G. Angus Fraser Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2084

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The G. Angus Fraser photograph collection consists of family photographs and numerous photographs taken on site when the North Dakota state capitol building was being constructed in Bismarck. Fraser must have obtained them while serving on the Board of State Capitol Commissioners. The construction photographs were accessioned as part of the G. Angus Fraser papers (organized as Manuscript 74), while the family photographs were accessioned in 2004 and came from the estate of his daughter-in-law Irene Fraser (widow of Donald Fraser) The photograph collection is organized into two series: People and Portraits, and the North Dakota Board of State Capitol Commissioners. The later series has been organized into five files: Commissioners and architects, Starting to dig, Big holes, Laying the foundation, and Framework. The People and Portraits Series contains a series of four family photographs of the G. Angus Fraser family in their Fargo home in the 1920s, individual portraits of G. Angus and Dot Fraser later in life and two unidentified images, likely taken back East. There is a portrait of Simon Fraser that was owned by his grandson, G. Angus Fraser. It is a reproduction copied from a printed source, perhaps a newspaper. It is a profile view of Mr. Fraser. In addition there is a large, charcoal portrait of an unidentified, aged woman that may be Isabella Fraser, believed to be G. Angus Fraser’s grandmother who lived in Ontario, Canada. An identical cabinet photograph is found in the album. The album is no doubt once owned by Simon and Leora Fraser and documents their families primarily in Pennsylvania. The album is fabric covered and designed to hold only cabinet and carte de visite size photographs. It is almost completely full. Most of the images are not identified. Photographer imprints on the cabinet cards (25 items) include Hamilton, Ontario; Bradford, Butler, Kane, Franklin and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Canton, Ohio; Winona, Minn. and one from Fargo. The only identification found includes one likely of his grandfather (1884) from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, one labeled “Edna Gillette” and “Burt Baby.” In addition there is a death card for Isabella Fraser (1889). The cartes de visite section includes nine cartes de visite and six tintypes. One is of G. Angus and Charles Fraser as very young boys, taken at Edenburg, Pennsylvania. Others with photographer marks include from Wapello, Iowa and Oil City, Pennsylvania. The North Dakota Board of State Capitol Commissions Series (49 prints) include a single print of the Capitol Commission members and some of the architects involved with the building of the North Dakota State Capitol. The people in the photograph are identified on the back. The Starting to Dig File (6 prints) has images of the land area just as the builders were starting to dig for the foundation of the capitol building. The Big Holes File (8 prints) contains photographs of the workers and machinery at the site after a large hole for the foundation was dug. The Laying the Foundation File (10 prints) is of the workers pouring the concrete for the foundation of the capitol building and starting to put the first beams up for the bottom of the framework. The Framework File (24 prints) contains many photographs that show the framework of the capitol building as it is being built. They show all the way from some of the first beams to the entire framework before they covered it with concrete.

Dates

1880s-1930s

Creator

Fraser, G. Angus, 1874-1957. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection remain with the creators.

Biography

G. Angus Fraser was born at Grease City, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 1874, the son of Simon and Leora (Gillette) Fraser, and a great-grandson of Simon Fraser, the discoverer of the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada. In 1882 the Frasers and their three children (G. Angus, Charles and Inez) moved to Fargo, N.D. After graduating from high school, Mr. Fraser enlisted in the North Dakota 164th Infantry where he served from 1891 to 1899 and again 1901 to 1933. He married Dot Beatrice Waldron of Midland, Michigan on November 27, 1900. They had met while Miss Waldron was a nurse in Fargo. Mr. Fraser saw service in the Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, and the Mexican border uprising. In 1917, General Fraser became the Adjutant General of North Dakota, a post that he held until 1933. During his appointment, he directed the compilation of the roster of North Dakota soldiers, sailors, and marines who served in World War I and the building of Camp Grafton. From 1931 to 1933, General Fraser also served on the Board of State Capitol Commissioners, which directed the construction of the new capitol in Bismarck. Following his service as Adjutant General, General Fraser returned to the abstracting business as President of the Cass County Abstract Company, which he had organized in 1910 and where he worked until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Fraser had four children, Mildred, Simon W. and Donald. Mr. Fraser died September 25, 1957 at Fargo and Mrs. Fraser on January 22, 1960.