Herschel Lashkowitz Photograph Collection, 1950s-1980s

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2049

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Herschel Lashkowitz Photograph Collection documents the political career of Herschel, particularly when he served at mayor of Fargo for twenty years. The collection covers a wide variety of topics and the many people he met while mayor, both visitors to Fargo as well as from his travels in the United States and overseas. This collection was part of the initial accession of his papers. A later accession of photographs was organized separately as Photo 2107. This collection contains 550 photographic prints of varying sizes from 11" x 14" (10 folio size), 10" x 12" professionally done photographs to small informal snapshots, and eleven 2" x 2" slides. Most of the images are not dated and identifying information is lacking on many of the images. The collection has been organized into eight series: Herschel Lashkowitz; Political events; Trips & Special groups; Organizations; People; Natural disasters; Fargo; and Slides. The Herschel Lashkowitz Series covers his tenure as state senator as well as his years as mayor of Fargo. Many mayoral functions are pictured and photographs of Herschel are divided into files of informal snapshots and professional photographs. The legislative images include Lashkowitz in the North Dakota Senate, in committee meetings, speaking on the senate floor and informal portraits of him. The Mayoral Functions file feature Herschel with other people including visitors to Fargo, and he attending various business and social functions. The Conference file does not provide the place or name of the meeting. The Informal Snapshots images are mostly taken at social scenes with friends. It does include one of Herschel in a wheelchair when a resident of Bethany Homes in Fargo. Most of the snapshots are in color. The majority of the profession portraits of Herschel date from the 1960s to the 1980s, and some are in color. The Political Events Series includes Ambassador Ushiba's visit to Fargo in 1972 and King Olav's visit to Fargo in 1968. There are images of picketers in front of the Black Angus restaurant in downtown Fargo by Local #729. The mayor of Akershus and Oslo, Norway was made an honorary citizen of Fargo during a visit in 1971. There are quite a number of snapshots of the visit of Estes Kefauver to North Dakota. Herschel attended the signing of the revenue sharing bill and had photographs taken with President Nixon and Vice president Spiro Agnes. There are a number of images of Lashkowitz campaigning door to door, likely in Fargo. Completing the series are Gov. Bill Guy signing bill and a series of images of Pres. Truman campaigning for Adlai Stevenson and Sparkman. Also included are color snapshots of Herschel's last day at City Hall. The Trips and Special Groups Series feature Herschel and others visit to Berlin in 1961, including with Averill Harriman, and to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1964 looking at a seal demonstration. There is a very nice interior view of St. Mary’s Cathedral during Cardinal Muench's funeral showing the casket and pews filled with dignitaries. Karl Rolvaag and Lashkowitz are at a memorial to John F. Kennedy but location not known. The Medal of Honor display at NDSU includes Col. Clapp, Lashkowitz, Frank Anders and NDSU President Herbert Albrecht. The WDAY file includes portrait of Louis J. Pilato by a television camera, and Lashkowitz seated in automobile with WDAY owner Earl Reineke and wife Marie. Air Force Major Donald M. Sorlie is seated in cockpit of fighter plane, and there is a group photograph of ‘Beverly Burke and the Hurricane Girls’ standing behind a large rock.. In the Organizations Series consists primarily of group photographs associated with the Epilepsy Foundation of America, Helen Keller Institute, North Dakota Fraternal Order of Eagles, Sons of Norway & Veterans Administration. Included is a portrait of Helen Keller, Herschel Lashkowitz with actor Dennis Day, and a large group of politicians at the Veterans Administration. The People Series contains pictures of Herschel with a variety of people including North Dakota Governors Art Link and George Sinner as well as U.S. Senator Quentin Burdick. Other portraits include with Mayor Smekta of Rochester, Minnesota, senators Edwin Muskee, Robert Kennedy Jr., Hubert H. Humphrey, and Adlai Stevenson, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan. Patricia Nixon, Minnie Pearl & Will Rogers also are present. There is a photograph file of local friends including of Dolly Konen, Paul Dubord, Henry Martinson, and Tish Kelly, The Unidentified Family folder includes 6 images of what appears to be a husband, wife and two boys. Herschel is on one image together with an older man. All the prints have ‘Photo courtesy WDAY-TV.’ The Natural Disaster Series photographs show the devastation suffered from the 1957 tornado and the participation of the National Guard in the clean-up process. This is a very nice series of images including aerials of the destruction, street-level images of damages buildings, National Guard troops, feeding people and directing traffic. There are four photographs of the 1969 Red River flood, all aerials. They include of the downtown Fargo by city hall, houses in Southwood Addition, South University Drive, and Moorhead, Minn. residential area. The Fargo, N.D. Series contains a wide variety of images taken in Fargo. It includes aerial views and pictures of streets and surrounding areas as well as ground breaking events for Fairway Foods & the North Dakota Highway Department. The Main Avenue Project file includes many professional photographer images of the street prior to urban renewal, including aerials of the area and interior shots of Central Hotel and a restaurant on Main Avenue. There is a good series of images of conditions on the Red River at both the North and South dams from 1970. There is an extensive series of images of the ‘Long Lake’ drainage ditches showing the culverts and water in ditches. The file of color images are primarily of drainage ditches. The Downtown Fargo file includes images of Pontoppidan Lutheran Church, parade showing camels pulling a Shrine wagon, World War I era military parade, and Broadway at night. There is a file of four images of the old fairgrounds, likely showing the condition of some of the buildings. Files 62-63 consist of professional images taken by Scherling’s Photography of Fargo and are primarily aerials. They would appear to be documenting wetlands or farm land prone to flooding. Many of them include railroad lines. None of them include a town or other feature that would place the exact location. They no doubt were taken in the Red River Valley, but whether North Dakota or Minnesota not known. The Slide Series consists of fifty-one slides and feature Herschel on trips to London, Copenhagen, Olso, Israel and Berlin, Germany. One includes Herschel meeting the Pope, an aerial view of downtown Fargo, and one of the front of Levitz Furniture Store in Fargo.

Dates

1950s-1980s

Creator

Lashkowitz, Herschel, 1918-1993. (Person)

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection remain with creator or the Institute.

Biography

Herschel Irving Lashkowitz was born April 2, 1918 in Fargo, N.D., the oldest child of Harry and Etta (Levitz) Lashkowitz. In 1940 he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. degree. After attending Harvard University for a year, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served overseas in the Aleutian Islands and Canal Zone during World War II for three and a half years. After the war in 1946 he moved to Los Angeles to write for the motion picture industry. Also that year Herschel legally changed his last name to Lash. In 1948 he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a LLB degree. After passing both the Minnesota and North Dakota bar examinations, he established a law practice with his father in Fargo. In 1950 Herschel became the Cass County chairman of the Democratic Party. It was also during this time that he changed his name back to Lashkowitz. In 1954 he ran and was elected mayor of Fargo. He served as mayor for twenty years. During his tenure Fargo had two urban renewal projects (Fourth Street and Main Ave.), suffered the worst tornado in 1957 in the city’s history, and was named an All-American City in 1962. Herschel ran for North Dakota governor in 1960 as an independent but lost. In 1964 he was elected to the North Dakota Senate. In 1966 he did not seek re-election to the senate but rather sought the endorsement of the Democratic-NPL Party for the East District Congressmen seat. After retiring as Fargo mayor in 1974 Herschel Lashkowitz returned to full-time practice of law. That fall he successfully ran for the North Dakota Senate and served until his health forced him to seek hospitalization in March 1989 during the legislative session. He did not return to the legislature. He died September 7, 1993 at Fargo.