MICHAEL O. FREEMAN:

Michael O. ("Mike") Freeman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 7, 1948, one of two children of Orville Freeman and his wife Jane. Orville Freeman served as governor of Minnesota (1955-1961) and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1961-1969).

Mike Freeman earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 1970, and a law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1974. He was a law clerk for United States District Court Judge Earl Larson (1974-1975) and for United States 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Gerald W. Heaney (1975-1976). He was an active trial attorney with the Popham Haik law firm, Minneapolis (1979-1991), and was designated a civil trial specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association in 1988, 1994, and 1997. Freeman argued Dickerson v. Minnesota before the United States Supreme Court in March 1993.

Freeman, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1982, representing Richfield and eastern Bloomington (District 40); he was re-elected in 1986. As a state senator Freeman was vice-chair of the Senate Finance Committee (1987-1990) and vice-chair of the Senate Economic Development and Commerce Committee (1983-1986). He was the chief author of the Hunger Reduction Act, the MEED Jobs Bill, the Minnesota Anti-Racketeering Act (RICO), and the revision of Minnesota Criminal Forfeiture Statutes (1988). He also chaired the Senate Conference Committees on Capital Bonding that financed new college buildings, environmental projects and expanded roads and bridges. He chaired the Hennepin County legislative delegation (1989-1990).

Freeman was elected Hennepin County Attorney in 1990, and served from 1991 through 1998. As county attorney he was particularly interested in a variety of crime fighting tools, including the expanded use of DNA, aggressive prosecution in rape cases, increases in witness protection, and expanded use of the nuisance law. He also worked to combat Minneapolis street gangs, and oversaw a handgun buy-back program which sought to take guns off the streets of Minneapolis. He ran unsuccessfully for governor of Minnesota in 1994 and in 1998.

Mike Freeman and his wife, Teresa Mathison Freeman, had three children: Katie, Beth, and Matthew. They made their home in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, where Terry was an educator and a member of the local school board.

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The collection consists primarily of legislative files and gubernatorial campaign files, with a smaller group of files relating to Freeman's tenure as Hennepin County Attorney.

Much of the legislative material relates to education, especially to the University of Minnesota, the state university system, community colleges, and technical schools and institutes. Other state agencies represented are the departments of finance, human services, and natural resources, as well as the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The collection also includes a few records detailing legislative action on employment and training (1985-1989), including information on the Minnesota Department of Jobs and Training and the Minnesota Employment and Economic Development program, and files relating to youth crime and corrections (1985-1988).

Gubernatorial campaign files include correspondence, newspaper clippings, issue papers, campaign travel schedules and itineraries, and similar materials. There is information about DFL conventions, running mates Jan Smaby and Ruth Johnson, candidate "screenings" by labor groups and other constituencies, public opinion polls, Freeman's record and accomplishments as Hennepin County Attorney, and rival gubernatorial candidates, especially fellow DFLers Hubert H. ("Skip") Humphrey III and Ted Mondale.

Hennepin County Attorney files include Freeman's announcement of his candidacy for re-election (1994), financial and contribution reports, newspaper clippings, a debate book, and other materials relating to Freeman's county attorney election and re-election bids. There is also a file of speeches given by Freeman as county attorney (1992-1997) and a speech given by his father, Orville Freeman (1995).

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Michael O. Freeman Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,517; 15,668

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, January 1992

Additions by: David B. Peterson, October 2001.

Catalog ID number: 990017158070104294

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Freeman campaigned unsuccessfully for the DFL gubernatorial nomination with running mate Jan Smaby. The DFL nomination went to John Marty, who went on to lose in the general election to Republican incumbent Arne Carlson.

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Freeman and running mate Ruth Johnson secured the DFL Party nomination but lost in the primary election to Minnesota attorney general Hubert Humphrey III, who in turn lost the general election to Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura.

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Freeman's files as Hennepin County Attorney are in the Minnesota State Archives.

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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:

Administrative agencies -- Minnesota -- Appropriations and expenditures.

Children -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Minnesota.

Community colleges -- Minnesota -- Finance.

Criminal justice, Administration of -- Minnesota.

Education -- Minnesota -- Finance.

Education, Higher -- Minnesota.

Elections -- Minnesota.

Employees -- Training of -- Minnesota.

Finance, Public -- Minnesota.

Governors -- Minnesota -- Election.

Juvenile corrections -- Minnesota.

Minnesota state agencies.

Occupational training -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Political campaigns -- Minnesota.

Political candidates -- Minnesota.

State departments of education -- Minnesota.

State universities and colleges -- Minnesota -- Finance.

Technical institutes -- Minnesota -- Finance.

Youth -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Places:

Duluth (Minn.) -- Appropriations and expenditures.

Persons:

Freeman, Orville L.

Humphrey, Hubert H., 1942-.

Johnson, Ruth.

Smaby, Jan.

Organizations:

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

Hennepin County (Minn.). County Attorney.

Minnesota. Legislature. Senate.

University of Minnesota. Appropriations and expenditures.

Types of Documents:

Clippings.

Speeches.

Occupations:

County attorneys -- Minnesota -- Hennepin County.

Legislators -- Minnesota.

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