Wilderness- I, 1961-1962
File — Box: 31, Folder: 1
Scope and Contents
From the Collection:
The Hjalmar C. Nygaard papers collection contains files and documents pertaining to Mr. Nygaard's brief time as a Republican Representative from the Eastern Congressional District of North Dakota, 19611963. The collection was semi-processed during the years 1971 through 1973, resulting in five series: General Correspondence I, General Correspondence II, General Correspondence III, Constituent, and Legislative.
The General Correspondence I series was processed in 1971. It contains subjects beginning with the letters A-M, in alphabetical order by file. The files only go through "M" because during the initial processing, it was believed that there were only subjects going through the letter M. However, additional files were discovered in 1972, with subjects beginning with the letters A-Z. Therefore, the General Correspondence I Series was left as it was, and a new series, General Correspondence II, was created. Then, in 1973, more files with various subjects were discovered. The initial processors called this series "Add Ons," and arranged the files in alphabetical order by subject. This series order was kept, however, it was renamed General Correspondence III, as the information contained in the files was of the same type as in the other two correspondence series.
The Constituent and Legislative Series were both semi-processed in 1972. Like the three General Correspondence Series, the order of the files, as well as the information in them, was kept the same as in the initial processing of the collection. The bulk of the collection is the correspondence series, particularly the General Correspondence II Series, dealing with a variety of subjects from A to Z. Three photographs were removed from the collection and processed as Photo 494.
The General Correspondence I Series contains files with topics and subjects, beginning with the letters A-M, arranged alphabetically by subject or topic. Of particular interest in this series are the rules and regulations that apply to representatives, regarding the appointment of individuals within the state to the various military, Air Force, Maritime, Naval, and West Point Academies. In addition, listings, letters, and newspaper clippings about those already serving, are also contained in this series. Numerous constituent letters and publications in regard to the Agricultural Act of 1961 can also be found in this series.
Letters, documents, and publications regarding communism also abound in this series. Of particular interest are all of the publications showing the infiltration of supposed communists in our government and schools. North Dakota's farmer's cooperatives are used as examples of the socialist/communist invasion of local government. Other subjects include information about the Dakota Centennial, as well as a booklet about the 1960 election results and information about the 1961 drought.
A great deal of information, including letters, brochures, pamphlets, and other publications, about the Farm Bill (Feb. 1962), Federal Aid to Education, and the Feed Grain Bill, are contained in this series. It seems that most North Dakotans were vehemently opposed to the Farm Bill and Federal Aid to Education. Finally, this series contains invitations, inviting Nygaard to various functions, as well as information about medical care for the elderly, and a file with miscellaneous publications with topics that don't fit into any of the other files.
The General Correspondence II Series contains files with subjects and topics beginning with the letters A-Z, arranged alphabetically by subject or topic. The items within each individual file are arranged in date order, with the oldest information at the beginning of the file, and the newest at the end. This series contains an abundance of topics, including the Agricultural Acts of 1961 and 1963, as well as Agricultural Statistics; Agriculture in general; the Senate Committee on Agriculture, and, Agriculture Yearbook requests, and dates and names of publications for the years (1961-63) that Hjalmar was in office. In addition, the topics of Alaska, and its proposed mental health bill; Alien orphans, and their adoption by North Dakotans; and, Daughters of the American Revolution, containing information about North Dakota's chapter, are found within this series.
The Department of Agriculture is also a topic within this series. The files pertaining to it are the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Consultation Service; the Agricultural Marketing Service; the Agricultural Research Service; the Agricultural Stabilization Commodity Credit; the Commodity Stabilization Service; the Farmers' Home Administration Service; Federal Crop Insurance; the Forest Service; General; R.E.A.; and, the Soil Conservation Service. Other topics within this series include Fallout Shelters, highlighting the fears Americans had during the early 1960s of a possible nuclear attack; Fargo - City of, General, which includes an article from an unknown magazine about what life is like in a "small" North Dakota town; Farm Bill - March 26-June 26, 1962; Farm Bill - June 27, 1962-January 29, 1963; the Farm Bureau; Farm Labor; Farm Legislation; Farmers' Bulletins, containing information affecting farmers; and, Federal Aid to Education-188th Congress.
Additional files include Flags, containing requests from constituents to be sent flags that have been flown over the White House; Flathead Dam, mainly pertaining to the controversy over the dam in Montana; Football, containing among other things, tickets sent to Hjalmar for the various military academy football
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games; and, Form Letters, containing various form letters that Nygaard's office sent out. More topics in this series include the Fort Berthold Reservation; Freight Rates (Grain); Garrison - town of, General; Gifts, containing essentially thank you letters from Nygaard to various constituents and senators, who sent him a variety of items from cranberry sauce to pencils; the G.T.A. Daily Radio Roundup, containing printouts of daily radio broadcasts; the Grand Forks Air Base Liquor Store, and the debate over its legality; the Grand Forks Air Base; Grasshoppers; Grazing; the Great Northern Railroad; the Great Plains Conservation Program; and, the Greater North Dakota Association.
Some of the more interesting topics within this series include the Un-American Activities I and UnAmerican Activities II files, both of which contain numerous constituent letters requesting that Nygaard oppose any legislation to abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Also, numerous pamphlets and brochures, relating to communism are contained within these files. Other topics include Indians-1961; Land Grant Colleges, containing some information about NDSU; the Manion Forum, containing the weekly broadcasts of Dean Manion of South Bend, Indiana; and maps, pertaining to North Dakota's Congressional Districts during the early 1960s, as well as various maps of individual North Dakota counties.
Other topics include Medical Care for the Elderly; the Minot Air Base; Montana Dakota Utilities Company; National Parks Summer Employment, containing letters from North Dakotans requesting summer employment in national parks; the North Dakota Association Soil Conservation Districts; the Bank of North Dakota; North Dakota Blue Cross; North Dakota Education Association; North Dakota Farm Bureau; North Dakota Farm Bureau Meeting (April 1961), regarding the Ag Act of 1961; North Dakota State University; North Dakota University (UND); North Dakota University Alumni (UND Alumni); the Northern Pacific Railroad; and the Northwest Public Power Association. Additional topics include Nygaard, containing information about his 7 point Farm Program; People to See, containing information about people that Nygaard must or wishes to visit; and, Portland Rural Route, concerning problems with the mail system in Portland, N.D.
This series also contains a postal category, with subfiles of Building Projects; Mail Service; Postmasters; Rates I; Rates II; Rural Carriers; Salaries I; and, Salaries II. All of the postal categories relate mainly to local (N.D.) issues, rather than national ones. Additional topics include potatoes; Nygaard's press releases regarding off-sale liquor to the Grand Forks Air Base, and the soil bank haying on May 15, 1962; and, Requests, from constituents and fellow congressmen. Further topics include Schmidt, F.C.F., an ultra conservative from Voltaire, N.D., who continually wrote and sent publications, especially about communism, to Nygaard; Short, Congressman, Don L., I & II (2 separate files); Smoot, Dan, containing his reports; Social Security; the Soil Bank; Soil Bank Haying; the Soil Conservation District Reports; the Soo Line Postal Service; the Soo Line Railroad Company; the Soo Line Railroad, pertaining to the discontinuance of trains 13 and 14; Soy Beans; and, the Standing Rock Indians.
There are also files pertaining to the State Federal Agencies. Subfiles in regard to this are Federal Agencies in Agriculture - Stabilization and Conservation Service, with Albert J. Sandness as the Administrative Officer; Federal Agencies in Internal Revenue Service, with Byron J. Rockwood, as District Director; and, Federal Agencies in - Miscellaneous. The topics of Income Tax, the Commissioner of State of North Dakota, and the State Land Commissioner are contained within this series as well. There are also files pertaining to State Government. These include Attorney General- Leslie Burgum; the Commission on Agriculture and Labor; the Commissioner of Insurance; the Library Commission; Miscellaneous Agencies and Boards; the North Dakota Emergency Committee; the North Dakota Highway Department; the North Dakota Motor Vehicle Department; the North Dakota State Game and Fish Department; the North Dakota Veterans Affairs Department; the Public Service Commission; the Public Welfare Board; Secretary of State- Ben Meier; the State Auditor; the State Treasurer; the Superintendent of Public Instruction; the Tax Commissioner; and, the Unemployment Compensation Division.
Final topics of interest include Subversive Organizations; Sugar, containing the Joint Statement of the Senate and the House (March 27, 1961), as well as Nygaard's statement pertaining to it, given in May of 1961; an additional file regarding sugar statements from Nygaard on May 15, 1962; the Federal Government; the Supreme Court Prayer Decision. Turtle Mountain Redevelopment; the Twenty-third Amendment; Un-American Activities; Warren, Earl, containing information over the controversy of whether he should be impeached; and, Young, Milton R., Senator.
The General Correspondence III Series contains files with topics that are not in either the General Correspondence I or II Series, or that were "added on" later. All of the files mostly contain publications, brochures, and pamphlets pertaining to particular topics. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by topic. Within each file, the information is arranged in date order, with the newest information in the front of the file, and the oldest in the back. Topics in this series include Barley; Berlin, dealing with the Berlin crisis and relations with the Soviets; the Binford Post Office, dealing with the constituent's dissatisfaction of their post office and their desire to have the Northern Pacific Railroad restored as their mail provider; and, Biographies, containing a biographical sketch of Nygaard, and a brochure explaining his qualifications as a congressman.
Additional topics include Coal; the Committee of One Million, which was against the admission of "Communist China" to the United Nations; and, another file on the topic of communism entitled Communism - Correspondence II. Final topics of this series include the Connally Amendment, pertaining to Treaty Law and the United Nations; Corn; Crop Quality Council, containing mostly their newsletters; Cropland Adjustment Program; and Cuba, containing numerous letters and publications in regard to the nuclear threat and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Constituent Series contains files beginning with the letter A and going through the letter Z. The files contain Nygaard's responses to constituent letters, which are arranged in alphabetical order according to the constituent's last name. The items in this series contain letters pertaining to all of the topics in the General Correspondence I, II, and III Series, as well as additional miscellaneous topics. Since the information is arranged alphabetically by last name of the constituent, there is no particular order to the topics, nor any limit to the variety of topics found in each individual file.
The Legislative Series contains Senate and House Bills for the 87th Congress of which Mr. Nygaard was a member. The bills are arranged in numerical order by the number assigned to them in Congress. Letters, newspaper clippings, and other publications are found behind the bill that they pertain to. The series begins with Senate Bills 1 through 3,600, from the 87th Congress. Following these bills is the 87th Congress Senate Conference Resolutions. Next, is House Resolution 50 (Milk Sanitation Act), also from the 87th Congress. Then begins the 87th Congress House Resolutions 1 through 12,388. Following this are Senate Bills 1 through 4,000, and House Resolutions 1 through 11,581, both for the 88th Congress.
Completing this series are House Bills - House Resolutions and House Joint Resolutions; House Concurrent Resolutions; and, Public Laws. Only the bills which pertained directly to North Dakota or Congressman Nygaard were kept. Of notable interest are the bills and resolutions which pertain to farming, Native Americans, and federal aid to education. These topics generated many constituent letters to Nygaard, and also received a lot of newspaper coverage. There is a substantial amount of information (i.e. letters, clippings) in this series concerning these issues.
Dates
- 1954-1963 (bulk 1960-1963)
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.
Extent
From the Collection: 24.4 Linear Feet (24.4 linear feet)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Creator
- From the Collection: Nygaard, Hjalmar, 1906-1963. (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository
Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu