The original Capitol was built in the Dakota Territory days, in the early 1880s. The building had been expanded over the years, but, by the time of the Sixteenth Session of the Legislative Assembly in early 1919, space was limited.
To alleviate cramped quarters in the Capitol and to also commemorate the thousands of men and women from North Dakota who had served in the Great War (or World War I), which had recently ended a few months earlier in November 1918, the Legislative Assembly appropriated $200,000 to construct a new building on the Capitol grounds: the Liberty Memorial Building (LMB). The LMB would be one of the many monuments, memorials, and buildings throughout the state dedicated to World War I.
The bill (House Bill 121) was introduced by Rep. Clark W. McDonnell of Kensal on January 31, 1919. After minor amendments, the bill passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate. Soon afterward, in March, the bill was signed into law by Governor Lynn J. Frazier.
The original bill authorized the Board of Control to plan and build the LMB. The Board of Control, created in 1911, administered state institutions, such as the:
However, during the same session, the Legislative Assembly, with a Nonpartisan League (NPL) majority, created the Board of Administration to administer all penal institutions, charitable and educational institutions, and the public and common schools for the state.
For the state of North Dakota, the 1910s was a fluctuating time politically. In 1915, the NPL, led by the charismatic A. C. Townley, was formed. The NPL had a progressive platform calling for many reforms, including state-run programs and institutions, which would directly challenge the "Big Business" stranglehold on banking, mills and elevators, railroads, etc. The NPL had great appeal to many residents of North Dakota, especially farmers, and its membership and influence grew quickly. By the end of 1918, the NPL had majority control over all three branches of state government.
The new Board of Administration consisted of five members:
In July 1919, the Board of Administration, which had an NPL majority, replaced the Board of Regents, the Board of Education, and the Board of Control; and it assumed responsibility for the LMB's construction.
The Board of Administration's plan to build the LMB was one of many for the Capitol grounds. Plans also included landscaping, statues and monuments, and a "Temple of Justice" to mirror the LMB across the grounds (or "mall"). However, likely due to financial constraints, much of this plan never came to fruition.
View of the North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck (looking north), circa 1915.
"General Plan for Arrangement of Capitol Grounds and Historical Park," 1920. The plan was prepared for the Board of Administration by the landscape architecture firm Morell & Nichols of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The map was printed in newspapers, like the "Bismarck Tribune" (1920-04-03, p. 4), and it was included in the Board of Administration's 1922 Annual Report.
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