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Bozeman Fire Department Records, 1880-2024

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Bozeman Fire Dept. (Bozeman, Mont.)
Title
Bozeman Fire Department Records
Dates
1880-2024 (inclusive)
Quantity
7.4 linear feet
1 web archive
Collection Number
2151, Collection 2151 (collection)
Summary
The Bozeman Fire Department Records consist of department records, relief association materials, and union papers. These records include legal and organizational papers; minutes of the department meetings; records of membership, roll calls, dues, reports to the city, records of fires for most years from 1880 to 1961, fire prevention and fire training information, Fire School papers, copies of speeches, business and professional correspondence, materials on special equipment and issues, financial records, newspaper clippings, cards, brochures, invitations, programs and memorabilia of social events, membership records, reports, investment materials, constitution, and assorted International Association of Firefighters papers and communications.
Repository
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Languages
Collection materials are in English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Historical Note

The Bozeman Fire Company was established in 1880, and four years later the Bozeman Fire Department was organized as a volunteer group with only 2 paid members. Men requesting membership in the department were voted on by a committee. After five years, an active member could become exempt from call and dues yet still participate in social events and discussion at meetings without voting privileges. For many years a social membership in the department existed, its members also voted on by committee. To raise funds for the department the first Fireman's Ball was held in 1884 and thereafter every year around Thanksgiving. The department had an annual stag banquet each January to review the year's events. The banquet was a significant social event for the men of Bozeman for many years. In 1911, the Montana State Legislature passed legislation to finance fire relief associations with allocated taxes. In response, the Bozeman Fire Department Relief Association was incorporated in 1912, replacing the department's relief committee. In 1939, after legislation on pensions and wages in the late 1930s was unsatisfactory, the Bozeman, Montana firemen joined the International Association of Firefighters Union as Local # 613. The first Fire Marshall (Chief) was A. P. Clark. W. G. Alexander succeeded him in 1889 and served until his retirement in 1925 after 41 years service in the department. Chief Alexander was instrumental in many of the advances in the department including a state-of-the-art centralized fire alarm system in 1910 and total motorization of the equipment by 1914. In 1890, the Fire Department moved into the new City Hall (Opera House) and remained until 1962. There were significant fires in Bozeman in Dec 1887, Dec 1922, 1936 (Nash-Finch building) and October 1961, all of which are documented in these records.

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Content Description

The records include legal and organizational papers; minutes of the department meetings; records of membership, roll calls, dues; reports to the city, the state and the membership; records of fires for most years from 1880 to 1961; fire prevention and fire training information; Fire School papers; copies of speeches; business and professional correspondence; materials on special equipment and issues (1910 fire alarm system, 1922 fire report, resuscitator case histories, W. G. Alexander's retirement, John McCrosson's delayed certificate of birth papers, and Ernest H. Schumacher's life insurance policy); financial records including secretary's and treasurer's cash ledgers, check registers, savings books, cancelled checks, special expenses, plus bills and receipts; scrapbook materials include: newspaper clippings, cards, brochures, invitations, programs and memorabilia of social events. The Relief Association materials include legal and organizational papers, minutes, membership records, reports, correspondence, financial records, and investment materials. The Union Local #613 materials include a copy of the constitution, minutes, membership, correspondence, financial records, and assorted International Association of Firefighters papers and communications. A web archive begins in 2020.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

A newspaper clipping scrapbook in series 1, subseries 4, is restricted due to fragility. An inventory of the newspaper clippings is provided.

Preferred Citation

[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Series 1: Departmental papers of the Bozeman Fire Department, 1880-1962

Sub-series 1: Operational reports and documents, 1880-1962

Sub-series 2: Correspondence, 1884-1950

Sub-series 3: Financial records, 1880-1962

Sub-series 4: Scrapbook, news clippings and other memorabilia, 1887-1947

Series 2: Bozeman Fire Department Relief Association papers, 1911-1959

Series 3: Bozeman Fire Department Union papers, 1939-1957

Series 4: Web Archive

Acquisition Information

The Bozeman Montana Fire Department Records were donated by the Museum of the Rockies August 13, 2001. The records had been donated to the museum by former Fire Chiefs Herbert Hoey (1973) and Billy Alexander (1982). One folder of items from 1884-1888 had been donated in 1985 and was integrated into the collection.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2009 April 3

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Fire departments
  • Fire departments--Montana--Bozeman (Mont.)
  • Fire extinction--Montana--Bozeman (Mont.)
  • Fire fighters--Labor Unions--Montana--Bozeman (Mont.)
  • Fires--Montana--Bozeman (Mont.)
  • Labor unions-Montana-Bozeman
  • Social life and customs

Corporate Names

  • Bozeman Fire Dept. (Bozeman, Mont.). Relief Association
  • International Association of Fire Fighters
  • International Association of Fire Fighters. Local 613 (Bozeman, Mont.)

Geographical Names

  • Bozeman (Mont.)
  • Bozeman (Mont.)--Social life and customs
  • Montana

Kim Allen Scott, 2009. Updated by Heather Mulliner, 2022.
2022

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

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