Donna Nalewaja Photograph Collection
Collection
Identifier: Photo 2089
Scope and Content
This photo collection contains personal and promotional photos, mainly pertaining to her political career from roughly 1982-1999. It incorporates photos of private trips, public speaking events, campaigning, portraits, family photos, working in state legislature, as well as photos of prominent people including presidents and historical figures. A small amount of ephemera incorporating postcards of the bridges of Madison County is also included.
The collection is broken down into topical series. Portraits contains professional photos from her early and later career. Donna at work contains an assortment of photos ranging from her serving in the House & Senate, on various committees and board meetings, as well as teaching students about government. Campaigning in the 1980s entails attending various events to advertise her campaign including public addresses, cookouts, parades, and private functions.
Donna with prominent figures features two feminist icons of the time, Anita Hill, and Betty Friedan. The Governor series contains photos of North Dakota Governors, such as Allen Olson, George Sinner, and Ed Schafer. It portrays bill signings, promo photos, and celebration/commemoration pictures for the passing of House/Senate bills. The Presidential series features Presidents, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. Presidential hopefuls, Dan Quayle and Bob Dole are contained as well. Other prominent figures in the presidential series are former Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, Nancy and Maureen Reagan, in addition to a Bill Clinton impersonator. The Mid-90s series displays promotional, political, and industry visits, with notable events such as visiting a lignite strip-mining site in Falkirk N.D., as well as a promo shoot for Ed Schafer and Donna suiting up in firefighter gear for a fire department photoshoot. Salute to Donna Nalewaja series displays an event held at the Holiday Inn, Fargo in order to celebrate her for her political service.
The series Trips, displays family vacations and visits to places for the purpose of leisure. The public appearance and campaigning series contains appearances of Donna at fairs, parades, ice cream socials, as well as rotary, and Kiwanis club events, presumably to bolster the Republican Party. Unknown Benefit series has within it an unknown fundraiser simply called Raging Bull. Armed Forces series has within it various photos relating to the military in general, and specifically Donna visiting Air Force and Navy installations. The travel series is composed of trips of which the purpose is unknown. However, there is one figure of note within the travel series, a young Jack Dalrymple placed within the Dickinson Farm folder. Political events deals with the campaigning for fellow Republican hopefuls as well as various committees and events in order to drum up enthusiasm for the electoral process. Donna standalone photos are of unrelated topic, but united in featuring her. Within they show a trip to the southwest United States, a helicopter ride with Donna, and the receiving of a check, possibly her first sale as a realtor. Family photos contains within it the holiday cards of and celebration of private family events. Random photos without Donna contains postcards featuring the Bridges of Madison County, pictures of mountain goats, a group of police on the Michigan Dunes, and some historic Republicans who may have been passing through N.D.
Negatives houses those negative sheets, which correspond to the photos from box 3 folder 20 through box 4 folder 6. All the images are cross-referenced, with a small number on the photo referring to the number on the negative strips. The one oversized box contains posters of the entire role of the legislative sessions of both the State Senate and House of North Dakota.
The collection is broken down into topical series. Portraits contains professional photos from her early and later career. Donna at work contains an assortment of photos ranging from her serving in the House & Senate, on various committees and board meetings, as well as teaching students about government. Campaigning in the 1980s entails attending various events to advertise her campaign including public addresses, cookouts, parades, and private functions.
Donna with prominent figures features two feminist icons of the time, Anita Hill, and Betty Friedan. The Governor series contains photos of North Dakota Governors, such as Allen Olson, George Sinner, and Ed Schafer. It portrays bill signings, promo photos, and celebration/commemoration pictures for the passing of House/Senate bills. The Presidential series features Presidents, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. Presidential hopefuls, Dan Quayle and Bob Dole are contained as well. Other prominent figures in the presidential series are former Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, Nancy and Maureen Reagan, in addition to a Bill Clinton impersonator. The Mid-90s series displays promotional, political, and industry visits, with notable events such as visiting a lignite strip-mining site in Falkirk N.D., as well as a promo shoot for Ed Schafer and Donna suiting up in firefighter gear for a fire department photoshoot. Salute to Donna Nalewaja series displays an event held at the Holiday Inn, Fargo in order to celebrate her for her political service.
The series Trips, displays family vacations and visits to places for the purpose of leisure. The public appearance and campaigning series contains appearances of Donna at fairs, parades, ice cream socials, as well as rotary, and Kiwanis club events, presumably to bolster the Republican Party. Unknown Benefit series has within it an unknown fundraiser simply called Raging Bull. Armed Forces series has within it various photos relating to the military in general, and specifically Donna visiting Air Force and Navy installations. The travel series is composed of trips of which the purpose is unknown. However, there is one figure of note within the travel series, a young Jack Dalrymple placed within the Dickinson Farm folder. Political events deals with the campaigning for fellow Republican hopefuls as well as various committees and events in order to drum up enthusiasm for the electoral process. Donna standalone photos are of unrelated topic, but united in featuring her. Within they show a trip to the southwest United States, a helicopter ride with Donna, and the receiving of a check, possibly her first sale as a realtor. Family photos contains within it the holiday cards of and celebration of private family events. Random photos without Donna contains postcards featuring the Bridges of Madison County, pictures of mountain goats, a group of police on the Michigan Dunes, and some historic Republicans who may have been passing through N.D.
Negatives houses those negative sheets, which correspond to the photos from box 3 folder 20 through box 4 folder 6. All the images are cross-referenced, with a small number on the photo referring to the number on the negative strips. The one oversized box contains posters of the entire role of the legislative sessions of both the State Senate and House of North Dakota.
Dates
- Majority of material found within 1982-1999
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.
Copyrights
Copyrights to this collection remain with the copyright holders.
Biography
Donna Lou Speer was born on October 8, 1939 in Winterset, Iowa. She attended the University of
Minnesota-Minneapolis where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1960. She married John D. Nalewaja on December 26, 1959 and the couple moved to Fargo, North Dakota in 1962 after her husband received his Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis. John D. Nalewaja was a Professor with the Department of Plant Sciences at North Dakota State University.
Donna Nalewaja was a realtor with Coldwell Banker and a Marketing Representative for Waterford at
Harwood Groves Retirement Community in Fargo. They raised four children: Stephen, Susan, Gregory, and Anne. Donna ran successfully as the Republican Candidate for the North Dakota House of Representatives District 45 seat in 1982 and served two terms as a State Representative until 1986. In 1986, she successfully ran as the Republican Candidate for the North Dakota Senate District 45 seat and served three terms as a State Senator until 1998. Donna unsuccessfully ran as the Republican Candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the 1988 North Dakota Gubernatorial Election against incumbent Governor George A. Sinner, and as the Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate in the 1998 North Dakota U.S. Senate
Election against incumbent Senator Byron Dorgan.
Donna officially retired from politics after the 1998 campaign. John retired from North Dakota State University in 1998, and they continued to reside in Fargo.She passed away on September 30, 2021.
Donna officially retired from politics after the 1998 campaign. John retired from North Dakota State University in 1998, and they continued to reside in Fargo.She passed away on September 30, 2021.
Extent
1127 Photographic Prints
590 Film Negatives (590 35mm film negatives)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Donna Nalewaja Photograph Collection contains personal and promotional photos, mainly pertaining to her political career from roughly 1982-1999, as a Republican North Dakota state legislator. It incorporates photos of private trips, public speaking events, campaigning, portraits, family photos, working in state legislature, as well as photos of prominent people including presidents and historical figures.
Provenance
Donated by Donna Nalewaja, 2000 (Acc. 2594).
Separation Record
Manuscripts removed from collection and organized separately (Mss. 3820)
Property rights
The Institute for Regional Studies owns the property rights to this collection.
- Title
- Finding aid to the Donna Nalewaja 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
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu