HARRY E. BASFORD:

Harry Elsworth Basford, son of Harrison Dee and Ruth Etta (Coolidge) Basford, was born May 21, 1908, in Deer River, Itasca County, Minnesota. After employment as a machinist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he married Emma Elizabeth Miller (1911-1998) there on June 19, 1939. They moved to Wolf Lake, Becker County, Minnesota, where Harry farmed and became active in local politics. On November 2, 1948, he was elected to the 56th session of the Minnesota House of Representatives from District 63 (Becker County), serving in that capacity through the 62nd session that ended January 7, 1963. He caucused with the Liberals. His main legislative interests were agriculture, conservation, Indian affairs, and economic development. He was active in the National Farmers Organization (NFO), the Becker County Farmers Union, and was an organizer of the Grass Roots Fund for Farmers (GRFFF). After his legislative service, he was active in the Mahube Community Action Council and the Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program (CEP). Basford died June 18, 1974, on his farm in Spruce Grove Township, Becker County, Minnesota.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Harry E. Basford Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Provenance:

The Basford Papers were initially part of the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections, received in three increments in 1967-1968. The collection was transfered to the Northwest Minnesota Historical Center in 1973. In 2015 the Center requested that the Society again take custody of the collection.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 10,427; 10,571; 10,899; 17,212

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the audio 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 audio reels and audiocassette were disposed after the material was digitally reformatted into WAV files.

Processing Information:

During accessioning in 2015 the collection was rearranged by Minnesota Historical Society acquisitions staff. Because each folder had been numbered by the Northwest Minnesota Historical Center in accordance with a chronological arrangement scheme, most folders contain a folder number that may or may not bear relationship to the surrounding folders. Some folders bear a now obsolete Society catalog number (P613). These numbers are now irrelevant.

Digitization was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.

Digital audio transferred from the master audio reels and audiocassettes by the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation purposes (November, 2019).

Catalog ID number: 990089249190104294

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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:

Legislators -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Madigan, Timothy, interviewer.

Organizations:

Grass Roots Fund for Farmers, author.

Minnesota. Legislature. House of Representatives.

Minnesota. Legislature. Liberal Caucus.

National Farmers Organization (U.S.), author.

Places:

Minnesota -- Politics and government -- 1945-1980.

Document Types:

Sound recordings.

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