All Projects

Arts Legacy Grant

Partner Organization: Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans.

Partner: Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans

To complete the interior display areas of the historically accurate Forestry Ranger Station. Exhibits will feature the early history of forest fire fighting, an account of forestry activity on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, draft horse logging equipment, lumberjack tools, and a tribute to Paul Bunyon. Additionally, funds will be used for a stage where speakers can tell stories and teach about forestry stewardship.

Partners: Access Philanthropy

The Cass Gilbert Society website was expanded and upgraded with special emphasis on the buildings and other works of Cass Gilbert. Previously the site featured 40 works. That number has been doubled to 80 works. All are illustrated with historic and/or contemporary photographs. All are linked to published references and/or online resources. A major innovation was the development and incorporation of a searchable database for the featured works. As more featured works are added, they will be incorporated into the searchable database.

To hire a qualified historian to research the 150-year history of St. Paul's Central High School.

The USS Essex, a  National Register Property located in Duluth, is Minnesota's only US Navy shipwreck, and the only known shipwreck originally built by renown shipbuilder Donald McKay. Its current location on the shoreline of Minnesota Point is unfavorable for long-term preservation.  To ensure the long-term preservation of the Essex this project developed several options for the future of the Essex, and the requirements needed to fulfill those options.

Increasingly, people are turning to digital resources for answers to questions or as a starting point for research. MNopedia is a new digital resource for the public from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Working with the Minnesota Newspaper Association, local historical societies and newspaper publishers, the Minnesota Historical Society launched an innovative project to expand the number of contemporary newspapers available in digital form.

In the pilot phase of the project, the Society developed a methodology for digitizing, preserving and indexing newspaper content. Those processes will be tested with six newspapers and optimized in 2011.

To digitize a collection of oral history interviews in order to broaden public accessibility.

To provide an educational overview of Isanti County over the five days of the Isanti County Fair. "Discovering Living History at the 135th Isanti County Fair" will provide visitors with an authentic, historically accurate old west experience, opportunity to hear live bluegrass music and interact with German folk musicians, and wander through exhibits showcasing artifacts of Minnesota's past.

The first goal of this project is that sixty nine American Indian youth ages 7-17 will increase their knowledge and practice of conversational Dakota through out-of-school time instruction by the end of the project period. Additionally, it is the hope that the Indian youth will continue to study Dakota and become fluent speakers. The project will provide experiential language instruction in conversational Dakota through cultural and recreational activities to these youth.

To feature three days of dance programs highlighting dance styles from seven different historical periods. These demonstrations will be part of the 125th anniversary celebration of the Douglas County Fair. Dance programming will offer historical background of each dance in addition to demonstrations.

To meet increasing demand for digital books, 136 Minnesota Historical Society Press (MHS Press) books have been converted and are available as e-books from popular e-book vendors. Six short form e-books will be released by the end of January 2013. Digital editions of more than 80 MHS Press books are available to libraries, researchers and students via Project Muse, a leading provider of digital humanities and social sciences content. In addition, an enhanced e-book about Minnesota in the 1970s is now being written and developed and will be published in fall 2013.

Partner Organization: Science Museum of Minnesota.

The Science Museum of Minnesota and the Minnesota Historical Society each maintain important historical collections of American Indian cultural objects assembled by Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple. The objects document the changes experienced by the Dakota and Ojibwe in Minnesota in the 19th century.

To highlight the importance of agriculture in rural and urban areas and to bring awareness of how farming culture is alive throughout Minnesota.

To bring the All American Lumberjack Show to Lac qui Parle County Fair. With two teams and ten lumberjack events, the show will offer viewers an opportunity to see demonstrations of old time skills, and can join the lumberjacks at camp to get a hands on experience.

The Minnesota Historical Society is collaborating with the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia to build four computer models of Historic Fort Snelling that will illustrate the Fort at various points in its history.

Grassroots Indigenous Multimedia hopes to serve two broad populations with this project: collaboration among Dakota and Ojibwe people engaged in curriculum and documentation and give easy access to those who are looking for such resources. This will be accomplished by creating a web-based resource and a booklet that gathers, digitizes, organizes, and describes many of the curriculum materials and resources that are currently available.

The grant restored the roof and abated water infiltration at the Hewitt Public School, home to the Hewitt Historical Society. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The project will develop and install an educational exhibit on the history and significance of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Olmsted County and throughout MN. As the regional headquarters of both of these depression-era economic programs, the Olmsted County Fairgrounds was integral to their local activities and played a role in the development of agricultural and civic infrastructure that continued to serve southeastern MN for decades.

The goal of the Historic Old Highland Project is to use the social history and architectural documentation to update and expand an existing self-guided Walking Tour Guide of significant properties in the Old Highland neighborhood.

Field survey investigations were conducted during September and October of 2010 in order to inventory, record and analyze the physical condition of architectural and structural features of the Onamia Soo Line Railroad Depot which currently is serving as a public library and Soo Line Boxcar. Based on existing conditions, recommendations for repairs were prepared along with yearly inspection logs and a list of maintenance duties.

History Day, an annual program co-sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota, challenges young people to research a historical subject related to an annual theme and present their findings in the form of exhibits, documentaries, performances, web sites and papers, much like a "science fair for history."

Arts and Cultural Heritage funding made it possible for the Society to provide additional services to 118 schools in 39 counties across the state.

Partner Organization: University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

This program, sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota, provided 10 undergraduate college students with the opportunity to become History Museum Fellows in 2010.

The program launched with a semester-long course at the University of Minnesota where the students were introduced to issues related to diversity and museums, followed by a paid summer internship at the Society.

Partner: The University of Minnesota--Twin Cities

To increase and enhance arts and cultural heritage programming at the Houston County Fair. Funds will be used to upgrade an existing stage, install a display case to exhibit artistic and creative works of people with disabilities, and host the Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble. The Ensemble will educate children and families about Scandinavian music and dances.

To increase access to performing arts for fairgoers. The Itaska County Fair provided a variety of performing artists at the 2013 fair including native singer/songwriters, banjo players, the Cloeraine City Band, the Itasca Brass Ensemble, and Homeward Bound Theatre Company.

To provide a variety of arts and cultural heritage activities at the Koochiching County Fair. Funds will be used to bring The Community of a Plate Exhibit to the fair. A Grand Rapids photographer will be commissioned to photograph local food producers in Koochiching County. Their portraits will be displayed during the fair.

The goal of this project is to expand Ojibwe language class availability on the Bois Forte Reservation in terms of both the number and levels offered. This project will use local experts and form partnerships with existing language preservation programs to implement a plan to address the revitalization and preservation of the Native language on the Bois Forte Indian Reservation. The long term goal s to increase the Oibwe language fluency, proficiency, and literacy of the Bois Forte Indian Community. A local Elder language expert wil be hired at 16 hours per week.

The ISD 361 Indian Education Project will continue to work closely with the local school district, Indian education staff, and parent committee members in the evaluation process. The goal of this project is that American Indian secondary student participation in Ojibwe language and culture classes. Data will be reported to and reviewed by ISD 361 Indian Education program committee staff and parent committee quarterly. Tests will be administered. Attendance will be captured, and all date will be kept on file.

Partner Organizations: 1000 Friends of Minnesota (renamed Envision Minnesota), Twin Cities Public Television (TPT)

Through this partnership, Minnesota history will be made more accessible to thousands of Minnesotans. The "Legacy Letters" project will result in up to 25 one-minute films that draw their content from a sampling of the 150 people, places, organizations, events and natural features of the state as compiled by the Minnesota Historical Society's MN 150 exhibit and book.

Reestablish the Lower Sioux Cultural Resource dedicated solely towards tribal youthby hiring workforce to manage and oversee programming. Increase cultural, language and beliefs into all youth programs - develop and format cultural based youth programming. Strengthen and open dialogue between the youth and elder populations to pass on language and cultural knowlege; build partnership with Lower Sioux Senior Services. Utilize technology to aid in education and awareness; create technological resources geared specifically toward youth language learning.