Listed below are both recent donations to the Institute for Regional Studies as well as unprocessed manuscript collections. Although unprocessed, these collections are open for public research use. Please contact the Institute staff to make arrangements for using these collections.

Bromenschenkel, Gib (Acc. 2765)
Gib Bromenschenkel had a front row seat for thirty-two years of the development of Fargo, N.D. while serving on the Fargo City Commission from 1970 to 2002. His papers document his tenure on the commission and many of the important issues that came before the body, particularly the water treatment plant expansion, election material and clippings on city government. There are also commission meeting minutes from 1969 to 1974 (circa 8 linear ft.).

Cass County (N.D.). County Court (Acc. 2866)
Probate case files spanning from 1949 to mid 1950s. These files are an addition to earlier files transferred to the archives by Cass County District Court, that span from 1876 to 1949. Currently they are being indexed by staff for inclusion in the public database.

Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead (Acc. 2794 & 2874)
Official records of the chamber, particularly its Public Affairs Division, as well as its newsletters and other publications. Later accession consists of merger related documents. Additions to the collection are expected. (circa 8 linear ft.)

Collins, Dorothy (Acc. 2876)
Dorothy Collins was a long-time journalist at Fargo’s The Forum newspaper and wrote more than 5,000 garden columns over a span of more than a half-century up to her death in 2008.  Her papers document her long journalism career and include correspondence, day books, notebooks, and many of the articles she wrote. The collection include many newsletters and other documents of numerous local and regional organizations in which she was active. The collection also includes some records of the Red River Rose Society. (circa 5 linear ft.)

Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. Beta Chapter (Fargo, N.D.) (Acc. 2658, 2732, 2851, 2873)
Records of the chapter to include minutes (1941-1998), program booklets (1947-2007), financial ledgers (1941-2001), scrapbooks, newsletters and histories of the North Dakota organization and local chapter.

Exchange Club of Fargo, North Dakota (Acc. 2865)
Records compiled by Evald Carlson, club president and secretary-treasurer, consisting primarily of club membership and some financial records. (circa .4 linear ft.)

Fargo (N.D.). Mayor (1994-2006 : Furness) (Acc. 2798)
Selected files deposited by the Mayor’s Office that were kept by Bruce Furness while mayor. The files cover many issues that arose during his tenure, when Fargo was experiencing much growth. Among the topics covered in the files include annexation dispute between Fargo and West Fargo (1998-2002), budgets (1993-2006), curfews (1995-1996), the floods of 1997, 2000 and 2001, gambling (2005), gangs (1994-2004), the Main Avenue bridge construction (2001-2002), joint North Dakota State University and City of Fargo projects, the FM Redhawks baseball stadium (1995-1998), the Ten Commandment monument on city property issue (2001-2005), tobacco and smoking issue (2004), and water issues (1998-2003). (circa 3 linear ft.)

Fargo Moorhead All-America City 2000 Committee (now processed as Mss 312)
Records pertaining to successful endeavor to receive the All-America City Award for Fargo, N.D.-Moorhead, Minn. in 2000,  given by the National Civic League. Includes agendas and minutes of coordinating committee, finalist packet, articles on the project, correspondence, celebration program, and the award.

Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation (Acc. 2607)
Official records of the foundation to include Board of Governors minutes (1960-1999), its newletter (1994-2000), annual reports, 1986, 1988-1999), and brochures. Additions to the collection are expected. (circa 1 linear ft.)

Fargo-Moorhead Area Music Club (Acc. 2270, 2282, 2342, 2371, 2467, 2662, 2786, 2875)
Additional donations by the club of its records to include club scrapbooks,  Research Section minutes, program booklets, treasurer’s reports, the Agnes Jardine Scholarship files, High School Federated Music Club publicity and miscellaneous binders of records for 1997-2001. (circa 3.6 linear ft.) Earlier donations processed as Mss 140.

Fargo-Moorhead Family YMCA (Acc. 2799)
Documents the development and activities of the Fargo-Moorhead Family YMCA organization from its founding in 1882 up to circa 2005. The files include meeting minutes, early financial and other documents, annual reports; the building of the present building together with additions; some director correspondence, fund raising material for present building; many files (mainly more recent) of Camp Cormorant which it owns and operates at Lake Cormorant in Minnesota; various files on its endowments; and a series of scrapbooks documenting YMCA activities that include clippings, programs and photographs. (circa 12 linear ft.)

Fargo Moorhead Heritage Society (Acc. 2185, 2543, 2809)
Society records documenting its activities in the area of historic preservation in the Fargo, N.D. and Moorhead, Minn. communities, to include minutes, correspondence, programs, publications, membership lists, scrapbooks, constitution and by-laws.  Also includes the records of the North Side Fargo Inventory and Assessment done by Renewable Technologies (Acc. 2185). Earlier named Fargo Heritage Society.  (circa 6 linear ft.)

Fargo-Moorhead Winter Club (Acc. 2881)
The club began in 1938  as the Winter Club of Fargo-Moorhead encouraging ice skating in general and the cultivation of figure skating and ice dancing. It sponsored for many years an ice revue beginning in 1942 into the 1960s. It also hired a professional teacher for figure skating instruction. The records include minutes, practice sign-in logs, programs, membership lists and correspondence. (ca. 2 linear ft.)

Fargo Retired Teachers Association (Acc. 2902)
Records documenting the activities of this local organization of retired teachers, to include scrapbooks covering 1985 to 2005, charter (1969), and various other files. Earlier accessions processed as Manuscript 95. (ca. 1 linear ft.)

Fine Arts Club of Fargo (Acc. 2629, 2634, 2644, 2863)
Addition to earlier donation of club records (processed as Mss 34 & 248) to include annual program booklets, annual reports, committee records, treasurers reports, History Section records and Drama Section treasurers records. (circa 1 linear ft.)

Gunderson, Ole S. (Acc. 2880)
Ole S. Gunderson, born in Norway in 1877, came with his parents to America and settled at Christine, N.D. After graduating from the UND Law School in 1907 he practiced law at Christine and for some years at Noonan, N.D. In addition to his law career he was a Nonpartisan League activist. The collection includes personal, family and business correspondence, daybooks and scrapbook. (circa 2 linear ft.)

Happy Hour Homemakers Club (Osnabrock, N.D.) (Acc. 2855)
Club records documenting the activities and members of a community homemakers club.

Hunter, N.D. High School graduation programs and invitations ( Acc. 2834)
Collection of high school graduation programs spanning from 1909 to 1962 (with gaps) and commencement invitations spanning 1908 to 1964 (with gaps). (circa .4 linear ft.)

Isern, Tom (Acc. 2862)
Research records for Strategic Survey of Historic Properties, Buffalo, North Dakota, 2001-2002 including architectural site forms, photo log and copy of final report. (circa .4 linear ft.)

Komus Klub (Acc. 2901)|
Records of Fargo-Moorhead dinner and dance club, founded in 1926. Records date from the 1930s into the early 2000s to include programs, correspondence, membership lists, and some financial records. (ca. 1 linear ft.)

Lake Agassiz Arts Council (Acc. 2860)
These council records supplement an earlier donation (processed as Mss 221) and document the activities of the arts council. The council’s mission has been to coordinate advocacy efforts for government funding, provide visibility for its member organization and provide services for the area arts groups. (circa 14 linear ft.)

Lake Agassiz Rock Club (Acc. 2592)
The records of the Lake Agassiz Rock Club includes its newsletters from 1971-2000, the club charter, and several general correspondence and membership files. (circa 1 linear foot)

North Dakota Cattle Women (Acc. 2846, 2878, 2889)
This organization is the auxiliary of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association. The records are for District 7 (southeast portion of the state), the northwestern division called Border Belles, and the state organization. The records include an extensive series of scrapbooks for the Border Belles (1982-1996) and District 7 (1955-1993). Other records for District 7 include annual reports, meeting minutes, bylaws, photographs and committee files. The state organization records (Acc. 2889) consist of annual packets labeled meeting minutes that cover 1982-1998, 2000-2001 and 2004-2005. They also contain newsletters, correspondence and financial reports. (circa 9 linear ft.)

Oriska History Committee (Acc. 2087)
Research files and note cards documenting the Oriska, N.D. community, used to write and publish the centennial history Oriska, 1881-1981. (circa 2.5 linear ft.) The photographs have been processed as Photo 2050.

Phi Delta Kappa. Fargo-Moorhead Chapter (Acc. 2853)
Records document the activities of the local chapter of an organization whose mission is to promote high-quality education, in particular publicly supported education. The F-M Chapter is no longer active. (circa 3 linear ft.)

Sherman, William (Acc. 2861)
As part of Father Sherman’s long-time research on North Dakota ethnic groups, this collection of papers reflect his work on Jews and French Canadians-Metis in North Dakota. (circa 2 linear ft.)

Simonson, Otto (Acc.2900)
Original letters (1930-1964) written by Otto Simonson of Agate, N.D. to his son Roy W. Simonson together with typed transcripts of the letters. Also handwritten and typed transcript of reminiscences by Otto Simonson done in the 1950. The collection later published in Letters, Letter Segments, and Memoirs from a Farm, by Roy W. Simonson, editor, 2005 (ca. 1 linear ft.).

Young Women’s Christian Association of Fargo-Moorhead (Acc. 2775, 2776, 2808, 2882)
Official records of the association including meeting minutes, financial records, charter & articles of incorporation, scrapbooks, extensive collection of photographs, Women of the Year award files, and oral history tapes. (circa 10 linear ft.)