lation of a library, however, and in 1855 a room,in the capitol was set aside for the use of the (society. In the following year its public char-!acter was further recognized by an act of the!territorial legislature authorizing an annual-grant of five hundred dollars to aid in carry-ing on the work. An attempt was made dur-.ing this period to raise money by subscription-and the sale of life memberships for the erec-'

, tion of a building for the society. A site on;the corner of W'abaslia and Tenth streets waspurchased, the foundation walls were com-pleted, and in 1.S56 the corner stone was laid'with imposing ceremonies. The necessary 'funds for the completion of the building couldnot be secured because of the Panic of 18.^7.but the lots purcliascd tor the site proved tobe a valuable investment. !

With the outbreak of the Civil War tlie ap-propriation from the state was cut off, soon {thereafter the room in the caiiitol was requi- ;sitioned for other purposes, and for about two !years the society was inactive. In 1863 a re-organization was effected, however, the appro-priation was restored by the ne.xt legislature,and from 1R64 to 1868 the soc'cty occunied aroom adjoining the St. Paul Public I,il)rary

in the Ingersoll Block on the corner of Waba-sha and Third streets.The man who laid the real foundations of the

society, and particularly of its library, wasJ. Fletcher Williams, who was elected secre-tary in 1867 and who served in that capacityuntil 1892. In 1S68 quarters were again se-cured in the capitol, and in 1869 the appropria-tion from the state was increased to twothousand dollars a year, thus making it pos-sible for Mr. Williams to devote himself en-tirely to the work. The library which con-sisted of about three thousand books andpamphlets in 1S68 increased, by gift and pur-chase, to over twenty thousand in 18S1. news-paper files were systematically accumulated.and a considerable museum of archeologicaland historical objects was assembled. The ap-propriation was raised to $2,500 in 1871, to $.3,-000 in 1876, and to $4,000 in iSSi.

In March, 1881, the capitol building wasburned to the ground. Fortunately for thesociety its rooms were located in the basement,which made possible the removal of pracficallj-all the main library: most of the newspaperfiles were in a fireproof vault; but some valu-able newspapers, the entire museum, and overtwenty thousand volumes of duplicates, mostlystate document.


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corner of Wabasha and Seventh street?, afterwhich it was installed in the new capitol 'erected on the site of the old. There it re-mained until 1905, when it took possession of .somewhat more commodious quarters in thepresent capitol building. The annual appro- 'priation from the state w-as further increased 1in 18S3 to S6,ooo, in 1899 to $7,500, in 1901 to .$11,000, in 1903 to $15,000, in 1905 to $20,000, |and in 1917 to $25,000. From 1883 on, the [library grew steadily at the rate of about three ithousand books and pamphlets a year, the .museum was built up anew, and a valuable Imanuscript collection was accumulated. Thelong term of Mr. Williams as secretary was al-

\most equaled by that of Warren Upham, who ,served the society faithfully in that capacityfrom 1S95 to I9i4and who now holds the posi-tion of archeologist. The present secretary,

(Solon J. Buck, was elected in 1914. )Among the presidents and other officers ofthe society have been many men of promi- !nence in' Minnesota history, such as Ale.xanderRamsey. Henry H. Sibley, Henry M. Rice,John K. Sanborn, Cushman K. Davis, .Arch- tbishop Ireland, and James J. Hill.

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ORGANIZATION AND MEMBERSHIPThe form of organization of the society is

determined by the act of incorporation andamendments thereto and by a set of by-laws,

which was revised and consolidated in March.1915. Its government is vested in an execu-tive council composed of the governor of thestate and five other state officers, ex officio,and thirty life members chosen by ballot everythree years at an annual meeting of the society.There is an executive committee composed ofthe president, the secretary, the treasurer, andtwo other members of the council appointedby the president, which transacts the businessof the society under the direction and subjectto the approval of the executive council. Theofficers of the council, who are also the offi-cers of the society, are a president, two vice-presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer. Theyare elected by the council for a term of threeyears. The secretary is, ex officio, the super-intendent of the society and as such is charged,under the direction of the executive committeeor the council, with the .administration of allits activities.

The financial support of the society comesmainly from the state, the appropriation forthe current biennium, I9[9-2I, being twenty-five thousand dollars a year. There is also anincome of about six thousand dollars from pri-vate endowment funds, and membership feesbring in a small additional amount. The so-ciety has urgent need of a larger income andsolicits gifts or bequests. For the latter, thefollowing form is suggested: "I give, devise,and bequeath to the Minnesota Historical So-

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ciety, a corporation duly incorporated by theterritory of Minnesota and located in the cityof St. Paul in the state of Minnesota, the sumof dollars, the same to be utilizedfor the general purposes of the said society."If it is the devisor's intention that the sum be-queathed should be devoted to some specificpurpose, that purpose should be clearly anddefinitely stated. The officers of the societyare prepared to make suggestions as to suchpurposes, some of which are especially suit-able for memorial donations or bequests.

Membership in the society is of threeclasses, active, corresponding, and honorary.Corresponding members are "persons residingoutside the state, who manifest an interest inthe society and its objects, and are willing toaid it by representing it in their vicinity, andprocuring donations for its library and muse-um"; honorary members are "persons dis-tinguished for their literary or scientific at-tainments, particularly in the field of Americanhistory.'' 'J'lie only requisite for admission toactive membership is application and the pay-ment of dues. The active members arc dividedinto three classes, annual, sustaining, and life.Dues of annual members are two dollars perannum, of sustaining members five dollars perannum, and of life members twenty-five dol-lars; but any one who has paid dues as an an-nual member for twenty, or as a sustainingmember for six successive years may be cn-

' rolled as a life member witliout further pay-j ment. Active membership carries with it thei privilege of participating in the business mcet-I iiigs of the society and of receiving its publica-

tions. Everyone who is interested in promoting; historical work in Minnesota is cordially invited; to become an active member. Application

blanks will be furnished on request.The annual meetings of the society are held

on the second Monday in January, except in, legislative years when they occur on the sec-. ond Monday after the assembling of the legis-

lature. A public session is held in connection; with this meeting, at which an address is de-

livered on some historical topic of general in-i

lerest. The council holds an annual and three: stated meetings each year, and these alsoMur-j iiish occasion, as a rule, for open sessions forI

the reading of historical papers. All thesemeetings are held in the Historical Building.

THE HISTORICAL BUILDINGThe present building, which is located on a

j commanding eminence adjacent to the Capi-j

lol, on the northwest corner of Cedar Streetand Central Avenue, St. Paul, was authorized''v an act of the legislature of 1913, five hun-'Ircd thousand dollars being appropriated for'be purpose. The work of construction was'lot commenced, however, until December,'Q'5. because it was found necessary to have

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s I li jj D D| D D D t'" 'p n ofD D D I

the act amended by the legislature of 1915.The building was practically completed by De-cember, 1917, and the work of moving was be-gun immediately. The reading room wasopened to the public on January 16, and theformal dedication of the building took placeon May 11, 1918, in connection with the elev-enth annual meeting of the Mississippi \'al-ley Historical Association, which convened inSt. Paul, May 9, 10, and n, at the invitation ofthe society.The building contains five floors. Thesouth end of the basement and ground floorsare occupied by the library division of the statedepartment of education. In the basementare located the janitors' and engineer's rooms,and the heating and ventilating machinery.On the ground floor are the photostat room, akitchenette and rest room for the staff, and theshipping and receiving room of the society,part of which serves temporarily as the officeof the Minnesota War Records Commission.Portions of both lower floors are also occu-pied by the main bookstack and the newspaper^tack.

The accompanying floor plans show thelocation of the various rooms on the first andsecond floors. The department of educationoccupies rooms on the south end as well as afeu- adjacent rooms on the west side of bothfloors (105-112 and 211-217). On the first floorTc the newspaper reading room (102) and the


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'main reading room (loi), both opening offfrom the central corridor, and connected witheach other by an interior doorway. Thelibrarian's office (E i) and the lowest lioor ofthe bookstack so far completed are reachedthrouglt the cast end of the reading room. Onthe second floor are the manuscript room(209), the superintendent's ottice (20S), thegeneral office (206). the editorial office (205),and. the catalogue and accessions rooms (201,202), all connected with each other by interiordoorways, and all, except the manuscript rooin,reached from the main corridor througli room204. The entire third floor is occupied by themuseum and galleries.The main entrance from the street leads tothe first floor; the two small entrances oncither side of the steps of the main entrancelead to the ground floor. A passenger elevatorgives service to all floors and the main book-stack is equipped with an automatic service ele-vator. There are also two automatic booklifts, one in the main stack room, which servesalso the shipping and catalogue rooms, andone in the newspaper stack room wliich ex-tends to the newspaper reading room above,riie service driveway in the rear is accessibleto the shipping and receiving room of the his-torical society at the north end on the groundfloor, and to the shipping rooms of the depart-ment of education at the south end on the base-ment floor.


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The exterior walls of the building are con-structed of warm gray granite, quarried atSauk Rapids. Minnesota; the marble of themain staircase and of the floors of the corri-dors and stack-rooms is from quarries at Ka-sota, Minnesota; and the stone for the walls of-the vestibule and entrance hall on the firstfloor is from deposits at Frontenac, Minnesota.The style of architecture is Roman Renais-sance reduced to its simplest elements, the cen-tral motive being an Ionic colonnade projectedover a recessed loggia.

THE MAIN LIBRARYThe main library contains at present about120,000 printed books and pamphlets, not in-cluding newspapers, which are administered ina separate division. It endeavors, first of all,to maintain a complete Minnesota collectionconsistii'g of all booKs, pamphlets, and mis-cellaneous printed matter relating in any wayto the state. This includes official publicationsof state, county, and city departments and in-stitutions; publications of semiofficial or pri-vate societies, organizations, and business es-tablishments; periodicals issued in Minnesota;works by ^[innesota authors; and publicationsabout Minnesota, its subdivisions, physical fea-tures, citizens, institiiti'ins. and organizations.Current material is acquired as well as that re-

lating to the past. This Minnesota collectionoccupies a separate portion of the bookstack.where it may be conveniently consulted by anyone desiring to study the state in any of itsvarious aspects.

The field of Americana is so large that thelibrary cannot attempt to cover it fully. So faras available funds will permit, however, all im-portant works in general American history anda somewhat more comprehensive selection ofbooks relating to the upper Mississippi Valleyand Great Lakes region are acquired. Thelibrary is an official depository for the publi-cations of the United States government, andits collection of the documents of other statessupplements that of the State Library, particu-larly for the period prior to 1881. Special sub-jects in the field of Americana for which thelibrary has well rounded collections are geo-logy, archeology, Indians, biography, traveland description, local history, political science,economics, and education. On two subjectsthe library aims to have practically completecollections of available material. These areAmerican genealogy and the history of theScandinavian element in the United States.

The collection of genealogical materialranks among the best of its kind in the coun-try. Besides a large number of family histor-ies, it includes files of practically all tlie genea-logical magazines, many sets of collectedgenealogies, files of the publications of the


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hereditary patriotic societies, and many vol-umes of vital records. The various printed in-dexes which guide the investigator are in-cluded, and mucii supplementary material isavailable in individual biographies, the publica-tions of historical societies, published a-chivesand military records, and a remarkable collec-tion of town, county, and state histories. Bothamateur and professional genealogists are con-stantly at work in the library, and from it hasbeen drawn the evidence to support innumer-able applications for admission to hereditarypatriotic societies.

The society has recently begun to devotespecial attention to the history pf the Scandi-navian element in the United States. In orderto avoid duplication, an agreement was madewith the board of regents of the I'niversity of'Minnesota by which the university library willacquire material relating to the Scandinavianlanguages and literatures and to the historyof the Scandinavian countries themselves, andthe historical society will collect material re-lating to these nationalities in the United States.In accord with this agreement the universitylibrary transferred to the society its extensiveand valuable O. N. Nelson collection. Duringthe summer of 1918 the society also acquiredanother large collection from Professor GisleBothne of the University of Minnesota. .Kboutfifty Scandiuavian-.\nicrican newspapers andperiodicals from all parts of the United States

are being received currently, and many backvolumes have been acquired from varioussources. The society has had the aid of Scan-dinavian experts in the bibliographical workof building up this collection, and there areusually on the staff one or two assistants witha knowledge of the languages to help in caringfor it. It is believed that the collection willsoon be, if it js not already, the most completeof its kind in the country.

Outside the field of .Americana the presentpolicy of the library is to maintain select ref-erence collections rather than to build up com-prehensive collections for research purposes.The various encyclopedias, indexes, and otherstandard reference works will be found on theshelves, and the most important books relat-ing to foreign countries are acquired as far aspossible. Works in the scientific field are notcollected except on subjects closely related tohistory, such as geology and anthropology.Books of fiction are also excluded unless theyhave historical value or are the products ofMinnesota authors. But since the limits ofcollection were less restricted in the past.when the output of books was smaller, andsince all sorts of works have been received asgifts, rare and curious items on almost everyconceivable subject may be found in theliljrary.

Fully two-tliirds of the current acqui>itlc.nscome in as exchanges or gifts. Xearly all the


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liistorical societies, the principal universities,and many other institutions of the UnitedStates and Canada, and a few in other coun-tries send tlieir publications to the society inexchange for its publications; and much valit-able material is acquired by the exchange ofduplicates with other large libraries. Countlessindividuals and organizations all over the coun-try present copies of their publications in orderthat they may be preserved in the library andmade accessible to the public. Members andfriends of the society frequently turn over toit accumulations of books, pamphlets, and peri-odicals which they do not care to retain, andsuch contributions are earnestly solicited. Noone need hesitate to do this for fear tiiat thematerial will not be' wanted because such of itas proves to be duplicated in the library or out-side of its field can nearly always be disposedof to advantage by exchange with other insti-

THE REFERENCE DEPARTMENTThe resoiircc> of the library are free to the

public and are available through the reading-room service. Application for all books,pamphlets, periodicals, and maps should bemade at the desk in the main reading room(loi). which is open from 8:30 a. m. to 5:00p. M. every day except Snnduy. Many of themore important refi-rence works, such as

genealogical sets, dictionaries, encyclopedias,atlases, and periodical indexes, are placed inopen shelves around the room. One section ofshelves is filled with a collection of recentbooks of general interest, which is constantlyl)cing renewed. Reside it is a section used forexhibitions of books on special subjects of cur-rent interest.A list of the books in the library will befound in the card catalogue, which is in casesat tlie east end of the room. By means ofthis catalogue the books in the library inay belocated. In each drawer of the case will befound a card of instructions with '"How to usethis catalogue" printed in red on the projectingtab. By following the directions on this cardit is a simple matter to ascertain whether ornot the library has a specific book or whatbooks it has on a given subject and to securethe desired material. The attendants at thedesk will gladly give advice and suggestionsabout the use of the catalogue and referenceliooks, but patrons are expected to make outtheir own call slips for books and do the actualwork of investigation themselves. The libra-rian will be glad to assist, as far as possible, inthe solution of problems involvin.g especial dit-ficnlties and will be summoned by the attend-ant when necessary.

The collections of tlio library are jiriniarilyfor use in the buildine, but books not frc-

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quently used in reference work and not diffi-cult to replace if lost may be borrowed by re-sponsible persons for home or office use. Anextension of the service of the library is madepossible through the system of interlibraryloans. The librarian will, when requested, en-deavor to borrow from some outside librarybooks needed for research purposes which arenot available in any of the libraries of the TwinCities. In such cases the user must pay trans-portation charges and the books may not betaken from the building. Inquiries by mail ortelephone for information that can readily befound in the reference books of the library areanswered by the librarian with as much dis-patch as circumstances will permit.

The privilege of consulting books in thestack is extended, on application at the desk,to competent persons who can furnish satis-factory references. The stack room occupies Ifour full stories on the east side of the build-ing from the basement to the second-floor ceil-ing and encloses an eight-tier enamcled-steel.self-supporting bookstack with a capacitv of38.4,000 volumes. The shelving and floors forthe four lower tiers have not been installedas yet. At the entrance to each floor is aschedule giving the locations of books on allthe floors. The individual sectinns of thestack are also labeled on the ends witli theclassification numbers. Ulack type on theselabels indicate the Cutter classification, and

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red, that of the Library of Congress. A dis-tinction is also made in the labels on tlie backsof the books; round labels are used for theCutter and rectangular ones for the Library ofCongress classification. (See page 27.) a fewprivate studies on the floors of the bookstackare available for persons engaged in extensiveresearch.

THE ACCESSIONS AND CATALOGUEDEPARTMENTSTo the accessions department belongs thework of acquiring additions to tlie library,

cither by purchase, exchange, or gift. Booksto be purchased arc selected mainly from cata-logues issued by publishers and by dealers inremainders and second-hand books and fromreviews in historical periodicals. Before order-ing an item it is usually necessary to consultthe catalogue, a current-receipts file, and theoutstanding orders in order to prevent dup-lication. Extensive correspondence is con-ducted to secure the exchange material towhich the society is entitled and to establishnew exchange relations Many letters are writ-ten to the authors of privately printed booksasking for presentation copies and to publish-ers of magazines and reports asking that thesociety's name he placed on the coniplinuntarymailing list.


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All books and pamphlets arriving at thelibrary go first to the accessions departmentwhere they are checked on the bills and rec-ords, or acknowledged if they are gifts, andentered in the current-receipts file. Incomingperiodicals and serial publications, of which thesociety was receiving over two thousand at theend of 1919, arc checked in a card record, andconstant vigilance is necessary to prevent gapsin the files of this material. The accessionsdepartment also prepares books and periodi-cals for binding. This involves the preparationof instructions for the binder, collation to in-sure perfect copies, and, frequently, corre-spondence to obtain title pages and indexes.When the volumes return from the binderythey are checked on the binder's bill and ex-amined to sec that the instructions have beenfollowed.

After leaving the accessions departmentbooks go to the catalogue department forclassifying, cataloguing, and shelving. Theprogress of a book through tliis departmentis frequently a long and complicated process.Author, title, and subject cards arc preparedfor the public catalogue in the reading room.One card is also made for the shelf list, whichis a file in the catalogue room containingcards arranged in the order in which the booksstand on the shelves. Tf a book covers sev-eral difTcrcnt subjects or is written by severalauthors, a larger number of cards are neces-

sary. Many problems as to names, dates, edi-tions, and series numbers have to be solved bythe cataloguers. Printed catalogue cards formany of the books are purchased from theLibrary of Congress. .\n alphabetical file ofcards prjnted by the Library of Congress sinceJuly, 191 5, is maintained in the catalogue room,and this valuable bibliographical aid may beconsulted by any one interested. The systemof classification now used is that of the Libraryof Congress, which is especially suited to alibrary composed largely of Americana. Anexception is made, however, in the case ofUnited States documents, most of which arearranged according to a scheme devised bythe superintendent of documents in Washing-ton. Books received before 1915 were classi-fied according to the Cutter system, but theseare gradually being reclassified.

THE NEWSPAPER DIVISIONOne of the most valuable parts of the so-

ciety's library is the collection of Minnesotanewspapers numbering about ten thousandbound volumes and rankiitg among the hah"dozen largest and best-cared-for newspapercollections in the country. Most of the files areComplete from the beginning of the paper, andorgans presenting various points of view can befound for every period from the first appear-ance of the press in the state in 1849 to the

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present. This collection is an invaluable sourceof information for state and local history andis much used by research workers. It is alsoconsulted frequently by attorneys for legal evi-dence, especially with reference to the publica-tion of notices. .*\t present about four hundredpapers, including at least one from everycounty in the state are received regularly ascontributions from the publishers, and backfiles of papers not received as issued are occa-sionallj' acquired. With reference to paperspublished outside the state, no attempt is madeto rival the great collection of the WisconsinHistorical Society, but the library possesseslong files of a number of important papers, andthe current issues of al)Out a dozen of the prin-cipal dailies representative of different sectionsof the country are turned over to the divisionfor preservation by the Minneapolis publicand university libraries.

The newspaper reading room ( 102) isequipped with special racks for holding the vol-umes while they arc being consulted and con-tains a cabinet for the current files of the dailypapers most frequently consulted. .-Ml othercurrent files and the bound volumes are keptin the newspaper stack room, which is directlybelow the reading room and extends for somedistance along the front of the buibling. Thiscontains a foiu-flour, fireproof .^taek callable ofhousing about twenty thousand newspaper vol-

THE MANUSCRIPT DIVISIONFrom the very beginning of tlie society's

activities the importance of collecting and pre-serving the unprinted sources of history, andespecially of the history of Minnesota has beenrecognized, with tlie result that the societynow possesses a large and invaluable manu-script collection. When the transfer to thenew building took place, a separate divisionwas created to take care of this material anda room on the second floor (209') was set asidefor its use. Since then the work of cleaning,pressing, arranging, filing, and cataloguingthe material has been pushed forward rapidly,so that, in spite of large accessions during thisperiod, most of the collection is now availablefor consultation by students.

-\ considerable portion of the manuscriptcollection consists of correspondence and otherpersonal papers of men who have played aprominent part in the history of Minnesota-such men, for example, as Henry II. Sibley,Alexander Ramsey, Franklin Steele, and Igna-tius Donnelly. The papers of a large numberof men of less prominence are included, how-ever, and these are often fully as valuable asthe others, particularly to the student of socialand economic conditions. Besides the personalpapers, which are usually kept together in a^hronological arrangement, there is a largemass of material which is classified by sub-


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jccls. This includes indivicliia! manuscriptssuch as letters, journals, reminiscences, genea-logies, and monographs; and collections, largeand small, of the papers and records of organ-izations of nil sorts, such as military compa-nies, conmicrcial firms, churches, cluhs, andsocieties.The unbound material in the manuscript

collection is tiled flat in manila folders placedvertically in specially constructed dust-proofand light-proof filing boxes. These boxes arearranged on the shelves in the order of theclassification, together with the bound vol-umes, such as letter-books, account-books, anddiaries. Because of insuflicient space in themanuscript room some of the less used groupsare kept in the bookstack. It is expected thatultimately the more valuable groups of paperswill be mounted and bound into volumes, andmany of the older documents will have to bercparicd and reinforced witli mousseline.

The catalogue of the manuscripts containsdonor, author, title, and subject cards, and afew of the collections have been calendared:that is, cards have been made for individual.letters or documents with brief statementsupon them of the contents of the items. Thesecards are filed in chronological order and sup-ply a sort of table of contents to the collec-tions. Such calendars, when completed andindexed, will greatly facilitate the work of theiTivestigalor. Tlie manuscript room is open to

the public and contains tables for the use ofstudents and workers. Some of these tables,which are covered with plate glass, are usedalso for frequently changed exhibits of inter-esting groups of manuscripts.

The collections of the division are supple-mented by a calendar, containing at presentabout twentj--five thousand cards, of manu-script materials relating to the upper Missis-sippi region in the archives of the state,interior, and post-office departments of thefederal government. The compilation of thiscalendar has been made possible by the cooper-ation of the historical agencies of six north-western states, and the work is being con-tinued in other sections of the national archives.It is expected that ultimately transcripts orphotostat copies will be obtained of the moreimportant documents here listed as far as theyrelate to Minnesota.

The manuscript collection has been built upalmost entirely by contributions from publicspirited citizens who have recognized the societyas the proper custodian of such material andhave welcomed the opportunity it offers for thepermanent preservation of papers relating tothemselves, their relatives, and the organiza-tions with which they have been connected.Many important collections of manuscripts ofvalue for the history of the state are still inprivate hands, however, and others are con-stantly accumulating. The owners and cus-

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todians of such collections arc urged to de- \posit them with the society, which is in a posi- Ition to preserve them for posterity and to |make them accessible to students. When iiecos- jsary, material is accepted with reasonable re-strictions as to the use to be made of it. Thepossession of a photostat enables the societyto make for its files reproductions of valuabledocuments with which the owners are unwill-ing to part.

THE PUBLIC ARCHIVESThe most obvious source for the history of

any organization is its official archi\eitherecords and papers which are compiled or ac-cumulate in the course of its activitiesandthis is true no less of the state and its subdivi-sions, the counties, towns, and cities, than oforganizations of a private character. It isquite in accord with the objects of the society,as specified in its charter, therefore, that it hasdevoted considerable attention of late to the ^problems involved in the care of noncurrcnt ,state and local archives and in making them jaccessible to students of history. .\11 the Euro- !pean countries and some of the American ,states make provision for the assembling ofnoncurrent records from the various depart-ments and local jurisdictions in some placewhere they may be classified and cared for byexperts.

In Minnesota the most sat'sfactory solu-tion appeared to be the designation of the his-torical socieij- as the official custodian of suchmaterial, and the first step in that directionwas taken when the legislature of 191 5 pro-vided that the Historical Building should beerected "for and adapted to the use of the Min-nesota historical society and for the care, pre-servation and protection of the state archives.'"During 1915 the society cooperated with thepublic archives commission of the .\mericanHistorical Association in securing the compila-tion of an inventory of the Minnesota archives,which was published in the .Annual Report ofthe association for 1914 (Washington. 1916),and which made clear the need for more ade-quate provision for the care of archival mate-rial. The legislature of 1919 enacted a lawempowering the society to act as custodian ofstate and local archives and authorizing thetransfer to it of noncurrent public recordswhenever it is prepared to receive them.

The society cannot undertake archives workon a large scale until more space is availablein the building for workrooms and storage, andfunds are available to pay for the services ofan archivist and assistants. When that timecomes it is expected that a separate archivesdivision will be established. In the meantime,however, a beginning has been made in thetiansfer of important state archives to the cus-tody of the society, where they are being cared

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for at present by the iiiaiuiscript division.About six hundred pasteljoard boxes full ofexecutive archives and twenty bound volumesof exec\;tive registers and similar material havebeen received from the governor's office. Ofthis collection practically all the papers datingfrom the beginning of the territory in 18.^9 tol'869an invaluable group for historical pur-poseshave been cleaned, pressed, arranged,and filed, and are now available for use by stu-dents. Other archival material in the custodyof the society includes the records of the sur-veyors general of logs and lumber for the firstand second districts and a number of smallgroups and miscellaneous items. The societys prepared to receive and care for compara-

ly small lots of public records, state orocal, preference being given to material whichs of special historical value or which cannotbe adequately cared for in present depositor-

THE MUSEUMThe sources of liistory consist not merely

of printed and wrilten material but also ofphysical objects and pictures which help to re-produce the life and conditions of the past. Thecollection, preservation, and display of thisclass of material is the function of the society'smuseum. The whole of the tliird or top floorof the new building, consisting of four large

exhibition halls, several storage closets and anoffice, was designed for the use of the museum.The rooms are lighted from above, with allglare and shadow eliminated by the use ofsyenite glass, which diffuses tlie light. Thesouth hall is used at present as an auditorium,in which are held the meetings of the societyand of other societies and clubs, but the wallsof the room are available for the display ofportraits. The north hall is devoted to Indianand archaeological material, and the east andwest halls contain the general historical ex-hibits. A part of the west ball is used at pres-ent as a workroom. Framed pictures are hungon the walls in all the rooms and also in thecorridors.

The collections of the museum relate pri-marily to Minnesota but include also consider-able material pertaining to other parts of theUnited States and to foreign countries. Par-ticularly notable are the extensive collectionsin the field of American archaeology assembledby Alfred J. Hill, Theodore H. Lewis. JacobV. Brower, the Reverend Edward C. Alitchell,and Xewton H. Winchell. The general his-torical collection, although large and valuable,is somewhat haphazard in character, havingliecn built up by gradual accumulation duringthe seventy years of the society's existence, butan attempt is now being made to round it outI1.V systematic campaigns for material. Among"le large objects of special interest are tiic first


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printing press nsed in Minnesota, a hand loom,a Red River cart, and one of the first automo-biles brought to the state. Classes of materialwhich are fairly well represented include old-fashioned clothing, objects illustrative of dom-estic life, and \\'orld War specimens. The pic-ture collection contains thousands of photo-graphs, cuts, and prints, and about five hun-dred framed pictures, mostly portraits of menand women who have played a part in the his-tory of the state. There is also an extensivecollection of posters gathered mainly duringthe World War.

Most of the material in the nuiscunt hasbeen contributed by members and friends ofthe society, for the available funds have beentoo limited to permit of purchases. Objectsand pictures which illustrate methods and con-ditions now obsolete and which would there-fore be valuable additions to the collections areto be found in almost every household, and theowners are invited to present them to themuseum where their preservation will be as-sured and they will help the people of the pres-ent and the future to visualize the life of thepast. Material of special value to the museumis sometimes accepted on deposit when theowner is unwilling to surrender title to it, par-ticularly when there is a probability that itwill ultimately hecoine the property of the

Since the transfer of the museum to thenew building and the appointment of a curator,rapid progress has been made in the classifica-tion and cataloguing of the collections. Theunframed pictures are divided into groups bysize, arranged by subject within each group,and placed in vertical files; and a card cata-logue of the entire picture collection enablesone quickly to ascertain its resources on anygiven subject or to locate a desired picture.The historical and archeological objects' arerecorded in an accession book, numbered, andprovided with explanatory labels. Xo cata-logue of this material is available as yet, butit is expected that one will be begun in tlie nearfuture.

In the arrangement of exhibits the primarypurpose is to interest and instruct the hun-dreds of people who visit the museum everyweek. The specimens are grouped in somelogical or chronological manner and much his-torical information is conveyed by^ nteans, ofcarefully written labels. Most of the large ob-jects and some of the more significant of thesmaller ones are kept on display permanently,but it is neither possible nor desirable to ex-hibit all the possessions of the museum at anyone time. By occasional changes in the mainKroups and by the frequent display of specialexhibits, often related to some current eventor anniversary, the interest of the public issustained and the educational possibilities are


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increased. Material not on exhibition is keptin the large storage closets so arranged thatit is readily available when wanted by inve>ti-gators. Of the extensive archeological collec-tion, much of which is of interest mainly t;>specialists, the greater part is kept in storageand only selections of typical or unusually in-teresting articles are exhibited. Only a part ofthe framed pictures, also, can be hung at anyone. time, and the unframcd pictures are dis-played as a rule onlj' in special exhibits. Forthese the resources of the society's book andmanuscript collections are frequently drawnupor Iso.

The v.'ork of the museum with school chil-dren is particularly promising. Teachers ofcourses in history, government, geography,domestic science, and other subjects are rap-idly discovering the facilities which it offers forvisual instruction, with the result that a largenumber of grade and high school classes, notonly from the Twin Cities but also from otherparts of the state, are brought to the museumto examine and study the collections. Twicea month during the school year, on the secondand fourth Saturday afternoons at threeo'clock, special museum talks for children inthe grades from the fourth to the eighth in-clusive arc given by the curator or other mem-bers of the society's statT These talks, whichare very popular with the children, serve to

arouse an interest in and an appreciation of thethings of the past.

The museum is open to the public daily ex-cept Sundays and holidays, and occasionallyprovision is made for a holiday opening.THE RESEARCH AND EDITORIALDIVISIONNot content with the mere collection and

preservation of the materials for history, thesociety has from the beginning promoted re-

|search to extend the boundaries of historicalknowledge and disseminated historical infor- Iniation by the publication of original docu-ments and narratives, monographs, papers, andcompilations of data. The first publication, is-sued in 1850 with the title Anncils of llu- Min-nesota }{istorical Society, consisted of an ad-dress by the Reverend E. D. Xeill on 'TheFrench Voyageurs to Minnesota in the Sev-enteenth Century" (28 p.). Similar Aininiswere published in each of the three succeedingyears, and in 1S56 a report submitted by thesociety to the legislature was issued as a terri-torial document with the title }fatcrials for thef'uture History of Miiniesota (141 p.V Thesepublications were reprinted in 1S72 as volume Iiif the Collecliniis of the Minnesota Hisloriea!Vr'ciV/\. and this series has been continued to

jtile present day. I


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The Minnesota Historical Collections, as thisseries is commonly called, consist at presentof seventeen volumes, of which one. volume10, is bound in two parts, and one, volume i6,is still incomplete. Nine of these volumes arcmade up of miscellaneous documents, papers.sketches, and memoirs, and the remainder con-sist of monographs or special compilations asfollows: 4, History of the City of St. Paul anilthe County of Ramsey, Minnesota, by J. FletcherWilliams (1876. 475 p.); 5, Histories of theOjibway Indians, by William W. Warren andEdward D. Ncill (18S5. 535 P-); 7, The Missis-sippi River and Its Source, by Jacob V. Brower(1893. 360 p.); II, Itasca State Park, An Illus-irated History, by the same author (1904. 285p.); 13, Lives of the Governors of Minnesota,by James H. Baker (190S. 480 p.); 14, Minne-sota Biographies. i655~igi2, by Warren Uplianiand Mrs. Rose B. Dunlap (1912. 892 p.); 10,part I, The Weathering of Aboriginal Stone Arti-facts, Xo. I. liy Newton U. Winchell (1913. 186p.); and 17. Minnesota Geographic Names, TheirOrigin and Historic Significance, by Warren Up-ham (1920. 735 p.). In the future the Collectionswill be reserved mainly for original material;and a number of series of volumes have beenplanned, to include all the important sourcesnot elsewhere readily available in print for thevarious periods and phases of .Minnesota's his-tory.

A monograph on the Aborigines of Minne-sota, by Newton H. Winchell (761 p.), not in-cluded ill the Collections- secies, was publishedin 191 1 ; and the society has in press at thepresent time the first volume of a three or fourvolume Critical History of Minnesota, by Wil-liam W. Folwell. .\ quarterly magazine, theMinnesota History Bulletin, has been publishedsince 1915. Each issue contains one or morepapers or addresses and also reviews of bookstouching on Minnesota history, informationabout the activities of the society, and historicalnews and comment. Occasionally a section -devoted to notes and documents is included..\nnual reports to the legislature were pub-lished for the years from 1807 to 1S78 inclu-sive, and these arc followed by a series oftwenty biennial reports.The publications are sent regularly to all

members and to libraries with whicli exchangerelations have been established. The reportsare distributed freely as long as the supplylasts, and copies of the other publications areavailable for purchase, with the exception ofvolume 4 of the Cnllectioiis, which is out ofprint. Price lists will be supplied on applica-tion.The preiinrntion or revision of copy and the

reading of proof for the various puldicatior.sare the principal functions of the research aniliditorial divisimi of the society. This divisionalso undertakes, however, to compile inforina-


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lion on all sorts of historical problems in re-sponse to inquiries received by mail. Desiringto extend its service as widely as possible, thesociety welcomes snch inquiries, especiallywhen they involve the use of material not gen-erally available and come from people unableto use the resources ol the society in person.

FIELD WORKThis society was among the first to under-

take a systematic survey of its field for thepurpose of bringing to light scattered andhitherto undiscovered, little known, or neglect-ed sources of historical information, and ofarousing a more general and active interest instate and local history. .\ field agent was cm-ployed in this work from September, 1916, tothe end of 1917, and during this period abouttliirty-five communities in twenty-four countieswere visited. The pressure of other more im-mediately essential tasks and the lack of fundsnecessitated the suspension of this work duringiQfS and the following years but it will beresumed at the first opportunity.

The work of the field agent centered aboutthe task of making comprehensive inventoriesof the archives of the counties of the state, asfound in their courthouses, with notes on thecondition of the records and the methods ofmaking and preserving them. These inven-tories were completed for sixteen of the

eighty-six counties of Minnesota. When theremainder of the counties have been coveredthe inventories will be published, and it is hopedtliat the resulting volume will serve, not only asa useful guide book for those who have occasionto consult the records, whether for historicalor other purposes, but also as a starting pointfor a movement to improve the administrationof county archives.

The field agent endeavored also to discoverand list extant files of local newspapers in theplaces visited in order that the newspapermaterial available to workers in Minnesotahistory might be supplemented either throughaccessions to the society's collection or throughcentralized information about files to be foundm the localities. Search was also made formanuscripts and museum objects of historicalvalue in private hands, with a view to acquiringcr at least locating and listing them. In eachcommunity an endeavor was made to arouse"1 as inany people as possible an appreciation"f the value and possibilities of local historicalwork, with the object of securing their interestnid cooperation and of paving the way for the'-^tablishmcnt of county historical societies.

WAR HISTORY ACTIVITIESI'Vom the very beginning of American par-

ticipation in the war, the various departmentsI'l the society made special efforts to acquire.


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along witli material normally secured in tliecourse of tlicir regular procedure, as many aspossible of the special products of war-timeactivities and conditions. It soon became evi-dent, however, that a mere extension of tlichistorical society's normal activities would notsuffice, but that what was needed was a regularwar-time drive, carried on by a state-wideorganization, specially created, named, andfinanced for the purpose. In August, 191S,therefore, the Minnesota Commission of PublicSafety, at the suggestion of the society, author-ized the cstabli.-lnncnt of and provided fundsfor a Minnesota War Records Commission,the members of which were appointed by theGovernor. The superintendent of the societywas chairman of t!ie commission, its fieldagent served as director, and office space wasprovided in the Historical Building. The legis-lature of 1919 established the commission as astatutory body and appropriated ten thousanddollars . for its work during the bieniiium1919-21.

Plans have been made for the ultimatecompilation and publication of an elaboratehistory of Minnesota in the war, to includerosters, documents, and a general narrative:but the available funds arc insufficient for un-dertaking this at the present time. The imme-diate task which the Minnesota War RecordsCominission sot for itself, therefore, was thatof bringing about the collection and preser-

vation ot all available material relating toMinnesota in the war. To this end war recordscommittees have been established in nearly allthe counties of the state, to make local collec-tions for' preservation in the counties and tocooperate with the commission in building upthe state collection. The commission is ac-quiring the state headquarters files of officialcorrespondence, records, and reports of manyof the various war agencies such as tiie United.States Employment Service, the V. M. C. A.War Council, and the War Camp CommunityService, and also large quantities of privateand seiTiiprivate material. Comprehensiveforms for individual service records have beenprinted and, through the cooperation of theSoldier's Bonus Board, these forms have beentilled out by all but a very small percentageof Minnesota men in the service.

All this material will ultimately be added tothe files of the Minnesota Historical Society,which is designated by the law establishing the("oinmission as the official custodian of thestate war records collection. The commissionlias also cooperated with the library of thesociety in procuring printed matter relating to'be war, including especially the miscellanywhich formed a part of the working parapher-nalia of every war organization: and it has'"oopcratcd with the museum in building up itscollection of war material such as posters.


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photograpfis,


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'motion picture films, laiittriislides, and military equipment and trophies.Two bulletins published by the commissionand available for free distribution give detailedinformation aliout its activities and plans. Thesearc entitled: A Slatcu.-idc Movement for theCollection and Preservation of Minnesota's U'urRecords: and Minnesota's Part in the War, ShallIt Pc Adequately Pccordcdf The latter containsa discussion of and a tentative outline for tlicproposed war history. ^

[H.vxnBooK Serifs Xo. 2]

MINNESOTAHISTORICAL SOCIETY

HANDBOOK[Se(,on-d F.uitiox]

S.Xr.NT P.\ULSUED HV THF SoCIETV.\UGCST, IIJ.M


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OFFICERSFrederic A. Focc, PresidentWilliam W. Folwkll, First Vice PresidentFrederick G. Ixgersoll, Second Vice Presiden'.Solon J. Buck, SecretaryEverett H. Bailey, TreasurerThe executive committee consists of the presi-

dent, the secretary, the treasurer, and two appoints!members, Edward P. Saxhorn', and Frkdf.rk;-G. In'CERSOLl.

ADMINISTRATIONSolon J. Buck, Superintendent

Warren Ui-iiam, ArcheolngistWilhelmina E. Carothers, LibrarianJohn Talman, Newspaper LibrarianGrace Llk Xutl, Curator of ManuscriptsWlM.OLCHir

MuseuiM. Jr., Curator of tl

CONTEXTSi Historical Sketch 5I Organization and Membership 8. The Historical Building 12: The Main Libr.ary 17I

The Reference Department .. 22The Accessions and Catalogue Departments 24The Newspaper Division 27

j The Manuscript Division 28[ The Public Archives 32S

The Museum .... 34'he Research and Editorial Division 39PiFLD Work 42\^'ar HisTukv .Activities 43


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HISTORICAL SKETCHThe Minnesota Historical Society was for-

mally organized on November 15, 1849, in theoffice of Charles Kilgore Smith, secretary ofihc Territory of Minnesota. Alexander Ram-sey was elected president and Mr. Smith sec-rotary. The first territorial legislature hadalready passed and Governor Ramsey on Oc-tober 20 had signed an act of incorporationdrawn up by Mr. Smith. The object of thesociety as stated in this act was "the collec-'on and preservation of a LibraryInd-Mi C'-rioiities and other matters andthings connected with, and calculated to illus-'"ate and perpetuate the history and settlement""f Minnesota Territory. An amendcnt''> this act, approved March I. 1856. furtherrovided that: "The objects of said Society

shall be, in addition to the collection'"id preservation of publications, manuscripts,^'Hi'iuities, curiosities, and all other thingsP


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ings at which papers were read and the pul'-


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Ikation of a series of pamphlets called Ann,'.l^hase, to over twenty thousand in 1881, news-paper files were systematically accumulated,and a considerable museum of archeologicaland historical objects was assembled. Theappropriation was raised to S2,500 in 1871. toS3.000 in 1876, and to $4,000 in 1881.

In March. 18S1, the capitol building wasIn.rned to the ground. Fortunately t^or thesociety its rooms were located in the base-iicnt, which made possible the removal ofpractically all the main , library: and most of'he newspaper files, which were in a fireproof\ault, were saved. Some valuable newspa-pers, the entire museum, and over twentyhousand volumes of duplicates, mostlv stale'locuments. and of stock of the society's pub-''ealions were destroyed, however.For two years the society occupied rooms'" the basement of the ^rarkct House on the-orncr of Wabasha and Seventh streets after


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insu^llcd in .he iiew cap-.ol V. Iiich was revised and consolidated in March,


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which it ^vaserected on the site of the old. There U re- jgained untU 1905, ^vhcn it took possession o |somewhat more commodious ciuarters m tnepresent capitol building. The annual appro- jpriation from the state was further '""ease.! .fn 1883 to $6 000, in 1899 to $7,500, in 1901 to"ll So, in 1903 ;o $15,000, in 1905 to $20,000.I, i917 to $25,000. and in 1921 to $40,000. From1883 on. the library grew steadily at the rat. ^of about three thousand books and pamplilot>a year, the museum was built up anew, and nvaluable manuscript collection was accumulat-ed The long term of

Mr. Williams as secre- ^tary was almost equalled by that ot Warren :Upham who served the society faithfully h ,that capacity from 1805 to 1914 and who no.holds the position of archeolcgist. The pre- isent secretary, Solon J. Buck, was elected .^1914. .. ; 'Among the proidents and other olhcers -: ^the society have been many men of prom. ;nencc in Minnesota Ijistory, such as Alexander ^Ramsey. Henry H. Sibley, Henry M. R.co. :Ichn B Sanborn, Cushman K. Davis, Arc!'- ^l.ishop Ireland, and James J. Hill.

ORGANIZATION AND MEMBERSHIPThe form of organization of the society i-

determined bv the :ut of incorporation an''^

amr.uhnenls thereto, and by a sel of by-Iau-'

1915. Its government is vested in an execu-tive council composed of the govenor of thestate and five other state officers, c.r officio,and thirty life members chosen by ballot everythree years at an annual meeting of the socie-ty. There is an executive committee composedof the president, the secretary, the treasurer,and two other members of the council appoint-ed by the president, which transacts the busi-ness of the society under the direction and-subject to the approval of the executive coun-cil. The officers of the council, who are alsothe officers of the society, are a president, twovice presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer.1 licy are elected by the council for a term ofthree years. The secretary is, c.r officio, thesuperintendent of the society and as such istliarged, under the direction of the executiveI'onimittee or the council, with the administra-'on of all its activities.The financial support of the society comes

ii'.ainly from the state, the appropriation for'he current biennium, 1921-23, being forty'liousand dollars a year. There is also an''iconic of about six thousand dollars fromI'iivate endowment funds, and membership'IS bring in a small additional amount. Thefcicty has urgent need of a larger income"id solicits gifts or bequests. For the latter,''le following form is suggested: "I give, devise.'I'l bcqueatli to the Minnesota Historical


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Society, a corporation duly incorporated by tin contributions of fifty dollars or more; contribu-


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Territory of Minnesota and located in the cityof St. Paul in the state of Minnesota, the sumof dollars, the same to be utilizedfor the general purposes of the said society.''If it is the devisor's intention that the sum be^ ^queathcd should be devoted to some specificpurpose, that purpose should be clearly anddefinitely stated. The officers of the societyare prepared to make suggestions as to suchpurposes, some of which are especially suit-

jable for memorial donations or bequests.Membership in the society is of four class-

es: honorary, corresponding, active, and in-stitutional. Honorary members are "person-distinguisl-.ed for their literary or scientitU'attainments, particularly in the field of Ameri-can history"; corresponding members arc ^"persons residing outside the state, who mani-fest an interest in the society and its object?.and arc willing to aid it by represeniing it ir.their vicinity, and procuring donations for it- *library and museum.' Honorary and corre-sponding members arc admitted through elcLtion by the executive council, but the onl.^requisites for admission to active or institu- 'tional memberships are application and tli-'payment of dues.The active members are grouped in fiv'

classes: patrons, who have contributed ointhousand dollars or more to the pcrmanoiiifund of the society or are making annua' *'

ting-Iife members, who contribute five dollarsor more a year in addition to the life member-ship fee; life members, whose fee is twenty-fivedollars; sustaining members at five dollars ayear, who become life members after six pay-ments; and annual members at two dollars a.vear, who become life members after twentypayments. Active membership carries with itthe privilege of participating in the businessmeetings of the society and of receiving itspublications. Everyone who is interested inpromoting historical work in Minnesota is'Ordially invited to become an active member.\:iplication blanks will be furnished on re-M'lest,

Institutional membership is open to "any'lulj, society, or association in Minnesota in-Urested in any phase of the history of thestate or any part of the state." Such mcni-I'C-rs are grouped in three classes: permanentinstitutional members, who pay one hundred'lollars in advance; sustaining institutional"Knilxrs, whose annual dues are ten dollars:Hid annual institutional members, whose due ="c two dollars a year. Sustaining institu-"onal members may be transferred to perma-"cnt membership when they have contributed'II aggregate of one huiulrcd and twenty dol-"s. Institutional membership carries with itilio privileges of being represented at all mcet-"'.^- t the society by one delegate with the


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right lo vote, of receiving the publication?, on the northeast corner of Cedar Street and


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and also of making annual reports to the so-ciety on the historical activities of the nieni-ber. This form of membership, which \va^established in April. 1921. is designed to coor-dinate all historical activities in the state, byproviding for the affiliation with the statehistorical society of such organizations aschapters of hereditary patriotic societies, studyclubs, and local and special historical societiesThe annual meetings of the society are held

on the second Monday in January, except inlegislative years when they occur on the sec-ond Monday after the assembling of the legis-lature. Public sessions for the reading of pa-per^ and conferences on historical problem>are held in connection with these meetingsand an annual addre>s is delivered on sonuhistorical topic of general interest. Thecouncil holds two staled meetings each year,and these also furnish occasion, as a rule, foropen sessions for the reading of historicalpapers. All tjicse meetings are held in theHistorical Building, but plans are being devel-oped for annual summer meetings of a soci.i'and educational charartcr to be held cad've.-ir at a difterenl i)lace.

THE HISTORICAL BUILDING

Central Avenue, St. Paul, was authorized byan act of the legislature of 1913, five hundredthousand dollars being appropriated for thepin-pose. The work of construction was notcommenced, however, until December, 1915.because it was found necessary to have theact amended by the legislature of 1915. Thebnilding was practically completed by Decem-ber. 1917, and the work of moving was begunimmediately. The reading room was openedto the public on January 16, and the formaldedication of the building took place on May_ ". 1918, in connection with the eleventh an-I

"iial meeting of the Mississippi \"alley His-j

torical Association, which convened in St. Paul,j

-May 9, 10, and 11, at the invitation of the so-

ts loc.Tted onto I he C'apit'

The building contains five floors. The south"d of the basement and ground floors areoccupied by the library division of the statedepartment of education. In tihe basement'Tc located the janitors' and engineer's rooms,^"id the heating and ventilating machinery,'>M the ground floor are the photostat room,a kitchenette and rest room for the staff, and'lie shipping and receiving room of the society,part of which serves temporarily as the officef^f the Minnesota War Records Commission,''"rtions of both lower floors are also occu-I'led by the main bookstack and the newspaper


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The accompanying floor plans show the


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location of the various rooms on the first andsecond floors. The department of educationoccupies rooms on the south end as well as afew adjacent rooms on the west side of hothfloors (105-112 and 211-217). On the firstfloor are the newspaper reading room (102^and the main reading room (101), both openingofl^ from the central corridor, and connectedwith each other by an interior doorway. Thehbrarian's office (E 1) and the lowest floor ofthe bookstack so far completed are reachedthrough the east end of the reading room. Onthe second floor are the manuscript room(209), the superintendent's oflSce (208). thegeneral ofifice (206), the editorial oftlce (205),and the catalogue and accessions rooms (201,-'02), all connected with each other by interiordoorways, and all, except the manu.>cript room,leached from the main corridor through room-04. The entire third floor is occupied by themuseum and galleries.The main entrance from the street leads tothe first floor; the two small entrances on


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to the newspaper reading room above. Theservice


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J D ! n DQJ D D n

ills of the huikling arc con-warni gray granite, quarried at

driveway in the rear is accessibleto the shipping and receiving room of the his-torical society at the north end on the groundfloor, and to the shipping rooms of the depart-ment of education at the south end on the base-ment floor.The exterior

striicted ofSauk Rapids, Minnesota; the marble of themam staircase and of the floors of the corri-dors and stackrooms is from quarries at Ka-sota, Minnesota: and the stone for the walls ofIhc vestibule and entrance hall on the firstfloor is from deposits at Frontenac, Minnesota.I be style of architecture is Roman Renais-sance reduced to its simplest clement.stmg of all books, pamphlets, and mis-fHlaneous printed matter relating in any way": il>e state. This includes official publications01 state, county, and city departments and insti-'"lions: publications of .cmioflicin! or private


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societies, organizations, and business estab-lishments; periodicals issued in Mnmesoia, of

are American genealogy and the history of theScandinavian clement in the United States.


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which over two hundred, exclusive of news-papers, are currently received ; works by Minne-sota authors ; and publications about thestate, its subdivisions, physical features, citi2cns, institutions, and organizations. Currentmaterial is acquired as well as that relating tothe past. This Minnesota collection occupic?a separate portion of the bookstack, where itmay be conveniently consulted by any one de-siring to studj- the state in any of its variou-aspects.The field of Americana is so large that the

library cannot attempt to cover it fully. Sofar as available funds will permit, however, allimportant works in genera! American historyand a somewhat more comprehensive selectionof books relating to the upper MississippiValley and Great Lakes region arc acquired.The library is an otTicial depository for thepublications of the United States government,and its collection of the documents of otherstates supplements that of the State Library,particularly for the period prior to 188L Spe-cial subjects ill the field of Americana forwhich the library has well-rounded collection-are geology, archeology, Indians, biography,travel and description, local history, politica'science, economics, and education. On two sub-jects the library aii.is to have practically com-plete collections of, available material. Thc'-i'

The collection of genealogical materialranks among the best of its kind in the coun-try. Besides a large number of family histo-ries, it includes files of practically all the gen-ealogical magazines, many sets of collectedgenealogies, files of the publications of thehereditary patriotic societies, and many vol-umes of vital records. The various printedindexes which guide the investigator are includ-.ed, and much supplementary material is avail-able in individual biographies, the publicationsof historical Societies, published archives andmilitary records, and a notable collection oftown, county, and state histories. Both ama-teur and professional genealogists are constant-ly at work in the library, and from it has beendrawn the evidence to support innumerableapplications for admission to hereditary pa-triotic societies.The society has recently begun to devote

M'ccial attention to the history of the Scandi-navian element in the United States. In orderlo avoid duplication, an agreement was madev.Uh the board of regents of the University of-Minnesota by which the university library willcquire material relating to the Scandiiiavian'"iguages and literatures and to the history"f the Scandinavian countries themselves, andllie historical society will collect material rcla-'I'lg to these nationalities in the United States.


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Ill accord with this agreement the univer-sity library in 1916 transferred to the society

to foreign countries are acquired as far asl>ossibIe. Works in the scientific field are not


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its extensive and valuable O. N. Nelson col-lection; in 1918 the society acquired anotherlarge collection from Professor Gisle Bothncof the University of Minnesota; and in March,1921, it was made the permanent depositoryfor the" library of the Swedish Historical Socie-ty of America, a collection of about six thousanditems relating to Swedish men and institu-tions in America or written by Swedish-Americans. About fifty Scandinavian-Americannewspapers and periodicals from all partsof the United States are being received cur-rently, and many back volumes have beenacquired from various sources. The societyhas had the aid of Scandinavian experts inthe bibliographical work of building up thi^Collection, and there are usually on the staffone or two assistants with a knowledge of thelanguages to help in caring for it. With theacquisition of the library of the Swedish His-torical Society of .\mcrica, the collection h.i>become, it is believed, the ino>t complete of it-kind in the country.

Outside the field of .\nicricana the presentpolicy of the library is to maintain select ref-erence collections rather than to build up comprchensive collcclions for research purposesThe various encyclopedias, indexes, and otherstandard refcrenec works will be found on theshelves, and the most, important books relaliir-i

collected except on subjects closely related tohistory, siich as geology and anthropology.Books of fiction are also excluded unless theyhave historical value or are the products of.Miniiesola authors. But since the limits ofcollection were less restricted in the past,when the output of books was smaller, and^nlce all sorts of works have been received as;.'itts, rare and curious items on almost everyconceivable subject may be found in the li-brary.Fully two-thirds of the current acquisitions

ionic in as exchanges or gifts. Nearly all thehistorical societies, the principal universities.;indmany other institutions of the United States'lul Canada, and a few in other countries sendheir publications to' the society in exchange'nr its publications; and much valuable mater-il IS acquired by the exchange of duplicates^vith other large libraries. Countless individ-''ils and organizations all over the countryi'lesent copies of their publications in orderiliat they may be preserved in the library and"lade accessible to the public. Members and'riends of the society frequently turn over to" accumulations of books, pamphlets, and jieri-o'licals which they do not care to retain, and^uch contributions arc earnestly solicited. No"ne need hesitate to present material for fearlliat it will not be wanted, because such of it


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as proves to be duplicated in the library or out-side of its field can nearly always be disposed

tab. By following the directions on this cardit is a simple matter to ascertain whether or


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of to advantage by exchange with other insti-tutions.

I

THE REFERENCE DEPARTMENTThe resources of the library arc free to the

public and are available through the readingroom service. Application for all book*,pamphlets, periodicals, and maps should bemade at the desk in the main reading room j(101), which is open from 8:30 a. m. to 5:1X1 IP. M. every day except Sundays and holidays. It 'is hoped that it will be possible to keep the room \open evenings in tlie near future. Many of the !more important reference works, such a.* ,genealogical sots, dictionaries, encyclopedia?atlases, and periodical indexes, are placed inopen shelves around the room. One section otshelves, is filled with a collection of rcccii'books of general interest, which is constantly ,being renewed. Beside it is a section used for 'exhibitions of books on special subjects of cur- .rent interest. iA list of the l)Ooks in the library will be ,found in the card catalogue, which is in case-at the cast end of the room. By means


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!

IThe privilege of consulting books in the

stack is extended, on application at the desk.catalogues issued by publishers and by dealersin remainders and second-hand lx)oks and from


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to competent persons who can furnish satis-factory references. The stack room occupic-four full stories on the cast side of the building from the basement to the second-floor ceil- *ing and encloseiS an eight-tier, enanieled-stecl, 'self-supporting bookstack with a capacity of :384,000 volumes. The shelving and floors forthe four lower tiers have not been installed fas yet. At the entrance to each floor is .tschedule giving the locations of books on allthe floors. The individual sections of thestack arc al.so labeled on the ends with the -classificat'on numbers. Black type on theselabels ind'cales the Cutter classification, ami red, that of the Library of Congress. A dis-tinction is also made in the labels on the back- *of Jhe books; rouneriodicals and serial publications, of which thesociety receives over two thousand, exclusive ofnewspapers, are checked in a card record, andconstant vigilance is necessary to prevent gapsin the flies of this material. The accessionsdepartment also prepares books and periodi-cals for binding. Tliis involves the preparation"f instructions for the binder, collation to iii-^ure perfect copies, and. frequently, corre-^p


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examined to sue that the instructions have beenfollowed.

in the case of United States documents,most of which are arranged according to a


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After leaving the accessions department, jbooks go to the catalogue department forclassifying, cataloguing, and shelving. Theprogress of a book through this department ^is frequently a long and complicated process.Author, title, and subject cards are preparedfor the public catalogue in the reading room, 'and author cards for the official catalogue. i>l lection is filed flat in manila folders placed^irtically in specially constructed dust-proofiiid light-proof filing boxes. These boxes are


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arraiiRcd on the shelves in the order of the jclassification, together with the bound vol- quite in accord with the objects of the society,as specified in its charter, therefore, that it hasdevoted considerable attention of late to theproblems involved in caring for noncurreiitstate and local archives and making tlieni ac-cessible to students of history. .\il the Euro-pean countries and some of the Americanstates make provision for the assembling ofnoncurrcnt records from the various depart-ments and local jurisdictions in some placewhere they may be classitied and cared for byexperts.

In Minnesota the most satisfactory solu-tion appeared to lie the designation of the his-torical society as the oflicial custodian of suchmaterial, and the first step in that directionwas taken when the legislature of 1915 pro-vided that the Historical Building should beerected "for and adapted to the use of the Min-nesota historical society and for the care, pre-servation and protection of the state archives 'During 1015 the society coiiperated with tin-pnljlic archives eominission of the .Xmorican

ofthe association for 1914 (Washington, 1916),and which made clear the need for more ade-quate provision for the care of archival mate-rial. The legislature of 1919 enacted a lawempowering the society to act as custodian ofstate and local archives, and authorizing thetransfer to it of noncurrcnt public recordswhenever it is prepared to receive them.In accordance with this act most of the olderand historically important archives of the

offices of the governor and the secretary ofstate, some files from the offices of the adjutantgeneral and the department of education, andall the records of a number of offices and com-missions no longer in existence are now in thecustody of the society. The proper cleaning,pressing, sorting, filing, and listing of this ma-terial cannot be accomplished until morespace is available in the building for work-rooms and for shelving, and until funds areavailable to pay for the services of an archivistand assistants. When that time comes it is ex-pected that a separate archives division will bet-tablished. In the meantime, however, thematerial is being cared for by the manuscript'Iivision; and two groups which are invaluablefor historical purposesthe legislative papers'or the territorial period. lS-19 to 1S57, fromtbe office of the secretary of slate, and the


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17)^755?governor's archives dating from 1849 to 1869are now in shape for convenient consultationby students. The society is prepared to re-ceive and care for comparatively small lots of

material, and the east and west halls containthe general historical e.xhibits. A part of theeast hall is used at present as a workroom.Framed pictures are hung on the walls in all


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public records, state or local, preference beinggiven to material which is of special historicalvalue or which cannot be adequately cared forin present depositories.

THE MUSEUMThe sources of history consist not merely

of primed and written material but also ofphysical objects and pictures which help to re-produce the life and conditions of the past. Thecollection, preservation, and display of tlii>class of material is the function of the society '^museum. The whole of the third or top floorof the new building, consisting of four largeexhibition halls, several storage closets, and anoffice, was designed for the use of the museum.The rooms are lighted from above, with allglare and shadow eliminated by the use ofsyenite glass, which diffuses the light. Thesouth hall is used at present as an auditorium.in which are held the meetings of the societyand of other societies and clubs, but the wall-of the room are available for the display ofportraits. Organizations are welcome to theuse of this room without charge, but arrange-ments must be made in advance. The northhall is devoted to Inihan and archeologicr.l

the rooms and also in the corrido'rs.The collections of the museum relate pri-

marily to Minnesota but include also consider-able material pertaining to other parts of theUnited States and to foreign countries. Par-ticularly notable are the extensive collectionsin the field of American archeology assembledby Alfred J. Hill, Theodore H. Lewis. Jacob\'. Browcr, the Reverend Edward C. Mitchell,and Xewton H. WinchcU. The general his-torical collection, although large and valuable,is somewhat haphazard in character, havinglieen built up by gradual accumulation duringthe seventy years of the society's existence, butan attempt is now being made to round it outby systematic campaigns for material. Amongthe large objects of special interest are the firstprinting press used in Minnesota, a hand loom,a Red River cart, and one of the first automo-biles brought to the state. Classes of materialwhich are fairly well represented include old-lashioned clothing, objects illustrative of domes-tic life, and World War specimens. The picturecollection contains thousands of photographs,Cuts, and prints, and about five hundredframed pictures, mostly portraits of meniiid women who have played a part in the his-tory of the state. There is also an extensive


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collection of posters gathered mainly duringthe World War.Most of the material in the museum lias

been contributed bj' members and friends of

ot the entire picture collection enables oneqiu'ckly to ascertain its resources on anygiven suliject or to locate a desired picture.The historical


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the society, for the available funds have beentoo limited to permit of purchases. Objectsand pictures which illustrate methods and con-ditions now obsolete and which would there-fore be valuable additions to the collections arcto be found in almost every household, and theowners are invited to present them to themuseum where their preservation will be as-sured and they will help the people of the pres-ent and the future to visualize the life of thepast. A special effort is being made to collectcooking utensils, household furniture, tools, andother articles characteristic of pioneer days, i"order that they may be available for the furnish-ing of a replica of a pioneer log cabin to beerected in the museum. Material of specialvalue is sometimes accepted on deposit whenthe owner is unwilling to surrender title to itparticularly when there is a probability that itwill ultimately become the property of thesociety.

Since the transfer of the museum to tin-new building and the apiKiinlmcnt of a curator.rapid progress lias been made in the classifica-tion and cataloguing of the collections. Theunframcd pictures are divided into groups l'>size, arranged by subject within each group, aii'lplaced in verticil file.; and a card catalogiK

and archeological objects arerecorded in an accession book, numbered, andprovided with explanatory labels. Xo cata-logue of this material is available as yet, butit is expected that one will be begun in the nearfuture.

In the arrangement of exhibits the primarypurpose is to interest and instruct the hun-dreds of people who visit the museum everyweek. The specimens are grouped in someIcgical or chronological manner and much his-torical information is conveyed by means ofcarefully written labels. Most of the large ob-jects and some of the more significant of thesmaller ones are kept on display permanently,l>ut it is neither possible nor desirable to ex-hibit all the possessions of the museum at anyone time. By occasional changes in the maingroups and by the frequent display of specialexhibits, often related to some current event"r anniversary, the interest of the public isMisfained and the educational possibilities arcincreased. Material not on exhibition is kept"1 the large storage closets so arranged thatli IS readily available when wanted by investi-gator.s. Of the extensive archeological collec-liciii, much of which is of interest mainly tospecialists, the greater part is kept in storageMul only selections of tyi>ical or unusuallv in-


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tcrcsting articles arc exhibited. Only a part ofthe framed pictures, also, can be hung at anyone 'time, and the unframed pictures are dis-played as a rule only in special exhibits. For

THE RESEARCH AND EDITORIALDIVISION\ot content with the mere collection and


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these the resources of the society's book amimanuscript collections are frequently drawnupon also.The work of the museum with school chil-dren is particularly promising. Teachers ofcourses in history, government, geography,domestic science, and other subjects are rap-idly discovering the facilities which it offers forvisual instruction, with the result that somesix or seven thousand pupils in college, highschool, and grade classes, not only from theTwin Cities but also from other parts of thstate, are brought to the museum annuallto examine and study the collections. Twa month during the school year, on the secondand fourth Saturday afternoons at three o'clockspecial museum talks for children in the grades

jfrom the fourth to the eighth inclusive *are given by the curator or other member-of the society's staff. These talks, which arevery popular with the children, serve to arou-can interest in and nn appreciation of the thin.i;- fof the past. IThe museum is open to the iniblic daily cN-ccpf Sundays and holidays, and occasionallyprovision is made for a holiday opening. 1'is hoped that provision for opening on Sund.iVafternoons may be made in the near future. *

.lbj,-icc 1

ond I3Ck.

}

preservation of the materials for history, thesociety has from the beginning promoted re-search to extend the boundaries of historicalknowledge and disseminated historical infor-mation by the publication of original docu-ments and narratives, monographs, papers, andcompilations of data. The first publication, is-sued in 1830 with the title Annals of the Min-iicsola Historical Society, consisted of an ad-dress by the Reverend E. D. Neill on "TheFrench Voyageurs to Minnesota in the Seventeenth Century" (28 p.). Similar Annalswere published in each of the three succeedingyears, and in 1856 a report submitted by thesociety to the legislature was issued as a terri-torial document with the title Materials for thePiiture History of Minnesota (141 p.). The5epublications were reprinted in 1872 as volume 1of the Collections of the Minnesota HistoricalSociety, and this series has been continued tothe present da}-.The Minnesota Historical Collections, as this

series is commonly called, consist at presentof seventeen volumes, of which one, volume10, is bound in two parts, and one, volume 16,is .still incomplete. Nine of these volumes arcmade up of miscellaneous documents, papers,^ketches, and memoirs, and the remainder


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consist of monograplis or special compilations aooks touching on Minnesota historx-.information about tlie activities of the


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Ojibway Indians, by William W. Warren amiEdward D. Neill (1885. 535 p.); 7, The Missis-sippi Rircr and Its Soiirc; by Jacob V. Brower(1893. 3G0 p.) ; 11, Itasca State Park, An Illus-tratcd History, by the same author (1904. 28.^p.) ; 13, Lives of the Governors of Minnesota.by James H. Baker (1908. 480 p.); 14, Miniu-sola Biographies. I655-IQ13, by Warren Uphdiiiand Mrs. Rose B. Dunlap (1912. 892 p.); \.part 1, The Weathering of Aboriginal Stone Arti-facts, Xo. 1, by Xewton H. Winchell (1913. 18"p.) ; and 17, Minnesota Geographic \'ames, Thei'Origin and Historic Significance, by Warren 1- 1>bam (1920. 735 p.). In the fnture the Colleclio,:.'will be reserved mainly for original material ; an'!a number of scries of volumes hav

Documents

x1920 - Handbook Series