
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
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This blog takes you behind the scenes of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Get a glimpse at a day-in-the-life of the staff, volunteers, and partners who make it all possible. Discover what it takes to preserve North Dakota's natural and cultural history. The State Museum is North Dakota's largest museum. Learn about our galleries, exhibits, events, museum store, and more.
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
4d ago
4 Little-Known Facts About the USS North Dakota and its Silver Service
On Jan. 7, the punch bowl from the USS North Dakota silver service took its biannual journey to the state Capitol for the reception marking the opening of the 2025-27 legislative session. The punch bowl is part of a 40-piece serving set that citizens of North Dakota gifted to the state’s namesake battleship in 1915. Every two years, reception attendees can enjoy punch from the silver bowl that the Grand Forks Herald once noted was “as large as a small sized bathtub.”
Punch bowl at the opening of the 2025-27 North Dakota leg ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
3w ago
The Business of Buttons: Developing Interpretive Programs at the Pembina State Museum
While researching fur trade material culture to develop new programming and interpretation for the Pembina State Museum, I occasionally latch on to smaller details. The past few weeks I’ve been focused on the history of buttons, something most of us rarely think about. But during the 17th and 18th centuries, buttons were big business. Buttons feature prominently in collections from fur trading sites, including at Pembina. Buttons are part of our “Red River Rendezvous” program and will also be showcased in a g ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
1M ago
Join the State Archives on a Proactive Collecting Journey!
The State Archives recently developed a proactive collecting survey because we want public input on what types of documents we should collect. This feedback tells us what topics or events people are interested in for research, genealogy, teaching, general information, entertainment, enjoyment, and other purposes. With this information, we can better describe and highlight those themes in our existing collections and actively seek representation through new items that document those topics.
Row of existing manuscript collections at th ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
2M ago
Adventures in Archaeology Collections: The Fort Abraham Lincoln Lab Project
In the archaeology collections, we are preparing for the upcoming North Dakota Military Gallery expansion at the ND Heritage Center & State Museum in Bismarck. Much of our current work involves identifying what is in these collections so those planning the exhibits have an idea of what is available.
Volunteers are helping inventory the contents of artifact boxes from Fort Abraham Lincoln, now a state park. These artifacts are from projects in the 1980s and 1990s when some of the fort buildings were reconstructed ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
3M ago
Remembering ND Appreciation Week: An Early 20th-Century Booster Effort Reverberates Today
This week 109 years ago, a variety of forces joined together for what promised to be the “greatest publicity ever secured by any commonwealth since Noah built the ark.” In a proclamation, Gov. Louis Hanna declared Nov. 14-20, 1915, “North Dakota Appreciation Week.” Dreamed up by the North Dakota Press Association, the booster effort was aimed at encouraging migration to a state the Bismarck Daily Tribune breathlessly dubbed “an empire in the making.”
The colorful Edgar Richter, head of the North Dakota ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
3M ago
State Archives’ Fargo Forum Questionnaires Bring Subjects to Life
This summer, I was hired at the North Dakota State Archives as an intern working on manuscript collections donated by private individuals and organizations. I cataloged and digitized land patents, citizenship certificates, biographies, autobiographies, photographs, and short sketches of men and women from early North Dakota history.
These types of papers contain various elements, which create a comprehensive picture of lives that came and went in very different ways. Yet their stamp on North Dakota history cannot be taken for g ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
3M ago
A Few of Our Favorite Things: State Archives Staff Reflect on Best Part of the Job
This month, the State Archives marks American Archives Month by highlighting the memory keepers at work behind the scenes collecting, preserving, and sharing North Dakota’s documentary history. I asked some of our hardworking memory keepers—the amazing State Archives staff—what their favorite thing about being an archivist is and about the special moments that make this job worth doing. Check out their answers below!
Matt Ely, photo archivist
My favorite part of my job is working with obsolete photographic form ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
4M ago
Celebrate American Archives Month With These Fabulous Finds From North Dakota’s Collections
Working at the North Dakota State Archives means interacting with our collections on every level. Our team of archivists processes incoming materials, often becoming experts on each collection they touch. Our reference team uses these collections to assist others in access and research, learning many tidbits along the way. Through scanning, skimming, and handling the documentary pages and files of our collections, our staff loves to acquire new knowledge about the many significant things that have happ ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
4M ago
Enhancing Archaeological Collections Access and Preservation With 3D Technology
3D scanning allows for the preservation of artifacts in digital form, safeguarding them against physical deterioration or damage. 3D modeling can be used to preserve digital replicas of delicate, rare, and ancient artifacts, enabling the storage and study of objects in far greater detail than traditional 2D images (Eve 2018; Garstki 2016; Graham 2012; Younan and Treadway 2015). In cases where artifacts suffer damage, the stored 3D digital model can assist in the restoration and repair of the affected parts. Conser ..read more
State Historical Society of North Dakota Blog
5M ago
Pyrex’s Vibrant History: A Nostalgic Journey Through the State Museum’s Collection
Pyrex kitchenware is near and dear to my heart. I personally started collecting pieces over a decade ago when my mother gifted me my grandmother’s turquoise Butterprint Cinderella bowl. Growing up, that bowl was frequently on the supper table filled with mashed potatoes or cucumber salad. Now it’s a treasure in my home used to serve my own family.
Who knew this Butterprint Cinderella bowl would spark my lifelong passion for Pyrex?
During my first tour of the museum collections after starting work at the State ..read more