Mitchell Hamline/Hamline University Collaboration on Permanent Mitchell Hamline History Center
To further the affiliation between Mitchell Hamline and Hamline University with a partnership for the initial development of the MHSL History Center and meaningful public programming.
Partners: Mitchell Hamline School of Law and Hamline University
The recent combination of William Mitchell College of Law with Hamline University School of Law was a historic event for St. Paul and Minnesota, bringing together two of Minnesota's four institutions of legal education into the new Mitchell Hamline School of Law. The combination agreement provided for the development of a history center to preserve each law school's rich legacy and the impact of faculty, staff, and over 19,000 alumni on Minnesota legal history. A new history center will help constituents, neighbors, and the broader Minnesota community understand Mitchell Hamline's colorful origins, community impact, and contributions to the ever-evolving world of legal education.
Mitchell Hamline will take on the responsibility of lead partner; initial steps in the institutions' plan are:
:The Hamline University president will invite faculty, staff, and alumni to join a history center committee and help shape the center's development, including thematic development, acquisitions, display, and preservation of materials.
:Archivists at both institutions will develop a working relationship to handle artifacts and materials in compliance with collections management policy and procedures to enrich exhibits and programming.
The grant will also operationalize content information collected in previous research efforts by developing an approved conceptual plan and making interpretive programs recommendations. This will be followed by planning a narrative for a preliminary exhibit and fundraising documents, including schematic drawings for the space.
During this process, the History Center Committee will plan ongoing historical programming with possible topics, like the impact of faculty scholarship on Minnesota law; the law schools' renowned work in health law, dispute resolution, children and the law, and Indian law; the relationship of communities of color to the law schools; histories of unsung heroes; traditions and student life over the decades; and the law schools as parts of their neighborhoods.
$2,000,000 each year is for partnerships involving multiple organizations, which may include the Minnesota Historical Society, to preserve and enhance access to Minnesota's history and cultural heritage in all regions of the state.
Available upon request. Contact:grants@mnhs.org
By the end of the grant period, the collaboration between the MHSL and Hamline archive departments had proceeded very well; the Committee had engaged actively and productively with Museology in developing the partnerships and exhibit planning; and alumni had begun to be aware of the History Center development. Artifacts and loan documents for the Preliminary Exhibit are in place through December 2021 and research access continues, with surprise discoveries shared with enthusiasm. The full committee or subgroups have had fifteen meetings with Museology, facilities, new partner prospects, Hamline representatives and the architect looking at the designated site in the MHSL building. The Committee:s steady work with Museology involved extensive engagement on the interpretive themes and script for both the Preliminary and Full exhibit planning while Museology:s outreach to potential new partners was reported to and followed up by Museology and a Committee subgroup working together. Initial Museology help with overview and thinking about the Hamline partnership was utilized by Committee members to further develop that collaboration directly with Hamline.
In addition to the webpage that was being developed simultaneously, constituent groups (alumni, students, faculty and administration) were able to learn about the History Center through a well-attended and enthusiastically received program in April on the First Amendment entitled, :Freedom of Speech in an Era of Social Responsibility: The Near Injunction at Ninety.: Produced as part of a First Amendment Scholars Program, one goal was the recognition of the :emerging: History Center by highlighting the Minnesota Supreme Court:s seminal case on prior restraint and its continued relevance to :hate speech: and legal or social restraints. There was also a specific notice to alumni in June announcing the purpose and progress of the History Center development, featuring themes that bind them as the combined law school. Also alerting them to the intent to host events and add historical material to its website, the announcement encouraged the contribution of historical materials. As alumni and other constituents become more familiar with the History Center through the Preliminary Exhibit and partnership involvement, they will be surveyed for their views and engagement.
With regard to the expected impact in the Intermediate Term, the cost for mounting the Preliminary Exhibit was calculated and shared equally by MHSL and Hamline University. This was an important step in working out mutual financial support for the initial development of the History Center. Similarly, the opportunity for alumni and others to share their stories is carefully integrated into the Exhibit Planning and design.
Available upon request, grants@mnhs.org
Hamline University : Karen Bach, Arthur Becker, Michael Brilley, Lorinda Burgess, Ching-Meng Chew, Doron Clark, Nneka Constantino, Bryce Doty, Win Folkers, Jeanne Forneris, Cindy Gregorson, Brenda Heim, Denise Holloman, Peter Janzen, Jenny Keil, Robert Klas, Jr., Gwen Lerner, Richard Mack, Fayneese Miller, Ken Morris, Jay Novak, Bruce Ough, Dale Peterson, Steve Richards, Roberta Saunders, Julie Showers, Mariah Tollgaard, Wendy Watson, Ellen Watters, Richard Wien.