Archives Month

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.

Today is Halloween, a perfect time to talk about scary stories, ghosts, and old legends! The North Dakota State Archives holds many items that speak to such things. After all, history is rife with stories of the unexplained, and North Dakota is no different.

In early 1917, social news about the State Historical Society’s second librarian, Miss Georgia Carpenter, made the columns of the Bismarck Tribune. She was engaged to Charles Hageman of Bismarck. Charles was a travelling salesman for a Duluth hardware company. The two would be marrying in Randolph, New York, from where she hailed, although they planned to make their home in Bismarck.

In the early history of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, the offices were in the basement of the original Capitol. It wasn’t a lot of space, which soon became a problem. In 1913, Secretary Orin G. Libby of the State Historical Society, reported, “the crowded condition of the museum rooms… made it impossible for the Society to enter into any considerable collecting …”

In 1913, Orin G. Libby, secretary at the State Historical Society, reported that the curator of the society was anxious to secure representative collections illustrating the early life of the state’s various nationalities. Only one had proper representation, according to Libby; and while you might think that it was the German, Norwegian or indigenous populations, you would be incorrect. The only group reported as having good representation was the Icelandic population.

In 1916, Librarian Georgia Carpenter noted that in the past year, several visitors of national reputation had visited the library, including Miss Frances Densmore, known for documenting the music of indigenous peoples. She and Orin G. Libby had recorded Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan songs on wax cylinders.