JIM RAMSTAD:

Ramstad, an Independent-Republican Minnesota state senator (Hennepin County, District 43, later 45) and U.S. representative (third district), was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, the son of Joseph and Della Mae (Fode) Ramstad. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota (1968), a J.D. degree from Georgetown Washington University (1973), and was admitted to the bars of North Dakota (1973) and Minnesota (1979). Between 1973 and 1990 he practiced law in Jamestown, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis.

Ramstad's political career included serving as special assistant to North Dakota congressman Thomas S. Kleppe (1970); as deputy campaign manager for Minnesota third district congressman William Frenzel (1978); as a Minnesota state senator (1980-1990); and as Minnesota's third district Congressman (1991-). He was active in bar associations and in many civic and community organizations.

Biographical information was taken from the papers. The first folder in box 1 contains more biographical information.

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The collection documents Ramstad's state legislative career and consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, news releases, legislative bills, and related files organized by legislative session. The section for each session consists largely of alphabetically arranged subject files followed by legislative bills, arranged by file number.

There is information on may legislative topics including abortion; liquor control, particularly relating to drunk drivers and boaters; environmental concerns of the Lake Minnetonka region; issues relating to children and the elderly; education and schools; handicapped individuals; and the business climate and taxation.

The files also contain newspaper clippings and news releases with information on Ramstad's legislative activities; records of meetings and other activities of the Senate Independent-Republican Caucus; questionnaires sent to constituents; and a folder of unidentified photographs of Ramstad with constituents.

On the enclosed container list the researcher will note some items marked with an asterisk (*). It indicates that a 25% sample of the correspondence originally in the file was retained. A double asterisk (**) indicates that a 10% sample was retained.

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These records are divided into the following six sections:

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Access Restrictions:

Access to the collection requires written permission.

Use Restrictions:

Quotation or publication, beyond the fair use provisions of the copyright law, requires written permission.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Jim Ramstad Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,001

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, January 1995.

Catalog ID number: 990017314110104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Bills, Legislative -- Minnesota.

Business tax -- Minnesota.

Children -- Health and hygiene -- Minnesota.

Children with disabilities -- Minnesota.

Commercial law -- Minnesota.

Criminal law -- Minnesota.

Education, Higher -- Minnesota.

Educational law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Environmental policy -- Minnesota -- Hennepin County.

Legislation -- Minnesota.

Liquor laws -- Minnesota.

Older people -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Older people -- Transportation -- Minnesota.

People with disabilities -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Political parties -- Minnesota.

Women athletes -- Minnesota.

Workers' compensation -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Organizations:

Independent-Republicans of Minnesota.

Metro Mobility.

Minnesota. Legislature. Senate.

Senate Independent-Republican Caucus (Minn.)

University of Minnesota.

Places:

Hennepin County (Minn.)

Document Types:

Photographs.

Occupations:

Lawyers -- Minnesota.

Legislators -- Minnesota.

Politicians -- Minnesota.

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