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Missouri River Aerial Photograph Collection

 Collection
Identifier: Photo 2059

Scope and Contents

The Missouri River Aerial Photograph Collections contains 737 glass plate negatives, each 21 x 16 cm. Although there was no identification included with these negatives; painstaking research has determined that the series of images cover an area of the Missouri River Valley affected by the building of Garrison Dam and subsequent creation of Lake Sakakawea. All images were taken prior to the dam’s construction. Each negative has a number printed on the upper right corner, all of which start with the number 950. The second number is for the row, and the third number for the northern most image in that row. Geographically the negatives are taken moving in a sequence from north to south, with each row falling to the west of the previous. Identification has been made for approximately half of the negatives on the eastern side of the represented views. Identifications are made by township, range and section numbers, with identifying place names in brackets. A number of negatives are in poor condition with pealing emulsion and some broken glass. In those cases a notation has been made in inventory. There appears to be some gaps in the sequence, and the collection is likely not complete. Box 24 contains some reference printouts of a portion of the negatives used to identify geographic locations of the aerial views.

Dates

  • 1940s

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection remain with the copyright holder or are in the public domain.

History

Little information is known on the origins of this glass negative collection or why the images were taken. The collection was donated by the Philadelphia Maritime Museum, however it is not known how they came into possession of them. Since the images are all taken near the Missouri River in North Dakota, they likely were part of the Missouri River Basin Project, responsible for the series dams built on the Missouri River in the 1940s and early 1950s.

Extent

737 Photographic Negatives (737 glass plate negatives)

Language of Materials

English

Provenance

Donated by Philadelphia Maritime Museum, 1989.

Property rights

The Institute for Regional Studies owns the property rights to this collection.
Title
Finding Aid to the Missouri River Aerial Photograph Collection
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository

Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States