ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202

OBERT C. TEIGEN PAPERS

COLLECTION: OGL #579

DATES: 1940-1978

SIZE: 5 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The Obert C. Teigen Papers were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection by Mrs. Obert Teigen, Bismarck. North Dakota, June 1980 (Acc. #80-660).

ACCESS: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Obert C. Teigen was born on September 27, 1908 near Felon, North Dakota. He graduated from Edmore High School in 1927. Five years later he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Dakota and in 1934 he received a L.L.B. from the School of Law at the University.

Shortly after he was admitted to the North Dakota Bar, Teigen served as a caseworker for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in Ramsey County. From 1937 to 1943 he served as State's Attorney for Ramsey County. In 1943 he accepted an appointment as a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was assigned to the Chicago and Detroit areas for approximately one year.

In 1947 he established a law practice in Devils Lake. Seven years later he was appointed U.S. District Judge by Governor Norman Brunsdale. In 1959 Governor John Davis appointed him Associate Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court. He was elected to two ten year terms beginning in 1960. In 1966 he was elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a position he held until 1971. Teigen continued his service on the Supreme Court until his resignation in July 1974.

Following his retirement from the Supreme Court, Teigen accepted a position as Administration Judge for the Social Security Administration. In February 1978 he was forced to resign his position as a result of ill health and died a few months later on May 26, 1978.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The papers of Judge Teigen include personal, legal and judicial correspondence, reporter speeches, opinion notebooks, published materials, and memorabilia arranged alphabetically and dating from 1940 to 1978.

44 photographs were separated and placed in the Orin G. Libby Photograph Collection.

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

Box 1
Folder

1. Biography.
2. Board of Directors Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 1973 - 1975.
3. Board of Directors Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 1960 - 1967.
4. Certificates 1940 - 1978.
5. Civil Service 1974 - 1978.
6. Correspondence-Bar Association 1970 and 1978.
7. Correspondence-Elect ion 1970.
8. Correspondence Judicial 1973 - 1974.
9. Correspondence Judicial Thomas W. Nielson 1970 - 1974.
10. Correspondence Judicial 1972.
11. Correspondence Judicial 1970 - 1971.
12. Correspondence Judicial Miscellaneous 1969.
13. Correspondence Judicial Miscellaneous June - Dec., 1968.
14. Correspondence Judicial Miscellaneous 1967 - May 1968.
15. Correspondence Judicial Miscellaneous 1966.
16. Correspondence Personal 1971 - 1978.
17. Correspondence Personal 1969 - 1970.
18. Correspondence Personal 1968.
19. Correspondence Personal 1966 - 1967.
20. Correspondence Personal 1964 - 1965.
21. Correspondence Personal 1962 - 1963.
22. Correspondence Personal 1961.
23. Correspondence Personal 1960.
24. Correspondence Personal 1959.
25. Correspondence Personal 1944 - 1959.
26. Correspondence H.W. Swanson 1943 - 1944.

Box 2
Folder

1. Fair Trial-Free Press Council 1972 - 1974.
2. Fair Trial-Free Press Council Publications 1970 - 1974.
3. Fair Trial-Free Press Council Publication 1966 - 1969.
4. Fair Trial-Free Press Council Speech 1969 - 1971.
5. Fort Totten-Sullys Hill Association 1971.
6. Newspaper Clippings 1966 - 1974.
7. North Dakota Rehabilitation Corporation 1974.
8. North Dakota Rehabilitation Corporation 1972 - 1971.
9. North Dakota Rehabilitation Corporation 1968 - 1971.
10. North Dakota Rehabilitation Corporation Audit Reports 1971 - 1974.
11. North Dakota Rehabilitation Corporation Audit Reports 1966 - 1971.
12. North Dakota Supreme Court Appointment 1958 - 1959.
13. North Dakota Supreme Court Opinions 1965 - 1969
14. Selective Service Appeals Board 1968 - 1972.
15. Selective Service Appeals Board 1966 - 1967.
16. Selective Service Pamphlets
17. Social Security Administration Judge Correspondence 1976 - 1977.
18. Social Security Administration Judge Itinerary and Schedule of Bearings 1975 - 1977.
19. Social Security Administration Judge Transfer 1975 - 1976.
20. Social Security Administration Judge Travel Vouchers and Orders 1975 - 1976.
21. Social Security Administration Judge Travel Vouchers and Orders 1975
22. Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Correspondence 1954 - 1978.

Box 3
Folder

1. Quote Material for Speeches.
2. Quote Material for Speeches.
3. Retirement: 1974, 1975, 1979, undated.
4. Speeches-Convention-National Judicial System 1959 - 1968
5. Speeches-Convention-National Judicial System 1969 - 1970
6. Speeches-Newton.
7. Speeches Teigen-Civic Groups and Special Occasions 1950 - 1972.
8. Speeches Teigen-Judicial and Law Enforcement Organization 1959 - 1970.
9. Speeches Teigen-Judicial System 1956-1970
10. Supreme Court Records-Inventory Prepared by Record Engineering, Inc. (July 1959).
11. U.S. District Court Appointment (1954-1957)
12. U.S. Supreme Court Nomination (1970).

Box 4
Book

1. National Conference of Judicial Retirement and Disability Commission (1969).
2. "North Dakota Supreme Court History" (unpublished thesis undated).
3. Organization and Program Background (Social Security Administrative Law).
4. Selected Readings on the of Justice and its Improvement by the American Judicature Society (1969)
5. Teigen Opinion Notebook: Special Concurrences and Dissents (1959 - 1974)

SEPARATIONS RECORD

44 photographs were separated and placed in the Orin G. Libby Photograph Collection.

Oversize File
Folder

1. Memorabilia: certificates.

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