Minnesota Historical Society, Archives and Manuscripts345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102

Description

The Society's manuscripts collections touch on virtually every topic imaginable, but are particularly strong in the areas of agriculture; business, especially agribusiness, transportation, lumbering, and health care; the environmental movement; organized labor; and philanthropy. Also strong is the coverage of the history of women; African Americans; Asians and Pacific Islanders; and the Civil and Dakota wars. Regardless of the subject areas covered, manuscript collections come from every area of the state, and relate to both famous and typical citizens, to large and small organizations.

Some manuscripts collections contain material predating the establishment of the Minnesota Territory in 1849; others bring the state's history up into the 1990s. Some of the collections are very small—a handful of letters or a single diary; others contain tens of millions of documents in thousands of boxes. All told, the Society owns nearly 8,000 separate manuscripts collections, totaling over 38,000 cubic feet (roughly 95 million pieces of paper!) They are among the largest and richest in the nation.

Alternative Title

Minnesota Historical Society, Archives and Manuscripts