Sverre Mathisen papers [microfilm]

The collection consists of one reel of microfilmed copies of Sverre Mathisen's papers. The papers consist of correspondence and miscellaneous papers and financial records of two Lutsen, Minnesota residents, Sverre Mathisen and Sevold Rise, who were partners in a commercial fishing operation along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Correspondence and miscellaneous papers cover primarily the 1940s. They consist largely of form letters from the Duluth district of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Coast Guard, the Minnesota Department of Conservation, and the United States Customs Service, setting forth regulations governing commercial fishing operations and licenses, registration of boats, and requirements for reports of commercial small craft activity. Occasional reports by Mathisen and Rise to state and federal regulatory agencies list the amount and value of their catch.

Financial records (1942-1949 and 1953-1955) include bills and receipts for fish sold and supplies purchased by Sverre Mathisen. They record his dealings with the fisheries’ sales agents on the North Shore, particularly the Hogstad Fish Company, with various freight companies, and with the North Superior Cooperative Fisheries in Duluth. The latter organization represented an attempt by North Shore fishermen to handle the transportation and marketing of their own fish.