The Frank E. Denholm Papers consist mostly of materials generated during the time he served as the representative to South Dakota’s First Congressional District, from 1971 to 1975. These materials document his work for rural America, particularly his effort to reinstate the Rural Electrification Act and numerous legislation regarding agriculture, rural water, and rural development. Press releases and newspaper clippings about his activities in Congress can be found in the papers. The collection also includes scrapbooks and memorabilia about his campaigns for Congress. In addition, there are several files of correspondence, some of which was with members of Congress and other notable people such as George McGovern and Richard Kneip. The collection includes nearly 1,500 photographs and slides, most of which relate to his campaigns for Congress. There are reel-to-reel audio recordings and video recordings on 2-inch quad video tape that consist of campaign advertisements and his work in Congress. The collection also documents Denholm’s career as a sheriff, auctioneer, F.B.I. agent, and lawyer.

The papers also contain documents relating to Frank Denholm’s wife, Mildred Niehaus Denholm. Mrs. Denholm was born May 9, 1927 to Frank F. and Elizabeth C. (Schuring) Niehaus from Andover, South Dakota. She married Frank Denholm on June 12, 1950 in Webster, South Dakota. She attended Northern State Teachers College in Aberdeen, SD and taught in rural schools. Mrs. Denholm also went to the Aberdeen School of Business, the Strayer Business College in Washington, D.C., and the University of Utah where she studied music. She worked as a medical and legal secretary. Mrs. Denholm actively campaigned for her husband. She was involved in the Congressional Women’s Club while Denholm was in office. Mrs. Denholm passed away August 14, 2014. The collection includes correspondence between Frank and Mildred Denholm and her activities with the Congressional Women’s Club.

House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Sub-Committee on Interior and related agencies; Left to Right: George Evans, Joe McDade, Ben Reifel, Winfield Denton, Mila Kirwan, Julia Hansen

Sun Dance at Two Strike Camp on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota; left to right: Jessie White Lance, Leo Clairmont, Bill Schweigman, and Henry Crow Dog

Representative Ben Reifel and his wife, Alice Reifel, meet Martha Yunker, the National Homemaker of Tomorrow: left to right Alice Reifel, Arletta Lischer, Martha Yunker; Harold Lischer; Melba Ellis

Representative Ben Reifel and his wife, Alice Reifel, meet Martha Yunker, the National Homemaker of Tomorrow, and her advisor Melba Ellis

Representative Ben Reifel, Representative E.Y. Berry, and Senator Karl Mundt meet with South Dakota constituents; left to right: Representative Reifel; Marilyn Daczewitz; Senator Mundt; Col. Casey Fillbrandt; Representative Berry; Senator Joseph Bottum; Pat Fillbrandt

Representative Ben Reifel (left) examines the new electronic macing at the new Veterans Administration Hospital at the Washington Hospital Center, discussing the apparatus are Dr. George A. Higgin (center) and Mr. J.C. Gillespie, assistant director

Representative Ben Reifel (left) examines the new electronic macing at the new Veterans Administration Hospital at the Washington Hospital Center, discussing the apparatus are Dr. George A. Higgin (center) and Mr. J.C. Gillespie, assistant director

Representative Ben Reifel with a group of men; left to right: Henry Crow, Major General R.H. Wienecke, Representative Anderson, Irving Crown, Vadm Greenfell, Ben Reifel, and Charles R. Perrin of Senator McNamara's office

Representative Ben Reifel with United States government officials; from left to right: Surgeon General Luther Terry; Representative Ben Reifel; Mrs. Polling, Indian Health Service; Miss Gifford, Bureau of Indian Affairs; Secretary ?; Mamie Mizen, Senate Appropriations; Dr. Wagner, Indian Health Service

Representative Ben Reifel is with Dick Schoon of Aberdeen, South Dakota, and E.H. Dunker of Northwest Public Service Corporation in Reifel's Washington, D.C. office

Representative Ben Reifel, Representative E.Y. Berry, and Senator Karl Mundt with Lawrence Welk and others at a South Dakota State Society luncheon

Representative Ben Reifel is with Roland Chicoine and Dan Nobr in Reifel's Washington, D.C. office, Chicoine and Nobr are about to put cubes of sugar in their coffee, Reifel is holding a bowl of sugar cubes

Representative Ben Reifel standing in the grass with four other men at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, there is a crowd of people behind them

Representative Reifel with members of American Legion in his Washington, D.C. office; standing left to right: Ray Gallagher, Merton B. Tice, Representative E.Y. Berry, Representative Ben Reifel, John Chambers, Val G. Stockinger, Matthew Voigth, and Clyde Prouty; seated is Mrs. Voight

Representative Ben Reifel and Representative E.Y. Berry showing an American Indian headdress to two men in Reifel's Washington, D.C. office

Constituents from Mitchell, Winner, and Sioux Falls South Dakota visit Representative Ben Reifel in his Washington, D.C. office; Back row left to right: John R. McDougal, Cecil W. Duncan, Representative E.Y. Berry, Carle B. Lenker, Ray Asmussen; Front row left to right: Bob Payne, Representative Ben Reifel, Bill Lenker, W. Hal Ramsey

Representative Ben Reifel, Representative E.Y. Berry, and Web Hill looking at a beaded American Indian shirt in Reifel's Washington, D.C. office

Representative Ben Reifel with his office staff in his Washington, D.C. office

Representative Ben Reifel meets with John Graff, secretary of the Greater South Dakota Association, Huron, South Dakota, and W. H. Rork, manager of Northern States Power in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

South Dakota delegation and their spouses at an event, from left to right: Representative E.Y. Berry, Senator Karl Mundt, Rose Berry, Web Hill of Rapid City, South Dakota, Alice Reifel, Representative Ben Reifel, and May Mundt

Representative Ben Reifel and his wife, Alice Reifel, are at a reception in Washington, D.C. with Web Hill, and a representative of Life Magazine

Dr. Ben Reifel presiding over an assembly discussing Indian boarding school issues, seated at the table are Olaf Nelson, reservation principal at Ft. Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, O.R. Sande, superintendent at Wahpeton Boarding School in North Dakota, and Herman Bogard, superintendent at Flandreau Boarding School in Flandreau, South Dakota

Senator Karl Mundt, Senator Francis Case, and Ben Reifel being interviewed on a television set

Representative Ben Reifel with Under Secretary of Commerce Leroy Collins, Representative John Flynt, Secretary of Commerce John T. Connor, and Representative Mark Andrews

Representative Ben Reifel (seated, far right) was on the United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture sub-committee in 1961-1962

Representative Ben Reifel meets with East River Electric officials Art Jones, president, and Harlan Severson (standing)

Representative Ben Reifel meets with Lyle Gerriott, South Dakota RECA and Tom Venables, National RECA

Representative Ben Reifel shakes hands with a 4-H club member while holding an award, other 4-H club members stand nearby, the United States capitol building is in the background

Representative Ben Reifel and Representative E.Y. Berry meet with South Dakota American Legion commanders Bill Lenker and Carle Lenker. The commanders are father and son

Representative Ben Reifel meets with South Dakota highway officials Don Rounds, Don Achiten, Rex Leubcher, and Art B. Anderson in Reifel's office in Washington, D.C.

Ben Reifel, Special Assistant for Indian programs of the National Park Service, with Albert Wing, chairman of council, Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe, Espeedie Ruiz, superintendent of Ute Mountain Ute Agency, and Meredith M. Guillet, superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park

Representative Ben Reifel meets with Gabriel Nelson, Wakonda, South Dakota, Loren Adamson and Ralph Landsman, both from Centerville, South Dakota, to discuss the Vermillion River flood control project in Reifel's Washington, D.C. office

Congress Ben Reifel and Senator Karl Mundt meet with four constituents

Congressman Ben Reifel and Senator George McGovern meet with a group of 4-H club members visiting Washington, D.C. in the Senate dining room

Representative Ben Reifel greets Wilma Victor, first woman deputy secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton stands behind them

Representative Ben Reifel and Representative E.Y. Berry discuss H.R. 12425

Representative Ben Reifel meets with Don Hunter of Centerville, South Dakota and Merle Flyger of Hurley, South Dakota to talk about the sugar beet industry in South Dakota, Representative Reifel holds a bowl of sugar cubes for Hunter and Flyger to put in their coffee

Representative Ben Reifel is shaking hand with astronaut Gus Grissom, Betty Grissom, astronaut John W. Young and his wife, Barbara Young stand to the right

Representative Ben Reifel is shaking hand with astronaut Gus Grissom, Betty Grissom, astronaut John W. Young and his wife, Barbara Young stand to the right

Representative Ben Reifel is shaking hand with astronaut Gus Grissom, Betty Grissom stands to the right

Representative Ben Reifel (second from left) is with a group touring the new Veterans Administration hospital in Washington, D.C.

Representative Ben Reifel and Minnesota Representative Ancher Nelsen congratulate Ken Marber for winning the George T. Mickelson Outstanding Club award in 1965. Representative Nelsen was speaker at the convention

Representative Ben Reifel, Philleo Nash, Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Harry R. Anderson, Assistant Secretary of the Interior

Representative Ben Reifel, Don Schweiger, president of the Greater South Dakota Association, Harold Lovre, and Representative E.Y. Berry standing in front of a building

Representative Ben Reifel (second from left) is among other at the groundbreaking for a new high school in Sisseton, South Dakota

Representative Ben Reifel with South Dakota constituents in his Washington, D.C. office. Bob Gradeneauer is handing Representative Reifel a camera; from left to right: Bob Artz, Aberdeen, Lester McNamara, Watertown, and Bob Gradeneauer, Aberdeen, Representative Reifel

Senator Karl Mundt and Representative Ben Reifel with South Dakota State College alumni. Senator Mundt is holding an elephant ivory carving with Col. Emerich; from left to right: Walt Conahan, Senator Mundt, Col. Emerich, Representative Reifel, and Laurel A. Engberg

Representative Ben Reifel (seated, second from right) is among the delegation of the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group

Representative Ben Reifel at a reception for South Dakota's best Homemaker of Tomorrow Ruth Krueger left to rights: Margaret McBride, Ruth Krueger, Ben Reifel

Representative Ben Reifel and Senator Karl Mundt at a reception for South Dakota's best Homemaker of Tomorrow Ruth Krueger left to rights: Margaret McBride, Ben Reifel, Ruth Krueger, Karl Mundt

Representative Ben Reifel standing next to the South Dakota Cherry Blossom Princess Judy Sorenson from Flandreau, South Dakota who is shaking hands with Don White, President of the South Dakota State Society from Pierre, South Dakota in Reifel's Washington, D.C. office

Representative Ben Reifel with others at the Puerto Rican Cherry Blossom reception in Washington, D.C.

Representative Ben Reifel (seated) with four 4-H representatives; standing left to right: Dennis Yeaton, Mary Jean Steinheuser, Sandra Jenter, and Donald Hoar

Representative Ben Reifel meets with VFW representatives from South Dakota, R.W. Hodson, Martin, and Bob Whittemore, Watertown who were raising money for the Battleship USS South Dakota Memorial

Representative Ben Reifel meeting with South Dakota constituents in his Washington, D.C. office. Susie Ellwein (Center), Judi Wilson (right), Sue French (left)

Representative Ben Reifel meeting with South Dakota constituents in his Washington, D.C. office. Left to right: Annette Milbrandt, Rich Loomis, Representative Reifel, Arlen Poppen, Cynthia Sandberg

Representative Ben Reifel meeting with South Dakota constituents in his Washington, D.C. office. Standing left to right: Don Pattratz, Flandreau, instructor at Canton High School; Greg Eiseland, Canton; Ronald Johnson, Canton; Robbin Bong, Beresford; Leon Yelinek, Canton. Seated are Representative Reifel and James Lounsbery, Beresford

Representative Ben Reifel at a Former Members of Congress meeting

Representative Ben Reifel with three others at a Former Members of Congress meeting

Representative Ben Reifel is part of the Mexico-U.S. Interparliamentary group

Representative E.Y. Berry, Senator Karl Mundt, and Ben Reifel, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from the First District of South Dakota, are on the campaign trail in Pierre, South Dakota

Representative Ben Reifel eating a meal with Jim Conklin of Aberdeen, South Dakota

Representatives Clark MacGregor (left) of Minnesota and Ben Reifel of South Dakota, sit at the conference table where violations of the armistice in Korea are discussed between the North Korean communists and the United National Command MacGregor and Reifel were members of a United States Congressional group who toured U.S. military installations in Korea

Representative Ben Reifel works with Karen Nali, an intern from the University of South Dakota, in his Washington, D.C office

Representative Ben Reifel (S.D.) and Don Clauson of Crescent City, California are wearing American Indian headdresses and holding a peace pipe

Representative Ben Reifel (S.D.) and Representative Ancher Nelson (Minn.) are wearing American Indian headdresses and holding a Washington Daily Globe newspaper

Representative Ben Reifel with the 1964 Westinghouse Science Talent Search scholarship winner, Lee R Gerton Snyder of Huron, South Dakota, he was awarded $5,000

Congressman Ben Reifel shakes hands with a South Dakota homemaker

Ben Reifel with a group at the American Public Works Association conference at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois

Bureau of Indian Affairs officials visit the Holy Rosary Mission in Pine Ridge, South Dakota; from the right: (second) Superintendent Towle; (third) Commissioner Emmons; (fourth) Rev. Lawrence Edwards, S.J., Superior of Holy Rosary Mission; From the Left (fourth) Rev. John Bryde, S.J. , principal of Holy Rosary Mission; (fifth) Ben Reifel, Aberdeen Area Director; (sixth) Representative Ely. Berry; (seventh) Assistant Commissioner Rex Lee

Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner Glenn Emmons shakes hands with Alfred Gilpin on the Omaha Tribal Council in Omaha, Nebraska

It was Representative Ben Reifel Day at the New York World's Fair House of Good Taste, Reifel and his wife, Alice, are seen here being welcomes by Lady Malcolm Douglas Hamilton, originator of the exhibit. The exhibit features three homes, a traditional home, a contemporary home, and a modern home

Distinguished Service and Valor awardees and the Secretariat - 25th Honor Awards Convocation - Interior auditorium; Left to Right - Top Row: Captain Matthew V. Carson, Jr., USN, Office of the Secretary; Joseph V.B. Wells, Geological Survey; Christopher J. San Fellipo, Geological Survey; Paul Zinner, Bureau of Mines; Ulric J Gendron, Bureau of Reclamation; William M. Deaton, Bureau of Mines; James Westfield, Bureau of Mines; Elmer P. Myers, Bureau of Indian Affairs; John S. Knowles, Bureau of Land Management; George L. Collins, National Park Service; Charles E. Peterson, National Park Service; A. Clark Stratton, National Park Service; Dick Sutton, National Park Service; Left to Right - Front Row: Floyd H. Phillips, Bureau of Indian Affairs; Alphonse Kemmerich, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries; Administrative Assistant Secretary Beasley; Andrew W. Anderson; Bureau of Commercial Fisheries; Monty Wilcox; Louise A. Wilcox; Orpha R. McPherson, Bureau of Indian Affairs; Secretary Udall; Clara B. Gonzales, Bureau of Indian Affairs; Assistant Secretary Carver; Assistant Secretary Holum; Fannibelle Jackson, Bureau of Land Management; Under Secretary Carr; Assistant Secretary Briggs; Benjamin Reifel, Bureau of Indian Affairs; Father John G. Kuhn, Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle

Representative Ben Reifel is sitting on a sofa with Selma Gifford, Assistant Commission of Indian Affairs in a Washington, D.C. office

Large group of people in front of the building at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico

Indian pageant at Black Hills Ordnance Depot in Provo, South Dakota, showing Helen Morganti of Lead, South Dakota being adopted into the tribe as Princess Silver Cloud, and Chief Afraid of Horses, the show was held for the war workers at the depot; the photograph is signed in ink on the front: Sincerely, Helen Morganti

89th United States Congress in session

President Dwight Eisenhower is speaking at an event, there are men holding microphones in front of him

Alice Reifel is sitting by Senator Jack Miller of Iowa at an outdoor luncheon

United States Vice President Hubert Humphrey walking out of a door with other people

Senator George McGovern, Representative Ben Reifel, Representative E.Y Berry, Senator Karl Mundt. Ken Holum, and Floyd Dominy work on the Oahe Irrigation Project in Washington, D.C.

Representative Ben Reifel and Senator George McGovern talk with a woman at the Women's Forum on National Security in Washington, D.C.

Representative E.Y. Berry, Senator Karl Mundt, and Representative Ben Reifel are the guests of Harold Levinger of Yankton, South Dakota at the National Retail Merchants Association dinner in Washington, D.C.

Representative Ben Reifel, Representative Roy Taylor, and others with Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior, in Washington,, D.C.

Representative Ben Reifel and his wife, Alice Reifel, are with Mary Balo of White, South Dakota, who was named the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow; Esther MacLean, Balo's adviser of Brookings, South Dakota, and an unknown man are also with them

United State Vice President Hubert Humphrey shakes hand with three men

Alice Reifel, wife of Representative Ben Reifel, and Myrtle Case, wife of Senator Francis Case at an event

Alice Reifel is with other women at an event in Washington, D.C.

Alice Reifel is with four other women at an event in Washington, D.C.

Alice Reifel is with other women at an event in Washington, D.C.

Alice Reifel, wife of Representative Ben Reifel, is sitting with Florence Gubbrud, wife of South Dakota governor, Archie Gubbrud, and Elizabeth Green, wife of former governor Warren Green; there are dolls in the background

Representative Ben Reifel is with A.E. Crooks of Frankfurt, South Dakota, and Dan Nohr of Yankton, South Dakota waiting to testify before the Committee on Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

South Dakota congressional delegation with Tom Taylor; from left to right: Tom Taylor, Representative Ben Reifel, Alice Reifel, Senator Karl Mundt, Representative E.Y Berry, and Sam Seehser (?)

Representative Ben Reifel and his wife, Alice Reifel, talk with the parents of the Fischer quintuplets born in Aberdeen, South Dakota

Representative Ben Reifel with Representative Mike Kirwan, a Democrat from Ohio, and two other unknown men

Representative Ben Reifel and Representative Mike Kirwan are among members of the United States Interior Department Appropriations Subcommittee of the 88th Congress

Representative Ben Reifel and Representative Mike Kirwan are among members of the United States Interior Department Appropriations Subcommittee of the 88th Congress

Representative Mike Kirwan, a Democrat from Ohio, is having an American Indian headdress places on his head by an unknown American Indian man

Representative Ben Reifel with Representative Mike Kirwan, a Democrat from Ohio