10 min read

Local History News: February 22, 2023

Joe Hoover Feb 22, 2023 1:11:00 PM

Local History News - Minnesota Historical Society, Heritage Preservation

Field Note

Interior of Good Shepherd showing reinforcing cables

On Tuesday, January 31, staff conducted a grant site visit with the Faribault County Historical Society to get updated on the progress of their project to preserve the Church of the Good Shepherd, a former Episcopal Church listed on the National Register of Historic Places which had been suffering accelerated structural and exterior deterioration. In photo, Todd Grover from MacDonald & Mack Architects (left) and Ryan Maciej, Design Reviewer from MNHS (right), look over newly installed 5/8" tie rods used to shore up and preserve the integrity of the existing roof framing.

HISTORY MATTERS DAY IS MARCH 6

History Matters Advocacy Day. Composite image. Left Craine and workers repairing water tower. Right: historic photo of water tower from 1930s. Join us in speaking up for history on Monday, March 6 during History Matters Day at the Capitol. This is your chance to connect with legislators and share your perspective on why history matters.

Take the opportunity to thank our state’s elected leaders for their commitment to telling Minnesota’s stories and encourage their continued support for MNHS’s Operating Budget, Legacy Amendment funding, and Capital Budget.

For the first time, you can get involved with History Matters Day at the Capitol either virtually or in-person. The day will begin at 9 am for an information session and light refreshments in the L’Etoile du Nord Vault Room at the Minnesota State Capitol. Welcome remarks by MNHS CEO and Director Kent Whitworth and Director of Public Policy David Kelliher will also be streamed remotely via Zoom. In-person and remote meetings with legislators will take place throughout the day. Please register for History Matters Day at the Capitol by Tuesday, February 28. To learn more about how to get involved and advocate for Minnesota history, visit mnhs.org/historymatters.

Heritage Preservation Grants

Small Grant Deadline
The next small grant deadline (requests of $10,000 or less) for the MHCHG program is Friday, April 14, 2022.

ONLINE: March Grants Open House
March 2 - Online: The Grants Office will hold a virtual Grants Office Open House using Google Meet from 2 to 3:30 pm in order to provide support to our community in this time of social distancing. We encourage people to RSVP to Gillian by email with a short summary of what you want to talk about and she will try to ensure that someone helpful will be available. Learn more »

From the Blog

This week's blog post is from the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County. Have a blog? Let us know!

Dr. James Condell, Psychologist and Jazz Guitarist
Psychologist Dr. James Condell and his wife biologist, Dr. Yvonne Condell, came to teach at Moorhead State College (now Minnesota State University Moorhead) in 1965. Dr. Yvonne Condell recalls there being only one other African American resident of Moorhead at that time, the other being a military recruiter. It did allow her to brag, however, that the average level of education for African Americans in Moorhead was Ph.D. Continue Reading »

From the Tube

This week's post is from Hallie Q. Brown Center. Have a video channel or podcast? Let us know!

Hallie Q. Brown Archive Project
The mission of the Hallie Q. Brown Community Archives (HQBCA) is to collect and preserve items of enduring historical value, primarily relating to the Rondo Neighborhood in St. Paul, MN. HQBCA responsibly cares for the resources and donated items that have been entrusted to them, today and for future generations.

The Hallie Q. Brown Archive Project is making history by preserving history. Learn more about what we are doing and how you can be a part of this community-based effort to chronicle and share the history of our community. Watch Video »

Job Opportunities

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

MNHS

Visitor Services Assistant I - Mill City Museum
School & Youth Programs Facilitator - Mill City Museum
Program Assistant, Volunteer & Intern Programs - MN History Center

LOCAL

Photogrammetry RFP - Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology & Medicine, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Metro
Historic Site Interpreter - Gibbs Farm, Ramsey County Historical Society, Falcon Heights, MN
Visitor Assistant: Box Office - Minnesota Children's Museum, St. Paul, MN
Enterprise Manager - Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN

REGIONAL

Director of Marketing and Membership - Putnam Museum and Science Center, Davenport, IA
Museum Educator - Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
Museum Guard - Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
Digitization Specialist - Wisconsin Historical Society, State of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Preparator - John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
Program and Guest Experience Coordinator - Madeline Island Museum, Wisconsin Historical Society, La Pointe, WI
Tour Guide at Pendarvis - Pendarvis Historic Site, Wisconsin Historical Society, Mineral Point, WI
Facilities Manager - Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
Lead Store Clerk - Missouri Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center, State Historical Society of North Dakota, Williston, ND
Outreach Coordinator - Missouri Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center, State Historical Society of North Dakota, Williston, ND

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Heritage Tourism Client Specialist - Indiana Landmarks, Indianapolis, IN
Associate Director - General Lew Wallace Study & Museum, Crawfordsville, IN
Principal Investigator, Architectural Historian - Gray & Pape, Indianapolis, IN
Museum Services Generalist - Indiana Geological and Water Survey, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Associate Director and Marketing Manager - Law Reed Huss Farm Foundation, Uhrichsville, OH
Museum Manager - Westerville Public Library, Westerville, OH
Executive Director/Curator - North Berrien Historical Museum, Coloma, MI
Museum Assistant - Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, St. Marys, ON
Museum Programming Supervisor - Wellington County Museum and Archives, Fergus, ON

INTERNSHIPS/VOLUNTEERS/FELLOWSHIPS

Photo Archives Intern - North Dakota Historical Society, Bismarck, ND
Historic Preservation Intern - Designing Local Ltd., Columbus, OH

Additional Job Postings in the Field »

Do History Here

African American History Week, UMD Library display and student
Image used with permission. From the collections of the Kathryn A. Martin Library Archives and Special Collection - University of Minnesota Duluth.

Be sure to check with each organization for COVID-19 updates and safety measures for in-person events.

Hybrid Conference: Council for Minnesota Archaeology Conference
February 24 & 25 - Fort Snelling & Online: The conference is open to all researchers at any stage of their career, whether academic, students, CRM or community archaeologists, to present recent research on any aspect of Minnesota or Upper Midwest archaeology. View sessions. For questions contact Laura Koski. Cost: Free (Registration required). Learn more »

February 24

9 am to 4 pm - Online Paper and Poster Presentations
6 pm - Dinner at Plank Museum (CLOSED, SEATING HAS FILLED)
7 pm - live-streamed, Elden Johnson Keynote lecture

February 25

9 am to 4 pm - Live Paper and Poster Presentations at Plank Museum

Workshop: Drafting a Maintenance Plan
February 23 - St. Paul: 6:30 to 8 pm (CT). Rethos - The best way to prevent unexpected and expensive rehab projects is proactive maintenance. In this class, you’ll learn what home maintenance tasks you should do on a seasonal or annual basis. Cost: $0-$10. Learn more »

Presentation: Uncle George - Life Story of George Daniels
February 25 - Litchfield: 1 pm. Meeker County Museum at the GAR Hall - Watch the documentary film on George Daniels, who has much in common with Meeker County's Albert Van Spence. Both men were born and enslaved in Georgia, were part of both sides of the Civil War, and came to Minnesota after the war. Cost: Free members/$3 nonmembers. Learn more »

Presentation: Hmong 101: Minnesota Milestones
February 25 - Online: 11 am (CT). Benton County Historical Society & Stearns History Museum - Minnesota Milestones will feature the history of Hmong in Minnesota and Hmong contributions to the state. The final event in the series, the program will highlight the diversity of the Hmong community in Minnesota, one of the largest Hmong populations in the United States. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Presentation: Mapping a Mystery - What One Family Discovered Through Genealogy
February 25 - Anoka/Online: 12 to 1:30 pm (CT) Anoka County Historical Society - Join Jessica Nelson as she shares her remarkable experience tracking down her husband’s paternal side. During this course, she will share how her experience became more than enthralling detective work of unearthing a long-forgotten past but a true journey in self-discovery. She will discuss the techniques she used to gather family information and reunite a father with a son he never knew he had. Cost: $5. Learn more »

Presentation: The Plantation Night Club - White Bear’s Gangster Headquarters
February 27 - Online: 6 to 7 pm (CT). White Bear Lake Area Historical Society - Hear how the Plantation Night Club on the shore of White Bear Lake evolved from boat works to one of the Twin Cities' most popular nightclubs catering to the underworld of the Midwest. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Exhibit: We Are Water MN
March 2 through April 24 - Becker: Sherburne History Center - 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 locally and statewide and share their own stories of water’s importance in their life. Learn more »

Event: Presidential Scavenger Hunt
Through February - Litchfield: 1 pm. Meeker County Museum at the GAR Hall - During regular business hours; explore the museum and learn some fun facts about the US presidents; free with museum admission. Learn more »

Continuing Education

Exterior of the Melrose Area Museum
Highlighted Museum: Melrose Area Museum, operated by the Melrose Area Historical Society, Melrose, MN.
Photograph by McGhiever, distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 license.

Elegant Authenticity: Implementing and Interpreting Historic Landscaping
March 1 - Online: 10 to 11 am (CT). Texas Historical Commission - Historic landscaping can be beautiful and artistic, giving visitors to your site a more accurate impression of the past, but how do you get started? Presenters will share their years of experience and give participants a model for how to research, implement, and interpret historic landscaping at their own site. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Budgeting for Collections Care
March 1 - Online: 11 am (CT). Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts - In this webinar, we’ll look at strategies for investing in the future of the organization by budgeting for collections care. Tips for preservation planning, documenting existing preservation investment, and cost analysis will be discussed in addition to advice about advocating for preservation funding both internally and externally. Cost: Free. Learn more »

The Role of the Board Chair Series
March 1 - Online: 2 to 3 pm (CT). Minnesota Council of Nonprofits - Whether you’re just stepping into this leadership role or are a seasoned board leader, this training will help you be more effective in your role. You’ll learn how to bring your best leader self to the board chair role, artfully facilitate meetings that net results, and improve the leadership work of the board as a whole. Cost: $60 members. Learn more »

Beginning Grantwriting
March 2 - Online: 9 am to 12 pm (CT). Minnesota Council of Nonprofits - Join this hands-on, beginner-level session to take your grantwriting skills to the next level. Cost: $89 members/$129 nonmembers. Learn more »

Fundamentals of Nonprofit Board Governance
March 7 - Online: 9 am to 12 pm (CT). Propel Nonprofits - You will learn typical board responsibilities and explore the nuances of board authority and relationships. Participants take home Propel’s Nonprofit Board Governance workbook, which includes the Fiduciary Duties of Directors of Charitable Organizations. While this training is open to all, it is designed for those new to serving on a board or those who are contemplating joining a board. Cost: $75. Learn more »

Looking Ahead with a Long-Range Preservation Plan
March 8 through 22 - Online: Wednesdays 2–4 pm (CT). Midwest Art Conservation Center - A Long-Range Preservation Plan (LRPP) will help your institution to prioritize preservation needs and develop concrete goals for the short-, medium-, and long-term. In this 3-session online course, participants will draft their own LRPP and learn how to use it to achieve conservation treatment goals and to submit competitive grant proposals for state and federal funding. Cost: $200. Learn more »

How Access Influences Preservation in Museum Libraries and Archives - Part 1
March 9 - Online: 1 pm (CT). New England Museum Association - Access to library and archival collections enables deeper and broader engagement with the objects, exhibitions, and programs that are so crucial to museums. Discuss how access can–and should–influence preservation practices within our museum libraries and archives. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Fire and Emergency Protection Plan Development
March 15 - Online: 1 pm (CT). Lyrasis - Participants in this webinar will be presented with the components of a Protection Plan and the process to follow for the development of a plan following guidelines provided by the National Fire Protection Association’s Code for Protection of Cultural Resource Properties. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Exhibiting Photographs
March 21 - Online: 12 pm (CT). Connecting to Collections Care - In this webinar, learn the process of planning and executing the preparation of photographic objects for exhibitions with a focus on collections care issues. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Arcus Course: Introduction to Indigenous History
Online self-paced: American Association for State and Local History - Are you a history or museum professional who is interested in learning Indigenous history, but haven't taken the time to do it yet? In this course, you will be given a basic introduction to Indigenous history from a basic vocabulary to contemporary issues today. Cost: $65 members/$90 nonmembers. Learn more »

TIPS & TOOLS

Ownership, pride, hope: What drives public support for museums? - Museums Association

Additional Educational Opportunities »

Funding & Awards

Hungry for History Marker Grant Program
March 13 - (Deadline): William G. Pomeroy Foundation - This grant program celebrates America’s food history by telling the stories, through roadside markers, of local and regional food specialties across the United States. This program is designed to commemorate significant food dishes created prior to 1970 and the role they played in defining American culture and forging community identity. Learn more »

Preservation of Battlefields Supported
March 15 - (Deadline): The American Battlefield Protection Program: Preservation Planning Grants support planning, interpreting, and protecting battlefields and sites associated with armed conflicts. Learn more »

Native American Library Services: Enhancement Grants
April 3 - Deadline: Institute of Museum and Library Services - These grants are competitive grants available to carry out activities, described in 20 U.S.C. 9141, that advance the programs and services of eligible Native American libraries. Grant Amount: $10,000 to $150,000. Learn more »

Emerging Crises Oral History Research Fund
April 15 - Deadline: The Oral History Association announces funding of up to $4,000 to undertake oral history research in situations of crisis in the United States and internationally. These funds may be applied to travel, per diem, or transcription costs for research in places and situations in which a longer application time schedule may be problematic. Such crisis situations include but are not limited to wars, natural disasters, political and or economic/ethnic repression, or other currently emerging events of crisis proportions. Learn more »

Creative Individuals
April 21 & July 28 - (Deadlines): Minnesota State Arts Board - This pilot program provides support to help individual artists and culture bearers develop or sustain their creative practices and meaningfully engage with Minnesotans. Grantees may use funds to support their creative practice and meaningfully connect to and engage with audiences, participants, students, and/or communities during the grant period. Learn more »

Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants
May 17 - (Deadline): National Endowment for the Humanities - The mission of this Challenge Grants program is to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities by enabling infrastructure development and capacity building. Awards aim to help institutions secure long-term support for their core activities and expand efforts to preserve and create access to outstanding humanities materials. Learn more »

News

Barb Redepenning, curator and director of the Lac qui Parle County Historical Society-text Lac qui Parle County Historical Society has collected county's and people's stories over past 150 years
West Central Tribune — While every county in Minnesota has its own unique history and history makers, Barb Redepenning, curator and director of the Lac qui Parle County Historical Society and History Center, thinks her county is just a tiny bit special. Continue reading »

Building armory in New Ulm caused a battle over siting
New Ulm Journal — Brown County Historical Society (BCHS) kicked off its 2023 historical programming season Thursday with a series of three bite-size history lessons from New Ulm’s Gilded Age. Continue reading »

Waterville's former Union Hotel gets new life
Mankato Free Press — Waterville fans are happy that their former Union Hotel is being renovated into apartments. With the original structure built in 1888, a lot of history is going on with this building at 201 Paquin St. E. in the town of about 1,700 people. - Continue reading »

Jessica Potter in front of old Mankato Post Office-text Historic preservationists to gather in Mankato
Mankato Free Press — When Mankato hosts the annual PreserveMN conference in September, the city will be able to offer a lengthy list of “dos” and more than a few “don’ts” for historic preservation enthusiasts from across the state. Continue reading »

Mahube-Otwa donates older Head Start buses to Lakeland DAV, Becker County Historical Society and LP-A schools
Detroit Lakes Tribune — Mahube-Otwa donated three buses to the Lakeland DAV, Becker County Historical Society and LP-A schools in January. Each group said they already have plans for the new vehicles thanks to the donation. Continue reading »


Featured Book Change Is Required: Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum, Edited By Avi Y. Decter; Marsha L. Semmel and Ken Yellis Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / AASLH.	Featured Article Minnesota History Highways and History. Volume 13, Issue 4, 1932	Featured Article MNopedia White Earth Land Recovery Project 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.

From the Heritage Preservation Department
Reminder: Due to COVID-19 all Heritage Preservation Department staff (Grants Office and Local History Services) are working remotely until further notice. If you need to connect with a specific staff member, please email them directly.

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