Recent State Archives Acquisitions: April 2009
Background Information
A variety of research topics are reflected in records added this month to the State Archives Collections. Selected records, dated 1981-1991, were received from the Anoka State Hospital (now called the Anoka-Metro Regional Center) volunteer services department, including donation records, to illustrate how individuals and organizations in the local area supported the hospital. The records complement existing records of the hospital already preserved in the State Archives, and are useful for researching how the state provided services to its developmentally disabled citizens.
Also useful for scholars and human rights researchers wishing to study the state’s treatment of Minnesota’s vulnerable citizens are litigation files, dated 1984-1993, of the Attorney General/Human Services Division. The cases were precedent setting, with two of the cases appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and one of the cases appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. One case concerns the Minority Heritage Preservation Act, and the constitutionality of placing children of color with adoptive parents of the same race. The next case is about a person who had been a ward of the state for about forty years, and documents the complex issues of moving residents of the state hospitals to smaller group homes. And the last case, concerning antipsychotic or neuroleptic drugs, featured a decision that recognized that patients have the right to refuse drug treatment.
The Braham school district in Isanti County transferred school censuses, dated 1949-1979, and selected published records and reports, dated 1978-1991. The school censuses are valuable for family history research, and the published items are useful for researching curriculum offerings, facility needs, and the major activities and policies of a contemporary Minnesota school district. The records enhance an existing set of records for this school district.
Documenting the state legislature is a collecting priority of the State Archives, and selected committee records, dated 1998, of the Senate Environmental and Natural Resources Committee/ Environment and Agriculture Budget Division were transferred; the records were recently discovered and not included in the main set of Senate committee books transferred several years ago.
Acquisitions
1. Anoka State Hospital. Selected records (dated 1981-1996) of the hospital’s volunteer services department. Also, a nearly complete set of the hospital’s newsletter, “Ripples and Reflections” (1971-1981), plus published records and reports of the Health Department, the Public Welfare Department, and the Fergus Falls State Hospital that enhance existing sets. 1 box.
2. Attorney General. Human Services Division. Litigation files, dated 1984-1993, concerning three precedent setting cases, two of which were appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. 3 boxes.
3. Isanti County. Independent School District No. 314 (Braham). School censuses, dated 1949-1979, and selected published records and reports, dated 1978-1991. 1 box.
4. Legislature. Senate. Committee Book. Environmental and Natural Resources Committee: Environment and Agriculture Budget Division, March 11, 1998. Inter-files with the existing set of Senate Committee Books for the 1997-1998 legislative session. 1 folder.
Back to Recent Acquisitions.
May 21, 2009
