The 1990s are back in this edition of recent acquisitions. Settle in on your faux-leather beanbag chair, put your hair up in a scrunchie, and get ready to learn about some fly ’90s objects recently donated to the State Historical Society of North Dakota’s museum collection. Cue the Pearl Jam!

1. Virgil Hill Fan Club buttons, 1985-1995

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Virgil Hill, famous boxing champion, was recently named the 48th recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award. During his career, thousands of North Dakotans attended his home state fights in Bismarck, Minot, Grand Forks, and Fargo. Hill’s recent accolade inspired donor Rita Nodland to reach out to us with her memories of watching Hill in the ring.

Recalling the Virgil Hill Fan Club buttons she acquired between 1985 and 1995, Nodland notes, “We were avid fans of Virgil Hill during his boxing career. We were also members of the VH Fan Club. We started following Virgil with a fight in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. It was an outdoor ring along the beach. After that, we went to every fight we could, mostly in Bismarck, and sometimes with adult family members and friends. … I never had an interest in boxing prior to [Hill’s] fights, but there was a rush every time we went. His promoters did a very good job exciting the crowd.”

2. Lisa Frank unicorn pencil box, 1992-1993

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If you want a visual representation of elementary school in the 1990s, look no further than the colorful fantasy stylings of Lisa Frank. During the decade of grunge, her distinctive animals with big, wet eyes rendered in highly saturated colors seemed to be slapped on every available school supply surface and were beloved by middle school girls.

This unicorn-bedazzled Lisa Frank pencil supply box was used by donor Erica Houn, who also happens to be the agency’s business manager, when she was in first grade at Pioneer Elementary School in Bismarck. She pointed out to us that her name is written on it in two spots—once by her and once by her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Schubert. It’s well-loved, judging by the crayon marks and daubs of dried glue inside.

The delightfully crayon-scribbled inside of the pencil box.

3. Trolls pencil box, 1992-1993

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Erica Houn also donated another pencil box, which highlights beloved franchise Trolls. This one she used at home rather than school.

Troll dolls and all of their associated merchandise were first popular in the 1960s and have made several resurgences in the following decades, including the 1990s. Houn personalized this pencil box by assigning the name “JTT” (moniker of ’90s tween dreamboat Johnathan Taylor Thomas of “Home Improvement” and “The Lion King” fame) to the troll on the far left. This note is faintly visible near the bottom of the label.

4. Walkman and headphones, 1988

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The Sony Walkman is synonymous with the 1990s. We recently received this cool kid device from Susan Nissen, who bought hers in summer 1988 either at Best Buy in Moorhead, Minnesota, or Radio Shack in Fargo when she was a second-year medical student at the University of North Dakota. She used it through the bulk of the ’90s.

According to the donor, “I felt very ‘swank’ to have such a ‘vogue’ device. It would easily all fit into my backpack once I arrived to class. I mean, this was the first I could walk around outside and listen to music from cassette tapes! This was so beyond an old transistor radio or large boombox.”

Have something rad, excellent, bodacious, etc., (yes, I know, my knowledge of ’90s slang is really getting stretched thin here) that you’d like to donate to the State Historical Society museum collection? Give us a shout via our online donation questionnaire!

Happy Independence Day! Did you know North Dakota’s history is specially linked to this holiday? On July 4, 1889, the men who assembled the original draft of our state’s constitution that established all our state’s laws met in Bismarck for the Constitutional Convention. There were 75 delegates who worked on the document, and it was handwritten in sections by several different clerks. Other members elected from outside the committee to work included a chaplain, a chief clerk, a sergeant at arms, and a watchman. The work was completed Aug. 17, 1889. Some—though not all—delegates signed it. The constitution was approved by voters Oct. 1, which is noted on North Dakota’s state seal. On Nov. 2, President Benjamin Harrison signed this state into being. The Fourth of July in 1889 must have been one of special excitement—it led to North Dakota being part of the United States!

So, to celebrate, and without further ado—here are four more interesting things about North Dakota’s Constitutional Convention.

1. North Dakota wasn’t alone. Washington, Montana, and, of course, South Dakota all met simultaneously to set up a constitution prior to receiving statehood. All were reported on with interest, and the different conventions even wired greetings to each other.
   
   Becoming a state was heavily politicized, especially in how it was perceived that each new state may add to the political arena. Legislation monitored this process. President Grover Cleveland had signed the Omnibus Bill allowing these four areas to become states and outlined the means for meeting in convention, but earlier drafts did not even fully establish if Dakota Territory would enter as one large state or be separated. It also originally included New Mexico on the docket.
   
   The Disney movie “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band” also displays this history as the backdrop to its plot, following an early pioneer family of divided political leanings which moves to “Dakota” around the time of these events. Along with some incredibly catchy tunes about both Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison, it’s a trip to watch—and it was used as research for part of the state’s centennial celebration!
    
2. There was a parade. Not too surprisingly, there were people gathering to work and people excited to see what was going on, and there was pomp and circumstance. Delegates joined a procession to the Capitol building down Main Street, nearly a mile in length, according to reports. This parade consisted of infantry and cavalry from Fort Yates and Fort Lincoln, two bands, a company of militia, the Grand Army of the Republic post, fire companies, and a group of “ladies on horseback” who represented the four new states being formed. Sitting Bull was also there and participated in the parade.
   
    
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3. They took a few breaks. The delegates met over a calendar period of 45 days but didn’t work on the constitution more than about 32, and several times, a few days were taken off. A couple times, requests for a brief adjournment were requested, but not accepted. Once, a break was requested so farmers could be permitted to see to their farms. This request was first denied but was then contested.
    
4. The delegates setting up the constitution kind of forgot the politics. In the original draft of the North Dakota State Constitution, delegates did not fully create the process of voting for the United States president. So the state called its first special session in 1892 to correct this, just prior to the first presidential election that North Dakota voters would be able to participate in. At that time, it was set up so that voters chose their three electors directly. Ironically, North Dakota evenly split its vote. Each of the three electors voted for a different candidate: one for the Populist, one for the Democratic, and one for the Republican. As far as I am aware, this was the only time that has ever happened in a presidential vote!

Interested in more history about this? Check out the constitution, view this photo of the members of the original Constitutional Convention, and see the reunion photo of the remaining members in 1914.