Montana Heritage Project records, 1995-2006

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Montana Heritage Project.
Title
Montana Heritage Project records
Dates
1995-2006 (inclusive)
Quantity
7 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 332
Summary
The collection contains final research projects and research material created by the students that participated in the Montana Heritage Project (MHP), an effort to encourage high school students to take their communities as the subject of serious historical research. Final research project files include essays, oral histories, and exhibit material. The collection also contains audio cassette tapes and DVD recordings as part of the Project.
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

The Archives did not receive signed releases for some of the oral histories as a result certain interviews are restricted until release forms are obtained. See Archivist for details.

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

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Montana Heritage Project (MHP) is a program where high school students are encouraged to take their communities as the subject of serious historical research. Specifically, students compare and contrast community life of Montana in past generations with Community life today. Cultural heritage is the subject matter; field and research are its educational strategies.

MHP was started by the Library of Congress with encouragement and funding from Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation (LCAOF) in 1995. Since then it has been administered by the Montana Historical Society and funded by the LCAOF. Its mission is to engage young people in the scholarly study of their own communities and of Montana, using oral history and primary documents. Each research project culminates in gifts of scholarship to the community and the state. As of today, the project has sponsored research projects in 28 Montana communities: Bigfork, Brady, Broadus, Browning, Centerville, Chester, Columbus, Corvallis, Dillon, Eureka, Fairfield, Fort Benton, Gardiner, Great Falls, Harlowton, Lewistown, Libby, Polson, Pryor, Red Lodge, Ronan, Roundup, St. Ignatius, Simms, Thompson Falls, Townsend, Whitefish, and White Sulphur Springs. Over 6,000 students have participated. Wibaux County High School and Lincoln County High School were not official part of the Heritage Project but were invited to participate in special projects.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains final research projects and research material created by the students that participated in the Montana Heritage Project (MHP), an effort to encourage high school students to take their communities as the subject of serious historical research. Final research project topics include, but are not limited to, education in the early 1900’s, family histories, farming, forest management, historic buildings, Indian boarding schools, mining, quilts, ranching, transportation, veterans, water use, and volunteer fire departments.

The final research projects also include oral history interviews with local community members. Students who participated in the MHP conducted the interviews. Many of the interviews include a tape log and a transcript which can be found in the either the final research project or the project material files. Name access to oral history interviews is available upon request.

The bulk of the material in the project material files is the student’s final research project supplementary research material. These files contain oral history transcripts, interviewee biographical information, tape logs, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

[item description and date]. Montana Heritage Project records, 1995-2006. Manuscript Collection 332. [box and folder number]. Montana Historical Society Research Center. Archives. Helena, Montana.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Materials are arranged by school year then by school. Additional school projects were added to the collection in 2008, and are listed under "Additional Student Projects" at the end of the finding aid. Student oral history release forms are located at the end of the collection in boxes 18-19.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request.

Processing Note

Processed in 2005 and 2006

Separated Materials

CD's and DVD's were removed from the collection and placed in the Multimedia Collection [MM62]

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

1995-1996Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1 / 1
Chester High School, Building Research
1995-1996

1996-1997Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1 / 2
Chester High School, History of Education in Liberty County
1996-1997
1 / 3
Chester High School, Project Material
1996
1 / 4
St. Ignatius Middle and High School, Project Material
1996

1997-1998Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1 / 5
Chester High School, Community Works Research
1997-1998
1 / 6
Chester High School, Project Material
1998
1 / 7
Corvallis High School, Project Material [Restricted]
1998
1 / 8
Roundup High School, Project Material
1998
1 / 9
Simms High School, Stories in Place: Our Sun River Valley Heritage (re farming, ranching, Indian boarding schools, and railroads)
1998

1998-1999Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1 / 10
Bigfork High School, 1920s in Bigfork and Montana
1998-1999
1 / 11
Broadwater High School, Where “People” Make The “Places:” Researching the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s
1998-1999
1 / 12
Broadwater High School, Project Material
1998-1999
1 / 13
Chester High School, A Study of Community, Place and Success
1998-1999
1 / 14
Chester High School, Project Material
1998-1999
2 / 1
Columbus High School, Montana Heritage Project in Stillwater County (re Crow Nation and mining in Stillwater County)
1998-1999
2 / 2
Corvallis High School, Local Culture and Geography of the Bitterroot Valley
1998-1999
2 / 3
Fort Benton High School, Fort Benton Heritage Project (re heritage cookbook and work and technology)
1998-1999
2 / 4
Libby High School, Libby High School Montana Heritage Project (re history of local businesses and Nordic Fest documentary)
1998-1999
2 / 5
Roundup High School, Looking Forward by Looking Back (re mining history and forest management)
1998-1999
2 / 6
Roundup High School, Project Material
1998-1999
2 / 7
Simms High School, Stories in Place II: Our Sun River Valley Heritage (re comparing and contrasting life over time; an examination of local myths; an auto tour guide; and histories of Vaughn, Fort Shaw, and Simms)
1998-1999
2 / 8
Simms High School, Project Material [Restricted]
1998-1999
2 / 9
St. Ignatius Elementary School, Branding
1998-1999

1999-2000Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3 / 1
Bigfork High School, Maclean, Norman, “River Runs Through It” Montana and Bigfork at that Time
1999-2000
3 / 2
Broadwater High School, A History of World War II Veterans in Broadwater County
1999-2000
3 / 3
Chester High School, Discovering Self Through Questions about Preservation
1999-2000
3 / 4
Chester High School, Project Material
1999-2000
3 / 5
Corvallis High School, Corvallis Community Heritage Project (re family histories)
1999-2000
3 / 6
Libby High School, Libby High School Montana Heritage Project (re loggers and logging and historical food "Cooking with Characters")
1999-2000
4 / 1
Ronan High School, Flathead Lake A Quality Water Study
1999-2000
4 / 2
Roundup High School, A Roundup Renaissance: Freeing the Future Through the Past
1999-2000
4 / 3
Roundup High School, Art Class, Lee and Dee Steen's Folk Art
1999-2000
4 / 4
Simms High School, Stories in Place III: Our Sun River Valley Heritage (re Sun River and it's relationship to the Valley and the 1904 Fort Shaw girls’ basketball team)
1999-2000
4 / 5
Simms High School, Project Material [Restricted]
1999-2000
4 / 6
Wibaux County High School, Project Material
1999-2000

2000-2001Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
4 / 7
Bigfork High School, Bigfork: One Hundred Years by the Bay and Vietnam Veterans
2000-2001
4 / 8
Broadwater High School, The Women of Broadwater County, 1930-1970
2000-2001
4 / 9
Browning High School, Browning High School Heritage Project (re Blackfeet reservation and Blackfeet tribal elders and their life experiences)
2000-2001
5 / 1
Chester High School, Building Understanding and Community Through Research [DVD on Estonia House see MM62]
2000-2001
5 / 2
Chester High School, Project Material
2000-2001
5 / 3
Corvallis High School, English Class, A History of Corvallis High School and Salish History
2000-2001
5 / 4
Corvallis High School, Heritage Geography, Corvallis Community Heritage Project (re homesteading and human-environmental interaction)
2000-2001
5 / 5
Fergus High School, If the Walls Could Talk (re stone buildings and croatian stone cutters)
2000-2001
5 / 6
Harlowton High School, Images of the Upper Musselshell: Voldseths, Martin, and Moores (re historic ranching in Wheatland and Meagher County)
2000-2001
OVSZ / 1
Libby High School, Libby High School Montana Heritage Project (re timber industry and Nordic Fest documentary)
2000-2001
5 / 7
Lincoln County High School, Voices of the Tobacco Valley
2000-2001
5 / 8
Lincoln County High School, Project Material
2000-2001
5 / 9
Ronan High School, World War II Exploration
2000-2001
5 / 10
Ronan High School, Ecology of Flathead Lake Drainage
2000-2001
6 / 1
Roundup High School, Hands Across Time (re bottling plants and World War II veterans)
2000-2001
6 / 2
Simms High School, Stories in Places IV: Our Sun River Valley Heritage (re history of Simms High School; history of Fort Shaw High School; and Sun River landings by Lewis and Clark)
2000-2001
6 / 3
Simms High School, Coming and Going: An Inquiry into Lewis and Clark Sites in the Sun River and Great Falls Area
2000-2001
6 / 4
Simms High School, Project Material
2000-2001

2001-2002Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
6 / 5
Beaverhead County High School, The Unique Heritage of Education in Beaverhead County, One Room Schools
2001-2002
6 / 6
Beaverhead County High School, Project Material
2001-2002
6 / 7
Bigfork High School, A History of Veterans and Women in Bigfork
2001-2002
6 / 8
Bigfork High School, Project Material
2001-2002
6 / 9
Broadwater High School, Broadwater County High School 85 Years of History
2001-2002
7 / 1
Chester High School, Connecting to Our Community Through Understanding Ourselves
2001-2002
7 / 2
Chester High School, Project Material
2002
7 / 3
Corvallis High School, Geography, Heritage Quilt and Homesteading [DVD on September 11, 2001 see MM62]
2001-2002
7 / 4
Harlowton High School, The Bair Family: A Montana Heritage Project
2001-2002
7 / 5
Libby High School, Using the Community as a Classroom (re Stimson Lumber Company)
2001-2002
7 / 6
Lincoln County High School, Tobacco Valley Community Tree
2001-2002
7 / 7-8
Lincoln County High School, Project Material
2001-2002
7 / 9
Ronan High School, Oral Histories of World War II (interviews include: Gerald Leighton, Kenneth Jolley, Therman Trosper, Robert Layman, John Mears, Dr. Mack Baker, George and Wanda Swim, Reinhard Resler, Dennis Brough, Frances Stanger, John Stromberg, Thomas Pablo, Loren Gillhouse, Lloyd Holt, Josephine Hodges, Clarice Onsager, Victor Starkel, Sherri and Joe McDonald, Laura (Lake)Osterwyk, Don Lockwood, Darlene Lockwood, Donna Greenlee, Lettie Kent Pierce Gilbert, Babe Alger, Charlotte Powell, Bill Dally, Patricia Jean Pound, Kenneth Pound, Ethel Harding, Patsy Wood, Bud Harris, Viola Ashley, Mikey Smith)
2001-2002
7 / 10
Ronan High School, Project Material
2001-2002
8 / 1
Roundup High School, Footprints in Time (re crimes in the Musselshell area and World War II veterans; interviews include: Glen and Mary Russell, Hazel Moore, John Liggett, Rudolph Pfister, Loren Erbe, Frank Fehrenbach)
2001-2002
8 / 2
Simms High School, Stories in Place V: Our Sun River Valley Heritage (re history of veterans in Sun River)
2001-2002
8 / 3
Simms High School, Veterans History Project (interviews include: Emmett Anderson, Edwin Armstrong, William Armstrong, Brian Bartz, Jay Clegg, Pete Cummings, Douglas Ekegren, Hazel Fasbender, Shorty Graves, Kent Hane, Leon Hansen, Warren and Grace Harding, John Holland, Harold Jackson, Richard Kibble, Gary Klette, Howard Largent, Louis Lavergne, Cullen Lee, Nick Maurntonio, Rose McKeldrey, Quentin Mang, Frank Morazan, John Nauck, Leon Olsen, Norma Olsen, John Ranum, Dennis Speer, Duane Toren, Edward Wheeler, Clair Willits, Joyce Wohlgemuth)
2001-2002
8 / 4
Simms High School, Project Material
2001-2002

2002-2003Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
8 / 5
Beaverhead County High School, A Profile of The Dillon Community (re historic buildings and businesses in downtown Dillon)
2002-2003
8 / 6
Bigfork High School, Bigfork Volunteer Fire Department and Quick Response Unit
2002-2003
8 / 7
Broadwater County High School, 1910 Expedition: History from Broadwater County 1900-1920
2002-2003
8 / 8
Chester High School, Preserving the Heritage in Our Own Backyard
2002-2003
8 / 9
Chester High School, Project Material
2002-2003
9 / 1
Corvallis High School, Growing up in the Bitterroot (re history of veterans in the Bitterroot Valley)
2002-2003
9 / 2
Harlowton High School, The Hutterian Way: Hutterite Colonies in the Upper Musselshell Valley, Duncan Springwater, and Martinsdale Colonies
2002-2003
9 / 3
Harlowton High School, Project Material
2002-2003
9 / 4
Libby High School, Libby Volunteer Fire Department (re Stimson Mill and John Geiger)
2002-2003
9 / 5
Lincoln County High School, Family Histories
2002-2003
9 / 6
Ronan High School, Ronan High School 60’s Project (re Vietnam veterans and Native American veterans)
2002-2003
9 / 7
Ronan High School, Project Material
2002-2003
9 / 8
Roundup High School, Heritage Quilting and A History of Veterans in Roundup
2002-2003
9 / 9
St. Ignatius High School, An Oral History of the St. Ignatius Volunteer Fire Department
2002-2003
10 / 1
Simms High School, Stories in Places VI: Sun River Valley in 1910 (re comparing and contrasting with life today and veterans’ history)
2002-2003
10 / 2
Simms High School, Project Material
2002-2003
10 / 3
White Sulphur Springs High School, "A Touch of Class:" A Tribute to Meagher County’s One Room Schools
2002-2003

2003-2004Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
10 / 4
Bigfork High School, Veteran Interviews (interviews include: Clifford Brenneman, Lowell Jaeger, Norman Kauffman, John Singleton, Dave Bermel)
2003-2004
10 / 5
Brady High School, Veteran Interviews (interviews include: Buck Traxler, John Faust, Gerry Sawyer, Bert Rigby)
2003-2004
10 / 6-7
Broadwater County High School, "Piecing Together Our Past" Quilting in Broadwater County
2003-2004
10 / 8
Chester High School, Project Material
2003-2004
11 / 1
Corvallis High School, Corvallis Community Heritage Project (re 1920's in the Bitterroot)
2003-2004
11 / 2
Fairfield High School, Veteran Interviews (interviews include: Earl Anderson, Sheriff Anderson, John Anderson, Brian Brunner, Mike Johnson, Gary Kasper, Bernd Sedlachek)
2003-2004
11 / 3
Harlowton High School, Sites and Sounds of the Upper Musselshell Valley
2003-2004
11 / 4
Lincoln County, Tobacco Valley Oral History Project
2003-2004
11 / 5
Roundup High School, Undiscovered Roundup Riches Coal: Black Gold of the Bulls
2003-2004
11 / 6
Simms High School, Stories in Place VII: Our Sun River Valley Heritage; Tying Together: The Rope of Time
2003-2004
11 / 7
Simms High School, Project Material
2003-2004
12 / 1
White Sulphur Springs, Take a Look Back at Our Poor Farm...
2003-2004
12 / 2
Whitefish High School, Our Place: Whitefish
2003-2004
12 / 3
Whitefish High School, Project Material
2003-2004

2004-2005Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
12 / 4
Bigfork High School, "Letters" Veteran Interviews
2004-2005
12 / 5
Bigfork High School, Project Material
2004-2005
12 / 6
Broadwater County High School, How did the Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic Events in the 1960's Affect Montanans--Particularly Individuals in Broadwater County?
2004-2005
12 / 7
Broadwater County High School, Broadwater County Photographs 1900-1920
2004-2005
12 / 8
Chester High School, A Community's Past, Left in the Dark, Brought to Light
2004-2005
12 / 9
Chester High School, Project Material
2004-2005
12 / 10
Corvallis High School, Corvallis Community Heritage Project: Who am I and Who are Those that Came Before Me?
2004-2005
12 / 11
Corvallis High School, Project Material
2004-2005
13 / 1
Fairfield High School, The History of the Boe Brothers
2004-2005
13 / 2
Great Falls Central Catholic High School, Veteran Interviews (interviews include: Ernest Matthews, Earl Bahr, James Fullerton, George Kimmet, Tom Parr)
2004-2005
13 / 3
Harlowton High School, Life on the River: Stories of the Upper Musselshell Valley
2004-2005
13 / 4
Harlowton High School, Project Material
2004-2005
13 / 5
Libby High School, Houghton Creek Fire August, 1984; and "Songs of Hope: Music in Libby Montana during the Great Depression"
2004-2005
13 / 6
Lincoln County High School, Tobacco Valley Oral History Interviews
2004-2005
13 / 7
Ronan High School, Honoring Our Veterans: Oral History Interviews
2004-2005
14 / 1
Roundup High School, Drilling Through Time and Veteran's Project (interviews include: Tom Hueser, Dave Hagstrom, Walt Pfister)
2004-2005
14 / 2
Simms High School, Stories in Place VII: Our Sun River Valley Heritage; Transportation and Roads: Centuries on the Move
2004-2005
14 / 3
Simms High School, Project Material
2004-2005
14 / 4
Whitefish High School, Stumptown becomes Downtown: The Difference of a Century
2004-2005
14 / 5
White Sulphur Springs High School, Ten Men, One Night, One Murder
2004-2005

2005-2006Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
14 / 6
Bigfork High School, The Great Depression and Veterans
2005-2006
15 / 1
Bigfork High School, Project Material
2005-2006
15 / 2
Broadwater County High School, Finding Narratives: Fires of 2000
2005-2006
15 / 3
Broadwater County High School, Holiday Vignettes and Family Traditions
2005-2006
15 / 4
Broadwater County High School, Veteran History Project
2005-2006
15 / 5
Broadwater County High School, Project Material
2005-2006
15 / 6
Chester High School, Uniting a Community One Town at a Time
2005-2006
15 / 7
Chester High School, Project Material
2005-2006
15 / 8
Great Falls Central Catholic High School, Catholic Education in Central Montana
2005-2006
15 / 9
Great Falls Central Catholic High School, Project Material
2005-2006
16 / 1
Harlowton High School, People of the Upper Musselshell Valley: Spanning the Years 1910-1920
2005-2006
16 / 2
Harlowton High School, Project Material
2005-2006
16 / 3
Libby High School, Libby Near Collapse? (re Logging Camp 7)
2005-2006
16 / 4
Lincoln County High School, Tobacco Valley County History
2005-2006
16 / 5
Roundup High School, Montana and Community Study
2005-2006
16 / 6
Roundup High School, Project Material
2005-2006
16 / 7
Simms High School, Stories in Place IX: Our Sun River Valley Heritage; Fort Shaw: Marching through Time
2005-2006
16 / 8
Simms High School, Project Material
2005-2006
16 / 9
White Sulphur Springs High School, Love Through the Ages
2005-2006
16 / 10
White Sulphur Springs High School, Project Material
2005-2006

Additional School ProjectsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
17 / 1
Libby High School, Community Study
1995-1996
17 / 2
Chester High School, Research Project
1995-1998
17 / 3
Broadwater High School, Cheer For The Home Team! : An Anectdotal History of Broadwater High School Activities
1996-1997
17 / 4
Corvallis High School, Summary of Activities
1996-1997
17 / 5
Broadwater High School, Cheer For The Home Team! : An Anectdotal History of Broadwater High School Activities
1997-1998
17 / 6
Chester High School, An Historical and Critical Look at Rural Education in Liberty County
1997-1998
17 / 7
Corvallis High School, Producers of Knowledge from the Roots Up!
1997-1998
17 / 8
Corvallis High School, Phil Leonardi and Annemarie Kanenwisher
1997-1998
17 / 9
Chester High School, Liberty County History Calendar
1998-1999
OVSZ / 1
Roundup High School, Art and the Heritage Project
1998-1999
17 / 10
Bigfork High School, Voices of the Millennium
1999-2000
17 / 11
Chester High School, Research Papers
1999-2000
17 / 12
Libby High School, Interviews: Korean War (interviews include: Bob Barnes, Dale Berg, Earl Goyen, Bob Groom, Marvin Hall, William Johnston, James Judkins, Gerry Kenelty, Robert Lester, Earl McCartney, Jim Morey, Lester Nitschke, Art Purdy, Roger Robertson, Albert Urdahl)
1999-2000
17 / 13
Roundup High School,Veteran Interview(interview includes: Ben Steele)
2002-2003
17 / 14
Roundup High School, Oral History Tape Logs (interviews include: James Downey, Marilyn Docksey, Concetta Picchioni, Jessie Zeier, Francis Turley, Dick Roth, Shorty Roberts, Viola Hill, Agnes Hagstrom, Jon Funk)
2004-2005

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Community cookbooks--Montana.
  • Community life--Montana.
  • Education--Montana--History.
  • Forest management--Montana.
  • Frontier and pioneer life--Homesteading--Montana.
  • Historic buildings--Montana.
  • Hutterite Brethren--Montana.
  • Indians of North America--Education--Montana.
  • Indians of North America--Social issues--Montana.
  • Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives.
  • Korean War, 1950-1953--Veterans--Montana.
  • Logging--Montana.
  • Mining--Montana.
  • Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives.
  • Persian Gulf War, 1991--Veterans--Montana.
  • Quilting--Montana.
  • Railroads--Montana--History.
  • Ranching--Montana--History.
  • Veterans--Montana.
  • Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Personal narratives.
  • Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Veterans--Montana.
  • Volunteer fire departments--Montana.
  • Water quality--Flathead Lake (Mont.).
  • Women homesteaders--Montana.
  • Women pioneers--Montana.
  • World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives.
  • World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--Montana.

Corporate Names

  • Lake Manson Grazing Association (Roundup, Mont.).

Geographical Names

  • Fort Assinniboine (Mont.).
  • Fort Shaw (Mont.).
  • Montana--Social life and customs.
  • Nordic Fest (Libby, Mont.).
  • Sun River Valley (Mont.).
  • Upper Musselshell Valley (Mont.).