Dakota Datebook

The Archives

Dakota Datebook radio features air daily at 8:35 am, 3:50 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:50 pm CT on Prairie Public.

Recent Shows

Lemke Enters Presidential Race
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
William Lemke, Fargo attorney and North Dakota congressman, announced that he would be entering the race for the United States presidency on this date in 1936. The news was announced in an evening radio address, and shocked even Lemke’s wife. “The news that she might someday be First Lady came as a complete surprise to [...]
Otis Tossett’s Trees
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Governor Norman Brunsdale accepted ownership of the Soil Conservation Service Nursery at Fort Lincoln on this date in 1956. Previously, the tree nursery belonged to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under the supervision of the Northern Great Plains Field Station in Mandan. Early pioneers on the prairie had to “prove up” – or improve [...]
Stark County Courthouse Dedication in Dickinson, 1937
Monday, June 17, 2013
The years of the Great Depression, 1929 to 1940, are often remembered in connection with dust-storms, grasshopper swarms, and New Deal government reforms. Other vestiges of the 1930s live on in the buildings constructed during those “hard times” – reminders of federal government programs, like the P-W-A or the W-P-A, which put unemployed people to [...]
UND Knocked Down
Sunday, June 16, 2013
On June 16, 1887, a severe wind storm ripped through the University of North Dakota and destroyed much of the school’s main building. The west wing was demolished, its chimneys and cupola knocked to the ground. The school’s museum was a total loss, with most of the collection missing or damaged. This came less than [...]
Misplaced Murder
Saturday, June 15, 2013
The Bismarck Tribune published a report on the death of a boy near Bloom, North Dakota, on this date in 1922, stating that blame placed on a Northern Pacific train for the death of the boy was in fact misplaced, and that the teenager’s skull was fractured from a single blow. The body of the [...]