On June 26, 1919, the people of North Dakota voted to uphold the Board of Administration in the referendum election, which was initiated by the Independent Voters Association (IVA). The vote was 59,749 for and 51,894 against.
In July 1919, the Board of Administration formally organized. Governor Lynn J. Frazier appointed:
The other two ex officio members were:
Totten, a controversial newspaper publisher and minister, was named chair of the board. The board named Charles Liessman, former secretary of the Board of Regents, as its executive secretary.
Totten, Muir, Casey, Hagan, and Liessman were all members of the Nonpartisan League (NPL). The only member of the board not affiliated with the NPL was Nielson.
The Board of Administration bill itself stripped powers away from Nielson and the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; but when the board formed, it worked to undermine Nielson and remove even more responsibilities.
As chair, one of the first things Totten tried to do was to block Nielson and Hagan. At a board meeting in early August 1919, Totten introduced a resolution making the presence of Nielson and Hagan unnecessary, since they were both ex officio members. Hagan and Nielson strongly opposed this. Totten dropped the proposal, but his clashes with Nielson and Hagan would continue.
In August 1919, the board appointed members to the five-person Educational Commission. As Superintendent of Public Instruction, Nielson automatically served as chair of this commission. However, the majority of the other four members were supposedly loyal to Neil C. Macdonald.
Over the objections of Nielson, the commission established the Supervisor of Certification and named E. P. Crain to this role. Crain had held a similar teacher certification role under Macdonald. Crain was also named secretary of this commission. In early July 1919, Crain was named Registrar of the Motor Vehicle Registration Department. He continued to serve in this role along with his Educational Commission duties. As a result, the actual certification work was given to Kathrine Macdonald (the former Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction and wife of Neil C. Macdonald), who was named Assistant Supervisor of the Bureau of Certification.
After stacking the Educational Commission with "Macdonaldites," as the Grand Forks Herald called Macdonald's supporters in one article, the board set its sights on courses of study for public schools. It was unclear who currently held this power: Nielson, as Superintendent of Public Instruction, or the Board of Administration.
Liessman, the board's secretary, requested Attorney General William Langer review the matter. On August 11, 1919, Langer issued his opinion. Unsurprisingly, Langer sided with Nielson and attempted to uphold her authority in this matter. Langer ruled that Nielson had the power to name courses and the board had no say. In a jab at the NPL, Langer's opinion cited campaign promises from A. C. Townley, the leader of the NPL, and Governor Frazier.
This issue continued, however, and would later be brought before the North Dakota Supreme Court. In October 1919, the Supreme Court reviewed the matter and issued its ruling. The court agreed with Langer that Nielson can determine the courses of study, but she must do so under the supervision and discretion of the board.
The court ruled that the legislature holds the constitutional authority to regulate the educational system in the state; and the legislature had essentially delegated this duty unto the board, which was also upheld by voters at the referendum election in June. The Board of Administration was upheld and was here to stay.
To complicate things further, the board, in September 1919, appointed Macdonald, the former state superintendent, to serve as Educational Advisor and General School Inspector. The board paid him handsomely with a salary that was equal to Nielson's.
Perhaps the biggest blow to Nielson came on November 1, 1919, when Totten, chair of the board, submitted the entity's first annual report to the governor. Included in the report was the bold recommendation to abolish the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction or, at the very least, make it a position the board could appoint instead of an elected one.
The board was trying to rid itself of Nielson once and for all. Nielson was not given a chance to see this report before it was published and submitted.
In December 1919, Nielson lost even more power. On December 24, it was announced that control of the high school inspection department was transferred from the Superintendent of Public Instruction's office to the Board of Administration. The decision had been made during a November 1919 meeting of the board. Nielson was not in attendance at this meeting and was not notified of the change. She found out later when the board ordered the existing inspector of high schools to turn over all records to Liessman, secretary of the board. Liessman was named the new high school examiner, but this was only temporary as the duties would soon be passed to E. P. Crain.
However, the board would soon be facing multiple controversies, and it would be forced to reevaluate its plan to remove Nielson.
George A. Totten,
Chair of the Board
Robert T. Muir
Patrick M. Casey
John N. Hagan,
Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor
Minnie J. Nielson,
Superintendent of Public Instruction
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