State Archives 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. 

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.  

Purchased for the collection is a grasshopper bounty certificate, dated 1875, issued by the Blue Earth County Board of Commissioners to Mrs. Margaret Jones who delivered 21 quarts of dead grasshoppers and was entitled to $210.00 as a bounty payment.  Complements other grasshopper bounty records preserved in the State Archives collection.  For further information about the grasshopper plagues in the 1870s, see the MNopedia article:  grasshopper plagues 1873-1877.

Court records are a strength of the collection, and besides their research value, are necessary to protect Minnesota citizens’ civil and legal rights.  Faribault County Court Administration transferred a large number of records, dated 1857-1989, including District Court plaintiff and defendant indexes (1858-1988), registers of civil (1858-1989) and criminal (1859-1989) action, registration and certificate records (1883-1982), criminal case files (1896, 1945-1960), and other records;  Juvenile Court adoption records (1959-1982);  Probate Court index to probate cases (1857-1990) and registers of probate action (1857-1989).  Many of the records will enhance access to existing court records preserved in the collection, while others are unique and valuable additions.

Department of Employment and Economic Development staff transferred Minnesota-Taiwan sister state documents dated 1984. Include a resolution of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly declaring the sister state relationship, and the agreement establishing the sister state relationship. The documents are in both Chinese and English, and signed by Taiwanese officials and Governor Rudy Perpich.  The documents will be cataloged with the records of Gov. Perpich in the collection.

An oral history transcript (dated 2022) with John H. Kari, a long-time planner with the Metropolitan Council is a unique and valuable addition to the Council’s records.  The interview is entitled “Reflections on Regional Planning: The Twin Cities Experience”.  The conversation with Mr. Kari covers the early years of the Council and the original development framework, the work of the Council from the 1980s and beyond, the impact of the Council’s investments on the region, and Prospect Park as an example of how neighborhood planning can relate to city and regional policies.  Includes a brief biography of Mr. Kari and color images.  

• Blue Earth County.  Board of Commissioners.  Grasshopper bounty certificate dated 1875. 1 item in folder.  
• Faribault County.  Records dated 1857-1989. 54 boxes.
• Governor Rudy Perpich.  Minnesota-Taiwan sister state documents dated 1984. 4 items in 1 folder.
• Metropolitan Council.  Oral history transcript:  John H. Kari, 2022.  1 item in folder.

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

• Attorney General.  Minnesota Voters Alliance, et al v. Joe Mansky (Ramsey County elections manager), et al litigation files dated  2011-2018.  The case concerned the constitutionality of governmental speech restrictions in a polling place venue.  The lawsuit challenged a century-old Minnesota law that prevented voters from wearing clothing or items considered political while voting.  The U.S. Supreme County previously affirmed that political campaigning near polling places may be restricted, but the Minnesota law was challenged on being overbroad and violation of free speech rights under the First Amendment.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Minnesota law was overbroad of what could be considered “political” speech and violated free speech rights and deemed unconstitutional.  2 boxes.

• Education Department.  Council on Quality Education.  St. Paul Public Schools Early Childhood and Family Education program photographs dated 1993.  The black and white photographs depict scenes of parent-child interaction, meetings with state legislators and Gov. Arne Carlson, advisory council members, parent education groups and home visiting.  Complement the existing set of records preserved in the collection: https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gr00120.html. 1 folder.

• Public Service Department.  Telecommunications Access for Communication-Impaired Persons Board.  Records dated 1987-1995, including meeting minutes of the Board’s executive committee and equipment distribution program committee, and reports. Complement the existing set of records dated 1984-2001 preserved in the collection; the Board was established in 1987 by the state legislature to work on telecommunications access for the state’s hearing impaired citizens. 1 box.

• Secretary of State.  Session Laws and 1st Special Session Laws dated 2025 that continue the existing set of Session Laws dating from 1858 preserved in the collection:  https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gr00487.html.  6 boxes. 

Records added this month to the State Archives continue existing sets of records preserved in the collection; below is a fuller description of the records.  The Douglas County tax lists are useful for family and local history research, and the Faribault County court records are valuable for family history research and to protect the civil and legal rights of individuals.  Over the years State Archives staff have had an ongoing relationship with former Lt. Gov. Marlene Johnson, and recently transferred records are a welcome addition to the collection.

• Douglas County.  Auditor.  Tax lists dated 2010-2011 which continue the existing set dating from 1867.  12 boxes.
• Faribault County.  District Court.  Civil case files dated 1937-1950 which continue the existing set dating from 1858, and adoption case files dated 1881-1944.  31 boxes.
• Lieutenant Governor.  Marlene Johnson.  Notebooks dated 1975-1992, subject files dated 1978-approximately 2016, and photographs and a scrapbook dated 1981-1990.  Most of the records document Ms. Johnson’s tenure as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Minnesota and the first woman to hold the office.  The records complement the extensive set of Ms. Johnson’s records preserved in the State Archives collection.  Lt. Governor Johnson focused on strengthening and expanding the state’s connections with the rest of the world in trade, tourism, education and the arts.  She was a particularly outspoken advocate of international educational exchange at the secondary and post-secondary level.  2 boxes.

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.

• Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.  Agendas and minutes dated October 2014-February 2025, chronological file (correspondence) dated 2014-2024, Olmstead Subcabinet meeting packets dated 2021-2023, newspaper clippings dated 1968, 1981-2025, and published records and reports dated 2002-2024.  Continue the Council’s records that date from 1973.  According to the Council’s mission statement, it promotes the development of a consumer and family-centered comprehensive system and coordinates an array of culturally competent services;  supports and provides assistance designed to achieve independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion into the community for individuals with developmental disabilities.  4 boxes.
• Ramsey County.  Saint Paul:  Mayor.  Photograph album:  sister city Lawaaikamp, South Africa, July-December 1989. Black and white, and color photographs documenting the City of St. Paul’s support of its sister city, Lawaaikamp, and its resistance to the forced removal of Lawaaikamp residents from their homes and the support of the anti-apartheid movement. Depicts the sending off ceremony for the trip to Lawaaikamp by St. Paul Council member Don Wilson and Rev. Oliver White; meetings with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the George Civic Association, Black Sash members, the Southern Committee Against Removals (SCAR), public officials and residents; locations include Johannesburg, Kleinskool, Lawaaikamp, Potsdam, Sandkraal, Soweto and Thornehill.  Also, depict scenes of the trip’s return ceremony of Mr. Wilson and Rev. White, the trip celebration at the  Martin Luther King Center, and a press conference, with St. Paul high school and Pilgrim Baptist Church Academy students present, celebrating the forestalling of the forced removal.  Complements existing sister city files in the State Archives and Manuscripts collection.  1 box.
• Zoological Board.  Files of Board Chair Patricia Davies, dated 1976-1987, 1999; annual report dated 2005; published records and reports dated 1985-1986, 2002.  Complements Board records dating from 1969. 1 box.  

Records added this month to the State Archives document a number of different functions and will be useful for a variety of research topics including services provided to Minnesota’s senior citizens, local and family history, and delivery of public education services in rural Minnesota.

• Aging Board.  Program operations committee meeting files dated 1995-2001.  Complement other records dating from the 1950s of the Aging Board which was previously known as the Governor's Citizens Council on Aging and the Minnesota Office of Ombudsman for Older Minnesotans.
• Isanti County.  Independent School District No. 314 (Braham).  Community task force records (meeting minutes, reports, correspondence) dated 1982-1983, and school board agenda packets dated July 1983-June 1992.  Complement an existing set of records, dating from 1922, of the school district.
• Itasca County.  Sheriff.  Jail register dated 1893-1896. 

Records added this month to the State Archives document rather unique functions and activities, and are welcome additions to the collection.  In 2000 the state legislature commissioned the Electronic Real Estate Recording Task Force which was authorized to establish statewide standards for electronic real estate recording in Minnesota. The task force reported annually to the Minnesota State Legislature. In addition, the task force had the authority to appoint subcommittees. The task force's authority ended in 2008; its work was transferred to the Electronic Real Estate Recording Commission.  State Archivist Shawn Rounds, as a permanent member of the Commission, transferred meeting files dated 2021-2024, which continue the existing set of records.

The Technology and Information Educational Services (TIES) was a consortium of 48 school districts that provided student and financial data processing services.  It was originally established in 1967 as the Minnesota School Districts Data Processing Joint Board, and dissolved in 2018.  Included in the donation of records (dated 1967-1018) are governance documents and building purchase documents.

• Legislature.  Electronic Real Estate Recording Commission.  Meeting files, 2021-2024.  The Commission did not meet in 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic.  1 folder.
• Technology and Information Educational Services records dated 1967-2018.  7 folders.

A wide variety of functions and topics, useful for a breadth of research topics, are represented in records added to the State Archives this month.  The tribal relations files received from the Natural Resources Department are especially valuable because of the content, comprehensiveness and lengthy date span.  The other records continue existing record series, many dating from the 1970s, preserved in the State Archives.

• Agricultural Society.  Century farm applications, dated 2025, which continue a set dating from 1976 http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr00094.xml.  The applications will be digitized and posted online.  3 folders.
• Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board.  2021 terminated campaign finance files for principal campaign committees, political committees and funds; economic interest statements for 2021 public officials terminations; annual report dated FY 2020; lobbyist summary dated 2021; campaign finance summaries dated 2019-2020.  Continue existing records series dating from the 1970s. The Board, the first of its kind in the nation, was originally known as the Ethical Practices Board.  7 boxes.
• Legislative Auditor.  Audit reports of the Financial Audits Division, program evaluation reports of the Program Evaluation Division, and a special review report; dated 2024-2025.  Continue existing record series dating from the 1970s.  1 box.
• Municipal Board.  The Board acts on all boundary adjustments between a city and the adjacent land, and rules on incorporations of cities.  The function is now managed by the Municipal Boundary Adjustment Unit of the Office of Administrative Hearings.  Annexation files dated 2012-2021, detachment files dated 2012-2021, incorporation files dated 2014-2021, and orderly annexation files dated 1972-2021.  Orderly annexations are a different type of annexation involving joint agreements between cities and townships. The Board first started doing orderly annexations in the early 1970s; these files started out as regular annexations but the cities and townships settled their dispute by doing an orderly annexation agreement.  The files continue record series dating from the 1950s.  Municipal Board agency history.  98 boxes.
• Natural Resources Department.  Tribal relations files dated approximately 1978-2013.  Documents gathered from several Natural Resources Department offices concerning a wide variety of interactions between the Department and Minnesota’s tribal bands;  transferred by the Department’s library.  Included are legal documents, memos, correspondence, news releases, meeting minutes, reports; and copies of news clippings, case law, treaties, and U.S. House and Senate proceedings.  The copies of case law, treaties, and U.S. House and Senate proceedings may be dated earlier than 1978, with some documents dating from 1842.  A spreadsheet listing the documents accompanied the records and will be posted when the records are cataloged allowing easier access to the records.  8 boxes.

Ramsey County. District Court. Coroner’s certificates dated 1970-1981 (incomplete) which continue an existing set of records dating from 1901. Information includes name, cause of death, location of the deceased, and corresponding civil case file number. These records are useful for family history research, and the State Archives collection preserves similar records for most of Minnesota’s 87 counties. 4 boxes.