MINNESOTA TERRITORIAL CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE:

In 1947 the Minnesota Legislature passed an act designating 1949 as a year commemorating the centennial of Minnesota's establishment as a territory on March 3, 1849. The legislature appropriated $150,000 to fund the endeavor, to be expended in 1948 and 1949. Administrative responsibility for planning and executing the events, radio broadcasts, and publications that would comprise the year-long celebration was delegated to the Minnesota Historical Society. The Society, in turn, established a centennial committee to carry out the legislative mandate and hired J. M. Nolte as its director. The committee was charged both to plan and direct statewide celebrations and other activities, and to assist local communities in planning and presenting local and regional celebrations.

One significant outcome was the creation of extensive K-12 school curricula on Minnesota history. Others included signage and other publicity denoting historic sites and trails, and a directory of Minnesota-related films. Local endeavors included a focus on the centennial at county fairs, community celebrations, and the work of local service clubs during 1949. Perhaps the most durable outcome was the establishment or strengthening of the network of county historical societies throughout Minnesota.

The committee disbanded in 1950.

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There are files on each county's centennial committee, on events, on publicity, and on miscellaneous historical data. They are supplemented by sketches for commemorative stamps and coins, and by microfilmed scrapbooks of newspaper clippings.

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The files are arranged into a single alphabetical sequence.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota Territorial Centennial Committee Files. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 6377; 6535; 10,443; 12,934; 13,138; None

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, 1967; Dennis Meissner, February 2006

Catalog ID number: 990017318950104294

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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:

Commemorative coins -- Minnesota.

Commemorative postage stamps -- Minnesota.

History -- Societies, etc.

Persons:

Nolte, Julius M. (Julius Mosher), 1894-1964.

Organizations:

Minnesota Historical Society,

Places:

Minnesota -- Centennial celebrations, etc.

Minnesota -- History.

Minnesota -- Songs and music.

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