Guys Read at the Library — and Wherever

Children’s Book Week, May 7-13, offers a chance to poke around to discover some of what’s happening in the wonderful world of books for children..  The answer is LOTS is happening and a week offers a mere glimpse of some samples.

Guys Read in Hennepin County Library is one of scores of reading promotion initiatives sponsored by area libraries.  The HCL site is part of a national drive initiated by children’s author Jon Scieszka.   Guys Read is designed to draw attention to boys’ literacy and to motivate adults to help boys read more.  Scieszke is the nation’s first children’s laureate, officially called the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

Describing the Guys Read program Scieszka writes:

We can help boys read by letting them choose what they read.expanding our definition of “reading” to include nonfiction, graphic novels, comics, comic strips, humor magazines, newspapers, online text, getting boys to recommend reading they do like to other boys, providing boys with male role models for reading in school and at home.

The national Guys Read website offers these and countless other observations about boys’ reading as well as an extensive list of books that boys read and recommend.

The Guys Read program in Hennepin County Library is made possible by the Library Foundation of Hennepin County with support from Best Buy Children’s Foundation and the Ann and Jack Cole Fund.

 

For more information about the forty Guys Read sites in the HCL system check the Library’s website.

 

 

Musician/writer Dylan Hicks and Poet Dobby Gibson at the Northeast Library

Once again the Friends of the Northeast Library will sponsor a very special author talk on Thursday, May 17, 6;30 p.m. at the Library, 2200 Central Avenue Northeast.  The May program is a classic double-header:

Dylan Hicks, is a man of many interests, talents and faces. Readers who know Dylan Hicks are eagerly awaiting his first novel which is set for publication in May by Coffee House Press, a Northeast independent literary force.    Though difficult to categorize, Boarded Windows is already receiving national acclaim.  The novel reflects and spirit of Uptown Minneapolis in the Nineties.

One reviewer, Sam Lipsyte, writes “Do yourself a favor and read this smart, tender book.  The characters will  haunt you with their longing, and inspire you with their sweet, caustic wit.  Dylan Hicks knows his music and his prose is a song in itself.  He’s given light to the shuttered and boarded parts of life.”

The theme of the novel comes as no surprise to the many locals who know Hicks as a songwriter and musician. Earlier this year he released his first album in ten years. The book includes a free download of Sings Bolling Green, a soundtrack to the novel written and performed by Dylan Hicks himself.

Followers of popular culture know that in the past several years Hicks has melded his writing and musical talents as a prodigious writer.   He’s a familiar name as contributor to City Pages, a position he left to focus on Boarded Windows.

A search of the web discloses some intriguing information about Dylan Hicks’ life and interests.  His own website contains a forthright author statement that reveals much about Boarded Windows.  A lengthy conversation  with his colleague Brad Zellar goes into real depth about writing and music.  Zellar concludes with an intriguing observation that “there’s no Minneapolis novel.   Boarded Windows, Zellar writes “is the first book that I can think of that’s really steeped in Minneapolis, that really gets it.”  A question the author may address at the Friends program….

Joining Dylan Hicks on the program is Minnesota poet Dobby Gibson who will discuss his new collection It Becomes You, forthcoming from another independent press Graywolf Press in 2013.  The collection of poems is described as “meditative, lyrical, aphoristic, and always leavened with a wry wit.  The reviewer writes that “through Dobby Gibson’s poems you explore the divergent conditions by which we’re perpetually defined—the daily weather, the fluctuations of the Dow, the growth of a cancer cell, the politics of the day.”

Dobby Gibson’s first book of poetry, Polar, published in 2004, received the Beatrice Award and was a finalist for the 2006 Minnesota Book Award.  He is also the author of a second collection of poetry, Skirmish, published in 2009 by Graywolf Press.

Again, a web search will discover several interviews with Dobby Gibson, reviews and readings of his works of poetry.

The Friends of the Library programs are all free and open to the public.

Cornerstones: A History of North Minneapolis Documentary Showing

The day is coming when my neighbors and I will be able to cross the Lowry Bridge to explore friends and family in  North Minneapolis – a good time to refresh memories and learn more about  the legendary history of the Northside community.

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Daniel Pierce Bergin worked with the University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) and Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), to produce an hour-long documentary on just that topic.   The documentary “Cornerstones: A History of North Minneapolis” offers the viewer powerful stories of Northside life blended with themes of race relations, immigration and cultural changes through “place-based memories.”

Bergin will offer a public viewing and discussion of his documentary on Saturday, February 4, 2-3:30 p.m. at Sumner Library, 611 Van White Boulevard, at the intersection of Van White Boulevard and Olson Highway.  Bergin is a senior producer with a varied background including the documentary North Star: Minnesota’s Black Pioneers.  Other Bergin productions include Standing the Test of Time, the biography of architect Cass Gilbert, and a literary history documentary entitled Literature & Life: The Givens Collection.

Sumner Library opened its doors in 1915 is a vital player in the history of the Northside.   for nearly a century library has served the public through decades of change   Funded through the largesse of Andrew Carnegie, the Tudor Revival style building designed by architect Cecil Bayless Chapman was a showpiece as well as a citadel of learning in the working class neighborhood.

In the early days, the library served as unique place where the Jewish Community of the Northside congregated and came together to learn. The Sumner Library ensured the preservation of the Yiddish and Hebrew languages through their collection of books written in these dialects. This further enhanced the sense of community and oneness felt in the North Side neighborhood.  In time, the collection and the programs of Sumner have evolved with the changing demographics of the Northside.  The same spirit of service to newcomers is the distinguishing feature of Sumner today.Because Bergin will be on hand February 4^th to discuss and respond to viewers’ questions, prospective attendees may wish to preview the documentary in advance.  It’s been telecast and will be shown again on Sunday, February 26, 1:00 PM, and Wednesday, February 29, at 5:00 AM and 11:00 PM.  The documentary is also streamed on the web on several sites, including the TPT Cornerstones site.

For Dickens Fans It is the Best of Times

For devotees of Charles Dickens whose idea of winter is curling up with a good book this is the best of times!    Celebrations of the Bicentennial of Dickens birth, February 7, 1812, are in full swing round the globe.  Not to be outdone by our cousins across The Pond, Americans are putting aside the unpleasantness of the War of 1812 to rejoice at the delight – and the social awareness – he has generated over the many years that readers have endured, then embraced, his works.

Needless to say, the Brits are euphoric.  The story is that Dickens would have planned it that way.  According to Radhika Jones writing in Time Entertainment, Dickens had a hand in assuring that his works would endure.  Jones, managing editor of Time magazine and Dickens authority, writes that “I’m not just talking about writing great books, lots of people have done that.  It’s that he took a vested interest in his legacy and in the legacy of the publishing industry overall. “  Jones observes that Dickens anticipated “boom times” for fiction:

That was apparent just by virtue of the imitators, acolytes and outright plagiarists his writing inspired.  So it made sense that Dickens would do certain things to help keep himself at the forefront of the movement.  He cultivated an exceedingly local audience, across class lines; he fought for copyright and collective bargaining powers for authors; he managed his posthumous reputation to the extent that he could control it, by burning all his letters and by appointing a very close friend as his first biographer; he edited two consecutive weekly magazines and fostered rising talent, thus creating a circle of admirers and protégés (while effectively, self-publishing his own work, in the serial format that his success with Pickwick had made the standard for the era).

In an age of letter press Dickens addressed head-on a host of issues that plague the digital world today – his blog would have gone viral overnight.

Still, it’s just as well Dickens didn’t spend his time online.  He would not have had time or the mental focus to write fifteen major novels and countless short stories – or to reflect on the social conditions of the day, the experience of poverty, child labor, misers and murders and abandonment that shaped his youth and led him to create his own world through fiction which, in the end, became his chosen tool for expressing his passion for social reform.

If, perchance, you’re too busy managing your own blog to re-read the complete Dickens you might want to follow the aforementioned Radhika Jones’ blog to be announced in the January 26 issue of Time.   Jones, who has published a bookshelf of commentaries on Dickens, will be post her thoughts on Dickens’ “ten best books.”

One of the several ways to keep up with all things Dickens during the bicentenary and beyond is to check David Perdue’s Charles Dickens Page. Quick to point out that he is not a scholar, Perdue is a Dickens enthusiast who shares everything you don’t even know you don’t know about the bicentennial celebrations, Dickens’ life, Dickens’ places (museums, gravesite and more), a Dickens photo gallery and links to information and blogs about Dickens.

The pedagogues at Britain’s National Schools Partnership have created a delightful learning tool, a curriculum based on Dickens’ works entitled What the Dickens,  geared to middle school teachers inculcating the skills of English and creative writing in the middle grades.

Even the Wall Street Journal is caught up in the Dickens tide.  The WSJ editors offer a thoughtful observation that may give pause to some of their readers:

Dickens is not safe, he is not ‘heritage.’  He is fierce, ferocious and formidable. No one has depicted the homeless with more sorrow and pity and terror than Dickens.  He depicted them from both sides: from middle-class safety, looking outward, and from their own point of view, looking at a world that seems to offer such richness and happiness to everyone else.  And then, as an act of mediation, he moves us between the two worlds so that we understand both. (quoted in blog)

If you are willing to “see ourselves as others see us” you must read “Dickens in America.”   Dickens was at the peak of popularity when we ventured on a sort of exploratory mission in 1842.  He returned on a Reading Tour in 1868.  Though he was welcomed at the White House he moved on to explore the cities and the peoplefrom Boston to St. Louis, Baltimore to Cincinnati, and beyond.  He shared his views on international copyright, visited prisons, traveled to the South to learn more about slavery, and criticized the American press for the dearth of coverage of local news.  His experiences and impressions of his 1842 tour are recorded in American Notes, now readable online.

This great essay describes his travels, his off-the-highway stops, and his observations, visiting and writing about the renowned and the ordinary people he met en route.  There will no doubt be those Americans who jet off to London or Portsmouth or Bath to drink deep of the Dickensian stream.   For the rest of us, there are countless  options closer to home.  Libraries in particular are sponsoring exhibits, readings, film fests and other Bicentennial events that explore all things Dickensian.

If you would like to share your take on Dickens with British bibliophiles, you should know about the Dickens Book Club at Foyles Bookshop, 113 Charing Cross Road where  each month Londoners will be able to plumb the depths of a Dickens classic with Alex Werner, curator of the Charles Dickens Museum.  Yanks are welcome to join in the discussion on Twitter or Facebook.  Check the Museum of London for details and links – and start reading Bleak House to be up to speed for the first discussion on February 6.

Closer to home, the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries is sponsoring a Dickens’ Pageant.  Anatoly Liberman, U of M professor, linguist and literary scholar, will discuss Dickens’ most memorable characters, the features that make Dickens unique, and the reason he remains a universal favorite.  The event is February 23, 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the Upson Room, Walter Library.  The event is free and open.

Contact Lanaya Stangret, stangret@umn.edu  or RSVP online or at 612-624 9339, by February 16.

Time spent re-reading the classics or discovering Dickens’ lesser known works remains the ideal way to share Dickens’  thoughts and his bicentenary – for independent readers, and book clubbers who grapple with his issues or who just enjoy a good read.  A good place to start is the following list of Dickens’ books accessible on the shelves of libraries or available through inter-library loan.

Librarian and volunteer Ruthann Ovenshire who is preparing an exhibit of Dickens’ fiction at the Minneapolis Central Library has kindly provided this list of titles familiar and often new to readers who want to celebrate the Dickens Bicentennial in a proper way that would greatly please the author who cared a good deal about his legacy.

Fiction by Charles Dickens

Barnaby Rudge : a tale of the riots of ‘eighty

Bleak house.

A Christmas carol and other stories

David Copperfield

Doctor Marigold’s prescriptions

Dombey and Son

Great expectations

Hard times

The haunted house

Hunted down

Little Dorrit

Martin Chuzzlewit

Mrs Lirriper

The mystery of Edwin Drood

Nicholas Nickleby.

The old curiosity shop.

Oliver Twist

Our mutual friend.

The Pickwick papers

The poems and verses of Charles Dickens;

The poor traveller

The posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club

Short plays from Dickens for the use of amateur and school dramatic societies;

The signalman & other ghost stories

Sketches by Boz. Illustrative of every-day life and every-day people.

Somebody’s luggage

A tale of two cities.

The uncommercial traveler

Nonfiction by Charles Dickens

A child’s history of England.

Household words; a weekly journal 1850-1859

The life of Our Lord

Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi

Pictures from Italy with American notes (one volume)

Speeches.

Author Martin Kihn featured at Friends of Northeast Library talk

Martin Kihn writes about the world he knows – with a twist.  This includes his recent novel, Bad Dog: A Love Story, a touching tale that marks a true departure in Kihn’s  writing style.  Bad Dog follows the trials and triumphs  of Hola, the “most beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog in the world” who clearly lacks the niceties of training, and her “supposed master” who has some troubles of his own.

Kihn will share his unique take on the world on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 6:30 p.m. at the Northeast Library, 2200 Central Avenue Northeast.

After twenty years of living and working in fast-paced New York City  Kihn moved from NYC to Northeast Minneapolis in October with his wife singer-songwriter Julia Douglass and, of course, Hola  – When asked why the move, Kihn says that his wife is from this area and Hola is taken with walks along the Mississippi and the Stone Arch Bridge area.

Though he is first-and-foremost a writer, Kihn adds that he is also “a digital marketer, dog lover, balletomane and spiritual athlete.”  Born in Zambia, Kihn grew up in suburban Michigan, earned a BA in Theater Studies from Yale and an MBA from Columbia Business School.  In Minneapolis he pursues his writing profession while managing his business career at Fallon.

A prolific writer, Kihn has published in a host of publications including the New York Times, GQ, Us and others.  He was on the staff of several publications and, in the late 1990’s, was head writer for the MTV show Pop-Up Video for which he was an Emmy nominee.

The self-deprecating Kihn admits that most of his earlier writing “could be called satirical or snarky, meticulously researched and office-based.” One of his early publications, affectionately entitled House of Lies: How management consultants steal your watch and then tell you the time (Grand Central 2005) reflects his three years working for a large consultant agency.  Though praised by the press, the book was not well received by professional colleagues who spammed Amazon.com with one-star reviews intended to sabotage the criticism of their trade.

Kihn moved on to produce his most popular book of that “snarky” period,  a  satirical stunt-memoir the premise of which is that a person who is too nice to get ahead in business decides systematically to turn himself into a jerk and reap the rewards.  It was a rage round the globe.

Bad Dog reflects an entirely different side of the writer.  Bad Dog: A Love Story, is the warm story of a troubled man and his badly behaved mountain dog.  It’s described as a “journey of redemption, as together man and dog reclaim their lives by working toward a common goal.”  Much more about Marty Kihn on his website on which Hola even appears in a new video on Kihn’s website.

Martin Kihn’s talk is presented by Friends of the Northeast Library.  Contact the Friends at northeast@friendsofhclib.org

.

“Text Us” at the Hennepin County Library

Though I have it on good authority that this service is well advertised in Hennepin County Libraries, it occurs to me that the people who might want to use the service are likely to not be in the library but at a coffee shop somewhere.  For the past couple of months Hennepin County Library has been accepting texted questions at the Ask Us information service.

 

Library users with a mobile device should  text “hclib” to 66746 for instructions.  Library users may also access the Ask Us information service by Instant Messaging.

 

HCL also offers a free mobile application for easier access to Ask Us.  The Ask Us service is free, though standard message and data rates do apply.  Ask Us is available Monday–Thursday 9-7 and Friday 9-5.

 

According to Library Director Lois Langer Thompson, the service “isn’t only for reference questions.  Patrons can ask us what they need to ask whether it is for information, or about their library account, or anything else.  Society has become must more mobile, and communicating with our patrons by texting is a response eto that growing trend.”

 

Celebrate American Archives Month!

The very term “archives” conjures images of dust and decay accompanied by acrid aromas and tended by bespectacled history geeks.  All wrong.  And anyone who has ever explored family or house history, faced a legal dilemma, or wondered about local lore has had a brush with paper, digital or other archives.

 

October is American Archives Month, a season to be celebrated by the most tempero-centric – a time to think for a minute that those preserved photos, clippings, stories, public records and more didn’t just happen but have been collected, organized, preserved and made accessible through the deliberate and committed work of individuals and the commitment of institutions. 

 

At the time of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial I skimmed the state’s archival surface to compile a random list of irresistible lures to the world of archives.  Over the years I’ve tweaked it a bit – and was amazed to find it posted (sans attribution) on the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information website.  I have not checked to see if the original was edited by that group.

 

For some time I have wanted to share this listing and concluded that American Archives Month 2011 might be a propitious opportunity to resurface the whimsical list, slightly pruned and otherwise modified – not significantly updated because the month is just too short for a serious revision.

 

Many of the materials and descriptions here are accessible online; the print listings suggest a link to digital options. Because the digital resources offer an absolute minimum of the preserved record, we need and always will need multiple access options. Though digitization is growing at an exponential rate, its main contribution is to lure the armchair searcher into a passion to know more and to make the minimal effort to learn more.

 

This random list is absolutely arbitrary and whim-biased  with links to minute bits of Minnesota history.  Each of these guides, descriptions, stories was prepared by a Minnesotan, an organization or a state agency that cared enough about the state’s stories to collect, preserve, organize or otherwise help create the legacy.  Not everything is digitized or on the web – websites are just the most accessible right now.  These sites exemplify the ways in which Minnesotans have used the public records to plumb the depths of their particular interest or passion or legal encounter. 

 

Tending to the record of Minnesota is a collective responsibility and a public trust.  It takes personal conviction, time, talent and public support.  Without these and hundreds of thousands of other records, carefully organized and preserved, the Sesquicentennial would signify the passage of time rather than the values, the experience, the public record, and the recognition that access to information is at the very core of the democracy we share.  The challenge of today is to embrace that principle so that 21^st technology enhances access to the building blocks and expands the embrace of this diverse, informed and sharing culture.

 

The disorganization is absolutely arbitrary – draw no conclusions. The omissions are legion.  Though a comprehensive and authoritative list would be a wonderful tool, the universe of possibilities is well nigh infinite and digitization is having a daily and profound impact on the possibilities. 

 

Pick a topic, probe a bit, and pause to think a bit about why and how we  preserve the data and the stories of our state.  Some places to start, bearing in mind that each of these tools reflects the commitment and labor, past and continuing, of an archivist and, in many cases, an institution:

 

Minnesota Archives, Minnesota Historical Society – MHS, along with several state agencies, is taking a lead at the national level in preserving the state’s own information digital resources.  It’s a monumental undertaking that does Minnesotans proud!  The depth of resources and the collaborative efforts of state agencies deserve an American Archives Month commendation. 

 

Minnesota Reflections, an overwhelming and growing collection of documents, photographs, maps, letters and more that tell the state’s story – a great starting point for any age.

 

James K. Hosmer Special Collections, Hennepin County Library – actually a collection of collections on topics ranging from Minneapolis history to club files to World War II and Abolition.  Much is digitized but, as always, that is but the tip of the iceberg – a tip worth checking out however.

 

Minnesota Place Names; a geographical encyclopedia, by Warren Upham.  A classic, originally published in 1920 and now available on line through the Minnesota Historical Society.   Overflowing with wonderful stories. 

.

West Bank Boogie.  If you were around in the 60’s and 70’s you’ll be reminded – if not, see what you missed!  Cyn Collins is the collector and storyteller.

 

Holland, Maurice, Architects of Aviation, 1951.  William Bushnell Stout 1880-1956.  One man’s determination to record the stories of our aviation history.

 

A knack for knowing things: Stories from St. Paul neighborhoods and beyond, by Don Boxmeyer.  BiblioVault.

 

The Cuyuna iron range – Geology and Minerology, by Peter McSwiggen and Jane Cleland.

 

Ron Edwards, The Minneapolis Story Through My Eyes: A Renaissance Black Man in a White Man’s World. Continued by a bi-weekly column from The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder  and a TV show on Channel 17.

 

Center for International Education (The CIE) – a self-proclaimed “media arts micro-organization” the goal of which is to “make poetic media with people of all ages from all over the world.”  Videos including interviews with Robert Bly, Tom McGrath, Jim Northrup, Frederick Manfred and documentaries on Eugene McCarthy, Paul Wellstone, Robert Bly, and much more. The world of Media Mike Hazard.

 

Alexander G. Huggins Diary and Huggins Family Photographs, Collections Up Close.  This is just one of numerous podcasts and blogs describing in depth the individual collections of the Minnesota Historical Society.  Re-live the day-to-day travels of this mission family in Minnesota 1830-1860.  Just a sample of the podcast/blogs from MHS.

 

Minnesota Tobacco Document Depository – built as part of the settlement with Philip Morris, Inc. et al.  26 million pages of documents.

 

Frances Densmore  Prolific writer and chronicler of the cultures of the Dakota and Ojibwe and other Native American Tribes.  Densmore also recorded over 2,000 wax cylinders of Native music.

 

The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies, University of Minnesota Libraries.

Ramseyer-Northern Bible Society Collection.  The largest non-seminary Bible collection in the Upper Midwest.  Donald J. Pearce, Curator.

Rhoda Gilman, historian extraordinaire,  The Story of Minnesota’s Past, just one of several books by Gilman.   “The Dakota War and the State Sesquicentennial” is a more current blog representing her ongoing contributions to preserve and elucidate Minnesota’s story.  Google Rhoda Gilman for more glimpses of her writings over the past several decades.

 

Evans, Rachel.  Tribal College Librarians Build Map Database, Library of Congress Info Bulletin, Oct. 2002

The Archie Givens, Sr. Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota Libraries.

Perfect Porridge.  A good compilation of the TC’s Electropunk scene and lots of information about what’s happening on the broadly-defined media scene.

 

Saint Paul Police Historical Society, Saint Paul Police Oral History Project.  One man’s (Timothy Robert Bradley’s)  passion shared with the public.

 

William Watts Folwell,  Though  Folwell was best known as the first President of the University of Minnesota from 1868-1884 he moved on from that post to serve as professor of political science and continued as University Library until 1907.  The Folwell family papers, 1898-1944, can be found in the U of M Archives.

 

This Sister Rocks!  Thirty years ago Joan Kain, CSJ wrote a small book Rocky Roots: Three Geology Walking Tours of Downtown St. Paul.  The book, which  resurfaced during the 2006 International Rock Symposium, is now being edited for reissue by the Ramsey County Historical Society.

 

Lowertown, a project of the St. Paul Neighborhood Network, interviews artists who live, work and exhibit in Lowertown St. Paul.  The website also provides links to the websites of the individual arts.  A rich celebration and close-up view of this area’s art community.

 

Park Genealogical Books are this community’s specialists in genealogy and local history for Minnesota and the surrounding area.  Their list of publication includes how-to’s on genealogy, research hints and unique assists for anyone working on Minnesota genealogy, records and archives.  The life’s work of Mary Bakeman.

 

Fort Snelling Upper Post is a labor of love on the part of Todd Hintz.  Todd offers an historical timeline, a description of the current situation, wonderful photos by Mark Gustafson and an intro to related resources.  Great for anyone who cares of preservation of Fort Snelling.

 

Minnesota Historical Society, Oral History Collection.  Pioneers of the Medical Device Industry in Minnesota.  A sample of the rich oral history collection of the MHS.

 

Scott County Historical Society, Stans Museum.  Minnesota Greatest Generation Scott County Oral History Project.

 

Haunted Places in Minnesota.  Scores of deliciously spooky sites you’ve probably visited – but never will again – without trepidation.

 

Minnesota Museum of the Mississippi. Postcards and lots of memorabilia that tell the story of the river.

 

Special Libraries Association.  MN SLA: Early Chapter History (1943-1957)

 

Land Management Information Center – zillions of maps and mountains of data, plus people to help.

 

Minnesota Legislature, Geographic Information Services – maps of legislative and congressional districts, election results, school districts and much more.

 

Minnesota State University, Moorhead, Library.  Maps and Atlases – great guide to government produced maps and atlases

 

Minnesota Public Records Directory.  A commercial listing of Minnesota’s public records sources.

 

Minnesota Senate Media Coverage – live and archive coverage of Senate floor sessions, committee hearings, press conferences and special events.

 

Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes – statutes, indexes, rules, drafting manuals and more.

 

Minnesota State Law Library, Minnesota Legal Periodical Index.  A practical guide prepared by the state’s law librarians.

 

Minnesota Historical Society Press, Minnesota History.  Quarterly publication featuring original researched articles, illustrations, photographs and other treasures from the MHS.

 

The Civil War Archive – more than you ever needed to know about the Union Regiment in Minnesota.

George, Erin.  Delving deeper: Resources in U’s Borchert Map Library, Continuum 2007-08. description of the massive resources of the U of M’s Borchert Library.

Shapiro, Linda.  Art History Goes Digital..   Description of the digitizing initiatives of the University of Minnesota’s collections.

 

Drawing: Seven Curatorial Responses.  Katherine E. Nash Gallery.  Curators’ perspectives on the challenge of organizing and make accessible this one art format.

 

The Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums.  A forum for peer assistance among over fifty county, city and other local historical societies.

 

Minnesota Historical Society Collections Up Close.  Beautifully illustrated podcasts about what’s new at the MHS.  Regularly updated.

 

The Tell G. Dahllof Collection of Swedish Americans, University of Minnesota Libraries.  The collection encompasses American history seen from a Swedish perspective, the history of Swedish emigration to America, Swedish culture in America, and general descriptions by Swedish travelers to America.

 

University of Minnesota Media History Project, promoting media history “from petroglyphs to pixels.”

Ten Years of Sculpture and Monument Conservation on the Minnesota State Capitol Mall, compiled by Paul S. Storch, Daniels Objects Conservation Laboratory, Minnesota Historical Society.  Just one of dozens of similar conservation studies you’ll find at this site.

Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records.  Live access to federal land conveyance records for the public land states.  Image access to more than three million federal land title records for Eastern public land states issued between 1820 and 1908.  Much more!

Minnesota History Topics, a list of Minnesota-related topics to get you thinking about exploring Minnesota history.

 

Minnesota Government, an excellent guide to state government information sources compiled by the Saint Paul Public Library.

 

Minnesota History Quarterly.  Publication of the Minnesota Historical Society Press.  Available as subscription or with membership.  This one sample will give you the flavor, but there are lots more where this came from!

 

Revisor’s Office Duties – publications duties.  The Office of the Revisor of States covers many bases, particularly during the legislative session.  This list of publications offers a good overview of the Revisor’s domain.

 

New!!  Library Search, now in beta test phase.  A web interface for locating print (including articles), databases, indexes, electronic, and media items. Try it out and offer your unique feedback!

 

Geographic Information Services, State of Minnesota.  Includes scores of interactive maps of population, election results, school districts, legislative districts and more.

 

Children’s Literature Research Collections (Kerlan Collection), University of Minnesota Libraries, Special Collection.  A unique and inspiring collection of books, illustrations, manuscripts, notes and other records of children’s writers and illustrators.  The Kerlan also offers a robust series of presentations by children’s authors, writers and critics. 

 

Family History Centers in Minnesota.  One small component of the massive resources of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints.

 

Historic Museums in Minnesota.  Prepared by the Victorian Preservation of Santa Clara Valley.  An amazing resource with tons of information and in incredible wealth of links.  They offer this self-deprecating introduction:  “This is all pretty high tech for a bunch of people living in the past, but then you probably know our valley by its other name, Silicon Valley.”

 

Minnesota History Along the Highways, compiled by Sara P. Rubinstein.  Published by the Minnesota Historical Society.  Locations and texts of 254 historic markers, 60 geologic markers, and 29 historic monuments in all corners of the state.

 

Ramsey County Historical Society, the officially-recognized historical society of Ramsey County.  The Society’s two primary programs are the Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life and the quarterly magazine on Ramsey County history and St. Paul.

 

The Regional Alliance for Preservation, formerly the Upper Midwest Conservation Center at the Minneapolis Art Institute.

 

Minnesota HYPERLINK “http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html” Lakefinder, sponsored by the DNR, provides in-depth information about 4500 lakes and rivers in the state – surveys, maps, water quality data and more, including a new mobile app for the water or ice-based fisher.

 

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral History, a database including 2,162 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of information re. immigration to America and Canada, 1800-1850.  Produced in collaboration with the University of Chicago by Alexander Street Press.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Finding Aids to Collections Organized by Topic in the Archive of Folk Culture, compiled by Ross. S. Gerson. Minnesota Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture.  Library of Congress.   Sound recording in various formats.  You won’t believe the recordings they have preserved. The American Folklife Center

 

Minnesota Spoken Word Association, formed to create an alliance among spoken word artists and a resource center. Emphasis on youth.

Focus on Minnesota Presses Series Opens at Minneapolis Central Library

Though Minnesota readers know local writers and their works, we often know less about the publishers that nurture the authors, edit, design, publish  and promote their written words.  Friends of Hennepin County Library’s  Spotlight on Local Presses, a series of three evenings of literary events that feature presses that  have collectively published a wealth of fine literature known around the globe

Ø     Ed Bok Lee and Bao begin the series on Saturday, September 24, 8:00 p.m. with the launch of their most recent books of poetry, published by Coffeehouse Press.  Both authors are well known in the Twin Cities and on the national Asian American literary and spoken word scene.

Ø     The second program, Thursday, November 3, 7:00 p.m., focuses on Graywolf Press.  It’s a sneak preview of the new publishing series featuring authors Mary Rockcastle and Jeffrey Yang and Editors Fiona McCrae and Jeffrey Shotts.

Ø     Travel literature is big in December – enjoy armchair travel with an evening of travel, politics and prose with award-winning poet, journalist, translator and essayist Christopher Merrill who will discuss his new book The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War.  Merrill will be introduced and joined on stage by Daniel Slager, Publisher and CEO of Milkweed Editions.

All of the programs are free and open to the public, held in Pohlad Hall at Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall.    Times change so note with care.  There will be a book sale and wine to sip before the program with book sale, signings and dessert after each presentation.

More on the Friends website or call 612 543 8197

 

Women of the Polanie Club Share the Polish Heritage for Eighty Decades and More

Of the scores of clubs and organizations that have donated their priceless archives to the James K. Hosmer Special Collections at the Minneapolis Central Library none collected and preserved the record more thoroughly than the Polanie Club.  Known well by Polish Americans everywhere and by residents of Northeast Minneapolis in particular, the Polanie Club is mighty force committed to preserving – and sharing – all that is good about Polish culture.

The Polanie Club  became a reality in October 1927 when a dozen young women of Polish descent gathered for a social club and welcome home to a friend who had just returned from Poland, “full of enthusiasm” to share what she had learned.  The young women agreed to a common purpose,  shaped a collective vision and a shared mission: to preserve their Polish heritage – the history, language, art, music and cuisine of their native land.  The fledgling group called themselves the Polanie Club, “polanie” meaning “people of the prairie.”  From the outside the Club served as a resource, providing Polish national clothing, exhibits, recipes, and a library open to the community.  In the   1930’s the Club sponsored Polish language classes at the U of M and at two public high schools.

Nearly a half century after the formation of the Polanie Club the publication  Northeast: A history described the women and the early days of the club they shaped:

Each was beginning her career as wife, mother, teacher, social worker, lawyer, musician or University student.  Even the Depression years, which followed, were gay times at the Club…The group celebrated each other’s birthdays, engagements, graduation, scholarship awards, and new babies, but never lost sight of its main purpose, to enhance understanding of Polish culture.  This was largely due to the influence of Monica Krawczyk.  (from notes found in the Polanie Club file housed at the James K. Hosmer Special Collections, Minneapolis Central Library)

The unidentified author of this article reminds the reader that the Polanie Club grew at a time when many Polish Americans were changing their names by dropping the RZ-SC-CA combination that native Americans found difficult.

Over the years the Polanie Club continued to meet in members’ homes where they enjoyed comraderie and a monthly gourmet dinner.  Though they ardently supported the defense effort, they held firm to their commitment to preserving the Polish culture.  Wartime programs included “The Music of Poland”(1939), Musical Education in Poland”, and “Poland, a Songland of the World from Music and Youth,”  Later programs featured “Polish Folklore” and” “Polish Women Authors” among a long list of serious discussions of Polish culture, talks often presented by noted scholars and artists.

At these monthly meetings, the women reviewed their many projects and pondered how best to promulgate Polish culture in this country.  Focus on writing and publishing, they agreed, was the best way to spread the word.

Their first publishing venture was launched in 1942 with a collection of the lyrics of 110 Polish songs, Piesni Ludowe. On their 15^th anniversary they published Victoria Janda’s collection of poems entitled “Star Hunger”.  That was followed two years later by the poet’s “Walls of Space.”  In 1948 the Polanie Club published its premiere best seller, a cookbook entitled Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans, illustrated by Stanley Legun, a Northeast Minneapolis artist.

The presses were kept busy with Polish publications – poetry, short stories and, in 1957, a compilation of over 300 songs – music and words.  This major work, entitled Treasured Polish Songs with English Translations was illustrated by Maria Werten and translated by Polanie members.

A major event for the Polanie Club came in 1966 when the organization sponsored the Annual Convention of the American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs (now known as the American Council for Polish Culture.)   The conference, held at the University of Minnesota, celebrated the Polish Millennium with a program of distinguished lecturers on the theme, “Poland through a Thousand Years”  The Polanie Club also supported the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota in hosting the 1996 ACPC convention, held in Minneapolis.

The following year, in 1967, the Club celebrated their fortieth anniversary. In that year four members of the great (Josepha Contoski, Cecily Helgesen, Rose Polski Anderson and Marie Sokolowski), received research grants for study in Poland.  Their experiences and the realia with which they returned to the Twin Cities launched Polonie on a more formal exhibition program.  The Club had long supplied Polish costumes and memorabilia for local projects.  Now the Exhibit Committee, armed with the materials brought back by the grant recipients, extended the program of displays – for which they soon began to receive acclamation and awards.

In 1977 members of the Polanie Club celebrated their 50^th anniversary in style with a Red and White Ball at the Holiday Inn on the Nicollet Mall.   They also expanded their publications list.  Treasured Polish Folk Rhymes, Songs and Games was translated into English then published in both languages.

Over the years the list grew.  In 1983 Polanie published Bocheck in Poland: A children’s story about the white stork, the fairytale bird of the old world, by Joseph Contoski.  In the late 1980’s the Club diversified their publications later with a 1989 cassette of Polish Christmas Carols and later a CD of Christmas carols created my piano virtuoso Bonnie Frels.

Let it not be written that Polanie Club members look only to the past – one of the most active programs of today’s Polanie is the scholarship program for post-secondary education.  Minnesotans of Polish-American descent are eligible for stipends to attend the post-secondary institution of their choice.  Since the inception of the program in 2000 tens of thousands of scholarships have been awarded.

When the American Council for Polish Culture met again in Minneapolis in 2003 Polanie  seized the opportunity of the organization’s lifetime when they were called upon to conduct national wide auditions for the Marcella Kochanska Sembrich Vocal Competitions.  The winner performed in concerts at both Hamline and Universities, events that offered hundreds of Twin Citians an opportunity experience the beauty of Polish culture.

A delightful tradition of Polanie is the annual Wigilia celebration, a Polish Christmas tradition kept alive in this community.  Wigilia, meaning “watchful vigil,” is hosted by Polanie during Advent, offering Minnesotans a chance to prepare for the Nativity in a celebratory but reflective gathering feature Polish food, live performances and an altogether “magical evening.”

At this writing, members of the Polanie Club are working feverishly on preparations for the Twin Cities Polish Festival 2011, August 13-14 on the banks of the Mississippi near St. Anthony Main.  The event itself is a celebration of Polish culture featuring a Chopin Celebration, a Polish film festival, an exhibit of the works of Joseph Conrad, Polish jazz and folk music and dance – along with fabulous food and great exhibits where visitors can learn about the Twin Cities Polish community, including the Polanie Club.  Don’t miss it!

Notes:

v    In truth, having lived in Northeast Minneapolis fewer than thirty years, I am a newbie.  Learning about the women of the Polanie Club expands my understanding and appreciation of my neighborhood.  My profound thanks to those who have maintained the record, everyone who kept the minutes, clipped the newspapers, and preserved the reports.

v    It is worthy of note that the files are replete with the individual names of Polanie members and their roles in the Club.  Though I would love to have been able to attribute some of this credit, there were just too many women to name!

v    Most of the publications of Polanie are still available.  Check the Polanie publications on line.  If you don’t find the title you want there, check Amazon.  My google search was successful in finding virtually all of the titles new or used and at reasonable cost.

v    This piece was written for my blog, whimsically, if accurately, known as Poking Around with Mary.  That is what I do, poke around  – around my neighborhood, the city, libraries, parks, coffee shops, and any other sites or gatherings that catch my eye.  I also search online a range of interests, including a current passion to learn about and draw attention to threats to open government.  When I’m not poking around, I write about what I have learned.  If you’re interested you might take time to poke around the blog where you’ll find past posts on related issues including a piece on last year’s Polish Festival and several pieces of what’s happening in Northeast Minneapolis  You will find an easy subscription link online.

Live and Learn in Hennepin County – Registration Open for Citizen Academy

Wondering where to dump your old PC?  Considering adoption?  Need a permit or license for whatever?  Unclear about voting sites and procedures?  Require emergency medical assistance?  Wondering about your property tax – when, where and what?  Looking for a good book?  A bike map?  A park in your neighborhood?

Whatever your information or service need, if you live in Hennepin County you’ll probably find yourself working with and through Hennepin County – whether you know it not.

To deal with the massive information needs of Hennepin County residents the County Board has approved a resolution in support of The Hennepin County Citizen Academy.

In short order, the County has a plan for the Academy which will open its virtual doors this fall.

In six sessions, beginning Wednesday, September 14, representatives of the County will cover the basics. The sessions will be held each Wednesday evening through October 26 (excluding Rosh Hashanah) 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. at sites throughout the County.  Each session will include a tour or interactive learning opportunity.  For a complete schedule and listing of sites – and a quick video intro to Hennepin County services, check the Citizen Academy website.

 Applications are due August 4  (which, you may be too busy or too hot tonotice, is just around the proverbial corner.)  Interested residents should call 612 348 5130 or email citizenacademy@co.hennepin.mn.us to leave their name, phone and address.  Applicant names will be placed into a lottery for consideration for one of the 35 available seats.

Questions? Email citizensacademy@co.hennepin.mn.us or  call 612 348 5130 or check the website link included above.