mtlmc450.xml Guide to Arlyne Reichert papers 1946-2015 Arlyne Reichert papers Finding aid prepared by Hannah Soukup and Tabitha Masters Montana Historical Society Research Center 2020, updated 2025
Helena, MT
Finding aid encoded by Hannah Soukup and Tabitha Masters2020, updated 2025 Finding aid written in English. Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard)2nd Edition. Montana Historical Society Archives MC 450 Reichert, Arlyne, 1926-2024 Arlyne Reichert papers 1946-2015 1971-1980 4.6 linear feet Arlyne Reichert was a 1972 Constitutional Convention delegate from Cascade County. Reichert served on the Legislative Committee and worked to gain support for a unicameral legislature. She served as a legislator in the 46th Montana Legislative Assembly from 1979 to 1981. The collection (1946-2015) consists primarily of correspondences to and from her constituents during the Convention and her legislative term, subject files, clippings, and print material on topics important to her. Also included in the collection are Reichert's budget books, in which she recorded and managed her finances in the majority of her life. 63:3-6 English Biographical Note

Arlyne Estelle Cohn was born on January 14, 1926 in Buffalo, New York to Charles and Anne Cohn. Her interest in politics began early in life, and she aspired to one day run for U.S. Congress but then realized she would have to mortgage her house to finance a campaign. While attending the University of Buffalo’s Cadet Nurses Training program, Arlyne met her future husband Harold “Rick” Reichert, on December 25, 1942. They married in 1945 after he returned from serving overseas in the U.S. military. The couple moved to Great Falls and had five children: Cheryl, Greg, Robert, Claire, and Roger. Reichert did not continue her nursing training because at that time married women were not accepted for training at either hospital in Great Falls.

In 1967, Reichert began working at the McLaughlin Research Institute with Dr. Jack Stimpfling as the executive secretary and technical editor of the Transplantation Journal. Reichert’s involvement in local government began after she moved to Great Falls and served as a Library Trustee and President of the Friends of the Great Falls Public Library. She was also a member of the League of Women Voters, serving on both the Local and State Boards.

In 1970, Reichert ran for the Montana state legislature and lost, but the following year, was elected as a 1972 Constitutional Convention delegate. She served on the Legislative Committee and pushed for a unicameral legislature, although Montana voters decided against it when the new Constitution was ratified.

After the Convention, Reichert remained active in Great Falls local government. She participated in getting the local government structure changed from a mayor-alderman form to commission-manager system. In 1974, she was elected to the Cascade County Study Commission. She also served as a legislative analyst for television news and Regional Vice President of the National Municipal League.

In 1979, Reichert was elected to the Montana State House of Representatives and served one term. During that time, she worked on the topics of a unicameral legislature and separation of powers. Reichert retired as Assistant Director of the McLaughlin Institute in 1989. Arlyne Reichert remains active in local politics and historic preservation efforts, including preservation of the Great Falls 10th Street Bridge. Her efforts to save the bridge led her to establish Preservation Cascade, Inc., which she serves on as secretary-treasurer. She also served as a National Civic League council member and on the Montana Capitol Restoration Committee.

Reichert died on May 3, 2024 and is buried at Highland Cemetery in Great Falls, Montana. Her husband, Rick, died of cancer in 1968.

The Arlyne Reichert papers are arranged in ten series: correspondence (1956-1988), financial (1946-2015), organizational records (1971-1989), writings (1971-1973), news releases (1972), printed materials (1967-1989), speeches (1971-1982), subject files (1965-1990), news clippings (1971-1984), and miscellany (1990). Correspondence related to Reichert’s time as a Constitutional Convention delegate, state legislator, and member of the Constitutional Society—the organization created by the former Convention delegates to stay in touch and meet once a year—make up the bulk of the collection. Some of the correspondence relates to Reichert’s involvement in the Montana Constitutional Society, but most of it is constituent correspondence from Reichert’s term as a Convention delegate and a state legislator. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by topic. Financial is arranged chronologically and consist of Reichert's personal budget books, including her budget during the Constitutional Convention. The organizational records, printed materials, and writings pertain to the Constitutional Convention and Constitutional Society, and the speeches, news releases, and miscellany series each contain only a few items. Subject files and news clippings consist mostly of information related to the Constitutional Convention, separation of powers, and legislative organization, particularly the topic of a unicameral legislature.

The creator’s original order was maintained for most of the correspondence, but the rest of the collection materials were reorganized by topic and materials type.

Collection is open for research.

The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

[item description and date]. Arlyne Reichert papers. MC 450. [box and folder number]. Montana Historical Society Research Center. Archives. Helena, Montana.

Acquisition information available upon request.

Most duplicates were weeded from the AC1995-60 portion of the collection. 5 checks were weeded from the 2025-112 donation.

Photographs were transferred to the Photo Archives.

Several other collections about the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention are held at the Montana Historical Society including: the Dorothy Eck papers (MC 448), Carmen Louise Cross papers (MC 449), Montana Constitutional Convention Records (RS 22), and Montana Constitutional Convention Commission Records (RS 21).

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.

Reichert, Arlyne--Political activity. Cross, Carmen Louise--Political activity. Eck, Dorothy, 1924- --Political activity. Graybill, Leo--Political activity. Montana--Constitutional Convention (1971-1972)--History. Montana--Constitutional Convention (1889)--History. Montana--Constitutional Convention (1971-1972). Montana--Constitutional Convention (1971-1972)--Legislative Committee. Montana--Constitutional Convention (1971-1972)--Constituent communication. Montana--Constitution Revision Commission. Montana--Constitution Convention Commission. Local elections--Montana. Constitutional conventions--Montana. Constitutional history--Montana. Women--Political activity--Montana. Local government--Montana. Women politicians--Montana--Great Falls. Legislative bodies. Government reorganization. Municipal government--Montana. Public welfare--Montana. Finance--Montana. Budget--Montana. Montana--Politics and government--20th century. Helena (Mont.) Great Falls (Mont.) Cascade County (Mont.) Montana Women Detailed Description of the Collection Correspondence: Con Con 1971-1973 1 / 1 Bill of Rights 1972 1 / 2 Education / Church and State 1972 1 / 3 Environmental / Land Use 1972 1 / 4 Firearms 1972 1 / 5 Gambling 1972 1 / 6 General 1972 1 / 7 Interoffice 1972 1 / 8 Labor / Right to Work 1972 1 / 9 Local Government 1971-1972 1 / 10 Post-Convention 1972-1973 1 / 11 Pre-Convention 1971 1 / 12 Revenue and Finance 1972 Correspondence: Legislative 1978-1982 1 / 13 Abortion 1979

HJR 15

 1 / 14 Accessibility Services 1979

SB 278

 1 / 15 Agriculture 1979

HB 213, 292, 526

 1 / 16 Alcohol 1979

HB 724 and 725

 1 / 17 Budget 1979

HJR 3

 1 / 18-20 Education 1979

HB 171, 209, 485, 525

 2 / 1-2 Education 1979

HB 537, SB 276

 2 / 3 "Education, Native American" 1979

HB 219

 2 / 4 "Education, School for Deaf and Blind" 1979

HB 425 and 542

 2 / 5 Energy 1979

HB 395, 452, SB 514

 2 / 6 Equal Rights Amendment 1979

SJR 12

 2 / 7 Gambling 1979

HB 852

 2 / 8-9 General 1978-1982 2 / 10 Healthcare 1979

SB 247

 2 / 11 Hunting 1979

HB 247

 2 / 12 Insurance 1979

SB 209

 2 / 13 Labor / Employment 1979

HB 177, SB 155

 2 / 14 Law Enforcement 1979

HB 568

 3 / 1 Libel 1979

HB 355

 3 / 2 Local Government 1979

HB 118, 198

 3 / 3 Property Ownership 1979

HB 46

 3 / 4-9 Taxation and Revenue 1979

HB 125, 150, 427, 430, 730, 753, 873, 891

 3 / 10 Tourism 1979

HB 483

 3 / 11 Miscellaneous HB and SB 1979 3 / 12 Multiple HB and SB 1979 Correspondence: Other Topics 1969-1988 4 / 1 Local Government 1974 4 / 2 MT Constitutional Society 1972-1988 9 / 1 Personal Letter 1956 4 / 3 Television Career 1971 4 / 4 Unicameral 1971-1979 4 / 5 Water Issues 1969-1970 Financial 1946-2015 9 / 2 Reichert Budget Book 1946-1947 9 / 3 Reichert Budget Book 1947-1948 9 / 4 Reichert Budget Book 1948-1949 9 / 5 Reichert Budget Book 1949-1950 9 / 6 Reichert Budget Book 1950-1952 9 / 7 Reichert Budget Book 1953-1954 9 / 8 Reichert Budget Book 1954-1955 9 / 9 Reichert Budget Book 1955-1957 9 / 10 Reichert Budget Book 1957-1960 9 / 11 Reichert Budget Book 1961-1962 9 / 12 Reichert Budget Book 1962-1964 9 / 13 Reichert Budget Book 1965-1967 9 / 14 Reichert Budget Book 1968-1972 9 / 15 Reichert Budget Book (re: Helena, Constitutional Convention) 1972 9 / 16 Reichert Budget Book 1973-1976 9 / 17 Reichert Budget Book 1976-1981 9 / 18 Reichert Budget Book 1982-1989 9 / 19 Reichert Budget Book 1990-1993 9 / 20 Reichert Budget Book 1993-1999 9 / 21 Reichert Budget Book 1999-2005 9 / 22 Reichert Budget Book 2005-2006 9 / 23 Reichert Budget Book 2007-2009 9 / 24 Reichert Budget Book 2010-2015 Organizational Records 1971-1989 4 / 6 Memoranda 1971-1972 4 / 7 Minutes: Legislative Committee 1972 4 / 8 Organization and Procedures 1971-1972 4 / 9-10 Proposals and Resolutions 1971-1972

annotated by Reichert

 5 / 1-2 Proposals and Resolutions 1971-1972

annotated by Reichert

 5 / 3 Vote Analysis 1972 5 / 4 MT Constitutional Society 1974-1989

"contains clippings, meeting minutes, news releases, agendas, and reports"

 Writings 1971-1973 5 / 5 Con Con notes 1972 5 / 6 Con Con news articles 1972 5 / 7 Unicameralism 1971-1973 and undated News Releases 1972 5 / 8 Con Con 1972

includes editorials

 Printed Materials 1967-1991 5 / 9 Con Con resources 1967-1971

annotated by Reichert

 6 / 1 Con Con resources 1971-1972 and undated

annotated by Reichert

 6 / 2 Con Con reunion 1974-1989 and undated 6 / 3 Con Con: Justices / Judicial 1972 6 / 4 Legislative Issues 1979-1980 6 / 5 Local Government 1973-1975; 1991 6 / 6 Unicameral 1980-1983 6 / 7 Water 1968-1976 Speeches 1971-1982 6 / 8 Con Con 1971-1972

by constituents and delegates

 6 / 9 Con Con: Unicameral 1971-1972 6 / 10 MT Constitutional Society reunions 1982 Subject Files 1965-1990 6 / 11 1990 Con Con 1989-1990

includes information about League of Women Voters event

 6 / 12 Citizens Corps 1972 6 / 13 Con Con delegates 1971 6 / 14 Con Con delegate obituaries 1974-1987

"Katie Payne, Virginia Blend, and Lucile Speer"

 6 / 15 Con Con: Environment 1972 6 / 16 Executive Reorganization circa 1970 7 / 1 Legislative Materials 1979-1981 7 / 2 Montana Citizens for Court Improvement 1971-1972 7 / 3 Montana Legislative Council: Con Con Committee 1979 7 / 4 Proposed Constitutional Convention 1971 7 / 5 Ratification 1972 7 / 6 Ratification: Vote Analysis 1972 7 / 7 Referendum 67 1970-1971 7 / 8 Separation of Powers 1982 7 / 9 Unicameral 1965-1989 7 / 10 Water 1969-1977 Clippings 1971-1984 7 / 11 Con Con 1972-1978 7 / 12 Con Con 1971-1972 8 / 1-4 Con Con 1971-1982 8 / 5 Con Con: Reunions 1972-1982 8 / 6 Legislative 1984 8 / 7 Unicameral 1972-1979 8 / 8 Water 1975-1983 Miscellany 1990 and undated 8 / 9 "Misc. information about ERA, the Con Con, right to know, and Reichert's biography" 1990 and undated