Sarah Walker

October is Archives Month, and Halloween! Is a perfect time to discuss mediums and psychics. Their unorthodox work found its way into reports in various newspapers around the state, and these newspapers can be accessed through the North Dakota State Archives.

The North Dakota State Archives preserves two-dimensional objects like papers, photographs, film footage, diaries, and maps that document the history of the state and region. In 2022, the archives received a donation from the family of Marilyn Cross Hudson. She was born in Elbowoods in 1936. She married Charles Kent Hudson Sr. in Parshall in 1959.

In September 1925, Mrs. Florence H. Davis began working as librarian of the State Historical Society. She had been known in the community for a number of years, serving as librarian of the Bismarck Public Library since 1918.

October is Archives Month, where archives around the country celebrate the records in their holdings and recognize the archivists who assess, collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to information of lasting value. The North Dakota State Archives is part of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Today we share a story of curator woes at the North Dakota archives.

In April 1917, the United States entered World War I. High school boys and older soon enrolled in the military. Community members of all ages grew gardens and gathered scraps. Some dissented.

Earlier this week, we reported on slot machine legislation from 1950. On this date that year, an article in The People’s Voice, a newspaper from Helena, Montana, asked readers to vote against legalizing the machines.

Gambling and the like were a big topic of interest in 1950, with legislation targeting slot machines under consideration in Congress. Slot machines were commonly called “one-armed bandits” because they have one lever and take people’s money.

Steamboats and ships were an important means of transportation in early years, and newspapers frequently reported on the shipping activity. In 1911, Williston papers published a number of interesting reports. For example, there was a note about R. C. Foster leaving to take charge of a two-deck steamer called the Henrietta, which would be making regular trips from Bakers’ Ferry to Williston with passengers and freight.

On this date in 1916, citizens of Fargo were reading about an attempted escape from the Cass County jail. According to the local papers, "Only the eternal vigilance of Sheriff John Ross and his force of deputies" prevented the escape from happening.

In early August in 1930, a group of armed, unmasked men robbed the Dakota National Bank and Trust Co. in Bismarck. They walked in around 2:30pm on August 7, forced customers and staff in the bank to lie on the floor, and then looted the vault. They locked the employees and customers in the vault, then left. After a few minutes, the employees liberated themselves and their patrons.