North Dakota Extension Homemakers Council Memories of North Dakota Homemakers Oral History Project Photograph Collection
Collection
Identifier: Photo 2079
Scope and Contents
As part of the oral history project, photographic images were also assembled for inclusion in the final publications. The images in this photograph collection were originally interspersed in the paper records that have been processed as Manuscript 262. Some, but not all, of these images were used in the three books. The collection is a mix of primarily copy prints, original photographs, and color slides. Unfortunately there is very little identifying documentation with the images, and it is assumed most of them were taken in North Dakota. Some of the slides have identifying information and are entirely copies of older images.
The images as found in the paper records were not organized in any systematic manner, thus when processed by the archives staff, a topical arrangement was used. These topical files are arranged in a strictly alphabetical sequence. The slides have been sub-divided by similar topical terms used for the prints.
As would be expected, the majority of the images in the Topical Series have a rural theme, particularly farming scenes and rural women. Most are the work of amateur photographers and thus the quality is uneven.
The Buildings/Businesses file (2 images) includes one image showing a tarpaper shack with the sign “Raleigh-Herald, real estate loans.” The Churches file (4 images) contains three images of groups outside a church; one labeled “Children’s Day (Niobe), June 9th, 1918.”
The Clothing and Dress file (6 images) includes a cartoon postcard, several women’s undergarments on a clothesline (one with “Pillsbury’s Best XXX” imprinted), a group of women wearing elaborate hats, and an exterior shot of four women posed with dressmakers’ mannequin.
The Clubs file (6 images) shows what is believed to be women making mattresses from surplus wool in the 1930s, likely members of a homemakers club. There are also various gatherings of women in front of domestic display booths and food competitions at fairs.
The Disasters file (5 images) has snapshots taken after snow storms and damage after a tornado. The Entertainment file (6 images) contains a snapshot of children playing on a homemade teeter-totter, people horseback riding and picnicking.
The Farm Life file (24 images) has images of women employed in various tasks around the farm yard, from milking cows to collecting eggs and feeding livestock. The Funeral Rites and Ceremonies file (2 images) includes an image of an open casket, likely of a young child, and of an older woman laid out on a table with several flowers on the cover sheet.
The Furniture and Appliances file (19 images) are more recent views of old furniture and house appliances. Some appear to have been taken in a museum setting. The Homestead file (18 images) contains primarily images of homes on the prairie and other rural settings. Some give a close view of architectural detail and structural styling typical of the period, while others are less zoomed in and give a view of the whole estate.
The Hospitals file (1 image) contains an original, mounted image of a doctor and three nurses around a patient being operated upon. On back is written “Aunt Ella, nurse, Dr. Paulson, Aunt Eva.” The Housework images (12 images) show women at work in a variety of contexts. Included is an image of a woman and young child on chair by a cook stove, a woman darning a young child’s pants while still being worn by the child, two babies in a tub outside and a woman pumping water.
The Hunting file (5 images) shows men with the game they have caught and one of a young girl holding a string of fish caught. The Music file (6 images) includes a man playing the violin, a woman at a piano, several musical groups and two of a woman standing near oxen and holding a guitar.
The People—Large Groups file (4 images) contains images of men by barn, a group by a log house, an exterior social scene and children by automobiles. The People—Portraits and Snapshots file (27 images) includes various images, which fall into the following categories: Baby – (8 images) includes babies with their mothers and two infants being bathed in a basin on a porch. Elderly – (5 images) these are individual and coupled snapshots of elderly individuals. Family – (7 images) includes groupings of families, typically portraiture style. Native American – (3 images) portraiture of Native Americans in ceremonial dress. Individual – (4 images) snapshots of people alone, typically posing.
The Plowing/Harvesting file (16 images) contains images of various carts and farm equipment pulled by oxen or horses. Most of these images depict aspects of fieldwork. The Schools file (17 images) shows a group of school children posed in front of various vehicles.
The Transportation file (16 images) contains images of various means of transportation split into the following categories: Horse/Other – (11 images) images are of the earlier means of transportation such as horse and buggy. An original photographic postcard shows four women in wagon pulled by two oxen. Printed on front is “A McKenzie Co., N.D. homesteaders auto at Schafer.” Another postcard is of the S.S. Kristianiafjord ship. Automobile – (5 images) includes images of automobiles and people posed around or in them; there are a variety of automotive models all in the standard black finish. The Winter file (6 images) images show people on sleds pulled by horses in the snow.
The Weddings file (7 images) contains images of wedding couples that appear to have been taken by a professional photographer, although some are clearly copy photographs. No identifying information given.
The Slides Series file (353 images) contains copies of other images similar in nature to the prints in the collection. Some do have identifying information written on the cardboard mount. Some are duplicates of the prints in the collection. The slides were made by the NDSU Extension Service.
The Negatives Series consists of both black&white and color 35mm negatives (63 strips, usually each having 6 images, or a total of circa 347 images) and have been processed into the Institute’s general negative collection. Only a few of the negatives have corresponding prints in the collection. For those with prints the negative number has been placed on the back of the print. The negatives were scanned and contact print sheets made for all the negatives. The scans allow researchers to view the entire negative collection for appropriate images. As with the prints, the images are of farm life and women, as well as some portraiture. It appears the copy work was done by an amateur and thus the quality varies.
Dates
- 1880s-1980s
Creator
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.
Copyrights
Copyright to images in this collection remains with the creators or are in the public domain.
History
The North Dakota Extension Homemakers Council’s “Memories of North Dakota Homemakers” Oral History Project, modeled after the National Extension Homemakers Oral History Project,
was begun in 1985. This oral history project was undertaken to preserve the memories of North Dakota homemakers. The project focused on homemakers in an effort to provide primary documentation of the changing role of North Dakota homemakers since the turn of the twentieth century. The project was sanctioned by the North Dakota Centennial Commission and funded by the North Dakota Humanities Council in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Arlene Sagness served as project director and editor of the three books that were created. In 1985 volunteers from all over North Dakota were trained to conduct interviews. The interviews were done from November of 1985 through April 1986 and conducted with older North Dakota homemakers. By June 1988 the transcripts of those taped interviews had been edited into the first of three books create by the project: Sods, Logs and Tarpaper. Clothes Lines, Party Lines, and Hem Lines was published in 1989 and Courtin,’ Cookin’ and Castor Oil was published in 1990.
Extent
192 Photographic Prints (192 photographic prints)
353 Photographic Slides (353 color slides.)
347 Film Negatives (63 strips of 35mm negatives (ca. 347 images))
Language of Materials
English
Provenance
Donated by North Dakota Extension Homemakers Council, 1992 (Acc. 2303).
Property rights
The Institute for Regional Studies owns the property rights to this collection.
Creator
- Title
- Finding Aid to the North Dakota Extension Homemakers Council Memories of North Dakota Homemakers Oral History Project Photograph Collection
- Description rules
- Gihc
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
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