ND Studies Links
Many websites provide information related to the study of North Dakota—and the North Dakota Studies program at the State Historical Society of North Dakota encourages and supports these efforts. The following websites are considered North Dakota Studies-friendly and will help teachers, students, and lifelong learners learn more about our state.
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection
The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection (GRHC) is a privately funded, specialized archives providing one of the most comprehensive collections of German-Russian resources in the world. Located at North Dakota State University, the GRHC provides activities and projects including: audio oral history interviews, clothing and textiles, the Dakota Memories Oral History Project, electronic discussion groups, heritage tours to Ukraine and Germany, online resources, outreach programs, photo archives, publications, and translations.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress promotes the “Teaching with Primary Sources Program” and works with elementary and secondary schools to deliver professional development opportunities to help teachers use the Library’s rich reservoir of digitized primary source materials to design challenging, high-quality instruction.
Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) provides excellent educator resources for teachers, students, and families. The MHS has a multitude of online resources to support teachers with lesson development. As one of North Dakota’s sister states, some of the material at the website is helpful in teaching about North Dakota’s history.
Montana Historical Society
The Montana Historical Society offers a host of educational materials for teachers. The Society’s website has useful information for online professional development, National History Day, MT Indian Education, and resources about the state’s middle school textbook, Montana: Stories of the Land.
National History Day in North Dakota
National History Day in North Dakota (NHD) is a year-long academic organization designed for elementary and secondary school students to research and study historical topics related to a theme. Students choose a topic related to the theme and conduct extensive research through libraries, archives, and museums. NHD in North Dakota is coordinated by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
National History Teacher of the Year
The National History Teacher of the Year Award recognizes outstanding K–12 American history teachers across the country. In North Dakota, the National History Teacher of the Year Award is coordinated by the North Dakota Studies program at the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
North Dakota Council on the Arts
The North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) seeks to promote, preserve, and perpetuate the arts in North Dakota. Its goals include deepening citizen arts and cultural engagement through the development of strong leadership; engaging citizen participation in grass roots arts advocacy; and broadening strategies for advancing the arts in K–12 education in North Dakota.
North Dakota Geological Survey
The North Dakota Geological Survey serves as the primary source of geological information for the state. Its mission includes providing public service to the people of North Dakota—and numerous publications, maps, and other information on the geology of North Dakota are available at this website.
North Dakota Geographic Alliance
The North Dakota Geographic Alliance promotes geographic literacy, fosters innovation in geographic education, and encourages stewardship and conservation of Earth’s resources. North Dakota students and teachers, equipped with geographic knowledge and skills, are empowered global thinkers and problem solvers in an interconnected world.
North Dakota Humanities Council
The North Dakota Humanities Council (NDHC) uses the tools of history, literature, philosophy, ethics, and archeology to illuminate what we as a nation and as individuals stand for and why. The NDHC has created an outstanding educational series, The North Star Dakotan, which provides resources not only for fourth grade, eighth grade, and high school North Dakota Studies classes but also for cross-curricular applications for K-12 classrooms.
North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies
The North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies (NDIRS) at North Dakota State University is committed to collecting records on all aspects of the state’s past, especially the Red River Valley region. NDIRS has thousands of photos and other materials showcasing North Dakota and the Northern Great Plains.
North Dakota State Government
This is the official portal for North Dakota state government. The website provides a wealth of information related to government, education, and business. The website highlights North Dakota’s three branches of government, all state agencies, and provides state facts and tourism information.
Prairie Public Broadcasting
Prairie Public Broadcasting is a trusted public service dedicated to building an exciting and productive future for the prairie and its people. Prairie Public Broadcasting offers a window on the world through national and regional television and radio programming; partners with others to foster education for all ages; and creates a forum for important issues facing our region with locally produced, topical documentaries.
READ North Dakota
Read North Dakota is dedicated to celebrating and promoting literature about North Dakota. The website is a gateway to a comprehensive resource for North Dakota authors and statewide literary events.
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University
The Theodore Roosevelt Center is dedicated to preserving the legacy of America’s 26th president and has created a presidential digital library that will serve as a repository for all Roosevelt-related documents, photographs, and ephemera, providing instant access via the internet in a well-organized, comprehensible manner.
Books
Readers may wish to refer to the following books and other publications for additional reading on the geology, geography, history, and government of North Dakota.
| Authors | Titles |
| Athearn, Robert G | Forts of the Upper Missouri. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967 |
| Barbour, Barton H. | Fort Union and the Upper Missouri Fur Trade. University of Oklahoma, 2001 |
| Beadle, W. H. H | Dakota: Its Geography, History and Resources. St. Paul: D.D. Merrill Publisher, 1888 |
| Berg, Francie M | North Dakota: Land of Changing Seasons. Hettinger, North Dakota: Flying Diamond Books, 1977 |
| Blackorby, E.C | Prairie Populist: The Life and Times of Usher Burdick. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 2001 |
| Carley, Kenneth | The Dakota War of 1862. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1976 |
| Chardon, Francis R. | Chardon’s Journal of Lewis and Clark, 1834-1839. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997 |
| Clodfelter, Michael | The Dakota War: The United States Army Versus the Sioux, 1862–1865. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1998 |
| Conrad, Charles and Joyce Conrad | 50 Years of the North Dakota Farmers Union. 1976 |
| Cooper, Jerry with Glenn Smith | Citizens as Soldiers: A History of the North Dakota National Guard. Fargo: North Dakota State University, Institute for Regional Studies, 1986 |
| Crawford, Lewis F | History of North Dakota. 3 Volumes. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1931. |
| Daley, Janet, Editor | The Centennial Anthology of North Dakota History: Journal of the Northern Plains. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 1996 |
| Danbom, David | Going it Alone: Fargo Grapples with the Great Depression. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005 |
| Danbom, David | Our Purpose Is to Serve: The First Century of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1990 |
| Drache, Hiram | The Challenge of the Prairie. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1970 |
| Drache, Hiram | The Day of the Bonanza. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1964 |
| Dresden, Donald | The Marquis de Morès: The Emperor of the Badlands. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970 |
| Geelan, Agnes | The Dakota Maverick: The Political Life of William Langer, Also Known as “Wild Bill” Langer. Fargo: By the Author, 1975 |
| Geiger, Louis George | University of the Northern Plains: A History of the University of North Dakota. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota Press, 1958 |
| Goodman, L. R and R. J Eidem | The Atlas of North Dakota. Fargo: North Dakota Studies, Inc., 1976 |
| Goodman, L. R and R. J Eidem | Readings in North Dakota Geography. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota, Department of Geography, North Dakota Studies Series, 1968 |
| Gudmundson, Wayne, and Robert Silberman | The Promise of Water: The Garrison Diversion Project. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 2002 |
| Hagedorn, Hermann | Roosevelt in the Badlands. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1921. E-Book at www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24317 |
| Handy-Marchello, Barbara | Women of the Northern Plains: Gender and Settlement on the Homestead Frontier, 1870-1930. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005 |
| Heidenreich, Virginia | The Fur Trade in North Dakota. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 1990 |
| Henke, Warren A., and Everette Albers | The Legacy of North Dakota's Country Schools. ND Humanities Council, 1998. |
| Hennessy, W.B. | History of North Dakota. . Bismarck: Bismarck Tribune, 1910 |
| Herman, Gwyn, and Laverne Johnson | American Indians of North Dakota. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2007 |
| Herman, Gwyn, and Laverne Johnson | Citizenship. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2007 |
| Herman, Gwyn, and Laverne Johnson | Frontier Era of North Dakota. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2007 |
| Herman, Gwyn, and Laverne Johnson | Early Settlement of North Dakota. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2007 |
| Herman, Gwyn, and Laverne Johnson | North Dakota Agriculture. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2010 |
| Herman, Gwyn, and Laverne Johnson | Geology, Geography, and Climate of North Dakota. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2007 |
| Hintz, Martin | North Dakota. New York: Children’s Press, 2000 |
| Hoganson, J.W., and E.C. Murphy | Geology of the Lewis and Clark Trail in North Dakota. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2003 |
| Howe, Neil D., and Theodore B. Jelliff | North Dakota Legendary.Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2007 |
| Hudson, John C. | Plains Country Towns. St. Paul: University of Minnesota Press, 1985 |
| Hudson, Lois | The Bones of Plenty. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1984 |
| Hunter, William C | Beacon Across the Prairie. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1961 |
| Jenkinson, Clay S. | Becoming Jefferson's People: Re-Inventing the American Republic in the Twenty-First Century. Marmarth Press, 2005 |
| Jenkinson, Clay S. | The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness. 2000; rev. ed, Dakota Institute Press, 2010 |
| Jenkinson, Clay S. | A Free and Hardy Life: Theodore Roosevelt's Sojourn in the American West. Dakota Institute Press, 2011 |
| Jenkinson, Clay S. | A Vast and Open Plain: The Writings of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in North Dakota, 1804-1806. State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2003 |
| Kulas, Cheryl, Editor | The History and Culture of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Sahnish (Arikara). Bismarck: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, 2002 |
| Kulas, Cheryl, Editor | The History and Culture of the Mniwakan Oyate. Bismarck: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, 1997 |
| Kulas, Cheryl, Editor | The History and Culture of the Standing Rock Oyate. Bismarck: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, 1995 |
| Kulas, Cheryl, Editor | The History and Culture of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Bismarck: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, 1997 |
| Lass, William E | A History of Steamboating on the Upper Missouri River. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1962 |
| Lindgren, Elaine | Land in Her Own Name: Women As Homesteaders in North Dakota. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1991 |
| Lounsberry, Clement | North Dakota History and People: Outlines of American History. Chicago: S.J. Clarke, 1917 |
| McMacken, Robin | The Dakotas: Off the Beaten Path. Old Saybrook, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press, 1998 |
| Morlan, Robert L | Political Prairie Fire: The Nonpartisan League, 1915–1922. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1955 |
| Murray, Stanley Norman | The Valley Comes of Age: A History of Agriculture in the Valley of the Red River of the North, 1812–1920. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1967 |
| North Dakota Blue Book | Bismarck, North Dakota Secretary of State. 1989 – Centennial Edition |
| North Dakota Blue Book | North Dakota Secretary of State. 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 |
| Omdahl, Lloyd | Insurgents. Lakeland Color Press, 1961 |
| Piper, Marion J | Dakota Portraits. Mohall, North Dakota: Marion Piper, 1964 |
| Raaen, Aagot | Grass of the Earth: Immigrant Life in Dakota Country. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1994 |
| Reid, Bill G | Five for the Land and Its People. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1989 |
| Ridenhower, Marilyn and Audrey Brigl | Women of North Dakota: Celebrating Their Lives Through Primary and Secondary Sources. Bismarck: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, 1989 |
| Robinson, Elwyn B | History of North Dakota. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1995 |
| Robinson, Sheila C | The Story of the Garrison Dam: Taming the Big Muddy. Garrison, North Dakota: Dakota Trails Books, 1997 |
| Rolfsrud, Erling Nicolai | Extraordinary North Dakotans. Alexandria, Minnesota: Lantern Books, 1954 |
| Ronda, James P | Lewis and Clark among the Indians. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984 |
| Schneider, Mary Jane | North Dakota’s Indian Heritage. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota Press, 1990 |
| Schneider, Mary Jane | North Dakota Indians: An Introduction. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall and Hunt, 1986 |
| Schneider, Mary Jane | The Hidatsa. Chelsea Press, 1988 |
| Schneider, Mary Jane | The Way to Independence: Memories of a Hidatsa Family, 1840-1920. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987 |
| Schneider, Richard | West of the Red: The Role of Transportation in the Development of North Dakota. Fargo: North Dakota State University, Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, 1977 |
| Sherman, William C | Prairie Mosaic: An Ethnic Atlas of Rural North Dakota. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, |
| Sherman, William C. and Playford V. Thorson | Plains Folks: North Dakota’s Ethnic History. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1986 |
| Slaughter, Linda | Fortress to Farm, or Twenty-three Years on the Frontier. Exposition Press, 1972 |
| Snyder, Gerald S | In the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1970 |
| Tweton, D. Jerome | The Marquis de Morès: Dakota Capitalist, French Nationalist. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1972 |
| Tweton, D. Jerome, et al | The North Dakota Political Tradition. North Dakota Centennial Heritage Series. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1981 |
| Tweton, D. Jerome, and Theodore Jelliff | North Dakota—The Heritage of a People. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1976 |
| Tweton, D. Jerome, Editor | The North Star Dakotan, Issues 1-5. North Dakota Humanities Council |
| Utley, Robert M | Military Frontier. University of Oklahoma Press, 2001 |
| Wilkins, Robert P and Wynona H. Wilkins | North Dakota: A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton, 1977 |
| WPA Federal Writers’ Project | The WPA Guide to 1930s North Dakota – American Guide Series, 1938. With new introduction by Gerald C. Newborg and Marcia Britton Wolter. Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota, 1990. |