Bernice Britton Fleckten papers

The Bernice Britton Fleckten Papers document social and family life in North Dakota and Saskatchewan in the early twentieth century. The papers consist primarily of Fleckten's personal correspondence with her father, with other family members, and with friends, as well as business correspondence, third-party correspondence addressed to her first and second husbands, financial and legal papers, receipts, and printed ephemera.

Series I. Bernice Britton Fleckten Correspondence includes thirty-six letters from Judge Niederriter to Fleckten, spanning 1907-1928, documenting Judge Niederriter's concern for his daughter and his interest in horticulture. His letters relay news about Kenmare, noting the sale of local property, town scandals including a suicide, his care of Kenmare parks, and social events with neighbors and friends. Fleckten's 19 letters to her father and his wife Malvina date between 1928 and 1929; the first five are written from Moose Jaw and apprise her father of monetary difficulties following Detlefson's departure. Letters written after Fleckten's divorce and return to North Dakota carry news of her personal life, including details of the accident and her hospitalization after she and Senator Fleckten were struck by a speeding driver in Bismark, North Dakota.

The papers include 65 other letters, spanning from 1900 to 1937. These are primarily from Fleckten's female friends in Saskatchewan and North Dakota, relaying personal news, marriage and birth announcements, and opinions about local happenings. One letter includes a reference to North Dakota Ku Klux Klan leadership. Business correspondence documents Fleckten's struggles to pay off debts in Moose Jaw.

Series II. Third Party Correspondence consists of letters to Fleckten's husbands, Fred R. Detfelson and John E. Fleckten.

Series III. Other Papers contains legal and financial papers, including assessment notices and a 1917 insurance policy for a property in Neville, Saskatchewan. Printed ephemera in the collection includes a map of the 1925 Provincial Exhibition in Regina, Saskatchewan; a map of the "Willow Bunch Constituency"; a handbill for a public speech in Kenmare; and copies of Fleckten's Conciliation Court business card.