The Bruflat Academy, Portland, North Dakota, records contain a manuscript with a brief history of the Academy from 1889 to 1918 written by Theodore Gilbertson. Bruflat Academy was one of the first advanced educational institutions in North Dakota.

An addition to the collection consists of a textbook, History of the United States, which was used at the Academy. The book was used by Erling Erickson's mother, Anna Odegaarden (later shortened to Odegaard), at Bruflat during the 1917-18 school year.  Opposite the title page is a list of the students in the class: Robert Dahl, Joseph Stockmoe, Edwin Kyllo, Joseph Gilbertson, Anna Odegaard, Olga Kville (Odegaarden's first cousin), Ovidia Rydland, Oline Viken, and Ida Hefta. The book also contains scribbling and notes commonly found in high school textbooks.  For example, page 344 contains backwards writing which must be held to a mirror to read.  Page 345 contains a short poem written about Odegaarden's classmates, and study notes can be found written in the margins throughout the book.