Andrew Alexis Varvel

This week in 1882, the Virginia Star, a black newspaper in Richmond, Virginia reprinted an article from the Conservator, a black newspaper from Chicago, that read: “A number of well-known colored men of this city have united to establish a colored colony in Dakotah. Their pronunciamento is as follows ..."

The November 1888 Student, the University of North Dakota's monthly magazine from that era, reported: “[Professor Henry] Montgomery … during the past five years has devoted considerable time to the exploration of artificial mounds in Dakota. The greater portion of this work ... has been in the neighborhood of Devils' Lake, Fort Totten, and Inkster.”

It was a cool, clear, crisp autumn day on this date at the University of North Dakota. The high temperature reached 44 degrees. It was a normal autumn day, but there were warning signs of possible trouble head.

In 1925, the Founder's Day convocation at UND featured a lecture by Dr. J.J. Cornelius titled “The Religions of India.” The lecture was sponsored by Wesley College, which began as a Methodist school in Wahpeton in 1891 under the original name Red River Valley University. Twenty years later, in 1905, at the invitation of UND president Merrifield, it relocated next to UND in Grand Forks and was renamed Wesley College.

Around this time in February 1925 at the University of North Dakota, student editors of the 1926 Dacotah yearbook were putting their final touches on their work. The University's student newspaper reported that the book would include an epic poem that, in the editor's words, "approaches anything ever written by Longfellow or any of the rest of the immortals.” The writers of the poem were members of the yearbook staff, but they were characterized by the paper as the "noted campus poet laureate," Diplodocus.

This week in 1913, students at the University of North Dakota were writing their final exams for the fall semester of 1912. Some of these classes were offered by the Sociology Department.

Around this time in 1925 at the University of North Dakota, the editorial staff of the 1926 Dacotah yearbook would have been hard at work. January 15 was the deadline for the mock-ups for each section. January 15 was also the deadline for student organizations to reserve space. Balloting for the Who's Who's section was set for January 19.

On this date in 1838, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Carey Allen Harris, sent an angry letter to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, William Clark.

This week in 1896, an African-American community organization in Fargo called the H.P.C. Lodge put on a private minstrel show at the Hayes amusement hall. The December 19 edition of The World, a newspaper from Minneapolis that served and reported on the Black community, announced the event in its Fargo society column, saying: “The H.P.C. lodge will give a grand private minstrels show at the Hayes amusement hall and a good time is looked for...”

About this time in 1832, Dr. Meredith Martin mailed a letter to Secretary of War Lewis Cass, imploring him to permit vaccination of Upper Missouri River Indians in what is now North Dakota.