State Archives Collection

A variety of topics are documented in state and local government records added this month to the State Archives collection.  They will be useful for family, local history and state history research.  

• Hennepin County. Independent School District No. 273. Edina Public Schools Records, 2000-2011. School Board Minutes and Superintendent’s Report, 2000-2011.
• Minnesota State Prison (Stillwater). Farm Machinery Department Published Records and Reports. Records, 1933. Minnesota Binders, Mowers, Dump Rakes, Side Delivery Rakes, Hay Loaders, Cultivators, Ropes and Binder Twine, 1933.

The following files document the contested 2008 US Senate Election between Al Franken and Norm Colemen, hearings on amendments to Department of Natural Resources rules and regulations, hearings regarding the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s recommendations and regulations for acid deposition standards, and a 2004 contest from Tom Rukavina and the Iron Range regarding Governor Pawlenty’s use of an allotment to use funds for Iron Range Development to make up the state's budget shortfall.

• Attorney General. Civil Litigation Division. Litigation Files. Records, 1946-2009. Contested 2008 Election, 2009. Department of Natural Resources, 1946-2001. Pollution Control Agency Acid Deposition Recommendations, 1984-1986. Rukavina v. Pawlenty, 2003.

A variety of research topics are represented in Minnesota state government records added this month to the State Archives collection. 

• Washington County. Grey Cloud Island Township. Records, 1982-2024. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes, 2023-2024. Town Board Minutes, 2023-2024. Township Resolutions, 1982-2024.

• Health Department. Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control. Minnesota Immunization Information Connection, 1962-2016. The Division of Disease Prevention and Control was renamed in 2000 to the “Division of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control,” and again in 2001 to the “Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control. 

• State Emblems Redesign Commission (SERC). Records, 2023-2024. Meeting files, 2023. Member files, 2023-2024. Reports, 2023-2024. 

A variety of research topics are represented in Minnesota state government records added this month to the State Archives collection. 

• Olmsted County. Eyota Township. Records, 1876-1982. Election Registers and Related Documents. Township Clerk Record Books. Treasurer’s Account Books.  
• Charter School District 4189-07. Bright Water Elementary/Legacy of Dr. Josie R Johnson Montessori. Records, 2015-2024. Executive Audit Summaries, 2015-2019. Financial Statements, 2017-2019. Letter of Closure, 2024. Policies, plans, and handbooks, 2020-2024. Originally opened as Bright Water Preschool in 2004, this charter school expanded to become an elementary school in 2007. In July of 2020, it was renamed the Legacy of Dr. Josie R. Johnson Montessori School and was colloquially known as JJ Legacy. This school closed abruptly on January 12, 2024. During its tenure it was the only active Montessori School in North Minneapolis
• Health Department. Public Health Nursing. Public Health Nursing Practice for the 21st Century Training and Discussion Videos, 2000. Recruitment video. 

Records added this month to the State Archives collection document important government functions, and will be valuable for a variety of research topics.  The records complement existing sets of records in the collection.

• History of Public Health Nursing Articles and Exhibit Materials, 1993. Historic photos of Public Health Nursing, 1908-1950. Manuals and Teaching Guides, 1938-1997. Photo Albums, 1928-1959. This includes materials and photographs from an exhibit on the history of public nursing in Minnesota. 
• Anoka State Hospital. Records, 1931. Photograph of the staff of Anoka State Hospital from 1931. This photograph was in possession of a janitor who worked at Anoka in the 1930s, and was donated to the State Archives by a family member after he passed away. 
• Martin County District Court. Civil Case Files. Records, 1902-1957. Case files cover divorces, property disputes, judicial ditches, change of name, land condemnation, trusteeships, other civil matters. Does not include adoption case files. These materials have been digitized. These files interfile with the existing set of civil case files. 

No new accessions were added to the State Archives this month due to staffing capacity.  One collection was deaccessioned from the Minnesota Historical Society Institutional Archives and returned to the originating department.

Museum Collections Department: Accession Files, 1898-1969.    

The museum accession files are made up of 8 boxes of paper files from 1898 to 1969, as well as the Ayer Estate accession files which go up to 1982. This encompasses the first 10,000 accession files for the collections department, up to year 1961 at which point the numbering system was changed to the year and sequential number. At the time of transfer, there was not a full time employee in the Collections Department who routinely accessed the accessions files. Due to staffing and operational changes, there is now a regular need for these materials within the originating department. These materials were transferred to institutional archives in 1989 as MHS 1990-4. Based on the available records of the initial transfer, it seems that these accession files were transferred to the Institutional Archives before the historical society moved out of 1500 Mississippi. At that time, these records would have been housed in the same building as the Collections department and would have been much more accessible than the current set up provides. It is no longer the practice of the Institutional Archives to accept the transfer of accession files, as those materials are considered vital for the day to day functioning of the collections department.

Records added this month to the State Archives are welcome additions to the collection.    

The Education Department set includes a variety of standardized tests used at the elementary through high school levels by the Minnesota Department of Education from 1996 to 2019. These are the first materials of this type to be added to the Minnesota State Archive. Standardized tests have shaped the education of America and Minnesota particularly since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. These tests provide an insight into how education standards and requirements have changed over the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and notably document the early adaptation of standardized tests for younger students in the 1990s.

Department of Revenue materials include correspondence, meeting minutes, and subject files for commissioners and assistant commissioners for the Minnesota Department of Revenue. Subjects represented in these materials include the 2011 government shutdown, as well as tax reforms and bills concerning sales, business, individual income and property taxes. 

• Department of Education, Statewide Assessment Tests. Records, 1996-2019. Basic Skills Tests, 1996-2009. Reading Tests, 2011-2013. Test of Emerging Academic English, 1999-2011. Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) 1998-2019. Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS) 2010-2019. Limited English Proficiency Assessments, 1999-2004. Graduation Required Assessment for Diploma, 2009-2015.
• Department of Revenue, Commissioner’s Records: Cynthia Bauerly 2016-2019; Ward Einess 2001-2010; Myron Frans 2012-2015; Keith Getschel 1991-2012; Beth Kadoun 1993-2010; Jack Mansun 1994-2010; Matt Massman 1999, 2007-2012; Dan Salomone 1999-2013. Subject Files 2007-2010.

A wide variety of functions and topics, useful for a variety of research topics, are represented in records added to the State Archives this month.  

• Isanti County. Probate Court Records, 1889-1907. Probate Order Books B and C.
• Ramsey County. Human Services. Records, 1958-2018. Annual Reports, 1971-2018. Child Well-Being reports, 1986-2005. Disability Reports, 1986-2002. Facility Reports, 1988, 2001. Housing Reports, 1980-2002. Internal Administration, 1989-2016. Minnesota Family Investment Program, 1998-2002. Other Organizations/External References, 2000-2007. Program Evaluations, 1980-1998. Volunteer Reports, 1958-1980. Welfare Reform, 1992-1996. These records document the shift from Community Human Services to Human Services, and include external reviews of Ramsey County conducted for the Human Service’s reference. 
• Ramsey County. Saint Paul: Charters and Ordinances. Records, 1960. City Charter and Legislative Code, 1960. Third Edition.  
• Board of Water and Soil Resources. Minutes and Soil Surveys, 1970-2020. Monthly Board Minutes, Agendas, and Notices 2014-2020. Soil Health Surveys, 1970-1999.

A variety of research topics and important Minnesota government functions are represented in records added this month to the State Archives collection.

• Beltrami County, Liberty Township. Records, 1898-2021.  Birth and Death Registers, Clerk/Treasurer Registers, Election Registers, Report of the Board of Audit, Town Meeting Records, Road Records.  Prior to this transfer the state archives only had school district records from Liberty Township.
• District Court, Minnesota 4^th Division.  Welsch Consent Decree Files.  Records, 1985-1987.  Comments on Settlement.  Investigation into the death of John Dragoo, 1985-1986.  This is an addition to an existing collection on a landmark court case that led to major changes in treatment of Minnesota’s institutionalized developmentally disabled citizens.  These records were donated by a lawyer for the plaintiff who worked on this trial, and includes materials on the death of a patient at one of these institutions that is currently unaccounted for in the collection. 

A variety of research topics and important Minnesota government functions are represented in records added this month to the State Archives collection. 

• Legislative Auditor. Financial, Program Evaluation, and Special Report Audit Divisions. Records, 2025. This encompasses all of the reports published by the legislative auditor in 2025, compiled over the course of the year.

• Carlton County. Department of Public Health, Nursing Service History Records, Public Health Advisory Committee, 1951-2007.

• Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. Peer Reviews and Subjects Files. Records, 1975-2020. Peer Reviews, 1991-2020. Minnesota Land Trust, 2008-2017. Strategic Plans, 1990-2002. Task Force, 2005-2006. Trust Fund, 1987-2011.

• Redwood County Auditor’s Office Records 1934-2015. Annexations, 1934-1977. Annual Financial Statements, 1924-2020. University of Minnesota Redwood Extension Committee, 1961-2015. Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls, 2000-2001.

A variety of research topics are documented in state and government records added this month to the State Archives collection, which will be valuable for family, local, and state history research.

• Martin County District Court. Civil Case Files records 1902-1957. Case files cover divorces, property disputes, judicial ditches, change of name, land condemnation, trusteeships, other civil matters. Does not include adoption case files. These materials have been digitized. These files interfile with the existing set of civil case files.

• Isanti County School Districts No. 3, 4, 5, 24, 30, 38/678, 40/679, 42, 53, 69. Records, 1904-1965. All Complete Record and Report System for Elementary Schools, Annual Reports, Applications for High School Tuition from State Funds, Attendance Registers, Class Records Grades 1-8, Clerk’s Books, District Treasurer’s Book, Ideal Class Register, Librarian’s Record, Pupil record cards, Register for Common School Districts, School Census, School Registers, Teacher’s Report to Superintendent, Textbook or Equipment Record, Transportation List of Students, Treasurer’s Book of Records.

No records were acquisitioned to the State Archives this month due to staffing transitions.

A variety of research topics are documented in state and government records added this month to the State Archives collection, which will be valuable for family, local, and state history research. 

• Blue Earth County. Kato Charter School records 2000-2025. These documents span from the school's founding as the Riverbend Academy to its closing in the summer of 2025.1 box.

• Chisago County.  Records dating from 1937 to 2010. Include minutes of various committees and task forces from 1995 to 2010,  concerning library services, land use and development, and power plant and wastewater services, as well as  Highway Department semi-annual and annual reports dated 1937-1967. 2 boxes.

• Conservation Department.  Forestry Division, Tower Office. Records dated between 1924 and 1976, including administrative files, correspondence, and employee association documents. The majority of these records are attributed to Walter “Buck” Lee Holter, a District Forester and Ranger who worked at the Tower Office from the 1920s to the 1970s. 1 box.

• Crow Wing County. Mission Township. Records dated 1942-2012, including Treasurer’s and Clerk’s Books, meeting minutes, as well as scrapbooks of local events. 3 boxes. 

• Governor. Mark Dayton. Records dated between 1978 and 2019, including bill presentation logs, executive orders and subject files dated 2011-2018, administrative rules files dated 2013-2018, and oversize items (proclamations, editorial cartoons and more) undated and 1978-2019;  administrative rules files, dated 2005-2012, of former Governor Tim Pawlenty; subject files, dated 2011-2014, of former Lt. Governor Yvonne Prettner Solon, and subject files, dated 2002-2005, from Ms. Prettner Solon’s tenure as state senator. 8 boxes.

• Health Department. Commissioner’s Office. Records dated between 2001 and 2019, including Commissioner’s files and councils, committees, task forces, and advisory council meeting files. 2 boxes.

• Health Department. Official Hearings on Rules and Regulations. Records dated between 2003 to 2017, mostly concerning the implementation of vaccination requirements in schools and the debate thereof. Some digital materials included. 3 boxes.

• Minnesota Film and Television Board. Records dated between 1980 and 2013, mostly “Minnesota Made Files”, documenting films and television programs filmed at least in part in the state of Minnesota. These files contain a variety of cast and/or crew lists, newspaper clippings, scripts, press kits, promotional materials, and funding requests. 6 boxes.

• Olmsted County. School district no. 7 (New Haven Township).  Buck School. Clerk’s book dated 1923-1927.  The school was established January 9, 1856 and consolidated with Independent School District No. 255 (Pine Island) May 13, 1954. 1 volume in 1 folder.