Field Note

The Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums has installed a new exhibit at the Landmark Center in St. Paul highlighting the 2023 Minnesota History Awards winners. The award program, which started in 2008, recognizes the great work produced by Minnesota’s history organizations.  Nominations for this year's Minnesota History Awards opened October 2, 2024 and will be accepted until January 15, 2025.

Heritage Preservation Grants

Spotlighted Project: ADA Compliance: Installation of Automatic Door Openers
With grant funding, the Morrison County Historical Society installed an automatic door opener at the front entrance to comply with ADA requirements and improve accessibility. The Charles Weyerhauser Memorial Museum opened in 1975 and was built under now-outdated codes that do not fully address modern accessibility needs.

Starting in 2017, museum staff began creating a Capacity Improvement Projects binder to outline necessary facility updates based on a 2015 assessment by a local construction management company that highlighted the need for better ADA compliance. Installing the automatic door opener was a straightforward way to enhance accessibility for all visitors.
Recipient: Morrison County Historical Society
Funded Amount: $3,000
Project Details

Small Grant Deadline
The next small grant deadline (requests of $10,000 or less) for the MHCHG program is Friday, January 10, 2025.

NOVEMBER Grants Open House
November 7 - 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 additional grants support to our communities. We encourage people to RSVP to Gillian 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 »

Grants Office Webinar: First Steps Towards a Grant (Pre-recorded)
November 21, 2024 @ 2 to 3 pm (CT) - Online: In this webinar, you will learn what you need to do to register for a grants portal login, how to apply, what the grant programs offer, what the programs can fund, and which resources are available for applicants. If you have never applied for a grant before or would like to hear about the basic process again, this webinar is for you.
Join online: meet.google.com/zwx-krei-com
Join by phone: ‪(US) +1 386-361-3086‬  PIN: ‪420 891 978‬#

Grants Office YouTube Playlist »

From the Blog

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

Halsa Dem Darhemma
The Cokato Museum has lost a wonderful friend. Margaretha Hedblom used 'wonderful' to describe everything about Cokato. She gave meaning to Ha'lsa Dem Darhemma (Greet the folks at home). Margaretha Hedblom, a teacher, researcher, genealogist, tour director and director of the Kulture Center in Malung, Sweden, became the best ambassador for the Cokato Museum. Most of all, as director of the Cokato Museum, I was privileged to become her friend for forty years as she connected local people to their relatives in Sweden and brought many tours to the museum. She had endless energy as she made the heritage, we share come alive. She passed away January 31, 2024, in Malung, Sweden. Continue Reading »

More MN Blog posts

• Historic Halloween - Meeker County Museum
• Notes from the President - Danish American Center

From the Tube

This week's post is from the Pine City Area History Association. Have a video channel or podcast? Let us know!

More MN Tube posts

• Journey to Joy: Rise Relevance and Representation in Children's Picture Books - U of MN Libraries
• Cokato Corn Carnival: 75 Years of FREE Corn - Cokato Museum & Akerlund Studio
• Ghosts at the Music Store - Anoka County Historical Society
• The Como Shops – Northern Pacific Railway at St. Paul, Minnesota - Minnesota Bricks
• Nancy Seaton and the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway Committee - Gunflint Trail Historical Society Chik-Wauk Museum

Heritage Preservation YouTube Playlist »

Job Opportunities

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

MNHS

• Multimedia Writer-Producer - MN History Center

LOCAL

• Education & Outreach Coordinator - Rice County Historical Society, Faribault, MN
• Chair of Exhibition Strategy - Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
• Assistant or Associate Curator of Native American Art - Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
• Associate Curator of American Paintings - Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
• Building and Technical Operations Assistant - Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

REGIONAL

• Outreach and Partnership Coordinator - Wisconsin Historical Society, Ashland, WI
• Microfilm Imaging Assistant - Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WI
• Reference and Instruction Librarian - Hilton M. Briggs Library, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD
• Executive Director - Rapid City Arts Council, Rapid City, SD
• Archaeologist - State of South Dakota, Rapid City, SD
• On-Call Archaeologist (Field Lead) - Chronicle Heritage, Great Lakes Region, ND
• Digital Collections Cataloger & Archivist - Dickinson State University, Dickinson, ND
• Director of Education - National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, Dubuque, IA

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

• Exhibits Media Integration Supervisor - The Field Museum, Chicago, IL
• History Fair Program Associate - Chicago History Society, Chicago, IL
• Director of Finance and Operations - National Public Housing Museum, Chicago, IL
• Art and Program Supervisor - Wonder Works Children's Museum, Oak Park, IL
• Associate Director - Dickson Mounds State Museum, Lewistown, IL
• Controller - DuPage Children's Museum, Naperville, IL
• Exhibit Designer - Taylor Studios, Rantoul, IL
• Manager of Communications and Development - Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL
• Museum Educator - Lake County Forest Preserve District, Libertyville, IL
• Education Coordinator - Indiana University Museum of Archeology & Anthropology, Bloomington, IL
• Historical Site Interpreter - Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site, State of Indiana, Rome City, IN
• Director of Interpretation - Conner Prairie Museum, Fishers, IN
• Museum Assistant - Johnson County Historical Society, Franklin, IN
• Collections Manager & Registrar - Massillon Museum, Massillon, OH
• Collection and Exhibitions Programs Manager - The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
• Media Preservation Residency Librarian - Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
• Digital Preservation Production Manager - University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, MI
• Public Relations Specialist - Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, MO
• Oral History Associate - Jacksonville Public Library, Jacksonville, FL
• Oral Historian - Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
• Historic Preservation Specialists - Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Nationwide/Multiple Locations
• President & Chief Executive Officer - The Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum, Brookfield Place, Toronto, ON

INTERNSHIPS/VOLUNTEERS/FELLOWSHIPS

• Conservation Kress Fellowship - Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN

Additional Job Postings in the Field »

Do History Here

Image used with permission. From the collections of the Cokato Museum & Akerlund Photo Studio.

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

Presentation: Remembering the Rapidan Dam 
November 9 @ 1 pm - Mankato: Blue Earth County Historical Society - Attend a special program at the History Center with BECHS Staff and Rick Pepper in remembering the Rapidan Dam. Staff will present the 1910 construction and early history of the Rapidan Dam. Rick Pepper, photo historian, will present his new book, "Remembering The Rapidan Dam & Dam Store," which features the photos he took during the historic flooding this past summer. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Event: Blue Earth County Historical Society Anniversary Open House
November 9 @ 10 am to 4 pm - Mankato: Blue Earth County Historical Society was founded on November 7, 1901. Join them to celebrate 123 years of collecting, preserving, and presenting Blue Earth County’s rich history. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Headscarf Story Circle Gathering: The Silent Subject of Menopause
November 10 @ 2 to 4 pm (CT) - Online: Minnesota Humanities Center - Women of all ages agree that menopause has not been an open or common discussion, yet it comes with many questions, concerns, and myths. Participants will hear from experts in women’s health and have a chance to share their own stories of experiences, fears, and remedies. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Presentation: Drinking in History - After the Election, Now What?
November 11 @ 7 to 9 pm - St. Paul: Rethos - How to ask legislators to support historic preservation initiatives. Erin Hanafin Berg, Rethos’ Policy/Deputy Director, will help you craft a compelling message to send to the elected officials who represent you at the local, state, and Federal levels. Location: Waldmann Brewery. Cost: $10. Learn more »

To Banish Forever: A Secret Society and Ho-Chunk Removal in Minnesota
November 14 @ 6 pm - Hennepin History Museum, Golden Valley Historical Society, and Others - Author Cathy Coats and radio host Robert Pilot (Ho-Chunk) will present a book reading and discussion about the often-excluded history of the Ho-Chunk Nation in Minnesota. Coats explores how white residents sought to expel Ho-Chunk people from the state and benefit from their land in her book, "To Banish Forever: A Secret Society, the Ho-Chunk, and Ethnic Cleansing in Minnesota." Location: Theo Wirth Park Trailhead. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Presentation: "Family Declassified": Uncovering My Grandfather's Journey from Spy to Children's Book Author
November 16 @ 10:30 am to 12 pm - Shoreview: Ramsey County Library-Shoreview - In "Family Declassified" (Sunbury Press, 2023), social science researcher Katherine Fennelly explores her grandfather's hidden Jewish identity and his life as a high-ranking WWII spy. After years of reviewing government records and conducting interviews, she uncovers the secrets surrounding his past, including the tragic murder of his sister and nephew by Hungarian Nazis. The manuscript reveals the impact of extraordinary 20th-century events on family myths and history. Join them for the discussion. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Presentation: One Family’s Journey on MN’s Trail of Tears
November 18 @ 6 to 7 pm - White Bear Lake: Ramsey County Library-White Bear Lake - Join Dakota Theatre Artist and White Bear Lake Area Historical Society Board President Rob Thomas as he takes you from 1862 to today through the eyes of his own family. Hear how his research was conducted into his ancestry and what tools and resources were accessed to gain the information as well as personal stories from his family throughout the last 160 years as his family went from a village on a bend in the Mississippi River in Southern Minnesota to Morton; Mankato; Ft. Snelling; Davenport, IA; Santee, NE and finally back to Minnesota once again. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Presentation: The Reach of the Rail - All Aboard for the North Shore
November 21 @ 7 pm - Wayzata: Lake Minnetonka Historical Society - Railroad historian Dennis Bartholow will discuss Wayzata’s 157-year history as a railroad town, from the 1867 arrival of the Saint Paul & Pacific Railway, the first rail line to come to Lake Minnetonka, to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the only line that still rumbles along the lakeshore. Bartholow will also cover the rail history of Woodland, Orono, and Minnetonka Beach. Location: Wayzata Community Room. Cost: $5. Learn more »

Explore Minnesota - State of MN's Tourism website
Listings: History & Heritage Events | Historic Exhibits | Lectures & Workshops
Register for an Account »

Continuing Education

Highlighted Museum: Proctor Area Historical Society Museum, Proctor, MN.

Save the date and call for proposals for Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference, May 6-7, 2025
The Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference and the Minnesota Digital Library Annual Meeting will take place together on May 6-7, 2025. This in-person event will be held at the Union Depot in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The theme for the conference is "Digital Directions: Lessons Learned and Future Pathways."

Help make this a great conference by sharing your experience and expertise by submitting a program proposal. While the planning committee has suggested a list of potential topics, they welcome proposals on any relevant subjects related to digital collections. The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday, December 6, 2024. Contact Planning Committee Co-Chairs Molly Huber and Sara Ring with any questions. Learn more »

Putting It All Together: Preparing for 2026 at Small History Organizations - Virtual Workshop
November 21 @ 11 am to 3 pm (CT) - Online: American Association for State and Local History - The U.S. 250th is an opportunity to share history that tells everyone’s story and to strengthen the history field. AASLH has developed key resources to help practitioners both conceptually and concretely plan for this commemoration’s transformative potential. Attend this workshop to learn about the Making History at 250 field guide, our new handbook of low-resource programming ideas, and how to effectively apply these tools to your site or organization. Cost: $45 members/$65 nonmembers. Learn more »

TIPS & TOOLS

• How to get media to cover your nonprofit - Candid
• Nonprofit Marketing Basics: Establish a Strong Foundation - Firespring

Additional Educational Opportunities »

Funding & Awards

Media Projects
January 8, 2025 - (Deadline): National Endowment for the Humanities - The Media Projects program supports the development, production, and distribution of radio programs, podcasts, documentary films, and documentary film series that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. Media Projects offers two levels of funding: Development and Production. Learn more »

Public Humanities Projects
January 8, 2025 - (Deadline): National Endowment for the Humanities - This program supports projects that bring the ideas of the humanities to life for general audiences through public programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. Learn more »

Digital Humanities Advancement Grants
January 9, 2025 - (Deadline): National Endowment for the Humanities - The Digital Humanities Advancement Grants program (DHAG) supports innovative, experimental, and/or computationally challenging digital projects, leading to work that can scale to enhance scholarly research, teaching, and public programming in the humanities. Learn more »

Preservation Assistance Grant for Smaller Institutions
January 9, 2025 - (Deadline): National Endowment for the Humanities - These grants help small and mid-sized institutions — such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities — improve their ability to preserve and care for their significant humanities collections. Learn more »

Additional Funding & Award Opportunities »

News

Name change for the Freeborn County Historical Society
The Freeborn County Historical Society's board of directors has decided to rename the organization to the HISTORY CENTER OF FREEBORN COUNTY. This change reflects the center's role as a vibrant community hub, hosting diverse local groups like the Civil War Roundtable and Kiwanis Golden K. 

The board also aims to clarify that, while the center receives about 10% of its funding from the county, it primarily operates as a self-sustained nonprofit relying on memberships, donations, and grants. The new name will help better communicate its purpose to the public. 

What's New in the Archives - October 2024
Here is the latest What's New list from archival cataloging for October. It includes newly cataloged materials, newly digitized collections or parts of collections, and recently updated finding aids.

This month, the Richard S. Davis Papers; the Henry M. Lyman Letter Describing Election Interference (October 19, 1857); the Rasselas S. Mowry Papers, and the Natural Resources Department; Trails and Waterways Division; Off-Highway Vehicle Management Program Files were newly added to the collection.

Collections with additions or added digital content include the Great Northern Railway Company Advertising and Publicity Department Records; Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board Records; the Faribault State School and Hospital, Superintendent Correspondence and Minutes of the Board of Trustees/Directors;  the Clara Jorgenson Papers; the Mike Lynch Papers; the MNHS Institutional Archives, State Historic Preservation Office Records; the Walter James Murray Papers; the Northern Pacific Railway Company Mechanical Department Records and President's Records; and the Frank Trnka Records.

In addition, there are many newly encoded finding aids that are now available online for the first time. Learn more »

Anonymous donor pays assessment bill to save Fergus Falls historic home
MPR — An anonymous donor has stepped up to save the historic home of the first Black resident of Fergus Falls. The 139-year-old house faced forfeiture to Otter Tail County due to an unpaid city assessment bill. Continue reading »

They left their heart in San Francisco – township hall, that is
Patriot - In just over two weeks, folks around the county will be going to their municipal polling place or township hall to vote in the general election. In San Francisco Township, residents will be casting ballots in their historic, newly restored town hall which was once a one-room school. Continue reading »

History is Present: Community work in preservation
Winona Post - The Collections Department is where the romance lies at Winona County History Center. Amidst shelves of china, children’s toys, and lacy gowns, you can hold a piece of the past in your (gloved!) hands. There’s nothing quite like it. Yet, no matter how we glamorize the darkened nooks of the collections vault, much of a job in collections deals with the cold, hard facts of artifact decay and environment. If we ask that the task of preserving thousands of culture-bearing objects be done well, we must provide the proper tools. Continue reading »

Featured Book Interpreting Christmas at Museums and Historic Sites, Edited by Kenneth C. Turino and Max A. van Balgooy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers/AASLH	Featured Article Minnesota History Paradise Theater, Minneapolis Volume 67, Issue 2, 2020	Featured Article MNopedia Common Loon 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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