Title: KFYR and P. J. Meyer
Dates: 1932
Collection Number: 00138
Quantity: 27 items
Abstract: Images of the groundbreaking for the new State Capitol building and ceremonies for laying of the cornerstone for the building.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
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Related Collection:
MSS 10149 Russell Reid – film footage 11:35 4. Cornerstone laying for new capitol, 1932. Governor George Schafer and others speaking; installation of time capsule.
Historical Sketch
From “Souvenir Dedication Program Cornerstone Laying New North Dakota State Capitol Bismarck, North Dakota October the Eighth, Nineteen Hundred Thirty-two”
The First Spadeful
No Wonder the governor smile as he removed the first dirt Saturday morning, August 13, for it was the beginning of the new North Dakota State Capitol for which the cornerstone will be laid today. Governor George F. Shafer spit on his hands and dug in earnest into the sod to officially begin the operations on the $2,000,000 structure.
The Governor’s action was witnessed by several thousand persons who gathered on the hill to watch the ceremony. The Governor, in a short speech which preceded the official ground breaking, received the history of the state and of the work leading up to the present status of the new capitol building. He emphasized the fact that the physical work, which he was formally commencing was the result of many months of unseen labor on the part of the architects, contracting parties and the capitol commission.
A. M. Christianson, chief justice of the state supreme court, presided at the ceremony which was broadcast over the air through Bismarck’s radio station, KFYR. He introduced in turn the Rev. Opie S. Rindahl, pastor of the Trinity Lutheran church, who pronounced the invocation, Mrs. James H. Cooper, retiring president of the eighth district of the Federation of Women’s Clubs, who led the crowd in the singing of “America” accompanied by the Mandan band, and Governor Shafer.
Following the talk, Mrs. H. W. McArdle, Fargo, chairman of the pioneer mothers’ committee of the State Federation of Women’s Clubs, presented a collection of 50 volumes on the lives of pioneer mothers in the state to Mrs. A. E. Jones, State Federation president, who in turn gave them to the State Historical Society. Col. C. B. Little, president of the society, received them. A benediction pronounced by the Rev. Walter E. Vater, pastor of the McCabe Methodist church, Bismarck, followed the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” to conclude the program.
The ceremony on Capitol hill was preceded by a parade of the drum and bugle corps of the Lloyd Spetz post of the American Legion. The corps marched through the downtown streets and then was taken to the edge of town from where it marched to the site of the groundbreaking.
Music for the ceremony was furnished by the Mandan band which accompanied the singing of “America” and “The Star Spangled Banner” by the crowd.
Camera men were thick at the ceremony and motion pictures were taken to preserve the event for the files of the historical society.
PHOTOGRAPHS INVENTORY
00138-01 Digging ditch for antenna, KFYR-Bismarck (ND)
00138-02 New State Capitol Groundbreaking August 13, 1932. Mrs. Powell, Devils Lake; Mrs. Tillie Corwin, Bismarck; and Mrs. Florence Davis
00138-03 New State Capitol Groundbreaking August 13, 1932. Judge A. M. Christianson, Mrs. Powell, Devils Lake; Mrs. Tillie Corwin, Bismarck; and Mrs. Florence Davis
00138-04 New State Capitol Groundbreaking August 13, 1932. Rev. Rindahl
00138-05 Cornerstone laying for new State Capitol Groundbreaking October 8, 1932. Lines of cars parked below the burnt shell of the old State Capitol building
00138-06 – 07 Cornerstone laying for the new State Capitol. Military unit march in parade in Bismarck, (ND) October 8, 1932
00138-08 Native American representatives from Fort Berthold at the Cornerstone laying for the new State Capitol October 8, 1932
00138-09 – 10 Marching band in parade for the cornerstone laying for the new State Capitol October 8, 1932
00138-11 Crowd gathered for cornerstone laying ceremony October 8, 1932
00138-12 – 13 Governor Shafer and Drags Wolf at the speaker’s podium at the cornerstone laying ceremony for the new State Capitol October 8, 1932
00138-14 – 16 Vice President Charles A. Curtis speaking at the cornerstone laying ceremony for new State Capitol October 8, 1932
00138-17 Vice President Curtis, C. B. Little, and Governor Shafer on the speaker’s platform for the cornerstone laying ceremony for new State Capitol Bismarck ND October 8, 1932
00138-18 Governor George F. Shafer speaking at the cornerstone laying for the new State Capitol, Bismarck ND October 8, 1932
00138 19 – 20 Governor George F. Shafer digging the first shovelful at the groundbreaking for new State Capital Bismarck ND August 13, 1932
00138-21 Judge A. M. Christianson speaking at the cornerstone laying ceremony for the new State Capitol, Bismarck (ND) October 8, 1932
00138-22 Group on the speaker’s platform at the cornerstone laying ceremony for the new State Capitol, Bismarck (ND) October 8, 1932
00138-25 New State Capitol groundbreaking ceremony August 13, 1932
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