BISMARCK, ND ( KXNET ) — We often think treasures have to be buried underground and come with gold to have value.

But one historian is quickly learning that some of the best kinds of treasures can come in a dusty old box.

Amy Sakariassan, a North Dakota State Archives cultural resource specialist, stumbled upon a dusty old box earlier this year while she was working in Collections.

“The box actually really discovered me,” Sakariassan said. “I turned around, and the box was sitting there.”

This box had been lost to time, forgotten about by even the State Archives.

“It’s been in the collection,” Sakariassan said. “Anyone could’ve asked for it at any time, but nobody had in a while.”

But inside, there was a treasure trove of information about what Bismarck was like in the 1930s.

And Sakariassen says this discovery was the perfect way to celebrate National Archives Month, which runs through October.

The box originally came from Bismarck city records and was labeled “Records Found in Airport Storage Building” from 1928 to 1939. And while Sakariassen is used to dealing with dusty old documents, this box was special.

“When I opened it, and I saw the names of the files,” she said, “then I realized that this was really very interesting and could have some quite interesting information in it — and it has.”

In the box, Sakariassen found documents on what the Depression-era government was like and the breadth of the programs they offered.

“A community is faced with troubles and issues, good things and bad, throughout any time period, but this time period was particularly crucial,” she said, “because of the Depression, the federal relief projects, and the dislocation of people.”

From dealing with Prohibition-era alcohol consumption to poverty relief, the box spoke to solutions to problems that were familiar to Sakariassen.

“I realized most of the issues that were covered in these folders are issues we still have,” she said. “I always look at a way to relate yesterday to today. I was hoping there would be some lessons in here because we’re still here from how well they did handling and keeping this community healthy.”

She says the documents are important to help flesh out the photographic history of North Dakota and correct inaccurate historical details.

The box even had its quirk moments like documentation on state permits for practicing clairvoyance and palm-reading or a detention hospital for people who didn’t pay their bills.

“It just boggles my mind,” said Sakariassen.

The Bismarck Historical Society decided to showcase the box at the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library, a presentation pointedly called “The Dusty Old Box.”

As the presenter, Sakariassen got to showcase what made the box so unique.

“It’s kind of a role-model box,” she said. “It’s a time capsule of the period. But it also exemplifies how we want to make our communities better even in the dark days.”

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