Dr. Ronald Olin Donates Postcard Collection of North Dakota Cities and Towns

Retired Fargo physician Dr. Ronald Olin has donated his extensive postcard collection of North Dakota cities and towns to the Institute for Regional Studies. In addition to collecting postcards of North Dakota towns, Dr. Olin has conducted much research into North Dakota 's postal history. He is a charter member of the North Dakota Postal History Society.

With over 10,000 images, the Olin collection provides, in a single collection, an amazing pictorial and historical view of the cities and towns across the state of North Dakota. It likely is the most extensive such collection to be found in a North Dakota archives.

The collection spans from the early to mid-twentieth century, although there are also postcards from the latter part of the twentieth century. Many of the postcards were mass produced during the ‘golden age' of postcards from circa 1907 to 1915. Some 950 North Dakota cities and towns are represented in the collection. For Bismarck alone there are over 400 separate images and for Grand Forks over 570. His earlier donation of Fargo postcards numbered over 1,100 items.

The collection provides a rich visual record documenting the settlement of North Dakota and the Northern Great Plains . They show the towns platted, the schools and churches established and reflect the hopes and aspirations of the early settlers in their new American frontier home. A fair number are actual photographs printed onto postcard paper and thus are much rarer. Some of these may not exist in any other format.

Postcards are not only visual records. Many of the postcards were in fact mailed and so contain written messages, stamps and postmarks. The printed captions and written messages contain a wealth of information that can be used to learn about the postcard's image or to illuminate the attitudes and interests of the past.

The Olin Postcard Collection currently is being organized, but is available for public use. Already, the collection has been used by researchers involved in a variety of research projects. The Institute is truly grateful to Dr. Olin for his willingness to share this valuable collection with the public.

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