Henry Harren Papers

Identity elements

Reference code

S-56

Level of description

Collection

Title

Henry Harren Papers

Date(s)

  • 1963-1966 (Creation)

Extent

5.04 linear feet

Name of creator

(1922-1992)

Biographical history

Henry M. Harren was born in Albany, Minnesota in 1922. He attended the University of Idaho and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and then served in World War II. After his military service he was an editor and publisher in Albany, Minnesota. He served in the Minnesota state Senate from 1955-1961 and 1963-1969. During his years in office, he served on a number of Senate committee, among them being: Civil Administration and Metropolitan Affairs (chairman, 1969-1970); Elections and Reapportionment; Game and Fish; Labor; Rules and Legislative Expense; Finance; Public Welfare; and Agriculture. He also served on the Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Resource Commission (MORCC) and was appointed as its first chairman. Harren was married and had six children.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Harren Papers contain mainly correspondence, government reports and pamphlets, news releases, clippings, minutes of various committees and subcommittees, legislative acts and bills, and special study reports that relate to the Senator’s legislative work. The majority of the items date between 1963 and 1966. The collection consists of three series: legislative subject files, Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Resource Commission (MORRC) subject files, and Miscellaneous Booklets and Pamphlets.

The legislative subject files relate to Harren’s work as a Minnesota state senator. They consist mainly of materials pertaining to the committees and subcommittees on which he served, and to special interests topics from his home district, such as the Home School for Girls in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, and the Stearns County Planning Commission. Other major topics covered are conversation and natural resources, air and water pollution, unemployment, state aid, the State Planning Commission, the State Commission Against Discrimination (SCAD), and the Governor’s Commission on Human Rights, land ownership and exchange, the 1965 Home Remedies Bill, the State Electricity Board, and education in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Resource Commission (MORRC) is a bi-partisan legislative commission designed to give active legislative leadership in guiding the state’s program to preserve and accelerate the development of its natural recreational resources. The MORRC files consist mainly of subject folders concerned with conservation in Minnesota, particularly parks and recreational areas. They include the 1963 legislative act creating MORRC, the 1965 amended version of the act, several folders containing the correspondence of various commission members and consultants, folders dealing with the administrational workings of the commission. There are files relating to major topics, such as state parks, historic sites, water resources, the Boundary Water Canoe Area, Voyageurs’ National Park, and the Board of Outdoor Recreation. The minutes of the commission’s meetings for the years 1963-1966 are also included.

The third series contains miscellaneous booklets and pamphlets from the years of 1954 to 1966. It includes geological surveys, MORRC Reports, air and water pollution materials, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment reports, and other miscellaneous pamphlets and booklets.

System of arrangement

Series 1: Legislative File

Records are organized alphabetically and chronologically within each folder.

Series 2: Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Resource Commission

Records are organized alphabetically except for the first several files pertaining to specific MORRC members. The materials within each of the folders is arranged chronologically.

Series 3: Miscellaneous Booklets and Pamphlets

Records are arranged by topic in a numerical order.

Records are located at 37D.3a-4f.

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

There are no access restrictions.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Permission to publish, quote, and reproduce must be secured from the copyright holder.

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

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    Finding aids

    Acquisition and appraisal elements

    Custodial history

    Immediate source of acquisition

    Gift

    Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

    Accruals

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    Sources used

    Archivist's note

    These records were reprocessed by Hannah Plachecki in September 2014.

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