Archives

Historical Records Collection & Preservation

The Iron Range Research Center is a library and archival facility whose purpose is the collection and dissemination of information about Minnesota's Iron Ranges. Individual, organizational, business and industry records as well as government records are stored in an environmentally controlled archival storage area. Archival records are accessible in the reading room. Researchers do not have to pay an Minnesota Discovery Center admission fee to use the collections. Photo copying facilities are available.

The majority of the Archival Collections are accessible only on-site, by arrangement with the Archivist. Please make an appointment to avoid visiting on a day that the Archivist is out of the office.

Philip J. Deloria, CA
philip.deloria@mndiscoverycenter.com
(218) 254-1229

If neither you nor your representative are able to conduct on-site research, our staff does offer custom research services. The charge for custom research is $30 per hour, billable in half-hour increments, with a minimum charge of $15.00. Fees are for the service of performing a search on your behalf. Some searches may yield unexpected results, or no results at all. In all cases, the fee will be charged, regardless of the outcome. Turn around time depends upon the type of search to be conducted, and demands from other customers. If the search requires more than 1 hour to complete, you will be contacted for your authorization to continue the search.

Digital Collections

The Iron Range Research Center has digitized items from a number of its collections. Use the external links below to explore our digital resources.

Search our Digitized Archival Collections
 

View our Archival Collections contributed to Minnesota Digital Library's Minnesota Reflections 

Government Documents

The Iron Range Research Center is a Minnesota Historical Society State Archives designated government records repository. Collections include public records from cities, townships, school districts and select county records from the Taconite Tax Relief Area.

State Archives collections are available by arrangement with the Archivist. Researchers do not have to pay an Minnesota Discovery Center admission fee to use the collections.

Personal Papers

Letters, diaries, and other personal records are collected and stored in the Center's climate controlled archives. Researchers may view the collection descriptions, inventories and box lists in the accessions notebooks in the library. Boxes are retrieved by staff and made available for use in the reading room. Photocopying facilities are available.

Business & Industry Records

The archives collects and makes available records from the region's industries and businesses. Mining records include many maps, production, and operating records.

Church & Organization Records

Social, religious, and civic organization records from the Iron Range region are housed in the archives. Examples include the records of churches, Lions clubs, Sons of Norway, Boy Scouts, Izaak Walton League, etc.

Photographic Collections 

Holdings include over 2,000 photographic collections containing more than 150,000 Iron Range images dating from the late 1800’s to the present. Collection subjects include but, are not limited to, agriculture, architecture, business and businesses, community life, immigration, industry, logging, mining, people, schools, and main street scenes.

A/V Collections 

Holdings include audiocassettes, film, video, digital media and numerous documentaries covering the Iron Range from the early 1930’s to the present. There are over 1,400 collections, featuring 1,187 oral histories (635 abstracts / 196 transcripts).

Photographic and A/V Collection Access and Usage

Because photographic and A/V materials are covered by U.S. copyright law, each collection may have its own additional set of rights and restrictions stipulated in the original donation agreement, some collections can only be accessed and viewed. Other collections can be accessed and reproduced for private or public use in research, publications, or advertising. As a result, all material from the collections to be used for publication or commercial purposes, regardless the format of the image delivered, is governed by our Historical Materials License Agreement. Please consult the Archivist in regards to specific collection conditions.

Click Here for detailed pricing and contact information.

Contributing Records to the Archives

Persons, businesses and organizations may deposit their records in the archives by contacting the archivist. Records are processed and organized according to standard archival procedures. Donor agreement forms delineate copyright, access and use. Records deposited at the Research Center are most often considered in the public domain and are available to use for general research purposes.