The Dakota County Historical Society (DCHS) worked with a graphic designer to develop several templates for exhibit guides. The exhibit guides are short publications that promote and/or provide additional information about topics featured in DCHS exhibits and programs. Three different templates were developed, a two-sided 4" x 9" promotional card, a traditional three-fold brochure, and a booklet 5.5" x 8.5" that can be scaled in four-page increments. Each of these guides is immediately recognizable as a product of DCHS.
An exhibit was created as a 13-part rotating display highlighting medical care in Minneapolis and Hennepin County from the 1870's to the present. It was first shown at the Hennepin County Medical Center and was then placed in the Hennepin County Government Center Gallery in September, 2011.
The exhibit had been researched and developed by Hennepin Medical History Center volunteers using history center resources. Medical statistics were gathered, a diary-style storyline was created to run the length of the exhibit and objects were chosen for display.
Deer Creek has been identified as an impaired water body. This project will quantify the reductions in pollutant loading that would be necessary to bring water quality in the creek to an acceptable level. The project also includes collection of any additional data needed for stream channel modeling scenarios.
Build ADA compliant, year round, multi-purpose, paved trail and boardwalk around Empire Lake; Construct 2 camper cabins; Improve/replace Empire Lake dike outlet; Install benches & site furnishings; landscaping and MP-approved improvements. Includes design, engineering, construction & construction administration.
Crosby Farm Regional Park. Develop new east side entrance and parking area. Build new trail connections to Sam Morgan Regional Trail and other existing trails. Convert unused road bed to green space.
Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Regional Park, implement Brownie Lake Master Plan, develop a 1-mile trail and update lighting, vegetation, and drainage. Upgrade fishing facility, archery area.
At Bald Eagle-Otter Tail Lakes Regional Park, develop a volunteer corps of nature play leaders, gardeners and naturalists to support nature programming.
A professional preservation specialist was retained to develop a needs assessment, an action item list and a timeline for a complete disaster plan pertaining to the storage and gallery spaces that the SLCHS is responsible for in Duluth's St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center.
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.
Through this funding, the Minnesota Historical Society is advancing the work of making collections information available online. The Society is photographing 3D objects in the collections and completing corresponding descriptions that will be published online, allowing web site visitors to access an increasing volume of historical information.
Partner Organizations: Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MNGeo), Minnesota Secretary of State, Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Minnesota Association of County Surveyors (MACS), U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
The commissioner shall develop a ten-year strategic state parks and trails plan considering traditional funding and the funding available under the Minnesota Constitution, article XI, section 15. The plan shall incorporate the 25-year framework developed by the University of Minnesota Center for Changing Landscapes. (HF 1231, Art 3, Sec 2)
In the summer of 2011, conservation practices were installed in the upper reaches of Dobbins Creek to stabilize eroding stream banks. We contracted with the non-profit Minnesota Conservation Corps to assist with the labor. The crew worked efficiently, the weather cooperated perfectly, and the project came together exactly as planned. The banks of Dobbins Creek were armored with native cedar trees and anchored to the banks. Once the project was complete, we cut the side slopes back to reduce future erosion in the newly protected banks.
Fifteen Minnesota cartoonists were interviewed, recorded and the recordings transcribed for an oral history project conducted by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Interviewees were selected to represent the history of cartooning in Minnesota from the 1940's to 2011.
Three radio theatre scripts were produced using the synthesized oral histories of Douglas County's elder residents. The oral histories had been gathered earlier as part of the Minnesota Historical Society's oral history project to preserve the stories of Minnnesota's Greatest Generation. The topics for the scripts were: the Great Depression, World War II and the post-war economic Boom. Each script was vetted by knowledgeable content experts and the information presented is historically accurate.
The Otter Tail River serves as the main drinking water supply for the city of Fergus Falls. The community recognizes it as a valuable resource which needs to be protected. The lower reach of the Otter Tail River is listed as being impaired for turbidity(muddiness).
The Drinking Water Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) program identifies environmental contaminants for which current health-based standards currently do not exist or need to be updated, investigate the potential for human exposure to these chemicals, and develop guidance values for drinking water. Contaminants evaluated by CEC staff include contaminants that have been released or detected in Minnesota waters (surface water and groundwater) or that have the potential to migrate to or be detected in Minnesota waters.
This project will quantify and qualify the effectiveness of herbicide treatments and native plant re-establishment at Duck Lake through systematic vegetative surveys pre and post herbicide application and following mid-summer die-off of curly-leaf pondweed. The data and analysis will ultimately be used in the development of TMDLs, implementation and protection strategies for other lakes in the Middle Minnesota Major Watershed.
Duluth women who gave birth prior to WW II were interviewed about their experiences. Birth locations, attitudes, techniques, labor support and new baby care were the focus for the questions. The interviews were transcribed into Microsoft Word and PDF documents. The documents are to be used by the applicant organization and other interested groups to aid mother and labor support and for other public outreach.
