Local History News: October 4, 2023

Field Note

The Minnesota Alliance for Local History Museums Emergency Preparedness Training in Rochester last week was an amazing opportunity for museum professionals to get together and learn and bond over hands-on emergency salvage skills! Megan Brakob Narvey from Heritage Preservation, Planning and Outreach (left) worked with Nicole Grabow (right), who was leading the training on behalf of the Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC). There are still spaces available for the October 16-17 training in Bemidji. Thanks to the History Center of Olmsted County for hosting.

Heritage Preservation Grants

OCTOBER Grants Open House
October 5 - Online: The Grants Office will hold a virtual Grants Office Open House this Thursday 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 »

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 Robbinsdale Historical Society. Have a blog? Let us know!

The Nailer
E. Martin Pearson was born in Sweden in 1856. After settling in Minnesota, Pearson began a career as an inventor. In 1892 he patented a steam heating apparatus, but his most successful invention was the odd-looking gadget called a shingle nailer. The earliest version of his portable nailing machine was patented in 1892 by the Martin Pearson Manufacturing Co. of Robbinsdale. Pearson claimed that his invention was inspired by watching exasperated roofers lining up nails on steep pitches. In 1906, Pearson patented an improvement upon his earlier model. Continue Reading »

More MN Blog posts

• One Curiosity Leads to Another - Goodhue County Historical Society
• History of the Shakopee Central School, Part 2 - Scott County Historical Society
• Fremad in the 20th Century - Pope County Historical Society
• Making up for lost time - U of MN Libraries
• Southwest Minnesota welcomes MDL staff - Minnesota Digital Library News

From the Tube

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

Chester Huston Pedestrian Athlete
Pipestone County Historical Executive Director Susan Hoskins shares the story of Chester Huston, a Pipestone native who took up the sport of walking and became a pedestrian athlete. Watch Video »

More MN Tube posts

• History Revealed: Connecting to Collections: Preservation for Who(m)? - Ramsey County Historical Society
• Framnas Township Night - Stevens County Historical Society
• Remembering Phil Brandish - Betsy-Tacy Society
• Presbyterian Pride - Presbyterian Historical Society & Gunflint Trail Historical Society Chik-Wauk Museum
• Mapping Prejudice and Racial Covenants in the Twin Cities - Minnesota State Law Library
• The Healing Place - MinneCulture
• Farm Beautiful – Stone Farmstead, St. Cloud, Minnesota - Minnesota Bricks

Job Opportunities

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

MNHS

Museum Guide - Mill City Museum

LOCAL

• Office Manager - Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN
• Center for Equity and System Change Coordinator - Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
• Native American Exhibition Outreach Assistant - Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
• Assistant Director of Security/Events and Weekends - Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
• Campaign Fundraising Coordinator - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Gallery Assistant - Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Museum Assistant - Carleton College, Northfield, MN

REGIONAL

• Administrator - Plymouth County Historical Museum, Le Mars, IA
• Part-Time Security Services Officer I (Entry Level) - John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
• Assistant Teacher-PreK - The Children's Museum of Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI
• Commissary/Quarantine Keeper - Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History, Sioux Falls, SD

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

• Registrar - Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Skokie, IL
• Director - Rutgers University Libraries, New Brunswick, IL
• Collections Coordinator - Champaign County Forest Preserves, Mahomet, IL
• Museum Educator - Lake County Forest Preserves- Dunn Museum, Libertyville, IL
• Foundation Relations Specialist - Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
• Registrar - Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Skokie, IL
• Director of Exhibits - The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
• Director of Exhibits - The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
• Production Manager - Indiana State Museums and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, IN
• Program Developer - Indiana State Museum, Evansville, IN
• Cleveland Museum of Art - Chief Learning Officer, Cleveland, OH
• RFP for Exhibit Design & Interpretative Plan - Midland Center for the Arts Alden B. Dow Museum, Midland, MI
• Digitization Specialist - Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
• Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator - Tri-Cities Historical Museum, Grand Haven, MI

Additional Job Postings in the Field »

Do History Here

Image used with permission. From the collections of the Dassel Area Historical Society.

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

Presentation Series: Thomas Jefferson: a New Look at our Third President
October 4, 11, 18, 25; November 1, 8 @ 12:30 to 2 pm - Online: Join J.B. Andersen as he examines the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, our third President. First a personal scandal followed by the public one of slavery. Jefferson receives an education and takes a liking to the Enlightenment writers. Andersen will look at Jefferson's marriage and family life; examine eight key points to Jefferson's presidency; and look at Jefferson as a Renaissance man, including his writings. Plus, he'll look at Jefferson's personal demeanor: his physical appearance, work habits, and mental abilities. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Tour: Vicksburg Historical Tour
October 7 @ 1 to 4 pm - Sacred Heart: Sacred Heart Area Historical Society - Enjoy the fall colors in the Minnesota River Valley on a guided tour of the Vicksburg ghost town. Visit Deep Eddy and the remains of the Vicksburg businesses, cemetery, and church. Hear stories of the sites, animals, and the people. Cost: $10. Learn more »

Trolley Pumpkin Days  
October 8 & 15  @ hourly from 10 am to 4 pm - Chisholm: Minnesota Discovery Center - Ride their historic trolley through the fall foliage to the Glen Location pumpkin patch and pick out the perfect pumpkin. Before or after you get back from the pumpkin patch, stop by and say hello to the animals brought by Cook's Country Connection Petting Zoo. Cost: $14 members/$15 nonmembers. Learn more »

Book Launch: Trauma Sponges: Dispatches from the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response 
October 10 @ 7 pm -  Minneapolis: Minnesota Fire Museum - In this remarkable memoir, Minneapolis Fire Captain and EMT Jeremy Norton marshals twenty-two years of professional experience to offer, with compassion and critique, an extraordinary portrayal of emergency responders. Trauma Sponges captures in arresting detail the personal and social toll the job exacts, as well as the unique perspective afforded by sustained direct encounters with the sick, the dying, and the dead. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Let Us Keep Our Middle Ground Clear: The Dakota and Ojibwe in Stearns County and Central Minnesota
October 11 @ 9 to 10 am - St. Cloud: Emily Sackett Lund will discuss her process and discoveries she made along the way while creating a document that begins to tell the story of the Dakota and Ojibwe in what is now Stearns County. Cost: Free members/$7 nonmembers. Learn more »

Launch Party: Phase 3 of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project
October 11 @ - 6 to 8 pm - Minneapolis: Tretter Collection at Open Book - Meet their new Oral Historian Jae Yates, learn about where the project is heading, and gather in community to celebrate all of the history they are documenting. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Workshop: Repairing and Restoring Old Windows
October 11 @ 6:30 to 8:30 pm - Minneapolis: Rethos - Do you have old wood windows in need of some TLC? Ready to practice window repair skills? Join window restorer Joe Hayes for a hands-on workshop all about windows. Joe will explain common window issues and demonstrate basic repairs. This class will focus specifically on re-roping double-hung windows, glazing, paint prep, and painting. Location: Hayes Window Restoration. Cost: $20. Learn more »

Iron Range Research Center Orientation Tour
October 14 and on the 2nd Saturday of every month through 2023 @ 10 am to 5 pm - Chisholm: Minnesota Discovery Center - Never heard of the Iron Range Research Center? Or, if you have, do you wonder what they’re all about? Come see for yourself who they are and what they have to offer. Discover one of the largest records repositories in the Upper Midwest. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Volunteer Open House
October 14 @ 3 to 5 pm - Wayzata: Lake Minnetonka Historical Society - Volunteers are needed to support the new Lake Minnetonka Historical Society (LMHS) which Wayzata Historical Society, Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society, Museum of Lake Minnetonka (steamboat Minnehaha), and Westonka Historical Society consolidated to form October 1. This is the second in a series of LMHS Volunteer Open Houses to be held around Lake Minnetonka over the next year. Location: Wayzata City Hall Community Room. Learn more »

Event: A Night at The Speakeasy
October 14 @ 6-10 pm - Mankato: Blue Earth County Historical Society - Step back in time to the era of Prohibition, flappers, gangsters, and Jazz music. This one-of-a-kind event includes dinner and signature cocktails by Absolute Catering. Location: Sky One Eleven. Cost: $85. Learn more »

Workshop: Building Permits Primer 
October 17 @ 2 to 4 pm - Minneapolis: Rethos - Gain useful knowledge about the ins and outs of permitting from this comprehensive webinar. Building Permits Primer will cover when you need a permit, why you need one, and what you need to know before applying. The class will review building and related projects, including permits for fencing, electrical systems, heating and cooling (HVAC), and plumbing. Cost: $20. Learn more »

Fergus Falls State Hospital Cemetery and Poor Farm Cemetery Tour
October 21 @ 11 am - Fergus Falls: From the first burial in August 1890 to the last in 1968, some 3,200 people were laid to rest at the State Hospital. Most of the graves are unmarked yet everyone had names, lives, and stories. The tour will attempt to uncover bits and pieces of this history, to give names to those at rest. For those who died while at the Otter Tail County Poor Farm and had no one to claim them, a cemetery was established west of the farm. From the early 1880s until the mid-1930s over 150 people were buried at the poor farm cemetery. Volunteers from the organization "A Paupers Grave" will be on hand to tell visitors about their efforts to locate and mark Poor Farm cemetery grave sites. Cost: $10. Learn more »

Continuing Education

Highlighted Museum: the Northwest Airlines History Center, Bloomington, MN.

Presentation: Including an Indigenous Lens that Honors the Past, Present, and Future
October 5 @ 8:30 am to 3 pm - Spicer: Minnesota Humanities Center - This session will excavate a perspective that is too often minimized, misrepresented, or sometimes completely absent: the perspective of our nation’s first people. Hear first-hand accounts from a panel of regional, native voices sharing about schooling experiences. In addition to the panel, hear from experts from the Minnesota Humanities Center and Understand Native Minnesota as they lead attendees through how to find and implement resources from an Indigenous lens that honors the past, present, and future. Cost: $80. Learn more »

A Little Help from My Friends: Working with Emergency Service Providers
October 5 @ 11 am (CT) - Online: Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts - If your organization is in need of services like large scale dehumidification, vacuum freeze drying, or serious mold remediation, do you know who you would call?  What you should expect? Join the presenters in a conversation about working with emergency service vendors. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Doing Our Own Work: Personal and Professional Anti-Racism
October 11, October 25, and November 8 @ 9 am to 12 pm (CT) - Online: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits - This cohort-based 3-part training will bring together leaders who are ready for a deep dive into their own personal anti-racism ideals as well as how they are combating racism in their work/community spaces. The main learnings and actions will be around the ideas of decolonization, intentional allyship, systems change, rest, and resilience. Enrollment is limited to 30 people to facilitate in-depth reflection, dialogue, and relationship building. Cost: $189 members/$269 nonmembers. Learn more »

Behind the Letters: Understanding LGBTQIA Identities
October 11 @ 10 am to 12 pm (CT) - Online: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits - In this workshop create opportunities to learn about the similarities and differences between these identities, how LGBTQIA individuals and communities are affected by stereotypes and bias, and what it means to be an ally around gender identity and sexual orientation. Cost: $45 for MCN members/$65 for nonmembers. Learn more »

True Program Costs
October 11 @ 12 to 1 pm (CT) - Online: Propel Nonprofits - This webinar provides an introduction to calculating program costs and an overview of tools that will help you understand your true program costs and develop realistic budgets. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Fire Suppression for Museums
October 10 @ 12 pm (CT) - Online: Connecting to Collections Care - This presentation will provide an overview of the various types of fire suppression systems appropriate for cultural properties, including wet, dry and pre-action sprinkler systems, as well as water mist, total flooding clean agent, and hypoxic air systems. Look at their benefits and drawbacks, as well as the practical application for small and mid-sized institutions of these systems in the museum environment. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Rediscovering and Leveraging Your Museum Collection
October 13 @ 11 am to 12:30 pm (CT) - Online: Over the past seven years, the Everson Museum curatorial and collections staff have implemented forty-two innovative exhibitions primarily featuring work from the Museum’s collection as a way to increase access to collection objects and as a collections management tool. This session will provide concrete examples and statistics from Everson Museum exhibitions in order to give attendees strategies to apply at their respective museums. Cost: Free. Learn more »

Revolutions in Nineteenth-Century Handwriting
October 30 @ 5 pm (CT) - Online: Backlog - As the Industrial Revolution swept through society, human communication experienced a profound transformation, reflected in the evolution of handwriting. Explore the fascinating interplay of new materials, innovative writing technology, and the demand for clear and efficient business writing, all contributing to a myriad of developments in writing styles throughout the 1800s. Cost: Free. Learn more »

2022 Minnesota Archives Symposium — Call for Registration
November 6 - St. Paul: Twin Cities Archives Round Table - This symposium is a local educational and networking opportunity for archivists, librarians, records managers, curators, and other information professionals. Broaden opportunities to share knowledge and insights among peers at a local level. This year’s topic is Handle with Care. How are we caring for our collections, our community, our colleagues, and ourselves? How might an ethic of care guide our work during difficult or uncertain times? Registration is REQUIRED by October 27. Location: Minnesota History Center. Cost: No cost. Learn more »

TIPS & TOOLS

• Strategies for Engaging and Representing Latinos in Museums - American Alliance of Museums
• Engaging Next Generation History Learners - Association Midwest Museums  

Additional Educational Opportunities »

Funding & Awards

Minnesota Humanities Center Announces Funding Opportunities for Community-Based Programs
October 30 - (deadline): $12 million in grant opportunities are for individuals, programs, organizations, and children’s museums. Minnesota Humanities Center will also award nearly $100,000 to cultural organizations responding to emergencies on a rolling application basis through October 15, 2024 Learn more »

Public informational sessions:

• Tuesday, October 10, 2023 – 12 to 1:30 pm
• Tuesday, October 17, 2023 – 1:30 to 3 pm

News

Minnesotans Encouraged to Submit Designs for State Flag and Seal
Minnesotans can now officially submit their ideas for the next state flag and seal. The State Emblems Redesign Commission is accepting public submissions on its website through October 30, 2023 at 11:59 pm. Submissions are also accepted via US Mail at the address listed on the website.

The State Emblems Redesign Commission was established in the 2023 legislative session to develop and adopt a new design for the official state seal and a new design for the official state flag no later than January 1, 2024. As outlined in legislation creating the State Emblems Redesign Commission, the Minnesota Historical Society is providing administrative support for the Commission, created to adopt a new design for the official state seal and a new design for the official state flag. Learn more »

MN Digital Newspaper Hub - September content update

• Stillwater daily gazette (Stillwater, Minn.) 1908-1911 added
• Ni-mi-kwa-zoo-min (Cass Lake, Minn.) 1975-1977
• Speaking of ourselves (Cass Lake, Minn.) 1977-1988

Featured Book From Lapland to Sápmi: Collecting and Returning Sámi Craft and Culture by Barbara Sjoholm University of Minnesota Press. Author Talk Thursday, October 5 @ 6 to 8 pm Location: American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, MN	Featured Article Minnesota History The Bray-Goheen murder case. Volume 38, Issue 1, 1962	Featured Article MNopedia Foshay Tower 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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