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Montana Governors records, 1889-1962

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Montana. Governor
Title
Montana Governors records
Dates
1889-1962 (inclusive)
Quantity
142 linear feet
Collection Number
MC 35
Summary
Records of the Governors of Montana consist of legislative files (1893-1935), including correspondence, bills, vetoes, governors messages, petitions, etc.; general correspondence (1902-1962) for individual administrations; and subject files (1889-1962) arranged by state agency and topic.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The Montana Governor is the chief executive officer of the State of Montana. During the territorial period [1864-1889], the Governor was appointed by the President of the United States. Since statehood the Governor has been elected in statewide election.

The duties of the office were established in the 1889 Constitution. These duties included overall administration of state government; serving on various boards, including the Board of Prison Commissioners, the Board of Examiners, and others; convening special sessions as needed; signing or vetoing legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly; receiving regular reports from departments of the executive branch; appointing non-elective officials of state government and appointing replacements when elected officials die in office; granting pardons and commutations of sentence; and being the official representative of the state in its relations with the United States and other state governments.

Statehood governors were Joseph K. Toole (1889-1893, 1901-1908), John E. Richards (1893-1897), Robert Burns Smith (1897-1901), Edwin L. Norris (1908-1913), Sam V. Stewart (1913-1921), Joseph M. Dixon (1921-1925), John E. Erickson (1925-1933), Frank H. Cooney (1933-1935), W.E. Holt (1935-1937), Roy E. Ayers (1937-1941), Sam C. Ford (1941-1949), John T. Bonner (1949-1953), J. Hugo Aronson (1953-1961), Donald Nutter (1961-1962). [Nutter is the last governor included in these records; later governors have their own collections; for thumbnail biographical sketches of governors, see Montana Governor's webpage. http://www.discoveringmontana.com/gov2/formergov/ ].

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Content Description

Records consist of materials generated by Montana Governor's Office during the course of regular business.

There are subgroups for each of the Legislative Assemblies from 1893-1935, including the Governor's correspondence with the legislature, State of the State messages, reports of pardons and commutations of prisoners, and lists of bills signed and vetoed.

There are subgroups for each of the governors from 1902 to 1962. These subgroups consist of general correspondence from individual constituents, organizations, and government agencies, arranged alphabetically by correspondent and topic.

The final subgroup is entitled "Agency and Special Subject Files." It consists of subject files (1889-1962) arranged by agency and by topic. The files include correspondence, annual and biennial reports, financial statements, inventories, and other materials. Of special note are the prison files which include case files, pardons, commutations, and extraditions.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by subgroup and series. Some material housed in oversize folders in archives map case. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

1:5-1; Archives Map Case

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Related Materials

Montana Governor's Records (MC 35a) acquired separately; later governors' records are in separate collections for each governor.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

Finding aid prepared by staff
2006

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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