Ralph Diehl Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2075

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Ralph Diehl Photograph Collection contains 35 visual images that span nearly 100 years. They range in size from 2½ x 4 in. to 8½ x 11 in. The photographs are arranged topically and focus on Ralph Diehl and his family. Also included are many group photos of organizations of which Ralph was a member. Two postcards are also in the collection along with miscellaneous photographs related in some aspect to Mr. Diehl’ life. Almost none of the images have any identifying information written on the back or with them. The Portraits file contains two formal studio images, one of Mr. Diehl as a young man and the other likely taken in the 1950s. The Snapshots file includes Diehl seated at his desk in the North Dakota Legislature and two of him speaking at a podium. The Family file includes two images of he, his wife and two sons, another is a Christmas card image likely taken on their 25th wedding anniversary. The final image is a copy photographic print of Diehl’s maternal grandparents and children, with identification on the back. The Awards file shows Diehl with other men receiving a number of awards. One likely is a soil conservation award for he is holding a large aerial of his farm; and in another he is holding a U.S. Savings Bond. The 4-H file has two images from the 1954 4-H Institute at North Dakota State University where he is recognized for his fifteen years of service. One image is apparently of the adults honored and the other is of all 4-H members attending. The Universities & Colleges file has two group images of the Council for Agricultural Education and Research at North Dakota State University; another is presenting a scholarship check from Nodak Rural Electric Cooperative to the NDSU Agricultural Engineering Department. The fourth image is of a group of men, which may actually be the board of directors for Nodak Rural Electric Cooperative. The Meetings file includes four images of meetings of Nodak Rural Electric Cooperative, likely the board of directors, on which Ralph Diehl was a member. The Politics and Government file contains a view of the North Dakota House of Representatives and another of the Legislative Functions Committee of the 1972 North Dakota Constitutional Convention. The Reunions file includes group photographs of the NDSU class of 1929 on their sixtieth anniversary reunion and a larger image of the NDSU Fifty Year reunion, both taken on campus in 1989. The other image is of an unidentified group of men with tables in front. Identification of the men’s names is given on the back, but not the event. The Postcards file includes one card of the North Dakota capitol building and the other compares the height of the capitol with Garrison Dam. The five images in the Miscellaneous file include a color portrait of Gov. Allen I. Olson, concrete grain elevator silos, beet growers group at the Anaconda Copper mine, group image of three men and two women wearing large buttons (words illegible), and a distant image of a farmstead, likely the Diehl farm.

Dates

1890s-1980s.

Creator

Diehl, Ralph E., 1905-1993. (Person)

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection remain with the creator.

Biography

Ralph Diehl was born March 31, 1905 near Hartley, Iowa. He was the third child of six children born to Charles and Emma (Lorch) Diehl. In 1917 the family moved to an area near Hillsboro, North Dakota. n 1929 Diehl graduated from North Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. After graduation, he taught vocational agriculture and track and basketball in Castlewood, South Dakota. While in Castlewood, he met Gertrude Qualsett whom he married in 1931. By 1932 they had settled on a farm near Hillsboro. The couple had two sons, R. Harlan and Roger. Diehl died May 12, 1993. Diehl served five terms as a member of the North Dakota state legislature and was an active member of the state Republican Party. As a member of the legislature, Diehl was appointed to serve on the Natural Resources sub-committee. Some of the issues Diehl was most concerned with included the siting of energy plants, routing of transmission lines, and the reclamation of strip-mined land. In 1971 and 1972 Diehl was a delegate to the North Dakota Constitutional Convention. While Diehl grew an assortment of crops and raised numerous animals on his farm, he was heavily involved in sugarbeet production and well known for the quality of his herd of Holstein cattle. He also was involved in numerous agricultural organizations including: Equity Elevator and Trading Company of Hillsboro of which he was president for 24 years; National Council of Agricultural Employers; American Crystal Sugar Company; Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers' Association, Incorporated; Western Sugarbeet Growers' Association, Incorporated; Red River Valley Cooperative, Incorporated; North Dakota and Traill County Crop Improvement Associations; Advisory Council for Agricultural Research and Education at North Dakota State University; Traill-Grand Forks Dairy Herd Improvement Association; and the Agricultural Hall of Fame. Diehl served on the board of directors for many of these organizations and served terms as president of the board for many of them. Diehl was an active member in the community, belonging to several local civic organizations. He served as a board member of Nodak Rural Electric Cooperative for thirty-five years, the Hillsboro Community Hospital Association, Kiwanis, Shrine, Elks, Sons of Norway, Civic and Commerce Association, Hillsboro Masonic Lodge No. 10, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Hillsboro Township Board, and the local rural water district. He was also a leader in 4-H for fifteen years and involved in work with Boy Scouts. Diehl's farming and community service activities were recognized when he was presented with the Soil Conservation Award, the Skelly Award, and the Electric Hammer Award. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the North Dakota Crop Improvement Association.