Norene Roberts Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2015

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Norene Roberts Photograph Collection was accessioned as part of her papers that she donated to the Institute for Regional Studies in 1995. Those papers have been processed as Manuscript 190. The collection contains 407 photographs in color and black & white. Most if not all were taken by Ms. Roberts. Most but not all of the prints have corresponding negatives. Those that do have been so noted on the back of the print. The photographs are arranged within each series alphabetically by town. The collection includes many images of post offices across North Dakota and different streetscapes in those same towns. The photograph collection is organized into three series: North Dakota towns, North Dakota schools & church, and Slides. The Towns Series contains photographs of post offices, courthouses, libraries, and different streetscapes. The two towns with the largest selection of images are Devils Lake and Grand Forks, N.D. Devils Lake is mainly streetscapes with a few post office images, while Grand Forks holds images for a variety of different locations such as the St. Michaels Hospital, Dinni Flats, the DeRemer House and downtown businesses. The Schools & Church Series documents eight buildings including Belmont, Roosevelt and Washington schools in Grand Forks; the public schools at Fordville, Hoople, Minto and Pisek; and Zion Lutheran Church at Hoople, N.D. Washington School images are the most numerous with both interior and exterior views. Most of the school photographs are in color and contain several different views of the buildings. There are also a number of images of St. Joe’s Chapel at Minto, N.D. The Slides Series has been organized by geographic location, as well as a separate file for North Dakota post offices. The later file is sub-divided alphabetically by name of the town. The Fargo and Grand Forks files include slides used in presentations related to buildings located in the respective communities. Both contain some historical images, thus images not taken by Ms. Roberts. The Fargo file also includes some general downtown views and buildings. The Grand Forks file also includes images of the Gedney building and St. Michael Hospital. Of special note are the images taken by Ms. Roberts of post offices in a number of North Dakota towns. This was part of research Ms. Roberts did regarding historical architecture of these public buildings. Consult the contents listing for towns represented.

Dates

1980 - 1995

Creator

Roberts, Norene A. (Person)

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to images in this collection are held by the Institute.

Biography

Norene Roberts received her Masters and Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota in 1972 and 1978, respectively. Following her doctoral work, she was employed by the Minnesota State Historical Society as an architectural historian. In 1979 she established Historical Research Incorporated, for which the projects in this collection were completed. Some of her work includes those in this collection as well as numerous projects in Minnesota. In 1995 she moved from Minneapolis to Massachusetts.