Fargo Public Library Photograph Collection, 1890s-1960s

78 photographic prints (Photo 2065)

Provenance

The provenance of the photographs in this collection did not accompany the photographs when deposited in the Institute. It is assumed the photographs were given to the Fargo Public Library by various donors over many years, but no donor information is recorded on the photographs themselves or other files. The collection was housed in the North Dakota Room at the library until its placement at the Institute for Regional Studies. An agreement was reached between the Fargo Public Library and the Institute for Regional Studies on June 16, 1998 for the transfer, on loan, of the photographs owned and housed at the library. The initial loan period is for a five year period, with the provision that the loan can be renewed. The Institute agreed to process the collection and make it available to interested researchers. Those using images from the collection must use the credit line: Fargo Public Library Photograph Collection at the Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo.

Scope and Content

The Fargo Public Library photograph collection was semi-organized into folders when deposited at the Institute for Regional Studies. That basic arrangement was retained and refined. The collection is organized alphabetically by topic or, in several cases, geographic. To provide more detailed access, each photograph in the collection has been itemized in the Content section with a brief descriptive title. To search for topics or specific images the researcher should consult the Content section.

The photograph collection covers a wide variety of subjects and time periods. There are images from the 1890s, particularly the 1897 flood, to apparently the 1960s. The later images appear to be from the Forum and perhaps were published in the newspaper. A number of these images were not fixed when processed and thus are quickly deteriorating. These images were copied onto negatives and new prints made. The reproductions have been integrated into the collection, while the originals have been retained, filing them at the very end of the collection in a sealed plastic sleeve.

Of particular note are the images in the files: Downtown Fargo Street Scenes, and Flood, Fargo, 1897. The downtown street scenes are profession prints (8 x 10 in.) of high quality, taken likely in the 1920s. There is an extensive collection of scenes from the 1897 Fargo flood. Most are on the same mounts, suggesting they were taken by the same photographer and perhaps sold as a souvenir series. The more recent images, likely from the Forum, are contained in the files: Fishermen, Grafton VFW color guard, Hatton , N.D. Jubilee belle, Plowing scenes, Statues, Thunderstorm over Fargo , and Winter scenes.