The Ewald C. Pietsch Papers, 1927-1965, consist mainly of materials pertaining to his 1934 Master of Science thesis, The Activity Pattern and Major Activities of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Among the thesis contents are over one hundred photographs taken of Grand Forks. These original photographs have been removed from their respective locations within the thesis and foldered separately. At some point, negatives and reprints were made from the photographs. The reprints, of lower quality, had been separated and stored in the Photograph File Cabinets, but these have now been discarded. The collection also contains assorted materials from geography and geology courses, including a two volume textbook of geology. The first of these volumes originally belonged to Arthur G. Leonard, professor of geology at UND who died in 1932.

The oversize folder contains a large cloth-backed map of Grand Forks with a key to businesses and institutions and another key for general categories of property use. This map, created by Pietsch, is the first figure from his thesis. Also, the first few pages of his thesis are essentially a scrapbook of materials. Although the thesis was originally cataloged as a book and shelved that way in Special Collections, the unique features and local relevance, coupled with keeping the loose photographs in proximity to the thesis, prompted the decision to include it in the collection.