Local History News: August 23, 2023

Field Note

Staff in the Heritage Preservation, Planning & Outreach department meet with Mill City Museum staff as they plan a potential workshop focused on historic mortar techniques.

Heritage Preservation Grants

The Grants Office is heading to Winona!
You bring the questions, we'll bring the answers. The MNHS Grants Office will be holding an in-person Grants Open House with our colleagues at the Winona County Historical Society in beautiful Winona, MN on Tuesday, August 29 from 11 am to 12:30 pm. Drop in to chat with our friendly grants and local history services specialists about your Minnesota history work, open grants, or project ideas.  

RSVPs are appreciated but not required. RSVP to Gillian and please include a few notes about what you'd like to talk about. 

Small Grant Deadline
The next small grant deadline (requests of $10,000 or less) for the MHCHG program is Friday, October 13, 2023.

From the Blog

This week's blog post is from Hennepin History Museum. Have a blog? Let us know!

Wanda Gág: From Childhood to All Creation
Wanda Gág (pronounced Gog) was born in New Ulm, Minnesota in 1893. She was the eldest of seven children born to Czech-immigrant parents. Both of her parents were artistic. Her father was a painter who decorated houses and churches, and her mother was a photographer. The Gág family home was built a year after Wanda’s birth, and it is said that her father decorated the dining room ceiling with a blue sky, white clouds, and cherubs. All the Gág children were encouraged to express themselves creatively, whether it was drawing, music, or dress-up. The family drew together around the table at dinner, and it seemed that creating art was a natural part of life. Continue Reading »

More MN Blog posts

• Collections Spotlight: John Blomquist - American Swedish Institute
• Charles Babbage Institute's (CBI) newest exhibit shows the marriage of technology and psychology - U of MN Libraries
• Explore architectural styles with MDL's newest timeline - Minnesota Digital Library News
• The New Preservation - Rethos

From the Tube

This week's post is from Ramsey County Historical Society. Have a video channel or podcast? Let us know!

March of the Governors #30: Special Edition Billy Williams
William F. (Billy) Williams never served as Minnesota’s governor, but he served more Minnesota governors than any public servant in our state’s history. He caught the eye of Governor John A. Johnson as a baseball player at the turn of the twentieth century. Johnson invited him to work at the capitol as his aide and messenger. Johnson died, but Williams stayed on, through the next thirteen governors—Eberhart, Hammond, Burnquist, Preus, Christianson, Olson, Petersen, Benson, Stassen, Thye, Youngdahl, Anderson, and Freeman—over fifty years. No one saw more of Minnesota government from the inside than did Billy Williams. Listen to podcast »

More MN Tube posts

• Winter Days - Otter Tail County Historical Society
• Remembering Mr Muller - Betsy-Tacy Society
• 2023 SMSC Wacipi - Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
• Minnesota State Historic Preservation Review Board Meeting August 15, 2023 - Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office
• Cocktail History: Michael, Stephanie, and Risha in a Museum with Scotch - Freeborn County Historical Museum
• In the Museum's Collection - Pipestone County Museum
• August Membership Meeting 2023 - Gunflint Trail Historical Society Chik-Wauk Museum
• Foxing in Books with Krista the Archivist - History Center of Olmsted County

Job Opportunities

Minnesota Historical Society's Job Announcement, Internship,  Fellowship, and Volunteer Opportunity pages.

MNHS

• Program Facilitator I - Mille Lacs Indian Museum & Trading Post
• Program Facilitator II - Split Rock Lighthouse
• Facilities Maintenance Technician - Mill City Museum

LOCAL

• Executive Director - Stearns History Museum, St. Cloud, MN
• Development Events and Stewardship Coordinator - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Lead Educator - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Educator - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Development Events and Stewardship Coordinator - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Supplemental Museum Educator - Bell Museum, St. Paul, MN
• Membership and Sales Assistant - Minnesota Children's Museum, St. Paul, MN
• Exhibit Repair Technician - Minnesota Children's Museum, St. Paul. MN
• Finance and Operations Manager - East Side Freedom Library, St. Paul, MN
• Museum Conservator - Paisley Park, Chanhassen, MN
• Production Associate at Prince's Home - Paisley Park, Chanhassen, MN
• Asset Protection Associate - Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN
• Registrar/Receptionist - Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Wayzata, MN
• Director of Performing Arts - Paramount Center for the Arts, St. Cloud, MN

REGIONAL

• Development/Marketing Manager - Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA
• Graphic Designer/Digital Arts Manager - Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA
• Full-Stack Developer - Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
• Manager, Event Planning - Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
• Education Facilitator - Old World Wisconsin, State of Wisconsin, Eagle, WI

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

• Assistant Curator of Education, Science - Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
• Museum Administrator - McHenry County Historical Society, Union, IL
• Education Specialist -  G.A.R. Military Museum, Aurora, IL
• Museum Technician II, Exhibit Production - Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
• Museum Technician II, Graphics and Exhibit Prep - Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
• Senior Manager of Public Programs & Interpretation - Edith Farnsworth House, Plano, IL
• Farm Museum Programs Supervisor - Fischer Farm, Bensenville, IL
• Vice President and Chief Programs Officer - Conner Prairie Museum, Fishers, IN
• Program Management Specialist - Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
• Associate Director of Collections & Impact - Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, MI
• Assistant Curator of Collections Management - Sloan Museum of Discovery, Flint, MI
• Historian - National Park Service, Calumet, MI
• Senior Curator - Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI
• Museum Manager - Westerville History Museum, Westerville Public Library, Westerville, OH
• Associate Aviation Archivist and Historian - Boeing Company, Berkeley, MO
• Processing Archivist - Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, MO
• Conservation Technician - Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, MO
• African American History Initiative Community Programming Specialist - Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, MO
• IT Systems Administrator  - Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, MB     
• Curator - Billy Bishop Museum, Owen Sound, ON

Additional Job Postings in the Field »

Do History Here

Image used with permission. From the collections of the Nobles County Historical Society.

Submit your history organization's news and events to localhistorynews@mnhs.org.

Exhibit: We Are Water MN
Now through October 9 - Roseau: Roseau County Historical Society - The We Are Water MN traveling exhibit examines three ways of knowing water: personal stories, historical content, and scientific information. Visitors can explore stories both local and statewide and share their own stories of water’s importance in their life. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Event: 70th Anniversary of Moving the Little White Church
August 24 @ 12 pm - Austin: Mower County Historical Society - The Little White Church on the corner, also known as the Christ Episcopal Church, has a rich history in Austin. In 1953, Geraldine and Harry Rasmussen purchased the structure and had it moved to the historical society grounds. For many years the building served as an “art center” that displayed drawings, paintings, and photographs. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Event: Old Time Medicine Show - Hilarity, High Jinks And Cure-Alls
August 26 @ 1 to 4 pm - Mankato: Historic R.D. Hubbard House - Meet a bevy of colorful characters from the past! The Cherry Sisters believe laughter is the best medicine and they are back to entertain you with their antics. Violet McNeal will reveal the secrets of the Medicine Show trade. Three all-new and different shows at 1, 2, and 3 pm. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Presentation: What’s in a Name, Part IV
August 28 @ 6 to 7 pm - White Bear Lake: White Bear Lake Area Historical Society - This is Part IV of a series where they explore many of the streets and parks around the White Bear area and investigate how they got their names through the years. From Podvin Park to Hammond Road and Park Avenue to Hobe Lane, what’s in a name. Cost: Free. Learn more »

RESCHEDULED: South Front Street Historic Pub Crawl
August 29 @ 6 pm - Mankato: Blue Earth County Historical Society - Come to this unique historic walking tour of the 400 and 500 blocks of Mankato’s South Front Street on Tuesday. But this isn’t any ordinary walking tour, the twist includes stops at Blue Bricks, Ummie’s, and The Square Deal; each with its own musical past and stories to tell. Cost: $25 members/$30 nonmembers. Learn more »

Exhibit: The Gateway District
Now through September 4 - Minneapolis: Hennepin Theatre Trust - From the construction of the first Hennepin Avenue Bridge in 1855, to the Gateway Park reinvention in 1915 and today’s Theatre District, this vibrant community hub is on full display in The Gateway District exhibit. Exhibit Partners, Hennepin County Library, Augsburg University, Hennepin History Museum, Minnesota History Center, and Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis. Location: Jack Link’s Legend Lounge now through July 27. Learn more »

Rehab Lab: Intro to Masonry
September 9 @ 9 am to 1 pm - Minneapolis: Rethos - Masonry expert John Beaty from the Minnesota Historical Society will teach a hands-on class about the basics of masonry and mortar repair. Taking place at an old Minneapolis home, participants will learn about historic masonry materials and techniques while restoring this local home to further its preservation and sustainability. Cost: $45. Learn more »

Presentation: Minneapolis Interview Project
September 14 @ 6 pm - Minneapolis: Hennepin History Museum - Come to an evening of real-life stories about social justice in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Interview Project was started in 2016 by Anne Winkler-Morey, a writer, historian, activist scholar and Southside resident. Her goal was to interview one hundred people of different ages, races, genders, economic classes, migration experiences, as well as living in different parts of Minneapolis. Ms. Winkler-Morey and many of the people she interviewed will read from their interview transcripts. Location: Capri Theater. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Continuing Education

Highlighted Museum: North St. Paul Historical Society Museum, North St. Paul, MN.
Photograph by McGhiever, distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 license.

DIY Preservation: From Monitoring to Management
August 23 @ 11 am (CT) - Online: Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts - Hear a discussion about a recent collaboration with the CCAHA that resulted in some surprising finds about low-cost housing alternatives that work just as well as the more expensive museum quality options. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Fundamentals of Nonprofit Finance
August 23 @ 9 am to 12 pm (CT) - Online: Propel Nonprofits - This training is designed to make you more comfortable with nonprofit finance. They’ll walk through nonprofit financial reports including the statement of activities (income statement) and statement of financial position (balance sheet). Cost: $75. Learn more »

Beyond Labels: Understanding the Interconnectedness of Special Collections and Cultural Heritage Professions
August 28 @ 5 pm (CT) - Online: Backlog Archivists & Historians - The speaker will explore the different roles for collections management across different types of repositories and discuss the differences in vocabulary and practice among practitioners of different fields of cultural heritage. You'll learn how to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities of each field and develop a more comprehensive understanding of the cultural heritage landscape. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Writing a Collection Management Policy: Step-by-Step
August 31 @ 1 pm to 3 pm (CT) - Online: Northeast Document Conservation Center - This webinar will cover the essential components of a collection management policy for libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage organizations. Cost: $95. Learn more »

Financial Information and Your Board
September 7 @ 12 pm to 1 pm (CT) - Online: Propel Nonprofits - The board of directors of a nonprofit organization has legal responsibility for the organization’s work. The board is responsible for short and long-term planning, and they must ensure that systems are in place for administering and effectively using resources and guarding against misuse. In order to fulfill their responsibilities, board members must be able to rely on financial information that is accurate, timely, in context, and appropriate. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Prison Prisms: Reflections on Prison History and Criminal Justice Reform in NYS through the Lens of Auburn, Attica, and Sing Sing
September 8 @ 11 am to 12:30 pm (CT) - Online: Museum Association of New York - These three prisons recently embarked on explorations of their complicated narratives using the exhibition format. These exhibitions include uncovering difficult and often disturbing stories as viewed from those both on the outside and the inside. This panel includes leaders across the field, formerly incarcerated people, as well as those engaged in monitoring and reporting on the NYS correctional systems, and will take a deep dive into this often hidden world. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Hierarchies All Around: Addressing Class, Socioeconomic Status, and Rank
September 12 @ 10 am to 12 pm (CT) - Online: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits - This workshop helps organizations and institutions understand how social class and socioeconomic status can affect their clients, members, patients, students, and employees – and how they can work against unnecessary hierarchies, allowing them to function both more equitably and more effectively. Cost: $45 members/$65 nonmembers. Learn more » 

Connecting with Universities and Students 
September 18 @ 9 am to 10 am (CT) - Online: Ohio Museums Association - Wondering how your museum can develop relationships with universities and students that are mutually beneficial? Get suggestions on how to connect with Museum Studies or other related programs at a university – just in time for the new school year. Cost: Free. Learn more »

TIPS & TOOLS

• Why funders need to rethink the concept of nonprofit resilience - NonProfit AF

Additional Educational Opportunities »

Funding & Awards

Funds Provided for Rural LGBTQ+ Organizations Serving the Upper Midwest
September 15- (deadline): PFund Foundation: The PRISM Fund builds community and provides resources for LGBTQ+ individuals across the upper Midwest and the First Nations therein. To quality you must be a registered as 501(c)3 nonprofit based in a rural community or serve rural populations. Learn more »

Travel Research Grant
October 1 - (deadline): Costume Society of America - This annual award of up to $2,100 is intended to assist an individual (non-student) member of the Costume Society of America to travel and conduct research at a collection (private or public), library, archive, museum, or other site relevant to further an ongoing research project. Learn more »

Tennant Foundation
October 5 - (deadline): These grants are targeted to organizations serving the Minneapolis community around our headquarters and are typically modest operating grants. Learn more »

College and University Collection Care Grant
October 15 - (deadline): Costume Society of America - This grant is intended to assist the costume and textiles collection of a college or university that receives little or no financial support from its institution. Funding may be used to support the care, conservation, and/or instructional mission of a collection of historic, period, or otherwise informative costume and textiles that are intended for preservation and are used for study by an institution that has a degree program in apparel, textiles, or theatre. Funded amount: $1,500. Learn more »

Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices
November 1 - (deadline): Council on Library and Information Resources - This grant provides support to digitize rare and unique content stewarded by collecting organizations in the U.S. and Canada. Learn more »

Support Available for Professional Theatres and Dance Companies
The Shubert Foundation is dedicated to sustaining and advancing the live performing arts in the United States. Learn more »

News

Digital Opportunity Listening Sessions
Minnesota’s Office of Broadband Development (OBD) has drafted a Digital Opportunity Plan that will guide the state in investing around $20 million to expand digital inclusion for all Minnesotans through access to the internet, access to devices, and digital skills training. The draft plan was made available on OBD’s Digital Opportunity webpage beginning August 21 with a public comment period scheduled for August 21 – September 29. Minnesotans can help shape the state's digital opportunity plan by:

1. Participating in a Listening Session, happening in 16 locations throughout the state plus 2 virtual sessions.
2. Reading the plan (or skimming the highlights), then sending them comments in writing.

Museum and Local Libraries Partner to Offer Museum Free Access
The Stearns History Museum in partnership with the Great River Regional Library (St. Cloud and Waite Park branches) and the libraries at St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud Technical and Community College, and the College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University, are excited to announce a new initiative, the Stearns History Museum Access Pass. The pass allows free access to the museum for patrons at the participating libraries. Got a library card? Check out a free week-long museum access pass. Learn more »

Wadena County Historical Society plans to repurpose hospital
Wadena Pioneer Journal — The Wadena County Historical Society gave people a lot to chew on during the Wadena Rotary Club’s Corn and Chicken Feed at Burlington Northern Park, as well as at the farmers market. The nonprofit society asked those at the Aug. 10 Rotary fundraiser and Aug. 11 market what they would like done with the historic Wesley Hospital building, or how best to repurpose it. Continue reading »

Centennial farm families featured in Treaty Site exhibit
St. Peter Herald — A new exhibit at the Traverse Des Sioux Treaty Site History Center is putting a spotlight on the local farm families who seeded the future of Nicollet County’s agricultural and economic growth. Continue reading »

In pursuit of the Syracuse…
Hometown Focus — One of the great things about being a volunteer worker at the Iron Range Historical Society (IRHS) is that I get to peruse so many wonderful topics in the forms of documents like marriage certificates, newspaper articles, old churches, schools, politics, mining, businesses, interviews, histories – anything on a piece of paper. Continue reading »

How Minnesota Discovery Center grew when many museums closed
Duluth News Tribune — The Minnesota Discovery Center has spent the past three years rethinking what it means to be a museum in the 21st century. "We spent those years, especially during COVID, sitting down as administrators and with members of the community to rethink what it means to be a museum today," said Jordan Metsa, fund development and marketing director for the center. Continue reading »

F4U-4 Corsair To Be Loaned To Fagen Fighters WWII Museum
Warbirds News — The Fagen Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls, Minnesota, has just announced that will display F4U-4 Corsair BuNo 97388 through a loan agreement with owners. Bureau Number 97388 was taken on strength with the US Navy on April 26, 1946 and delivered four days later on April 30. Continue reading »

Preservation work on the Judy Garland Childhood Home
Grand Rapids Herald-Review — It has been nearly thirty years since Judy Garland’s childhood home (Gumm home) was moved to Highway 169 South and restored to its 1920s appearance. Time and the harsh elements of northern Minnesota have since taken their toll on the 1892 structure. Continue reading »

PRESERVING HISTORY-Rustic Wolf Island cabin, trails, being restored to allow for more public use
The Timberjay — A historic rustic cabin built by a Minneapolis architect on Wolf Island on Lake Vermilion is undergoing restoration by the U.S. Forest Service, which is looking at making the island more accessible for recreational use. Continue reading »

Featured Book Equality At The Ballot Box: Votes for Women on the Northern Plains, edited by Lori Ann Lahlum, and Molly P. Rozum. South Dakota Historical Society Press.	Featured Article Minnesota History Letters to Hilda: “Swede Girls,” Domestic Service, and Life as a Newcomer in Minneapolis, 1913–1914 Volume 67, Issue 8, 2021-22	Featured Article MNopedia Yeovil Colony Featured MNopedia Article
Minnesota History Organizations Directory  • County, Chapters, and Local • Statewide/Topical Historical • Regional History Coalitions • Professional Organizations	Minnesota Main Streets Reinvigorate your community's commercial district.	Preservation Specialists Directory Look up products or services.

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