The Michael Polovitz Papers date from 1988-2003. It consists of four scrapbooks kept by his wife Barb which contain many articles from the Grand Forks Herald, as well as some articles from the North Dakota League of Cities Bulletin, The Washington Post, Business America, The New York Times, and Money. These scrapbooks also include programs from the many events he attended while as mayor, thank you notes from the countless people that he helped, pictures from the places he visited, correspondence, and documents pertaining to city projects that he worked on.
Also included is Polovitz’s book, The Mayor’s Alley. This book was written in 1997 using the scrapbooks mentioned above and details the many things that Polovitz accomplished while in office, along with the hardships that came with the position.
A fifth scrapbook documents Polovitz’s time serving as a State Senator. Much of what is contained in this scrapbook is articles from the Grand Forks Herald and the Bismarck Tribune. These articles cover Polovitz’s proposed tax break for all North Dakota citizens under thirty years of age which was not passed. This scrapbook also contains many pictures of Polovitz as well as thank you notes.