• Return to About BND

• Introduction
• Out-of-State Dominance
  
• Economic Colonialism
• Breaking the Machine
• Economic Exploitation
• The Non Partisan League
  
• Birth of the NPL
• The NPL Insurgency
• Early Days of BND
• The Industrial Program
• Launching the First Volley
• Bonds and Boycotts
• Farmers Line Up
• Politics at Work
• The Counter Insurgency
• The Long Dry Spell
• A Historic Vote
• The IVA in Control
• Farm Loans Falter
• BND Resurgence
• The Langer Housecleaning
• The Depression Years
• Contributing to the General Fund
• Returning to the Legislative Vision
• Awakening the Giant
• The Bank Under Fire
  
• Fulfilling the NPL Vision
• Growing North Dakota
• Era of Partnerships
• The Vision Realized

Introduction

Prairie Public Productions created a television documentary about Bank of North Dakota (BND) in 2005 through the generous support of a USDA Rural Development Grant. The production highlights BND’s unique history as the only state owned bank in the nation. The following historical overview is provided courtesy of Prairie Public Television.

It comes as a surprise to many that North Dakota's largest bank is owned and operated by the State – the only one of its kind in the United States.

In 1919, an agrarian revolt led by the Non-Partisan League forever changed the economic landscape in North Dakota. Called "a social experiment in state control" the League's Industrial Program sought to break the dominance of the out-of-state financiers who controlled the state's economy.

Cartoon from the collection of Institute of Regional Studies, North Dakota State University