The Heuer Papers consist of constituent correspondence from 1957 to 1966 while serving as a Minnesota state senator. Also included here are correspondence and meeting minutes from the Todd County Committee for the Minesota Statehood Centennial, in which he served as chair.

The Melvin Miller Papers consist of 13 boxes. The majority of items in this collection date from 1970 to 1974. The collection includes personal correspondence to and from constituents, copies of materials relating to bills before the Minnesota Legislature from 1972 to 1974 concerning the committees he served on, personal interests, and the interests of his constituents. Also included are the election and campaign materials for his 1972 election and 1974 re-election.

This collection contains a majority of constituent correspondences during the time Schumann served in the Minnesota House. The correspondences are arranged in chronological order by date. The content matter of these correspondences mostly deal with legislative matters on a wide range of topics, such as: highways, welfare, forestry, labor, and a number of other topics. They provide insight to public opinion concerning prospective laws and new regulations.

The second part of the collection contains a number of books and department reports from the 1960's covering issues such as: environmental, Minnesota highways, Minnesota Development Association, Legislative Research Committee, and other commissions and reports. These booklets are arranged by topic.

These oral histories were predominantly done in the 1970s with half conducted in 1973. Some date from the 1980s and early 1990s.  The majority of the interviews are with state legislators and the remaining are with mayors, city councilmen, campaign managers, party managers, widows of politicians, and US Congressmen.  All of the participants were men except three (who were widows) and represented Central Minnesota communities ranging from Sandstone to Brainerd to those locations just north of the Twin Cities.

With some variance, all participants were asked similar questions including personal and family history in Minnesota, early political interests and activities, committee assignments, sponsored bills, the campaign and election process, the legislative process, and their future plans in politics.  Unique questions were asked of individuals as the interview unfolded.  Certain political issues that were significant in the early 1970s are common topics including new party designation requirements, lengths of terms, legislator salaries, and the impact of Nixon’s landslide victory in 1972 on local elections.  The Watergate scandal is also discussed in several interviews.

Since the legislators’ service collectively goes back to 1935, the changes in the atmosphere, organization, and membership of the legislature are discussed in several oral histories.  Many of the interviews reference other participants in this oral history collection. For many, the interview often took place at the beginning or middle of their political careers.

Brief biographical sketches and interview notes are given for all participants.  Type of office, terms of service, and constituency represented are also listed.  Transcripts of interviews are available unless otherwise noted below.

Some interviews were actually transcribed. The typewritten transcripts were keyed into a Word document but have not been checked against the audio. Past experiences has suggested that the transcripts may not be complete. In the meantime, the transcripts are available here as PDFs.

This collection contains a large number of constituent and legislative correspondences. Not all issues or subjects discussed in these correspondences are listed above, the description listed above only list a small selection of subjects discussed in these correspondences. The collection also contains a number of folders concerning political reports and letters, the Liberal Caucus minutes and notices, campaign material, newspaper articles, booklets, bills and legislation, and other material related to Kosloske’s time in office and material concerning Minnesota.

This collection consists of constituent correspondences and subject correspondences of various topics. The subject correspondences cover a wide range of political topics in which Clawson showed interest in during his time in office. Within the subject correspondences are a wide range of miscellaneous material such as press releases, meeting minutes, campaign materials, newsletters, invitations, newspaper clippings, speeches, memos, reports, and weekly schedules. The collection is divided into two series: Constituent Correspondence and Subjects of Interest.

The Sullivan papers consist of the papers of two Minnesota state representatives newspaper clippings about the activities of these men and their time in office, and political advertisements. The majority of the items date between 1911 and 1954. The collection consists of four folders: a biography, newspaper clippings, political advertisements, and obituary and memoriam.

The Jerald Anderson Papers mostly include material relating to the Minnesota Resource Commission, which Senator Anderson was chairman of. The commission's job was to evaluate programs that were proposed to preserve, develop, and maintain the natural resources of the state. The largest portion of the papers deal with education. This was due to the fact that Senator Anderson was chairman of the Subcommittee on School Finance and spend a great deal of his legislation time working with matters of education. The rest of the collection is made up of miscellaneous correspondence, reports, and newspaper clippings on a variety of subjects.

This collection contains various materials relating to James Pehler and the time in spent in public office. These materials include awards given to Pehler, correspondence between the public and other politicians, campaign materials, proposals for a domed stadium, an assortment of various educational programs supported and participated by Pehler, environmental issues he was involved in, drafts of letters to be sent out in response to public questions, a work resume, legislative pamphlets, memos, newspaper clippings, press release, the Senate Journal, and various miscellaneous materials.

The first box in this collection contains various awards, certifications, and plaques Pehler received from various organizations he supported. The awards are in various physical conditions and some are undated.

The major part of this collection is the constituent correspondence between Pehler and the public. These correspondence date between the years 1972 through 1990, and are arranged in chronological order by date. The content matter of the correspondence mostly deal with legislative matters on a wide range of topics. They provide insight to public sentiment towards prospective laws and way of life in Minnesota.