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Memories
Lidgerwood, N.D., native Edward J. Franta graduated from
UND in 1927 with a B.A. in journalism. He went on to a
long, distinguished career with the Cavalier County Republican
in Langdon, earning a wide reputation as a commentator
on affairs in the state. During his student years here,
he created a five-inch-thick scrapbook filled with clippings,
photographs, party favors, felt patches, football pins,
dance cards, and other items portraying a “golden
age” in the University’s history. |
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| The "Special"
in special collections |
| The Elwyn B. Robinson Department
of Special Collections in the Chester Fritz Library
serves as the “jewel box” of the University,
housing remarkable historical treasures from our region
and around the world. On these pages are just a few of
those treasures. The Department also provides a great
range of resources and services to assist all who seek
to enhance their understanding of the events and circumstances
that have shaped this land and their lives. |
- Bygdebok
Collection
This two-volume set from the area of Bindal, Norway, is
an example of Norwegian farm history books called bygdeboks.
They offer family historians an extremely valuable resource
for tracing Norwegian ancestors, often back to the 1500s
or earlier. The volumes contain economic information about
each farm within an area and information about the people
who lived there, such as births, deaths, marriages, and
emigration. The Chester Fritz Library will mark the 25th
anniversary of its bygdebok collection this year. Numbering
997 volumes, with more ordered, the Library’s bygdebok
collection is recognized as one of the largest and most
significant in the United States.
- Joseph
Bell DeRemer
Joseph Bell DeRemer graduated from a year-long course in
architecture at Columbia University in 1897. Shortly after
the turn of the century, he left the East Coast to seek
opportunities in Seattle. On his trip west, he got off the
train in Grand Forks and was persuaded to stay by David
Beecher, president of the Union National Bank. DeRemer’s
first commission was to design a home for
UND President Webster Merrifield. Colonial Revival in style
with a Roman portico as its dominant feature, it was hailed
at the time as “one of the finest dwellings in the
Northwest.” DeRemer designed other classic buildings
that defined the UND campus, including Merrifield, Montgomery
and Woodworth Halls, the Delta Gamma sorority house, and
the Sigma Nu fraternity house; and a number of prominent
Grand Forks homes, churches, and facilities.
- First
Books
The first UND yearbook, The Dacotah, was published in 1904.
It was not published annually until 1923, and then the series
was interrupted by the Great Depression and World War II.
Publication ended in the 1970s.
Three leather-bound minute books record the meetings of
the Board of Regents for the University’s first 10
years. Brief notations in the side margins index such decisions
as the hiring of the first president and faculty, rules
for students, construction plans, and bids for early campus
buildings.
- The
McDonald Cartoons
This poignant expression following the assassination of
President Kennedy in November 1963 reflects the artistic
skill of Stuart Joseph McDonald, editorial cartoonist for
the Sunday edition of the Grand Forks Herald from 1961 to
1967. The collection includes 267 cartoons, all measuring
11 by 14 inches. McDonald’s cartoons focused primarily
on state political and economic issues but extended more
into national issues as the United States became embroiled
in the Vietnam conflict. McDonald won numerous awards for
his cartoons, including three George Washington Honor Medals
from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. His principal
occupation, though, was as a businessman, serving as vice
president of the McDonald Clothing Company in Grand Forks.
He also was active in civic affairs, served in the North
Dakota House of Representatives, and taught retailing at
UND. He later held government posts in Colorado and North
Dakota before retiring in 2001.
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Military
Heritage Collection
The Department of Special Collections established the Carleton
Elliott Simensen Military Heritage Collection in 1993 to
document the effects of this nation’s wars and military
conflicts on North Dakota families and communities. It is
named in honor of the first UND graduate to be killed in
action in World War II.
Among the holdings in this collection are the Sig Benjaminson
Papers (left). Sigurdur “Sig” Benjaminson served
in the 86th Chemical Mortar Battalion in World War II, which
saw action in France, Belgium, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
The collection is rich in correspondence between Sig and
his wife, Gladys (Widme) Benjaminson, between 1942 and 1945.
Sig was discharged from the U.S. Army on Oct. 3, 1945, and
returned to his home in Crystal, N.D.
The George S. Patton Papers were assembled by Sereno
Elmer Brett, Patton’s second in command during World
War I. Spanning the years 1918 to 1944, the papers primarily
document the activities of Patton and the 304th (1st)
Tank Brigade and the early development of tanks and tactics
during World War I. Brett organized and took command of
the 345th (327th) Battalion, Tank Corps in June 1918.
In the St. Mihiel Offensive of September 1918, he led
the first American tank attack in World War I, along with
the 344th (326th) Battalion. Brett assumed command of
the 304th (1st) Tank Brigade after Patton was wounded
in late September 1918 during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
At right is a “Barrage Map for St. Mihiel Offensive-Area,
1st Division,” one of 36 battle maps in the collection.
- Oldest
Book
The oldest book in the Department’s Rare Book Collection
is Joannes Battista Bernardi’s Seminarium totius phiilosopiae
Aristotelicae et Platonicae. Bernardus compiled the first
Latin dictionary of philosophy, a three-volume set. Besides
its importance to philosophers, his dictionary is valuable
to today’s researcher in documenting the command and
usage of Latin during the Renaissance. The Library holds
the second edition of Bernardi’s second volume of
his dictionary. This volume records the philosophy of Plato
and was printed by Stoer & Fabri in 1599 in Lyons, France.
Only five other libraries in the world hold a copy. It was
given to the Library in 1998 as part of Judge Eugene Burdick’s
personal book collection. It is believed to have been part
of the collection of his father, U.S. Representative Usher
Burdick.
- The Red
Menace
Three monthly magazines, all published in Bismarck and incorporating
“red” in their titles, opposed William Langer
and attacked the perceived socialism of the Nonpartisan
League and its platform of state-owned industries in North
Dakota. Written by the fictional editor, “Jim Jam
Junior,” Jim Jam Jems: A Volley of Truth was published
by Sam Clark, who had been editor of the Minot Reporter
in 1906 and mayor of Minot in 1908-09.
Published from 1912 until it was suspended in 1928, the
magazine used sensationalism, propaganda, humor, and satire
to expose corruption and spread “truth.” Each
issue ran about 60 pages and included articles of social
and political commentary. Subjects ranged from the fight
against prostitution in Fargo (1911) and the war with Mexico
(1916) to abortion and infant mortality. The collection
contains 18 representative issues from 1912 to 1921. From
August 1934 to April 1935, Clark continued his anti-Langer
stance with the Red Ink: Volleys of Truth. The Red Flame
was published by the Citizens’ Economy League for
one year, beginning in November 1919. Its goal was to nail
“a spike in the coffin of Bolshevism,” which
it considered to be rampant in North Dakota and the rest
of the nation.
- White
Bull Manucript
This 51-page bound business ledger contains text in the
Lakota language and 39 pictographs rendered in ink, lead
pencil, and colored crayon. The manuscript was created by
Joseph White
Bull, a Teton Lakota warrior who was almost certainly present
at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. In
the last third of the 19th century, Plains Indians replaced
the practice of painting tribal histories on dried animal
hides by instead using paper ledger books obtained from
white traders. In 1931, future North Dakota Congressman
Usher Burdick, himself an amateur historian, commissioned
White Bull — then 81 — to record his memories
in words and pictures. The 39 pictographs depict important
events in White Bull’s life, including bear and buffalo
hunts, horse-raiding exploits, battles, skirmishes, and
“counting coup.” Four of these involve the Battle
of the Little Bighorn, popularly known as Custer’s
Last Stand. White Bull, who was in his mid-20s at the time
of the battle, eventually became a chief himself and lived
to be nearly 100. The manuscript is remarkable not only
for its contributions to understanding American Indian history
and culture, but also for White Bull’s skill as an
artist. Using the drawing techniques of the 1870s, he was
among the last of the American Indian witnesses of his era
to record his impressions.
The University purchased the book from Congressman Burdick
in 1959, using funds donated by alumnus John Douglas Leith,
class of 1920. It is considered to be the most valuable
manuscript in the Department of Special Collections, according
to its head, Sandy Slater (left).
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