LibGuides: Power Line Controversy: Primary Sources: Archives & Records

Manuscripts

United Power Association Annual Reports.
MNHS call number: Folio HD9685.U54 G7313

United Power Association Records.
Records (1940-1992) of an Elk River-based rural electric cooperative that supplied wholesale electric power to twelve or more consumer-owned electric utilities located in central and northern Minnesota and portions of northwestern Wisconsin.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (United Power Association).

United Power Association Newsletters.
MNHS call number:

1970-1980 ("The United Power News"): HD9685.U54 U64c
1980-1994 ("InterTie"): HD9685.U54 U642
1995-1998 ("Newslink"): Microfilm no. 2033

Government Records

Minnesota Office of the Attorney General

Criminal Division Case Files.
Selected criminal case files, 1936-1986, containing petitions, memoranda, transcripts, and other legal documents that in many cases supplement files of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Appeals Courts, and District Courts. Topics covered in the files include violence at a high-voltage power line construction site in Pope County.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Public Service Division Litigation Files.
Selected litigation files (1975-1983) documenting enforcement and defense of public service rules, regulations, and laws. The files include pleadings, correspondence, hearing transcripts, briefs, testimony, exhibits, and applications. Many files relate to the location of electric power lines and the United Power Association.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Minnesota Office of the Governor (Perpich), Ronnie Brooks' Files.
Ronnie Brooks was a special assistant to the governor who dealt primarily with issues relating to the environment, energy, education, health, and welfare. Her files (1977-1978) include constituent correspondence, reports, pamphlets, and other materials, including information on the power line in central Minnesota.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (Governor, Perpich, Rudy).

The Impact of Future Electrical Power Requirements on the State of Minnesota: An Issue Analysis, prepared by the Center for the Study of Local Government, Saint John's University, at the request of the Minnesota State Planning Agency.

Collegeville, Minn.: The Center for the Study of Local Government, [1971].
MNHS call number: HD9685.U6 M67 1971

Oral Histories & Sound Recordings

Minnesota Power Line Oral History Project Interviews.

The interviews (1977-1979) represent all major viewpoints, including farmers and townspeople from the affected areas, officials from the Department of Natural Resources, officers and board members of the electric cooperatives building the line, and representatives of state government.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

KCMT Anti-Power Line Program.

Broadcast on KCMT Radio (Alexandria, Minn.), September 18, 1976.

Representatives of various farm groups express their opposition to the construction of an overhead power line in western and central Minnesota.
MNHS call number: Audiotape no. 127

"Pope County Blues," by Larry Long and the Minnesota Swing Symphony.

"Pope County Blues" concerns the opposition of residents to the construction of a power line through their county, predominantly farmland.
MNHS call number: Disc no. 13-B

Search for Primary Sources at MNHS

Primary vs. Secondary Sources
A short video describing the differences between primary and secondary sources with examples from MNHS collections.
Library Catalog
Search for books, pamphlets, maps, A/V materials, and archival and manuscript collections in our Library Catalog.
Finding Aids
Search the full text of digital finding aids for State Archives and manuscript collections at MNHS.
Collections Online
Search for 3/D objects, photographs, art, maps, and more from the MNHS Collections.
Newspapers
Search historic newspapers for advertisements and articles about people, events, and activities.
Search MNHS Box
Search MNHS websites, as well as Collections Online, Finding Aids and other resources. This search does not search in the library catalog.