Partner: The University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
University of Minnesota students from diverse backgrounds explored the museum field through a semester-long course at the U, followed by a paid summer internship at the Minnesota Historical Society. The course introduced students to issues related to diversity and museums. Students then chose from a wide range of internship positions and also interacted with professionals in the field during a museum study trip to Washington, D.C.
To coincide with the centennial of the entrance of the United States into World War I, MNHS is developing a series of public programs, school programs, publications, and online resources to increase awareness and understanding of the World War I era and its enduring legacy for Minnesota and its people. Special outreach to the veterans' community and members of the active military is underway.
The award-winning History Live! program served more than 5,500 students in FY15, bringing the total number of students served since the program launched in FY11 to nearly 29,000. For the first quarter of FY16, the History Live! program updated its business plan with a goal to increase overall revenue and serve more students. It provided 14 programs serving 421 students through Oct. 31, 2015. In addition, the program partnered with the Jewish Community Relations Council to launch a new History Live! lesson that integrates students' use of handheld technology with the live program.
Through this partnership, U of M and ACTC students from diverse backgrounds explored the museum field and issues related to diversity and museums through a fall semester-long course for ACTC students and a spring semester course at the university, followed by a paid internship at MNHS, the Somali Museum of Minnesota, Mia, and other organizations.
This project will involve the creation of a new theater room to be included in the Hmong Cultural Center Museum and Library. The theater room will allow visiting groups and walk-in visitors to view clips of historical documentaries about the Hmong diaspora and Hmong American Experience as part of their museum experience.
The Hmong Cultural Heritage Initiative is intended to both preserve and spread awareness and knowledge of Hmong culture in a comprehensive and multifaceted manner by supporting several outreach initiatives of the Hmong Cultural Center Museum.
Hmong Museum proposes developing a 400 sq feet traveling exhibit around the importance of Hmong's oral culture. It will be a research phase with collaboration between Hmong Museum and community members. Topics would include Hmong stories that are passed on including history narratives, skills that are taught orally, and folktales. It will also provide an opportunity for visitors of all backgrounds to be inspired to share their own stories about their lives and experiences.
“Preserving Hmong Cultural Farming Traditions” is a project devoted to documenting, through photography, videography, and oral interviews, the unique agricultural practices, traditions, and stories of Hmong farmers. Farming is an intrinsic element of Hmong heritage and identity. But very little of the knowledge and experience of Hmong farmers is being passed down to Hmong youth. This project will document and preserve Hmong farming stories and agricultural traditions for future generations.
The Legacy of Hmong Immigrants: Wat Tham Krabok Project will encourage communications and understanding between generations and across cultures, specifically the legacy and experiences of the last wave of Hmong refugees, the Wat Tham Krabok immigrants. We hope that this new project will encourage communications and understanding between Hmong generations and across cultures; especially the project encompass the experiences of a minority within a minority.
Hmong Museum will develop and streamline its online educational offerings through a series of online web exhibitions, collections, and enhanced curriculum.
Photograph all items of the Martha Kaufman-Zimmerman Collection of needlework and four archival boxes of objects from ca. 2000 to 2019 of Wat Tham Krabok with accession information and several hundred digital photos, and post them on our website so they may be viewed at any time and place. Publish books in Hmong and English with selected images and texts from our accession record, with additional information about common design elements and audio-video interview information.
Hmong Museum will spearhead a new pilot program around lost arts and sharing stories and knowledge passed on through oral tradition. The project will be around the practice and teaching of Hmong elder’s knowledge and skill around a folk art activity, such as bamboo basket weaving.
The Hmong American Day non-profit would like to collaborate with Hmong for Native Speakers courses in the Osseo School District at Park Center Senior High and at Osseo Senior High to provide a culturally relevant education.
The New HCC Storefront Museum Implementation Project will involve the development of a guided tour app & new curriculum for school groups based on MN's K-12 standards. The project will also include a new strategic marketing plan to assist the museum in achieving future attendance & outreach goals. Finally, a new tour guide will be hired to meet public demand for tours in the new museum space which is intended to promote cross-cultural awareness and understanding of Hmong culture and history.
Filmmakers Kazua Melissa Vang, Yeej Moua, and May Lee-Yang will complete a documentary that look at how the pandemic transformed the way the Twin Cities Hmong community say goodbye to the dead.
A 2,500-square-foot exhibition, "We Are Hmong/Peb Yog Hmoob," timed for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the beginning of Hmong migration to Minnesota, is planned to open on March 7, 2015 and will run through November 29, 2015.
The Hmong Oral History Project aims to document Hmong stories and perspectives and for these interviews to be used as a resource for the We Are Hmong exhibit. MNHS worked with Mitch Lee, director of St. Paul's Hmong Broadcasting Company (HBC), to interview 10 prominent Hmong individuals. The interviews were created in video format by HBC's film crew. The interviews will be featured on HBC and will also become part of the MNHS collection available online at the Voices of Minnesota website, collections.mnhs.org/voicesofmn/.
This project is a workshop series project aimed to preserve cultural heritage by transferring knowledge on HMong batik and indigo textile art, a traditional practice lost to HMong Minnesotans. Workshops will be led by Artist Ka Oskar Ly, and include HMong elders, youth, families, educators, and broader community members, who will immerse in the HMong batik practice. These sessions will provide valuable insights into shared oral history, symbolism, and techniques, emphasizing comprehension of the entire process and its cultural significance.
This project will create and publish a Hmong Leng children's alphabet book and host a book release community event featuring traditional Hmong Leng music and clothes. The Hmong Leng dialect, also known as Moob Leeg, is an important branch of the Hmong language spoken by Hmong in the United States, Laos, Thailand, and China.
Our book titled Staring Down the Tiger: Stories of Hmong American Women, provides a platform to tell stories of Hmong women—stories that are often left unheard. The collection of the stories in the book were developed during a writing retreat that provided emotional and technical writing support to nearly 30 women. The writing retreat was invaluable in helping non writers uncover and creatively share their stories. We are requesting $5,000 to create a personal development workbook that will supplement the book offering readers their own virtual experience of the writing retreat.
To hire a qualified historian to evaluate the Hoffmann Honey Farm (Janesville Township) for possible inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places
To hire qualified consultants to conduct an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) assessment at the Hokah City Hall/Auditorium, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Hokah city history was put on display with the installation of six historical markers in various locations throughout the city. The markers consist of narrative information and photographs of historically relevant structures. All markers are ADA height, located in high traffic areas and are enhanced, produced and presented under a silicone hardcoat panel. An unveiling ceremony was held in June, 2011.
