On this date in 1908, the Grand Forks Herald's front page blared the following headline: “VALLEY CITY GETS NEXT MEETING OF THE EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.”
The Herald went on to report that the decision was a unanimous choice made the day before at the North Dakota Educational Association’s annual meeting. The association's constitution had previously mandated that its annual meetings would alternate between Grand Forks and Fargo.
One day before, the Herald had predicted a “lively fight” over the constitutional amendment to allow the organization to choose any city it wanted for the annual convention. The Herald claimed, “Valley City and other towns are said to have entered a combination to defeat those favoring Fargo and Grand Forks and they are confident of winning.”
President McFarland of Valley City Normal made the motion to change the constitution. Superintendent of Public Instruction Stockwell “heartily endorsed the amendment” and expressed satisfaction that Valley City had sufficient hotel accommodations.
Superintendent Smith, a native of Missouri, was skeptical that any city outside of Grand Forks and Fargo could “adequately entertain an association as large as this one.” He had been to an equivalent convention one year earlier in Valley City, and he regarded its facilities to be “abominable.” “He wanted President McFarland to show just what facilities Valley City could offer.”
Superintendent Warren of Minot considered it to be a “matter of principle and of fairness and justice to the rest of the state” and was offended by any accusation that “any combine” would try to take the association away from the valley.
The vote to change the association's constitution was overwhelming, 74 to 29. Then, as now, the question of where an organization should hold its state convention typically boils down to the quantity, quality, and availability of its hotel space. The venue itself is usually less of a concern.
Dakota Datebook by Andrew Alexis Varvel
References:
- “Valley City Gets Next Meeting Of The Educational Association”; Grand Forks Herald; 3 January 1908; page 1, columns 1-2; page 5, columns 4-7; page 8, columns 3-4.
- “Hundreds Of Teachers Attend Annual Association Meeting”; Grand Forks Herald, 2 January 1908; page 1, columns 1-2; page 2, columns 1-7; page 3, column 3.
