LEGISLATURE:

An Inventory of Its Video and Audio Recordings Compiled for Tribune of the People at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Minnesota. Legislature.
	Title:	Video and Audio Recordings Compiled for Tribune of the People.
	Dates:	1978-1986.
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Materials collected during the research for Royce Hanson's book, Tribune of the People: The Minnesota Legislature and Its Leaders.
	Quantity:	19 master video files: MOV (730.2 GB), 19 user video files: MP4 (49.2 GB), 60 master audio files: WAV (18.2 GB), and 60 user audio files: MP3 (2.2 GB).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

The series’ first section includes two television video recordings, the first containing the May 30, 1986 Almanac, KTCA's weekly public affairs program, featuring host Joe Summers, political consultant D. J. Leary, lobbyist Wyman Spano, and analyst Kris Sanda interviewing Perpich campaign chairman Tom Berg, KTCA general manager Dick Moore, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs' Royce Hanson, and Senator Rudy Boschwitz. The second video recording contains the January 4 and December 28, 1978 and April 14, 1980 Minnesota Issues, hosted by Arthur Naftalin and sponsored by the Humphrey Institute and the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. Featured are Senate Majority Leader Nicholas D. Coleman, Minority Leader Robert O. Ashbach, and House Speaker Rod Searle. Topics include tax cuts, campaign financing, special elections, abortion, higher education, "ban the can" legislation, partisan relationships, appointments, officer elections, staff, and the declining number of legislators seeking re-election.

The second section consists of legislative interviews conducted mainly with formal and informal leaders of the State Legislature who served between 1962 and 1986. A study panel, led by Hanson, conducted the interviews. Most include groups of three or four legislators who served in the same house during the same time period. Each interview was both audio and video recorded. While each interview is unique, all center on a core set of questions/topics relating to the interviewees' legislative service, particularly why they ran, changes that occurred during their service, how they gained a leadership role, and their opinion on relations with other leaders, the two systems of leadership used in the House and Senate, comparison of various majority and minority leaders, relations between the legislature and the governor, campaign finance, garbage bills, committees and appointments, bicameral/unicameral legislatures, length of the session, and the connection of legislators to constituents. Among those interviewed were such prominent state leaders as Linda Berglin, Lloyd Duxbury, Stan Holmquist, David Jennings, Douglas J. Johnson, Phyllis Kahn, Gene Merriam, Roger D. Moe, George S. Pillsbury, Charles R. Weaver, and Ann Wynia. There are also interviews with Attorney General Warren Spannaus and various members of the legislative staff.

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ARRANGEMENT

Divided into two series: television programs (1978, 1980; 2 video recordings) and legislative interviews (1986; 30 video recordings, 60 audio recordings).

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

The video recordings in copyright in this collection are not available online, but can be accessed upon request for use in the Gale Family Library reading room. Please consult reference staff for more information.

Use Restrictions:

Quotation or publication from the Legislative Interviews audio or video recordings requires written permission of the narrators.

The Minnesota Historical Society does not own copyright to the Almanac and Minnesota Issues video recordings contained in these records.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Legislature. Video and Audio Recordings Compiled for Tribune of the People. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 2003-35

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

Processing Information:

Legacy Amendment logo

Digitization and encoding by April Rodriguez, January 15, 2026.

Digital audiovisual material transferred from the master videocassettes and audiocassettes by the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation purposes (January 2026).

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

Catalog ID number: 990017378870104294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

TELEVISION PROGRAMS, 1978, 1980, 1986

Location

Internet

Almanac, May 30, 1986. 1 master video file (58 minutes, 37 seconds): MOV (13.2 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (919 MB).

In copyright.

Episode of KTCA’s weekly public affairs program, featuring a panel comprising of host Joe Summers, political consultant D. J. Leary, political lobbyist Wyman Spano, and political analyst Kris Sanda interviewing Rudy Perpich gubernatorial campaign chairman Tom Berg, KTCA general manager Dick Moore, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Royce Hanson, and Senator Rudy Boschwitz.

Minnesota Issues, January 4, December 28, 1978; April 14, 1980. 1 master video file (30 minutes, 26 seconds): MOV (6.9 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (477 MB).

In copyright.

Three 30-minute segments of the television show Minnesota Issues, a program sponsored by the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota and hosted by Arthur Naftalin, Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. The interviewees and general topics discussed are as follows:

Nicholas D. Coleman, Senate Majority Leader, January 4, 1978.

The main issue discussed is tax cuts; other issues include campaign financing, special elections to the national legislature, state assisted abortions to women on welfare, the higher education coordinating board, and “ban the can” legislation.

“The View from the Senate,” Nicholas D. Coleman, Majority Leader, and Robert O. Ashbach, Minority Leader, December 28, 1978.

Most of the interview is spent discussing the relationship between the majority and the minority. The topics include the governor, appointments, officer elections, staff, and the tax cut.

Nicholas D. Coleman, Senate Majority Leader, and Rod Searle, House Speaker, April 14, 1980.

The two main issues discussed are the problems with the past legislative session and the decreasing numbers of legislators seeking re-election.

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LEGISLATIVE INTERVIEWS, 1986

The legislative interviews were conducted to aid in the writing of Royce Hanson’s Tribune of the People: The Minnesota Legislature and Its Leaders. Most of those interviewed held formal or informal leadership positions in the State Legislature between 1962 and 1986. A panel led by Royce Hanson conducted all interviews. While members of the panel varied between interviews, panel members included Charles Finn, Craig Grau, Sarah Hackett, James Jernberg, Kevin Kyle, Patrick McCormack, Arthur Naftalin, and Earl Shaw.

Although some legislators were individually interviewed, most were interviewed in groups of three or four who served in the same house and/or during the same time period. Group interviews were conducted in two, two-hour sessions; individual interviews, with a few exceptions, were conducted in one, two-hour session. Each interview was audio- and videotaped with each session having its own video recording. The audio recordings, however, simply continue taping the second session immediately following the first session.

While each interview is unique and the follow-up questions differ, all were conducted around a core set of questions or topics. Most begin with the questions: Why did you first run for the legislature? What was it like when you started, and how has it changed since then? How has your career developed (or how did you gain a leadership role)? They then focus on the opinions and biographical information of each interviewee about the following topics: relationships with other leaders; advantages, disadvantages, and differences between the systems of leadership in the House and Senate; comparison of various majority and minority leaders to each other and to the office of Speaker; relations between the governor/governor’s office and the legislature and its leaders; power networks; campaign finances; garbage (omnibus spending) bills; committees and appointments; bicameral/unicameral legislatures; length of the session; and connection of legislators to constituents. While not all contain information pertaining to all topics listed, all do contain questions built around most of the issues.

Attorney General Warren Spannaus was asked similar questions; however, he also answered questions about his office’s relationship with the legislature, the constitutionality of bills, and the Reviser of Statutes. Legislative staff members were also questioned about their role and the relative value of partisan or non-partisan staff.

Location

Internet

Video recordings:

Filed in chronological order.

Stanley Holmquist and Lloyd Duxbury, January 21, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 18 minutes): MOV (45 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3 GB).

Digital video

William Dosland, February 4, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 26 minutes): MOV (46.9 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.1 GB).

Quiet/some static.

Digital video

Charles R. Weaver and Glen Sherwood, March 11, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 39 minutes): MOV (49.8 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.3 GB).

Digital video

David Jennings, April 17, 1986. 1 master video file (1 hour, 58 minutes): MOV (27 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (1.8 GB).

Quiet/some static.

Digital video

Martin Sabo, May 2, 1986. 1 master video file (1 hour, 24 minutes): MOV (19.1 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (1.2 GB).

Poor sound, contains a hum at the start of the video.

Digital video

Dick Fitzsimons, Ron Sieloff, Rod Searle, May 5, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 38 minutes): MOV (50 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.3 GB).

1960-1970s House Conservative Independent Republicans. Sieloff arrived 20 minutes before the end of the first session; Fitzsimons was not present at the second session and is not on the second tape.

Digital video

Douglas Johnson, May 14, 1986. 1 master video file (1 hour, 46 minutes): MOV (24.2 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (1.6 GB).

Digital video

Willis Eken and Allan H. Spear, May 19, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 7 minutes): MOV (42.6 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (2.8 GB).

Spear was not present at the second session and is not on the second tape.

Digital video

Connie Levi, Jerry Knickerbocker, John Himle, Mary Forsythe, and William Schreiber, June 2, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 37 minutes): MOV (49.3 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.3 GB).

Poor picture.

Digital video

George Pillsbury, Robert O. Ashbach, and Henry Savelkoul, June 9, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 35 minutes): MOV (49 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.3 GB).

Digital video

Warren Spannaus, June 16, 1986. 1 master video file (1 hour, 45 minutes): MOV (24 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (1.6 GB).

Digital video

Legislative staff, June 23, 1986. 1 master video file (3 hours, 40 minutes): MOV (50.1 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.3 GB).

Poor picture. Those interviewed were Paul Hess, John Post, John Redmond, and James Nobles.

Digital video

Irv Anderson, Ray Faricy, Wayne Simoneau, and Ken Nelson, undated. 1 master video file (3 hours, 7 minutes): MOV (42.5 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (2.8 GB).

The first tape starts at count 4:40.

Digital video

Joseph Graba and Harry Sieben, [1986]. 1 master video file (3 hours, 20 minutes): MOV (45.6 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3 GB).

Sieben arrives one hour and 15 minutes into the first tape.

Digital video

Fred Norton, Gordon Voss, and John Tomlinson, [1986]. 1 master video file (3 hours, 19 minutes): MOV (45.4 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3 GB).

Quiet/some static. Voss arrived 20 minutes into the first tape; Norton came after one hour and 40 minutes. Voss is not present on the second tape.

Digital video

Gordon Rosenmeier and Aubrey Dirlam, [1986]. 1 master video file (3 hours, 32 minutes): MOV (48.4 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.2 GB).

Digital video

Senate Presidents, [1986]. 1 master video file (3 hours, 44 minutes): MOV (51 GB) and 1 user video file: MP4 (3.4 GB).

Poor sound. Those interviewed were Edward J. Gearty, Alec G. Olson, Jack Davies, and Jerome Hughes.

Digital video

Location

Internet

Audio recordings:

Filed in chronological order.

Lloyd Duxbury and Stan Holmquist

Lloyd Duxbury and Stan Holmquist, tape 1, January 21, 1986. 1 master audio file (1 hour, 35 minutes): WAV (480 MB) and 1 user audio file: MP3 (63 MB).