H. Elaine Lindgren Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2008-Digital Scan CDs 16-19

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The H. Elaine Lindgren Photograph Collection includes 626 images which were either collected or taken by Dr. Lindgren while conducting her professional research. The majority of these images were taken between 1880 and 1920 and between 1970 and 2000. Dr. Lindgren took some pictures herself while conducting research in the 1980s and 1990s. The majority of images in this collection are copies, as Dr. Lindgren returned the originals to their owners. The collection also includes a mix of black and white photographs and color photographs. These photos range from portraits, landscapes, architectural photos (interior and exterior), and photos showing people at work. Many of the photos are 5x7 or 4x6, but the remaining photographs are of various sizes. Negatives exist for many of the prints; the negative call number is written on the back of the corresponding print. The photograph collection has been arranged into four different series based on the subject of Dr. Lindgren’s research: the Land In Her Own Name Series; the Annie C. Lind Series; the Clara Bond Mason Series, and the Work Makes Life Sweet, or Does It? series. The photographs were accessioned as part of the corresponding research papers of H. Elaine Lindgren. The manuscripts were processed as Institute Mss 292. The Land In Her Own Name Series consists of 498 images. As part of her research for the book, Dr. Lindgren solicited photographs of women who homesteaded in North Dakota. She obtained many photographs from family members of women homesteaders; in some cases, she was able to interview the women and often took photographs of them and, if possible, of their land and original homesteads. Dr. Lindgren’s original order was explicitly followed during processing. This series consists of two sub-series: case studies and published photographs. The case studies photographs were collected from women homesteaders and/or their friends and family. The alphabetical arrangement reflects the original order of the materials. The published photographs were arranged in order of appearance in the book by chapter, also reflecting the original order of the material. The Annie C. Lind Series consists of thirty-six images. Dr. Lindgren authored an article titled: ―Coal, Cuba, and Courage: The Adventuresome Spirit of Annie C. Lind,‖ in North Dakota History, Vol. 67, No. 2, 2000. For her research, Dr. Lindgren collected and copied photographs of Annie Lind, her family, and the Lind coal mine. She also visited the Lind’s land near Wilton, N.D. and took photographs of Lind’s grandsons, her church, and the family gravesite. This series includes both black & white and color images. The Clara Bond Mason Series consists of fifteen images. Dr. Lindgren obtained these images from Mason’s daughter, Jean Guy, whom she interviewed in 2001. The interview transcript is located in the H. Elaine Lindgren Papers, Institute Mss 292. There are no publications associated with this series. The collection includes black and white images of Clara Bond Mason and Sidney Mason, images of their house near Selfridge, N.D., images of playbills announcing performances by Sidney’s band and other events, and images of Clara’s parents. In 1927, Clara Bond Mason became a court reporter for the juvenile court, and in 1946, she moved up to being a commissioner with the same court. She retired in 1951. The Work Makes Life Sweet, Or Does It? Series consists of seventy-seven prints and 201 digital images. Dr. Lindgren obtained these images from a variety of sources, including private individuals, companies, and other repositories. Published as an electronic book in 2003, Work Makes Life Sweet, Or Does It?, was designed to ―stimulate thinking and discussion about ways in which our attitudes toward work influence the quality of our lives‖ by using historical photographs depicting people working from 1900 to 2002. The e-book is in PDF format, and can be viewed through the Links section above. The Slide Series consists of a total of 672 slides. Within this series are nine sub-series: Land In Her Own Name (2008.116.1 – 369); Homesteading Resources (2008.117.1-10); Clara Bond Mason (2008.118.1-8); Annie C. Lind (2008.119.1-4); The Rural Mystique (2008.120.1 – 80); The Rural Mystique [not used in presentations] (2008.121.1-103); Work Makes Life Sweet, Or Does It? (2008.122.1-82); Fargo, N.D. Downtown (2008.123.1-8; and North Dakota Scenes (2008.124.1-8). The slides from the Land in Her Own Name, Clara Bond Mason, Annie C. Lind, and the Work Makes Life Sweet, Or Does It? sub-series are all duplicate images of the photographic prints and digital images. The images in The Rural Mystique sub-series are the only copies of those images in this collection. The Fargo, N.D. Downtown images (8 slides) were taken in August 1982 and include scenes of the Powers Hotel, Broadway, Fargo Theatre, future site for city bus terminal, and Northern Pacific Depot. The North Dakota Scenes (8 slides) includes old building labeled Beulah airport, Fargo High Rise, art work on side of building in New Town, Welcome sign to Stanton, N.D. Allied moving van on street, view looking down railroad tracks towards horizon and a sunset scene.

Dates

1880s – 1980s (bulk from 1880s – 1910s)

Creator

Lindgren, H. Elaine. (Person)

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection remain with the creators or is in the public domain.

Biography

H. Elaine Lindgren became a faculty member of the NDSU Sociology Department in 1970. Originally from Wapello, Iowa, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University at Ames, and a master’s degree and PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia. At NDSU, Dr. Lindgren taught classes on social change, the sociology of work, the sociology of sex roles, and social inequality among others. Dr. Lindgren, in cooperation with other faculty members, established a women’s studies program at NDSU in the 1980s. She has produced several published works in journals such as the Great Plains Quarterly and the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. Dr. Lindgren’s most famous work is the book Land in Her Own Name: Women As Homesteaders In North Dakota, published in 1991. The paperback edition was published in 1996. Dr. Lindgren also published an article titled ―Cuba, Coal, and Courage: The Adventuresome Spirit of Annie C. Lind,‖ which appeared in North Dakota History. In the fall of 2004, Dr. Lindgren retired.