Welcome to NDStudies.org

The North Dakota Studies regional website offers resources on the people, places, events, and fascinating history of North Dakota and the region for teachers, students, and lifelong learners. A collaboration of the North Dakota Humanities Council (NDHC), the North Dakota Center for Distance Education, and the North Central Council for School Television in partnership with Prairie Public, the site provides teaching resources not only for fourth grade, eighth grade, and high school North Dakota Studies classes but also for cross-curricular applications for K-12 classrooms across the region. In addition, you will find photographs, maps, and other primary documents, well-researched and authoritative articles, as well as audio and video clips on the history, culture, and life of the region.

To get started, use the search box above or browse for resources using one of the drop-down menus.

This Week's Feature

Native View: Native Art - Larry DeCoteau, Painter and Sculptor
Artist DeCoteau describes his education, career, and his artistic expressions of Indian spirituality.

Overview

Artist DeCoteau describes his education, career and his artistic expressions of Indian spirituality.

Art is a traditional means of expression in native culture and modern Chippewa artists integrate tradition with new art expressions.

The Turtle Mountain Chippewa (Ojibwa) Tribe and Prairie Public did a series of programs on topics relevant to life on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, hosted by Pam Belgarde. The series attempted to portray a variety of aspects of Native American life to the public, both Indian and non-Indian, including tradition, art, music, government, gaming, health, education, and economic development.

 

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Old Red Trail: Birth of the Interstate
The Old Red Trail owes its existence to the Federal Highway Act, signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

Overview

Crossing the United States before the federal highway system was in place was very difficult. President Dwight Eisenhower traveled in a military expedition from Maryland to California in the early 1910s and took that experience with him to the White House. He signed the Federal Highway Act in 1956, which led to the opening of the first part of Interstate 94 in October of 1958 between Valley City and Jamestown.

 

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Through the Lens:Construction of the Garrison Dam
Footage of the building of Garrison Dam, one of the largest construction projects to ever be completed in North Dakota.

Overview

Video footage of the construction of North Dakota's Garrison Dam.

 

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Bonanza Farms: Working at the Bonanza Farms
The people who worked at bonanza farms often were seasonal workers. As many as 30,000 workers traveled through Fargo-Moorhead during the height of the bonanza boom.

Overview

North Dakota's agricultural employment opportunities in the late 1800s included bonanza farms, a short-lived variety of mass-scale farming.

 

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Through the Lens: The Killer Tornado of 1957
The tornado that struck Fargo in 1957 killed ten people and damaged 1500 houses.

Overview

A tornado struck Fargo in 1957, leaving behind a trail of devastation. North Dakota's fledgling television news services covered the natural disaster, recording the event as it occurred and its aftermath.

 

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North Dakota Blue Book Available on Digital Horizons


Past editions of the North Dakota Blue Book are available on Digital Horizons! The Blue Book is easy to use, authoritative, statistical and narrative profile of North Dakota's government, geography, economy and culture, published periodically since 1889.

Click here to search Digital Horizons for the "Blue Book."

This Day in ND History


Listen online at PrairiePublic.org