Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Anonymous Donations to Great Northern Railway Historical Society
Date(s)
Extent
Books, documents, artifacts, photographs, audio tapes, pamphlets, pictures, drawings, CDs and news paper clippings.
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Society was founded by Charles F. Martin in 1973 under the name "The Fraternal Order of Empire Builders", and it was dedicated to the preservation of everything related to the Great Northern Railway. In 1982 the Society name became "The Great Northern Railway Historical Society". With this name change the Society also became chartered under the not-for-profit laws of the State of Illinois, and acquired tax exempt status from the Federal government under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Under the original name of "The Fraternal Order of Empire Builders", journals containing facts, photographs, drawings and general information relating to the Great Northern Railway and its predecessor companies were published. With the revised name, The Great Northern Railway Historical Society (GNRHS) continues that tradition. Each quarterly issue of the GNRHS 'Goat' normally contains sixteen pages of general information and society affairs, new member lists, member sales and want items, and books/videos listings of subjects related to the GN and its pre/post merger corporate identities. Issues include 40 to 60 additional pages within separately stapled titles known as Reference Sheets. Each issue of the 'Goat' also contains a section of pages dedicated to GN modeling, the Modelers' Pages.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Anonymous Donations Collection includes a Dispatchers Book, and shaving kit from the Oriental Limited passenger train, a track profile - Saint Cloud, Minnesota to Willmar, Minnesota, Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Company general specifications and drawings for 35 passemger cars, photographs, audio tapes of anouncements used on the eastbound Empire Builder (1955 to circa 1965), copied to audio CD, a copy of the Mid-Continent Railway Gazette, Passenger Timetable 1940; Pamphlet - The Columbia River Historical Expedition, 1926; Book-Columbia River Historical Expedition via the Great Northern; Great Northern Railway annual report to employees 1960; Folder-Colonization & Immigration by the Great Northern; Twelve pictures-Great Northern; Partial list of Winold Reiss Indian Calendars-1931 to 1956, advertising booklets about Great Northern Railway resources and business opportunities, "The General", a 35mm movie film, 2 picture books about the Great Northern, a timetable, Great Northern Broadcast audio tapes from 1930 and 1931, on reels, a book detailing adventures searching for railroad right of ways, a CD of Eastbound Passenger Train announcements, a Great Northern Railway Main line track profile, the Park River and Somers depots, a CD of Duluth. Minnesota - Superior, Wisconsin Burlington Northern Railroad/Great Northern Railway and a Northern Pacific Railroad/Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway consolidation study, a book of Great Northern Railway Standard Signs, a pamphlet, "Rules for Reporting Information on Railroad Employees", drawings of track tools, property signs, rail profiles, track layout and design, an agreement between the Great Northern Railway Company and System Federation #101 Railways Employes Department, American Federation of Labor, Great Northern Railway Work Order Files, Great Northern Railway forms and envelopes, a bridge list - Great Northern Railway Willmar Division - Eastern District, Saint Paul, Minnesota to Hutchinson, Minnesota, Saint Cloud, Minnesota area various railroad photographs, Great Northern Railway business record, and Great Northern Railway maps and drawings on CD.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Please see the Great Northern Railway Historical Society Collection Management Policy for further information.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Please see the Great Northern Railway Historical Society Reproduction Policy for further information.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Ownership resides in the Great Northern Railway Historical Society except where otherwise noted.
Immediate source of acquisition
Donated by anonymous
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Describing Archives - A Content Standard (DACS) 2nd Edition 2013