Manuscripts Collection
Linda Lee Berglin was born on October 19, 1944. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She was given the HUD Award for Design (Metro Center 1985 Report) for the City of Minneapolis (1970). In 1972 Berglin was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives and re-elected in 1974, 1976, and 1978. Berglin was named Minnesota's Outstanding Young Woman for 1974. Berglin has served in the Minnesota Senate since being elected in 1980. She is still a member of the Senate as of December 2009. During her tenure in office she has represented Minnesota's 59th, 60th, and 61st districts, located in Minneapolis. Her particular legislative concerns have been health and welfare, taxes, urban affairs, women's issues, minorities, and senior citizens.
Berglin served on the House Health and Welfare Committee (1973-1980). When she was elected to the Senate she became vice-chairwoman (1981-1982) and chairwoman (1983-1992) of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. After 1992 the committee became the Senate Health Care Committee, which Berglin chaired from 1993 to 1996. She has also served on the Child Support Enforcement Task Force, the Interagency Board for Quality Assurance, the Legislative Council on the Economic Status of Women, and the Council on Black Minnesotans.
The collection consists of correspondence, legislative files, bill files, subject files, speeches, newsletters, campaign flyers, committee minutes and reports, and constituent surveys. Files pertaining to chairmanship of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Health Care Committee have been transferred to the State Archives collections.
These records are organized into the following sections:
The records of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Health Care Committee of the Minnesota Legislature are available in the Minnesota State Archives.
Accession number: 12,778; 12,968; 13,165; 13,234; 13,258; 13,289; 13,360; 13,429; 13,517; 13,559; 14,045; 14,505; 14,541; 14,719; 15,460; 15,820; 15,971
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, 1981-1992; Lynn Leitte, July 1999 and September 2001; Alex Kent, December 2009.
Catalog ID number: 001735047
These files consist of correspondence and memoranda between Berglin and her constituents, her staff, state agency representatives, Senate Majority Research members, and other legislators. Most items are in chronological order by date of Berglin's response. Subjects addressed include crime, social services, health care, medical assistance programs, general assistance programs, nursing homes, divorce, child custody, child support, budget and finance, and women's issues. Letters received are sometimes accompanied by statistics, reports, newspaper clippings, and other informational material. Included in this series are invitations and thank-you letters received, and sample form letters sent by Berglin. As pertinent, Berglin responds in her role as a district representative or as chairwoman of the Health and Human Services Committee.
This series encompasses Berglin's files on the various committees, commissions, councils, and task forces she served on as part of her official duties. Files on task forces or other groups in which she was not a member can be found in the Subject Files series. Files pertaining to personal special interest groups can be found in the Office Files series under "Linda's Memberships." The chairwomanship files for the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and Senate Health Care Committee have been transferred to the State Archives collections.
See also: General Subject Files (box 28) for more materials on the Medicaid Demonstration Project.
Files maintained by Berglin and/or her staff which pertain generally to routine activities and running her St. Paul office. This series contains her trip files, conferences, speeches, and portions of her schedules. There is also a small amount of campaign material, newsletters, and Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party information in this series. Her staff also kept files on special interest groups and organizations of which Berglin was an active member.
These files are in chronological order. The files are a record of conferences attended by Berglin. The trip files, correspondence files, and speech files may offer further details as to whether she was a presenter or attendee.
Speeches are arranged in chronological order.
Only completed surveys with substantial constituent commentary were retained.
Bills introduced by Berglin. Files are arranged by Senate File number within each legislative session. These files do not contain a complete inventory of her bills.
Files are in alphabetical order by subject within each legislative session. When known, the Senate and/or House file number is given. There is significant overlap between these files and the General Subject Files.
The subject files are arranged in alphabetical order and encompass all Berglin's legislative terms.
Ads soliciting resumes and applications for unidentified positions and unidentified companies, sometimes soliciting a fee from applicants if a position is found.
Long term care facility for the mentally ill.
Long term care and medical assistance.
See also: Committee/Commissions/Task Forces series (box 10) for materials on the Medicaid Demonstration Project Design and Development Task Force.
Includes files on the Joint Committee on Medical Malpractice and the Committee on Health and Welfare Subcommittee on Health Care. Addresses claims, grievance mechanisms, and reporting.