Dakota Resources: The Peter Norbeck Papers at the University of South Dakota JOHN N. OLSGAARD Archivist and Documenté Librarian Peter Norbeck was born to Swedish and Norwegian immigrant parents on 27 August 1870 near Vermillion, Dakota Territory. His father, George Norbeck, was both a farmer and an ordained Lutheran minister. Peter Norbeck's education consisted of several terms spent at the University of South Dakota, but he did not complete any formal course of study. As we can still attest at the present time, water and the access to water have always been of primary concern to the agriculturally based economy of South Dakota. With an eye toward this problem, Peter Norbeck began his business career in 1894 by acquiring a used well-drilling machine. Before Norbeck began his drilling operation, wells were limited to approximately six hundred feet and cost several thousand dollars to dig. After Norbeck made several improvements on the basic design of the drilling rig, a well could be dug to a depth of seventeen hundred feet at a cost of only a few hundred dollars. Norbeck's new process enjoyed considerable financial success, and he soon moved to Redfield, South Dakota, and initiated what became the largest welldrilling concern in the Midwest. Norbeck's state political career began in 1908 when he was elected to the state senate as a progressive Republican,
South Dakota History somewhat in the philosophical mold of Teddy Roosevelt. He served three terms in the state senate, working on legislation that included court reforms, a bank guarantee law, and a rural credits program. In 1914, he was elected lieutenant governor under the administration of Governor Frank Byrne. Two years later, he became the first native born South Dakotan to become governor. As governor, he was against the surge of populism as represented by the Nonpartisan League (NPL), which had recently gained the reins of power in neighboring North Dakota; however, Norbeck eventually supported much of the legislative program of the NPL. Under his leadership. South Dakota policies included the creation of a state-owned cement plant, a workman's compensation law, hydro-electric and road development, and the creation of Custer State Park. In 1920, Norbeck was elected to the first of his three terms as United States senator. In the Senate, his forte tended to be domestic affairs rather than his expressed interest in foreign relations. He quickly became somewhat of an outcast with his fellow Republicans because of his progressive leanings. Although he remained a Republican all his political life, he was generally in agreement with many of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies. The major areas of his congressional work were agriculture, banking and securities, and conservation. Senator Norbeck died of heart failure in Redfield on 20 December 1936, before the end of his third term. The Norbeck papers at the University of South Dakota consist of 616 files of material in 170 document boxes and are dated from 1896 to 1936. The material within the collection can be roughly separated into three categories: political correspondence, financial materials, and personal materials. The political correspondence mainly consists of the general everyday writings between Norbeck and his constituents while he was in office. This section also contains material relating to specific subjects (e.g.. Mount Rushmore) and to specific election campaigns (e.g., the 1918 governor's election, the 1935 William E. Borah campaign for president), as well as correspondence with various other politicians. The financial materials in Norbeck's collection include correspondence concerning various business enterprises and his income tax returns. The personal materials in the collection consist of correspondence between Norbeck and members of his family, accounts of trips that he took, and texts of speeches that he made. The general political correspondence could provide a par-
Dakota Resources H9 ticularly rieh source of information for the researcher since Norbeck generally disliked the use of form letters to answer his mail. Therefore, his letters can be very enlightening as to his frame of mind concerning an individual issue. The subject files are also of high quality, especially on the topics of the American Indian, the parks in South Dakota, agriculture, and conservation. The collection is further supplemented by a 240-page computer-generated keyword index to each of the files. For more Governor Peter Norbeck in the capítol, 1918.
150 South Dakota History information about the Peter Norbeck papers at the University of South Dakota, contact the Archivist, Richardson Archives. I. D. Weeks Library, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069. A Norbeck Bibliography MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS Pierre. South Dakota Historical Resource Center. Norbeck- Wegner Family Papers. Vermillion. University of South Dakota. I. D. Weeks Library. Richardson Archives. Peter Norbeck Papers. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS Fite, Gilbert C. "Activities of the Farm Bloc in the Early Twenties." Master's thesis. University of South Dakota, 1941. Hofland, Carl J. "The Nonpartisan League in South Dakota." Master's thesis. University of South Dakota, 1940. Olson, Richard 0. "The Public Career of Peter Norbeck: 1908-1921." Master's thesis. University of South Dakota. 1941. Pierre. South Dakota Historical Resource Center. Vertical Files: s.v. Norbeck, Peter. 0. W. Coursey, "A Tribute to United States Senator Peter Norbeck." 1936. Turchen. Michael A. "An Analysis of Selected Speeches of Peter Norbeck." Master's thesis. University of South Dakota, 1968. MONOGRAPHS Bellamy, Paul E. Peter Norbeck: A Biography. N.p.: privately published, ca. 1940. Fite, Gilbert C. Peter Norbeck: Prairie Statesman^ University of Missouri Studies, vol. 22, no. 2. Columbia. 1948. Norbeck, Peter, and Norbeck, George. The Norbecks of South Dakota, Redfieid, S.Dak.: privately published, 1938. U.S. Congress. House. Memorial Services Held in the House of Representatives of the United States, Together with Remarks Presented in Eulogy of Peter Norbeck, Late a Senator From South Dakota. H.Doc. 342, 75th Cong., 2nd sess., 1938.
Dakota Resources 151 ARTICLES Fite, Gilbert C. "Peter Norbeck and the Defeat of the Nonpartisan League in South Dakota." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 33 (September 1946):217-236., and Wegner, Nellie Norbeck. "Peter Norbeck." From "Honor Roll of Native Born South Dakotans." South Dakota Historical Collections 22 {19461:296-307. Flynn, John T. "The Marines Land in Wall Street." Harper's 169 (July 1934):149-155. Knittel, Barbara E. "Peter Norbeck, Pioneer, and Legislator." American Swedish Monthly 30 (October 1936):14-15. Koupal, Nancy T., ed. "Lydia Norbeck's 'Recollections of the Years.' " South Dakota Historical Collections 39 (1979):1-147. Tucker, Ray T. "Those Sons of Wild Jackasses." North American Review 229 (1930):225-233.
Copyright of South Dakota History is the property of South Dakota State Historical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.