The Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry was first established in 1893, acting under authority of the 1889 Montana Constitution. It was headed by a Commissioner appointed by the Governor. In 1913, after increased growth and industrial activity in the state, the Thirteenth Legislative Assembly abolished the Bureau and created two Departments to replace it: Agriculture and Publicity and Labor and Industry. In 1921, the Seventeenth Legislative Assembly established the Department of Agriculture, Labor and Industry for the purpose of promoting agricultural and labor interests in Montana. It included the Division of Farming and Dairying, Division of Grain Standards and Marketing, Division of Horticulture, and Division of Labor and Publicity. By 1951, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor were split into distinct Departments.
In 1937, amidst the Great Depression, the Unemployment Compensation Commission was established by an act of the Montana Legislature to assist the unemployed. The act provided the means for assessing, collecting, administering, distributing, and investing contributions derived from payrolls of employers, and also provided penalties for violations of the act. The Commission at that time was composed of the Montana State Employment Service Division and the Unemployment Compensation Division. In 1969, the name of the Unemployment Compensation Division was changed to the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Employment Security Commission.
Several structural and organizational changes took place in Montana state government following the Executive Reorganization Act of 1971. The Department of Professional and Occupational Licensing was established to provide administrative support and serve as an “umbrella” Department to various occupational licensing boards. Prior to the establishment of the DPOL, each state licensing board operated as a separate functioning entity. In order to reduce inefficiencies, lower administrative costs, and increase the quality of services to the public, the 1970 Commission on Executive Reorganization recommended the creation of a central authority. When the DPOL was created, it had three Divisions, Centralized Services, Licensing, and Enforcement, and oversaw 26 boards which prepared and submitted budgets through Centralized Services. Later, in 1980, the Legislative Audit Committee ordered an audit of the Department, which revealed inefficiencies in DPOL and listed areas where operations could be improved. Shortly after this, in 1981, DPOL dissolved, and its duties were transferred to the Department of Labor and Industry and the Department of Commerce.
Additionally, as a result of the state reorganization in 1971, the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Employment Security Commission became the Unemployment Insurance Bureau of the Division of Employment Security under the Department of Labor and Industry. The Bureau became the Unemployment Insurance Division in 1982. It was then composed of an Administrative Support Bureau, a Benefits Bureau, a Contributions Bureau, an Employer Services Bureau, an Unemployment Insurance Section, and an Unemployment Insurance Claims Investigation Section. Following 1985, the sections were incorporated into other Bureaus and Divisions and the remaining Bureaus experienced only minor name changes.
As of 2024, the Department of Labor and Industry has five Divisions: Technology
Services, Centralized Services, Employment Standards Division (which oversees
professional and occupational licensing and boards), the Unemployment Insurance
Division, and Workforce Services Division. To see a current list of DLI Divisions
and staff, please visit the
This collection contains records from various Divisions, Bureaus, and Boards within the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. The Montana Department of Labor and Industry records were integrated under one collection number to help facilitate access and reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog. To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup, please click on the links below in the arrangement section to be redirected to those finding aids.
This subgroup (1891-2003) contains records of the Employment Standards Division, and particularly records from the sub-subgroup, Professional and Occupational Licensing Bureau. The Bureau is responsible for supervising the Occupational and Professional Licensing Boards, which are mandated by state law, and is responsible for overseeing activities of specific jobs and professionals in Montana.
Records (1917-1977) of the Board of Architects and Landscape Architects and its predecessor, the Montana Board of Architectural Examiners, consist of license registers, cash books, and a register of applicants. Records (1929-1980) of the Montana Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists and its predecessors the Montana State Examining Board of Beauty Culturists and the Montana State Examining Board of Cosmetology, consist of general correspondence, financial records, minutes, organizational records, reports of beauty school inspections, printed materials regarding laws and regulations, ephemera, including certificates of registration and operators' licenses, and miscellany, including examinations.
Records (1930-1965) of the Board of Funeral Service, formerly named Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, consist of mortician licenses, arranged alphabetically. Each license contains information on the mortician, their workplace, education, and license applications and renewals. Records (1968-1983) of the Montana Board of Massage Therapists, and its predecessors the Montana Board of Masseurs, and Montana State Board of Massage Therapists, consist of subject files, including correspondence and financial records, kept in alphabetical order by the originating office.
Records (1889-1996) of the Montana Board of Medical Examiners include minor correspondence, financial records, including budget problems and financial reports, agendas of board meetings, several pages (1889) from a minute book licensing physicians; subject files including files on Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), family planning centers, Montana Family Practice Satellite Unit, and Warm Springs State Hospital, and organizational records. There is a certification register (oversize volume, 1889-1967) for doctors certified to practice in Montana. This register is continued (1968-1996) by a loose-leaf file, arranged both alphabetically and by certificate number. There are also reports of examination for licenses [home addresses restricted]. Records (1978-1984) of the Board of Nursing Home Administrators consist of incoming correspondence on a variety of topics, such as educational requirements for nursing home administrators, licensing fees, Medicaid fraud, and the Nursing Home Administrators Practice Act. Records (1997-2003) for the Board of Optometry, formerly named Board of Examiners in Optometry, consist of minutes and bylaws, and it also contains a register of licensed optometrists in Montana from 1907 to 2003.
The Board of Pharmacy records contain a small amount of correspondence with the Governor's and the Attorney General's offices (1915-1967); and three volumes (1902-1922) listing registered pharmacists and assistant pharmacists in Montana. Records from the Private Security Program, formerly named Board of Private Security Patrolmen and Investigators, consist of minutes (1983-1984). Records (1909-1969) from the Board of Public Accountants consist of two volumes containing minutes with topics covering approval/denial of applications for examination and granting of certificates, administered laws regulating the practice of public accounting, administered examinations, and issued certificates of competency (Passed, Conditioned, Failed), naming of committee members, and more. a financial journal, Board minutes, and two subject files concerning the Speculator and Bear Creek (Smith Mine) mine disasters.
The sub-subgroup (1973-1981) Employment Relations contains the records of the Women’s Bureau (defunct), which operated under the (former) Employment Relations Division, and consists of general and interoffice correspondence, news releases, copies of Newsbriefs (the Bureau newsletter), monthly reports, project reports, subject files, miscellany, including mailing and referral lists, and clippings.
The sub-subgroup (1974-1987) Human Rights Bureau consists of interoffice and general correspondence, minor financial, hearing, and legal files, minutes of the Commission, minutes of the Executive Committee (RESTRICTED), minutes of the Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee for Women, organizational materials, including organizational charts, work plans, and bylaws, reports, legal research files on various discrimination issues, miscellany, and clippings.
This subgroup (1976-1989) consists of records from the Unemployment Insurance Division. It includes correspondence, minutes, and assorted subject files. The correspondence includes interoffice correspondence of Mary Margaret "Peg" Hartman, Charles "Chuck" Hunter, and David L. Hunter, commissioners and administrators of the Division. It also contains records from the Employment Security Advisory Council, consisting of minutes and subject files.
This collection is arranged into two subgroups and several sub-subgroups, represented by the Divisions, Bureaus, or Boards within or related to the Department of Labor and Industry. Some of the Divisions may contain records of the Bureaus, Programs, or Boards that operate within the Division.
To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup, please click on the links below to be redirected to those finding aids.
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Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Library & Archives does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 498, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from Montana Department of Labor and Industry's various Divisions and
Bureaus that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into
Each of the links above will redirect the user to a specific subgroup (Division) or
sub-subgroup (Bureaus, Programs, or Board) of the Montana Department of Labor and
Industry. There may be some overlap or inconsistencies in terms of which records are
in which subgroup or sub-subgroup, as these collections have
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Research Center catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.