ARC MINNESOTA:

ARC Minnesota is a private, non-profit, statewide organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. While much of the activity centers in local chapters throughout the state, the state organization sponsors educational and leadership training workshops, provides publications and a newsletter which addresses concerns of parents, and helps coordinate legislative initiatives. Funds are raised from membership dues; contributions from the United Way; foundation and corporate grants; donations, memorials, and bequests; fund raising events; and fees from local chapters.

ARC Minnesota was established in 1951 as the Minnesota Society for the Mentally Retarded at a time when institutional care was substandard, community living alternatives rarely available, education and training nonexistent, and the mentally retarded and their families isolated from society. Among the first local chapters was the Minneapolis chapter (now Arc Hennepin-Carver Inc. ), which was established in 1946. Members of the Minneapolis chapter were influential in starting a national organization in 1950, the state organization a year later, and organizing many local chapters throughout the state during the 1950s. In October 1955 the state organization was reorganized at the Minnesota Association for Retarded Children, Inc.

In 1974 the name was changed slightly to the Minnesota Association for Retarded Citizens to reflect the fact that teenagers, adults, and seniors also are served by the movement. In the early 1990s, the reference to "retarded" was dropped completely, and the acronym ARC began to be used in all local, state, and national organization names.

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The annual meeting files contain agenda packets from four conventions, 1994-1997, and programs from several other conventions from the 1990s, as well as scattered speeches, reports, minutes, and programs from conventions held previous to 1990. The annual reports date from 1956 to 1996 (with some gaps in the 1970s) and document the yearly activities and goals of the organization. Reports from 1956 and 1969 are yearly reports from the president and thus are not a complete report. The subject files contain articles of incorporation and bylaws, banquet programs, brochures, newsletters, position statements, and files of the organization's Governmental Affairs Steering Committee, 1963-1977, which organized the legislative lobbying efforts of the state and local chapters. Also included are files on Regional Treatment Center negotiations (1988), publications produced by or collected by ARC Minnesota, and speeches and statements of executive director Gerald F. Walsh.

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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]. ARC Minnesota Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,649

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the audiovisual material are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.

The original audiocassettes and videocassettes were disposed after the material was digitally reformatted into mov and wav files.

Processing Information:

Processed by: Rich Arpi, October 2004

Digital audiovisual transferred from the master audiocassettes and videocassettes by the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation purposes, (April, 2019).

Catalog ID number: 2957233

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Location

Internet

Partnership for Quality Services, 1988. 1 master video file (24 minutes, 44 seconds): MOV (5.6 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (245 MB).

Digital version

In the Sunshine: ARC Minnesota, undated. 1 master video file (14 minutes, 19 seconds): MOV (3.3 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (141.4 MB).

Digital version

Jerry Walsh interview by Molly Woehrlin, December 29, 1998. 1 master audio file (1 hour, 16 minutes): WAV (384 MB) and 1 user audio file: MP3 (50.1 MB).

Digital version

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Copies of the organization's newsletter, Focus, are in the Minnesota Historical Society serials collection.

The Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections also include the records of ARC of Hennepin County and the records of several other local chapters.

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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:

Children with mental disabilities-Minnesota-Associations, institutions, etc.

Developmentally disabled-Minnesota.

Persons:

Walsh, Gerald F.

Organizations:

Minnesota Association for Retarded Children, Inc.

Minnesota Association for Retarded Citizens.

Minnesota Society for the Mentally Retarded.

Types of Documents:

Sound recordings.

Photographs.

Video recordings (physical artifacts).

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