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The William M. Lindgren Papers are organized by series. The bulk of the material are images, mostly slides, that date just after World War II until his death in October 1993.

Series 1: Personal Papers

Organized into three sub-series, these materials focus on many aspects of Lindgren's life. Materials related to his academic career as a student and St. Cloud State faculty member are here, including two lectures (with recordings), his master thesis from the University of British Columbia, and various certificates and diplomas.

There is significant biographical information here as well. His autobiography, done in 1993 before he passed away, is key and tells Lindgren's life story through his own words. Lindgren's passports are important as they document the places he traveled for almost 50 years.

In addition, there is some correspondence with pen pals (as well as his parents) from all over the world.

Series 2: Photo Albums

The photo albums document mostly Lindgren's travels for almost fifty years. The photo albums that date before 1970 are particularly important, as they show Lindgren's extensive travels throughout Asia, including China, India, and the Middle East. The early albums show Lindgren as a young man before, during, and just after World War II are significant as well, especially the album that focuses on a visit to Yellowstone Park in 1940-1941.

The photo albums after 1970 are primarily Lindgren traveling when he was semi-retired or retired. The albums also include images of family activities in Cambridge or other Minnesota locations.

The photo albums in boxes 3 through 6 each include an index of the images and the descriptions that Lindgren gave them and with some commentary. These descriptions were created by student Christina T. Markwood-Rod in the early 2000s. In addition, some of the photo albums have been scanned to provide easier access.

Series 3: Print Images and Negatives

Dating primarily from the 1970s through the early 1990s, this series includes both print images and negatives. These images focus on Lindgren's world travels.

Some print images in this series do have negatives and are kept together.  The negatives were organized here as Lindgren had organized them. The description was taken from the negative/photo envelope, which were written by Lindgren or Markwood-Rod.  Those negatives that did not have photographs with them were kept together as units. These negatives, especially those from the 1980s and early 1990s, are for some of the images in the photo albums in series 2.

Significant images include the portraits of Lindgren as a young man and as he aged over time, including his passport photos. There are images of his parents, Roy and Rudy Lindgren, as children, young adults, and as they aged, too.

Series 4: Slides

Sub-series 1: Slide Presentations

This sub-series contains color slides, as organized by Lindgren, of his travels while working, especially in Asia during the 1940s through the early 1960s. Many of the slides have descriptions written on them by Lindgren. Locations featured include China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Macao (China).

These slides were used by Lindgren for presentations to his classes and for other events.

Sub-series 2: Other slides

This sub-series contains color slides and described as "unused", as opposed to the slides in sub-series 1. These slides were organized by location by Lindgren. The majority of slides have descriptions written on them by Lindgren, as well as lists that were on slide storage cases in Lindgren's hand.  Dating from the 1950s through the 1960s, locations visited include Australia, England, France, Greece, Nepal, North America, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.

All the slides from both sub-series have been digitized as lower resolution JPEG images and available in an instance of Omeka. Each folder in this series was created as a separate collection in Omeka. Also, each image has been given a unique image ID number, starting with "LGR".

Information was added into the description field for individual slides if there was any to add. That information came from what Lindgren wrote directly on the slide as well as anything that was on list from the slides storage box. These lists were only from Sub-series 2: Other Slides. When the writing was hard to read, we did the best we could to transcribe it and then added a question mark in brackets. Anything that was added by Archives' staff was always put into brackets, especially if the slide was not identified but the landmark was easily recognized.

Cartoons, mostly humorous and editorial, regarding life at St. Cloud State. In the unbound folders, there are copies that appeared in the "published' books as well as original drawings of the cartoons.

In 1969, St. Cloud State celebrated the centennial of it's establishment by the state of Minnesota in 1869. Many activities were planned that surrounded this anniversary. These volumes document those activities as well as the residential community that encomposed the campus, which stood almost exclusively on the Mississippi River along 1st Avenue South between 6th and 9th Street South.

L. Ruth Cadwell, a faculty member at St. Cloud State between 1924 and 1966, was responsible for the gathering and organization of information and images of these volumes. She organized them into nine separate volumes. This collection contains two sets of these volumes, though volume 8 is not included here.  According to the foreword that appears in volume 1, there are differences between the two sets, which are marked appropriately on the spine of each volume. The foreword reads, "Because of the difficulty of collecting materials it was necessary to have some variation between set one and set two. Therefore, should you desire to view the complete materials collected, you are urged to study both copies of the St. Cloud State College Centennial set."

Series 1: History

Ms. Cadwell organized the history into nine separate volumes, some that have two or more parts.

Volume 1 - Early Use of the Present Site: In three parts, volume 1 documents the early uses of the 1969 campus. Photographs of houses that stood on campus are organized by street.

Volume 2 - The Centennial Begins: This volume contains historic images and documents regarding the history of St. Cloud State.

Volume 3 - Brochures, Invitations, and Programs: This volume contains a wide variety of material related to the events and other activities related centennial and for the 1968/69 academic year.

Volume 4 - Centennial Events: This volume contains images and other related material regarding events for the centennial, including the Centennial Hall groundbreaking and Heritage Day.

Volume 5 - News Releases:This volume contains news releases for events, fundraisers, and other activities related to St. Cloud State's centennial.

Volume 6 - News reports: In three parts, this volume contains newspaper clippings about the centennial. Part 1 contains 1960 to October 1968; Part 2 contains November 1968 to March 1969; and Part 3 contains April 1969 to June 1969.

Volume 7 - Communication to Obtain Materials for History: Copies of letters written by Ms. Cadwell requesting photographs of the campus site and the responses received.

Volume 8 - The Chronicle, July 1968 to June 1969: Both copies are part of these records and bound in black with the title "The Centennial: 1869-1969, A Heritage of Excellence," as well as indicated as volume 8.

Volume 9 - The Reporter, July 1968 to June 1969: The volume contains copies of the alum newsletter, The Reporter, as well as men's basketball programs.

Series 2: Negatives and Slides

This series contains negatives of various homes, buildings, and other views of the campus area. It is not clear if the negatives were taken from the photographs, or if the photographs were created from the negatives.

This collection contains the content of a time capsule placed near the cornerstone of Stewart Hall. The cornerstone ceremony was held in mid-May 1948. The time capsule was placed in a 9 inch by 9 inch lead lined copper box.

Nearly all of the material has been published, including a 1944 college history, two copies of the Chronicle student newspaper, and course catalogs for 1947/48 and summer of 1948. Also included here is a May 1948 letter from Warren Stewart, namesake of the building, and two lists containing the signatures of 47 St. Cloud State faculy members and 994 students from the spring quarter of 1948.

Also included here is a folder containing information about the May 1948 cornerstone ceremony, a 1989 clipping about the missing time capsule, and an October 1992 press release regarding the circumstances of its discovery and return to St. Cloud State.

The copper box is still intact but severely damaged.

The undergraduate catalog represents the most official publication of St. Cloud State. Dating back to 1869, the catalog describes the purpose of the university, admission requirements, classes and class descriptions, tuition and fees, buildings and grounds, and faculty.  Early catalogs list students by class and often include images of campus buildings.

Starting with the 2012/14, both graduate and undergraduate catalogs are combined together.  These PDF catalogs were created from Curriculum Navigator, the online course management system. In 2022, CourseDog replaced Curriculum Navigator.

The catalog includes both undergraduate and graduate; the catalogs, which were printed separately in the past, are now together.

Most of the catalogs are bound together by year.

The summer catalog represents the most official publication of St. Cloud State. Dating back to 1904, but is predominantly from 1937 to 1960, the catalog describes the purpose of the university, admission requirements, classes and class descriptions, tuition and fees, buildings and grounds, and faculty.

Summer catalogs from the 1920s and 1930s are bound together with the undergraduate catalogs.

Most of the catalogs are bound together by year.

The summer catalogs are a combination of class schedules as well as information found in the course catalogs. The collection of class schedules contains summer class schedules/catalogs between 1960 and the present. Publications in this collection dated after 1960 are duplicates.

This collections contains 64 student handbook published between 1891 and 2010, though the bulk of the material is dated between 1937 and 1996. The handbook was meant to orient students, both new and returning, on university policies, history, campus maps, songs, registration and withdrawal from classes, student groups, area churches, and student conduct.

This collection contains 52 oral histories, nearly all done between the mid 1970s and 1990, featuring St. Cloud State alums, long-time faculty, and top administrators, such as Presidents Budd, Wick, Graham, and McDonald. Done mostly by retired History faculty member Cal Gower, topics discussed in the oral histories include individual experiences and changes at St. Cloud State from the early 20th century, until the 1980s, as well as family background and life before and after time at St. Cloud State. Five additional interviews were done by Tom Steman in 2016, 2017, and 2019.

Some oral histories contain release forms from the interviewee and are noted.

Cal Gower conducted the interviews unless where noted.

The collection is in two series.

Series 1: Transcripts and other material

This series contains the final oral history transcripts for each interview, signed release forms, if they existed, as well as other material given by the interviewee (photos, newspaper clippings, ephemera).

Series 2: Tapes

This series contains the audio tapes from each oral history, ranging from one cassette tape to two.

The field studies, theses, creative works, and starred papers are completed to fulfill the requirements to receive a master's degree.

After the state of Minnesota passed law in April 1953 to allow for "fifth year" courses or graduate classes at state colleges, St. Cloud State first offered graduate work in the summer of 1953. The first master's degrees were awarded in May 1954.

The records are organized in three series.

Series 1: Publications

This series contains manuals for the preparation of St. Cloud State field studies, theses, creative works and starred papers,  as well as abstracts of field studies, theses, creative works, and starred papers.  The abstracts are especially helpful as they give a short summary of work itself.

Series 2: Microfilm

This series contains microfilm of St. Cloud State field studies, theses, creative works and starred papers. Though not sure of the date range, it is believed that it goes back to the late 1950s.  This series also contains a nearly complete index to the microfilm. Microfilm copies are no longer created.

Series 3: Microfiche

This series contains microfiche of St. Cloud State field studies, theses, creative works and starred papers. Though not sure of the date range, it is believed that it goes back at least 1957.

There are bound copies of all St. Cloud State field studies, theses, creative works and starred papers, in the theses section of Miller Center.  In addition, these works are cataloged individually in the online catalog.

The copies of the St. Cloud State field studies, theses, creative works and starred papers are meant as a back up to the bound copies in the theses section of Miller Center.  The copies in this collection are only consulted when the paper copy is lost or stolen.

As of November 2015, the master theses were not printed and put on the library shelves with a microfiche copy given to University Archives. All master theses are now published on St. Cloud State's institutional repository at http://repository.stcloudstate.edu/.

The abstracts are also available alongside the theses in the theses section of Miller Center.

Several histories have been written about St. Cloud State University since 1944, some brief, some much longer.