Wahpeton, ND Street Paving 1916-1918

File — Box: 2, Folder: 136

Staff Only

Scope and Content

From the Collection: Correspondence Series consists of letters to and from Frank L. Anders ranging from 1898 to 1966. Included in this series is a typed copy of Anders’ Medal of Honor citation, letters to various friends and family, organizations, Anders’ repeated attempts to return to service during World War II, a dispute over a debt owed by Richard O’Neill, and a folder with letters from M. P. Ramer, Robert Nesbit, a fellow Mason, Al Walter, J. F. Case, George Mantor, Burt Gifford, Lorne Wilde, W. Glen Wallace, Thor Wennerblom, Marion Piper, and Fred Uyrm.

Household Series holds the Anders family budgets, driver’s licenses, play programs, elementary report cards, college documents, his college physics and chemistry notebook, train passes and membership cards, journals, and an authorization to travel to the Philippines with his son Franklin in 1964.

Christopher C. Anders Series contains letters and other items mostly from Frank’s younger brother Chris’ time as a member of the Russian Railway Service Corps (RRSC) in Siberia and Manchuria from 1917-1919.

History Series has both the handwritten and typewritten manuscripts Frank Anders wrote of his service during the Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. There are also hand-drawn maps of the Philippines, a short autobiography, and other biographies from newspapers and magazines. The series has the research he did on Lt. Col. George Custer, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Custer Trail from Mandan to the Little Bighorn, and several addresses he gave on the subject. Biographical and autobiographical documents of other individuals are included as well.

Engineering Series includes engineering work Frank Anders did as Fargo City Engineer (1910-1920) such as street paving, the water filtration plant, and drainage. His other numerous major municipal projects across North Dakota are also a part of the series. Additionally, it contains his documents as construction engineer of the new State Capitol Building in Bismarck (1932-1934).

Mining Series is composed of legal and budgetary documents related to mining sites and projects across several states.

Ceremony Series collects the documents, programs, and miscellaneous other items collected from the various ceremonies Frank Anders attended, including Medal of Honor ceremonies, presidential inaugurations, and other military-related organization events.

Publications Series is made up of a book on Medal of Honor recipients that Anders used as a scrapbook of military service; a small, personalized Bible from the Epworth League of the First Methodist Church along with an accompanying letter; and 16 art books from the World’s Fair published between November 1893 and February 1894.

Oversized Series contains items too large to fit into the standard manuscript boxes. This includes blueprints, pamphlets, political flyers, and local and foreign newspapers. The political flyers refer to the condition of the Agassiz school roof and an ordinance for the Fargo waterworks fund. Mining documents include Kearsage Mining Company daily reports and maps regarding the Grey Eagle-Sheridan mine and another along the Yellowstone River between Froze to Death Creek and Starved to Death Creek. The blueprint is a plat map of Waldo, ND and Brandenberg, ND township drainage in 1916. Military items are some documents on the happenings in the Soviet Union, a program for a July 4, 1918, celebration in Vladivostok, Siberia, a copy of Frank Anders’ certificate of membership in the Army and Navy Legion of Valor, and a poster commemorating Company B, 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry. Newspapers date from 1917 through 1960 and are from Fargo Courier-News (Frank Anders’ Spanish-American War photos and stories; Chris Anders in Siberia), Peking Evening Journal (RRSC), Siberian newspapers from 1918 and 1919, Here and There With the 31st (newspaper of the 31st U.S. Infantry Regiment in Siberia as part of the American Expeditionary Force-Siberia), the Lakeland (FL) Ledger, and the Manila Bulletin (Frank and Franklin Anders’ trip back to the Philippines).