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Minnesota Societies and Archives
Aitkin County — Anoka County — Blue Earth County — Becker County — Beltrami County — Benton County — Brown County — Big Stone County — Chippewa County — Chisago County — Clay County — Cook County — Cottonwood County — Cass County — Carlton County — Clearwater County — Carver County — Crow Wing County — Dakota County — Dodge County — Douglas County — Faribault County — Fillmore County — Freeborn County — Goodhue County — Grant County — Hennepin County — Houston County — Hubbard County — Isanti County — Itasca County — Jackson County — Kanabec County — Kandiyohi County — Kittson County — Koochiching County — Lake County — LIncoln County — Lake of the Woods County — Lac qui Parle County — Le Sueur County — Lyon County — McLeod County — Meeker County — Mahnomen County — Mille Lacs County — Morrison County — Mower County — Marshall County — Martin County — Murray County — Nicollet County — Nobles County — Norman County — Olmstead County — Otter Tail County — Pennington County — Pine County — Pipestone County — Polk County — Pope County — Ramsey County — Redwood County — Renville County — Rice County — Red Lake County — Rock County — Roseau County — Scott County — Sherburne County — Sibley County — St. Louis County — Stearns County — Steele County — Stevens County — Swift County — Todd County — Traverse County — Wabasha County — Wadena County — Wilkin County — Winona County — Wright County — Waseca County — Washington County — Watonwan County — Yellow Medicine County
It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.
Minnesota Public Libraries - In Minnesota, within the entire library system, there is an interlibrary program that can be called upon for many printed materials. The reference librarian at the local library, for a small fee, can request assistance in locating a particular book through this system.
- Submit a website for Minnesota Archives
- Minnesota State Archives, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102-1906 • 651-259-3260
Records created by state or local governments in the state of Minnesota. There is an on-going program of transferring these records to the Minnesota Historical Society Research Center. The collection is immense, covering a broad spectrum of Minnesota history beginning in 1849. Representative of the collections to be found are the State Board of Auditors for the adjustment of claims for war expenditures, 1862–68; Supreme Court Naturalization Records, 1858–1906; and Stillwater State Prison, 1853–1976. References to numerous items at this location are included under various subjects covered in this chapter.
Manuscript Collections. Holds primary research materials that document Minnesota and its people. There are over 6,000 manuscript collections in this division of the Minnesota Historical Society, including diaries, letters, account books, scrapbooks, business papers, and personal papers of politicians and farmers. - National Archives - Great Lakes Region (Chicago), 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois 60629-5898; 773-948-9001; E-mail: chicago.archives@nara.gov ()
Minnesota Historical Records - Databases include Minnesota Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Minnesota Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Minnesota Voter Lists & Census Records; Minnesota Immigration & Emigration Records; Minnesota Obituary Records; Minnesota Military Records; Minnesota Family Tree Records; Minnesota Pictures; Minnesota Stories, Memories & Histories; Minnesota Directories & Member Lists and much more....
Minnesota Historical & Genealogical Societies
For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.
- Submit a website for Minnesota Historical & Genealogical Societies
- Minnesota Historical Society, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102-1906 . 651-259-3000
The Minnesota Historical Society has been collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of Minnesota since 1849, which makes the society older than the state it represents. The collections are currently located in three locations: the Minnesota Historical Society (address above), Fort Snelling History Center (Archaeology, Historic Sites, and State Historic Preservation), and the Minnesota Historical Society Research Center (address below). In 1992 the material from all three locations will be housed in the new Minnesota History Center. See Minnesota Historical Society Library and Archives Division, Genealogical Resources of the Minnesota Historical Society: A Guide (St. Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989) for an excellent guide to the multitude of sources in their collection. This handbook alphabetically lists resources, cross-referenced, with a description of contents, location within the society's departments, and means of access.
At the above location are the audio-visual library (genealogists will appreciate the photograph collection of approximately 200,000 images, indexed by subject and name); the map library; the newspaper library (over 3 million issues of approximately 6,500 newspapers); reference library (over 500,000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, microforms, and documents); the largest collection of published Minnesota materials; extensive holdings on railroads, Canadian history, the fur trade, Scandinavians, and Native Americans in Minnesota; and publication offices. - Minnesota Historical Society Research Center, 1500 Mississippi Street, St. Paul, MN 55101; (612) 296-6980
- Minnesota Genealogical Society, 1185 Concord St. N. Suite 218, South St. Paul, MN 55075-1187; (651) 455-9057
Membership includes the quarterly Minnesota Genealogist and the MGS Newsletter. Meetings are held quarterly, with state and national speakers. The Minnesota Genealogical Society Library at 1101 Fort Road (West 7th Street), St. Paul, Minnesota 55116, contains over 3,000 reference books, research materials on Indian and Metis groups, and the books and research materials of several of the branches of the society. Special interest groups within the main society include Northwest Territory Canadian and French Heritage Center, Computer Interest Group, Czechoslovak Genealogical Society, Douglas County Genealogical Society, English Genealogical Society, German Interest Group, Irish Genealogical Society, The Scandinavian-American Genealogical Society, Danish-American Genealogical Society, Finnish Genealogy Group, Icelandic Genealogy Group, Norwegian Genealogy Group, Swedish Genealogy Group, Scottish Genealogical Society, and Yankee Interest Group. The Minnesota Genealogical Society office and library are staffed by volunteers, and hours are limited. Classes are provided for beginning and advanced genealogists. - Iron Range Research Center, Highway 169 West, P.O. Box 392, Chisholm, MN 55719
Located at the Iron Range Interpretative Center with a full-time library and archives staff, it is designated as the government records repository for iron range communities and includes manuscripts, oral histories, and photographs. - Minnesota Regional Research Centers
This network was originally established by the Minnesota Historical Society. James E. Fogerty states in Preliminary Guide to the Holdings of the Minnesota Regional Research Centers (St.Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society, 1975) that its purpose was to expand research possibilities within the state by collecting and preserving sources at various locations in the state. See also, James Fogerty's Manuscript Collection of the Minnesota Regional Research Centers: Guide Number 2 (St. Paul, Minn.: Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Minnesota Historical Society, 1980).
The centers, which are located on the campuses of, and now associated with, colleges and universities in the state, concentrate on topics of regional importance. They are not all staffed on a full-time basis. Material varies at individual centers from information on the Stephen H. Long expedition of 1823 to the account of an auto trip from Minnesota to California and back in 1929. There are oral history interviews and such items as the register of a nineteenth century inn on the Mississippi River. The eight centers and the counties they cover are as follows.- Central Minnesota Historical Center, Centennial Hall, Room 148, St. Cloud University, St. Cloud, MN 56301
Serves Aitkin, Benton, Chisago, Crow Wing, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd, Wadena, and Wright counties. - North Central Minnesota Historical Center, The A. C. Clark Library, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN 56601
Serves Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and Lake of the Woods counties. - Northeast Minnesota Historical Center, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Library 375, Duluth, MN 55812
Serves Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis counties. - Northwest Minnesota Historical Center, Livingston Lord Library, Moorhead State University, Moorhead, MN 56560
Serves Becker, Clay, Kittson, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau, and Wilkin counties. - Southern Minnesota Historical Center, Mankato State University, Mankato, MN 56001
Serves Blue Earth, Brown, Fairbault, Freeborn, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Rice, Sibley, Steele, Waseca, and Watonwan counties. - Southwest Minnesota Historical Center, Southwest State University–BA 509, Marshall, MN 56258
Serves Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, and Yellow Medicine counties. - West Central Minnesota Historical Center, University of Minnesota–Morris, Morris, MN 56267
Serves Big Stone, Chippewa, Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens, Swift, and Traverse counties. - Minnesota Historical Society Research Center, 1500 Mississippi Street, St. Paul, MN 55101, (612) 296-6980
Serves Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties.
- Central Minnesota Historical Center, Centennial Hall, Room 148, St. Cloud University, St. Cloud, MN 56301
- National Genealogical Society, 4527 17th Street North, Arlington, Virginia 22207-2399; (703) 525-0050 or (800) 473-0060
- International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry, P.O. BOX 436937, CHICAGO, IL 60643-6937; Phone: (773) 238-2686
- Minnesota Society of Daughters of the American Revolution
- National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1776 D Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006; Phone: (202) 628-1776
- Minnesota Society of Sons of the American Revolution
- National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
