The Ralph Engelstad Papers consist of seven folders documenting several events from late in Engelstad’s life: the controversy over Nazi memorabilia at his casino, the Imperial Palace; announcement, construction and controversy over the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks; donation of funds to send a Sakakawea statue to Washington D.C.; his induction into the North Dakota Entrepreneur Hall of Fame; news of his death, including obituaries; and UND Hockey’s retirement of #23, Engelstad’s former jersey number.

Material on the controversy over Engelstad’s "Hitler parties" and Nazi memorabilia include Engelstad’s 1988 letter to the Grand Forks Herald and a series of articles from October 1988 in the Dakota Student. Also regarding this topic is an article in People Weekly magazine and photocopies from Jeff Burbank’s 2000 book, License to Steal.

All material regarding the construction of the Ralph Engelstad Arena comes from the Grand Forks Herald, except for one article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. These materials date from 2001 to 2004.

The Center for Innovation in Grand Forks inducted Engelstad into the North Dakota Entrepreneur Hall of Fall in August 2002, and it is the source of the materials regarding that honor, along with the accompanying Grand Forks Herald article.

President Charles Kupchella’s statement following Engelstad’s death was posted on the UND website and released in an email.

All other records are newspaper clippings. The majority comes from the Grand Forks Herald, but obituaries are also included from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Fargo Forum, Bismarck Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Ralph Engelstad Arena website.