Finding Aids

The following collections are available for research by appointment. Some collections may contain restricted materials as noted on the individual finding aids. Please contact the Museum Archivist to schedule an appointment before your visit as materials must be retrieved from our archives. Please review library open hours before your visit as they are different from those of the general museum.

Albert G. Bastis Collection

(B579, 4 boxes)

Albert Bastis was a city council member in Minneapolis. He was born in 1884. Albert retired at age 47 after serving over 32 years in city council. He was chairman of the MPLS-St. Paul Sanitary District Board of Trustees from 1933-1949. He helped establish the sanitary district that is most likely relevant to today’s waste needs.

Andrew Riverside Church

(B549, 9 boxes)

Andrew Riverside Presbyterian Church was the result of the 1966 merger between Andrew Church and Riverside Church. This collection spans from 1888 to 2001, the year the original building collapsed. The collection includes administrative records from both churches. It also includes church bulletins, event and community materials and some photos of the church and its members.

Ann Barnum Collection

(B590, 5 boxes)

Anne Barnum was a community activist that was involved in the Neighborhood Revitalization program.

Baker, Patricia D.

(B533, 4 boxes)

Patricia D. Baker served as Minneapolis Park Commissioner for the 4th district from 1982 to 1997 and president of the Park Board from 1985-1987 and 1996-1997. This collection includes correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, budget reports, local publications, and public event calendars of the Park Board. It also includes documentation, reports, and studies related to various committees and projects.

Central High School, Minneapolis

(B553, 5 boxes)

Central High School was the first high school in Minneapolis. It existed under three names: Union School (1860-1863), Washington School (circa 1867-1878), and Central High School (1878-1982). This collection dates from 1876-1984 with bulk being from 1913-1950s.

Coffeehouse Extempore

(B544, 18 boxes)

Coffeehouse Extempore was at one time the nation’s oldest continuously operated folk music and arts center. The non-profit organization, originally founded in 1964 as a youth drop-in center, attracted professional and semi-professional performers from around the country and world. This collection includes performance and marketing materials such as press releases, posters, artist’s promotional materials, newspaper clippings. It also includes information on the Country Store, Juice Bar and relocation and renovation projects.

Commedia Theatre

(B569, 5 boxes)

Commedia Theater Company was a professional, improvisational touring theater from 1975 until the early-1990s. The collection includes administrative materials, performance and marketing materials, performance programs, posters and newspaper clippings, photographs of performances and Commedia members and media-related materials.

Company B Last Man Club, 13^th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry,

(B517, 6 boxes)

Company B Last Man Club was an organization of Spanish-American War Veterans from Company B of the 13^thMinnesota Volunteer Infantry. The collection includes meeting minutes, notices of upcoming meetings, and club newsletters both for Company B Last Man Club and the 13^thMinnesota Regimental Association.

Confer Brothers Realty

(B564, 3 boxes)

This collection dates from 1917-1962 and includes materials relating to the Confer Brothers Realty Company. It features items specific to Ogden A. Confer, founder of the company, as well as company documents such as an early sales contracts, advertising news clippings and planning information for a housing development project in Maple Plain called Broadmoor.

The Coterie Club

(B528, 2 records cartons, 3 photo boxes)

This collection contains documents related to the CC. Programs make up most of the collection.

Dagny Dietrichson Collection

(B619, 2 boxes)

Dagny Dietrichson taught at the Girls Vocational Training School (GVTS) from 1926 to 1942. She primarily taught retail training but also taught English and history.

Doell, Charles E.

(B515, 2 boxes)

Charles Edward Doell served as Secretary of the Board of Minneapolis Park Commissioners for 30 years. He was also the Superintendent of Parks from 1945 until his retirement in 1959. The bulk of the collection consists of articles and essays written by Charles Doell for both presentation and publication in Parks & Recreation and Parks Sparks, among other magazines.

Elliot Park Neighborhood

(B570, 5 record storage carton)

The Elliot Park Neighborhood Inc. was a neighborhood association that focused on improving Elliot Park. This collection includes committee minutes, publications and administrative documents.

Elwell, James T.

(B511, 5 boxes)

James T. Elwell served as Republican State Senator from the 39^thDistrict and had careers in manufacturing and real estate. The Elwell collection includes correspondences between Elwell family members and professional correspondences regarding Elwell’s political, business, and real estate career.

First Southeast Corporation

(B548, 5 boxes)

In 1965, 23 Southeast neighborhood residents banded together to form the First Southeast Corporation to purchase, renovate and affordably lease homes to families.

Izaak Walton League

(B595, 2boxes)

The Izaak Walton league was a woman’s chapter that focused on conservation and anti-littering campaigns.

John Gable/MNDOT Collection

(B605, 2 boxes)

John Gable was an avid photographer, MNDOT employee and Project Manager for the Stone Arch Bridge. This collection contains 20th century photographs of downtown Minneapolis.

Girl Scouts of Minneapolis & Hennepin County

(B537, 1 box)

This collection contains annual reports from 1937 – 2000, issues of The Pioneer, Girl Scout News, The Bridge, Cookie News, Currents, Especially for Volunteers and Parent Newsletter newsletters, material from the annual meeting in 2001, information about Marjorie Edgar and a copy of the book The Rowan Tree by Joyce Hakala.

Greater Minneapolis Interfaith Housing Program

(B504, 1 box)

The Greater Minneapolis Interfaith Fair Housing Program promoted “residential dispersion,” or neighborhood desegregation, in Minneapolis and its surrounding communities between 1959 and 1964. This collection houses organizational records from the full span of the nonprofit’s existence, from 1959 to 1965.

Griswold, Rauma, Egge and Olson Architects

(B567, 2 boxes)

The Griswold, Rauma, Egge & Olson collection contains still images and documents related to the firm’s commissions, as well as several commissions executed by the principals John Rauma and David Griswold earlier in their careers. 1958-1986.

Hearing Society of Minnesota

(B541, 12 boxes)

The Hearing Society of Minnesota (HSOM) was founded in 1922 by Horace Newhart. Originally called the Minneapolis Society for the Hard of Hearing, and then the Minneapolis Hearing Society, the organization provided education and services for the hearing impaired as well as their families and the community. The bulk of the collection includes administrative materials from 1922 to 1999.

Hoyer, Eric

(B501, 3 boxes)

This collection is made up of newspaper clippings that covered various events during former Minneapolis Mayor Eric Hoyer’s time in office. The scope of the issues covered between 1948-1957 are very broad including: civil rights, desegregation, fair housing, the labor movement, police vice activities, public housing, civil defense and public transportation.

John Jameison Collection

(B626, 2 boxes)

John Jamieson was a MN DOT employee and Resident of Prospect Park. He fought against a freeway that was going to be built in Prospect Park and succeeded.

League Of Women Voters – Minneapolis Collection

(B637, 1 half box)

This collection contains the organizational history of the LWV of Minneapolis.

Legislative_Scrapbooks 1964-1973

(B546 1 box )

The Legislative scrapbooks detail the politics of running Minneapolis. Topics include politicians, taxes, MAC and sewage.

Metro & City Planning Bulletins

(B500, 2 boxes)

The Minneapolis City Planning Commission collection houses reports, plans, and proposals created or approved by the City Planning Commission between 1934 and 1979. Taken together, these materials document the growth, decline, and nascent resurgence of Minneapolis in that era.

Mid-River Residence Coop

(B71, 1box)

Mid River Residence Coop

The Mid-River Residence Coop Residence on Nicolett Island was 6 mixed income apartment buildings from 1988-2003.

Miller Vocational High School , MPLS

(B601, 1 half box)

The collection was primarily donated by Betty Douglas Lins & other classmates. Since the archive was lost, various classmates (class of 1951-1967) compiled newspapers, photographs, yearbook, ephemera.

Milton Schadegg

(B520, 3 boxes)

Milton Schadegg taught civics as well as aviation at Central High School in Minneapolis. He went to Harvard and earned a divinity degree.

Minneapolis Board of Education

(B509, 3 boxes)

The bulk of this collection dates from 1964-1971, when much of the Minneapolis Board of Education’s work revolved around school desegregation. Other major issues included the district’s overburdened buildings and the creation of new curricular programs, such as the federal Experimental Schools Program and the Twin Cities Institute for Talented Youth.

Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority (MHRA)

(B577, 14 boxes)

This collection includes materials created when the MCDA operated as the Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority (MHRA). The bulk of the material is from the 1960s -1970s and is composed of photographic slides of the city of Minneapolis and redevelopment projects initiated by the MHRA. The collection also features photographic prints of redevelopment in downtown Minneapolis including the Gateway district, urban renewal, senior housing projects and other redevelopment projects.

Minneapolis Memorial Day Committee Collection

(B536, 2 boxes)

The material in this collection was donated by Felix Phillips, former HHM (HCHS) board member. The collection includes incoming and outgoing correspondence from members of different G.A.R. Posts, MMDC meeting minutes from 1925-1943, as well as the years 1903, 1955, 1957, and 1958. There are Memorial Day program rosters of the war dead from services from the following years: 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930,1934, 1937, 1939,1941-1944, 1950, 1952-1954, and 1958. There are membership cards from auxiliary organizations and receipts as well as MMDC account deposit slips and parade memorabilia.

Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association

(B527, 16 boxes)

This collection includes Board Meeting Minutes, governance and legal documents, capital campaigns, financial statements, newsletters, scrapbooks, and other memorabilia that covered various events during the 1956 to 2005 period of constructing the building and management of the Park Avenue residence, the funding to construct and maintain the residence, and the management of the portfolio and assets of the retirement fund itself.

MnDOT

(B508, 6 boxes)

The material in this collection was created by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, formerly known as the Department of Highways. It includes photographs and Right of Way surveys for potential highway projects between 1959 and 1978 within Hennepin County. The bulk of the collection features Hiawatha/Hwy 55, Hwy 100 and Hwy 94 (Minneapolis).

Prospect Park Coop

(B592, 4 boxes)

The Prospect Park Coop was a food Coop founded in 1937. It became a non-profit in the 1990s.

Prospect Park Neighborhood, Minneapolis

(B562, 5 boxes)

The Prospect Park Collection houses personal and organizational materials from residents of the Prospect Park and East River Road neighborhoods, particularly those involved in the Prospect Park and East River Road Improvement Association (PPERRIA) and the Sidney Pratt School. The collection dates from 1902 to 2017, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1970s and 1990s.

Republican Party Clippings 1943-1971

(B526, 2 boxes)

The files in this collection look as if they were kept for research about potential competitors. The dates range from 1943-1971 and include both political parties.

Republican Party Collection

(B540, 2 boxes)

Little is known about this collection. It may stem from research by the local republican party to keep on top of local politicians. There are notes on certain articles and some correspondence. The rest are articles from publications or campaign materials. The dates range from 1948-1969, however, most records are from the 60s.

Rosacker, Hans/Hans Rosacker Company

(B620, 2 boxes)

Hans Rosacker Floral Company was founded in Minneapolis in 1902 by Hans and Amalie Rosacker. This collection includes material about the Hans Rosacker Company and the Rosacker family. 1902-1999.

St. Andrews/St. Barnabas Hospital

(B593, 3 boxes)

The St. Andrew’s Hospital School of Nursing collection contains minutes, correspondence, notes, newsletters, financial records, membership lists, scrapbooks, photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and other documents and ephemera relating to the St. Andrew’s School of Nursing and its Alumnae Association. 1915-2004.

St. Anthony Elevators

(B531, 1 box)

The St. Anthony Elevators collection houses insurance and real estate appraisals, technical drawings, and building photographs created for F. H. Peavey and Company and International Mineral and Chemicals Corporation between 1938 and 1982, along with materials related to the documentation of St. Anthony Elevator Number 3 for the Historical American Buildings Survey in 1992.

Southeast Council on Learning (SEMCOL) Collection

(B632, 2 boxes)

This collection contains personal and organizational history of SEMCOL. The early history is noted in the administrative history section of this finding aid.

Southeast Minneapolis Planning & Coordination Committee (SEMPACC)

(B591, 4 boxes)

The Southeast Minneapolis Planning and Coordination Committee (SEMPACC) was a political effort of Prospect Park, Como and the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood.

“Spiff the Biffs” Collection

(B600, 1 box)

In 1988, local grass roots effort was successful in restoring the Harry Wild Jones Lake Harriet Bathrooms.

Stenvig, Charles

(B530, 8 boxes)

Charles Stenvig served three terms as Mayor of Minneapolis. This collection is composed of administrative documents related to aspects of Minneapolis governance, primarily during Charles Stenvig’s first two terms as mayor of Minneapolis from 1969 to 1973.

Stevens Square Home

(B542, 31 boxes)

The story of Stevens Square began with a pandemic. In 1881, Typhoid created a need for orphanages in the Twin Cities. Several prominent men’s wives supported Stevens Square. The first Stevens Square meeting was attended by 25 women on October 28, 1881, at 520 Second Street NE in Minneapolis.

Temple Baptist Church

(B538, 16 boxes)

The Temple Baptist Church collection contains a wide range of documents, photographs, and artifacts from 1909 to 1999, covering the time from the church’s founding to its dissolution.

University of Minnesota

(B523, 1 box)

The University of Minnesota is a public research university that was founded in 1851. The materials in this collection originated on the Twin Cities campus and include publications, programs, personal papers and news clippings donated from various sources.