Laura Deering shares information about her research investigating the Underground Railroad in Southeast Minnesota. The Whitewater State Park Oral History project began in 2017 to commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of the State Park.
This sound clip highlights the lives of Everett and Edith Battles who lived in Clear River Township and Warroad. The Roseau County Historical Society prepared this radio script to share county history through broadcasts on KJ102 FM in Roseau. The topics highlight the history of Roseau County and the people that lived there.
Peter Jarnstrom began his career at the library of Minnesota State University, Mankato in 1980. He started out in cataloging and moved into interlibrary loan where he works at present as ILL Technician.
In his interview Peter discussed: using the new OCLC Interlibrary Loan system in the early 1980s; major innovations (custom holdings and interlibrary loan fee management) to the OCLC interlibrary loan service that resulted in less manual and more automated workflows for staff; development of PALS (Project for Automated Library Systems) to include a fully integrated interlibrary loan module, making it easier for libraries within the consortium to borrow and lend materials; and an early 90s periodical disaster at Memorial Library.
Peter also shared his experience working on two major projects that Memorial Library underwent in the 1980s when he was in the cataloging department. The first project involved reclassification of their entire library collection from the Dewey Decimal Classification system to Library of Congress classification system. The second major project involved retrospective conversion of catalog cards to tape, eventually forming the basis of the first union catalog of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, PALS. This interview also includes an audio recording, recording table of contents, transcript, and photograph of the interviewee.
In this interview, Larry Katz gives an account of his life as a Jewish Minnesotan and lawyer. He describes how he grew up in the predominately Jewish Selby-Dale area of St. Paul, MN, having been born in 1933. Katz recalls that his father was a Jewish Orthodox grocer who had settled on the West Side, giving a with a description of the neighborhood at the end of the Depression. He went to Webster and St. Alban's elementary schools, followed by Central High School and finally the University of Minnesota for law. Katz describes his experience in law school, the difficulty of finding a firm, issues in law practice and ethics in law all from a Jewish perspective. This interview was conducted by Helen Rubenstein as a part of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest Jewish Judges and Lawyers History Project.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Morrison discusses his arrival at the Ponemah school; orders from the agency to break up Native American customs; a smallpox epidemic at Ponemah; and a doctor teaching him to pull teeth, establishing a post office at Ponemah; a storm that left a windfall of trees in the early 1900s; memories of Billy Burce; the dock at Ponemah; vaccinating people against smallpox; the lack of law and order; steamboats and other boats on Red Lake; A. E. Andrews' attempts to settle Upper Red Lake; Morrison's opinion of how the government handles its interactions with Native Americans; gardening habits of the Red Lake Ojibwe; the decline of basket weaving and beadwork on the Red Lake Reservation; local produce theft; his opinion on compelling families to garden; his opinion on the work ethic of Native Americans; and his opinion on the quality of education provided to Native American children; his opinions about reducing economic support for Native Americans; resources available to Native Americans on the reservations; the fishing industry on the Red Lake Reservation; early staff members at the Ponemah school; his store, Chippewa Trading, at Red Lake; early law enforcement on the reservation; his time as a traveling salesman; his time at Nett Lake; his time at Onigum, including WPA work; whether Native Americans can get jobs; Native American population in the Twin Cities, and the regulations and challenges for traders on reservations. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
Dr. Sajady is an Afghan American and shares her outdoor stories and perspectives as a pediatrician who encourages families to get outdoors and experience nature.
Mark Reisetter shares about his experience serving in Vietnam and the therapeutic benefits of fly fishing. The Whitewater State Park Oral History project began in 2017 to commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of the State Park.
In this interview, Sidney Lorber (1916 - ) discusses the life and work of his friend and associate, Minneapolis lawyer and community leader Amos Deinard (graduate, University School of Law and Harvard Law School, 1920s). Mr. Deinard gained notoriety by taking leadership positions in a number of local and state organizations that spanned causes from anti -discrimination, Jewish immigrant welfare, Jewish-Christian relations and health concerns. This interview was conducted by Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest volunteer Chester Prochan in effort to document the stories of Jewish immigration to and community leaders in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Mary Rae Oxborrow was one of the first full-time professional staff to be hired at Minitex in 1969. In the interview she describes what is was like to work with Minitex's first director, Alice Wilcox; her main role at Minitex in bibliographic problem solving; a Halloween South Dakota trip gone bad on Needles Highway near Rapid City; early technology used at Minitex for sending interlibrary loan requests (for example, teletype machines); staff parties; Minitex office locations during the pilot project and beyond; and the first Minitex logo, the winged messenger. This interview also includes an audio recording, recording table of contents, transcript, and photograph of the interviewee.
Mary Treacy is former director of Metronet (1981-1999), one of seven state-funded multitype library networks created by the Minnesota Legislature in 1979. During her interview, Mary describes her first job as a librarian at Washington D.C. Teacher's College (1965) in a post Brown v Board of Education climate; emerging technologies, such as beta testing ERIC on microfiche; The Twin Cities Library Club; the 1982 Metronet sponsored conference, ""Question of Balance, Public Sector/Private Sector Interaction in the Delivery of Information Services""; the role of Metronet and Minitex; starting a college library at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (1999); SMILE (Southcentral Minnesota Inter-Library Exchange) before funding was available for multitype library networks, and her time at the ALA Washington office (1996). This interview also includes an audio recording, recording table of contents, transcript, and photograph of the interviewee.
Suzanne Mahmoodi was the first continuing education coordinator at Library Development and Services (1978-2001), Minnesota Department of Education. In her interview she discusses her first library job as a student in special libraries; early education in Southern Iowa (near Lucas, Iowa, known for John Lewis Memorial Museum of Mining and Labor); early Resource Sharing in special, academic, and public libraries; conversation with U of M Libraries director Edward Stanford about the 1969 Minitex pilot project; Control Data Corporation's Plato system (one of the earliest computer based learning systems, originally developed at University of Illinois) and developing a program for libraries; how MN Opportunities for Reference Service Excellence (MORE) and MN Opportunities for Technical Services Excellence (MOTSE) began; and the decision to close the library at State Library Services. This interview also includes an audio recording, recording table of contents, transcript, and photograph of the interviewee.
Mark Eckes worked at Minitex from 1974 to 1984, when Minitex was just three years in to the program. He managed the Minitex staff (payroll, vacation, sick leave) and was responsible for office purchasing and OCLC billing. In his interview, he describes early technology used at Minitex for processing interlibrary loan requests, such as the TWX machine, and Minitex's first computer. Other topics discussed include the Minitex traveling slideshow, what it was like to work with Alice Wilcox (the first Minitex director), and the Minitex tennis and softball team. This interview also includes an audio recording, recording table of contents, transcript, and photograph of the interviewee.
Handwritten in blue pen, a diary of a St. Cloud Technical High School senior recalling his daily experiences while attending school classes and extracurrcular activities. Attached to the pages of this book are photographs, letters, tickets, newspaper clippings and ribbons that relate to his school life.
Handwritten in blue pen, a diary of a St. Cloud Technical High School senior recalling his daily experiences while attending school classes and extracurrcular activities. Attached to the pages of this book are photographs, letters, tickets, newspaper clippings and ribbons that relate to his school life.
Kathy Drozd began working for the University of Minnesota Libraries INFORM Service (for-fee article delivery service) before joining Minitex as a student in the early 1970s. In her interview, she discusses Minitex Delivery Services in the 1970s; using painted beer boxes for transporting library materials and the Greyhound bus for delivering those materials to other libraries in Minnesota; working in cramped quarters at the former Minitex office location in Wilson Library; what it was like to work with Alice Wilcox, the first Minitex director; her foray into the Minitex Union List of Serials (MULS) program; planning the Elmer L. Andersen Library and the caverns for high density storage of library materials; the office move to Elmer L. Andersen Library from Wilson Library; early beginnings of the Minnesota Library Access Center (MLAC); and the best parts of her job. This interview also includes an audio recording, recording table of contents, transcript, and photograph of the interviewee.
Mr. Smith writes about his impressions of his close friends. He also talks about attending the circus and a musical concert. School remains the focus of his writing. Two photos of friends are interspersed with a musical composition penned by the diarist which is located in the back of the diary.
William Asp served as Minnesota State Librarian from 1975-1996. In the interview he reflects on early 20th century resource sharing among libraries belonging to the Twin Cities Library Club, Regional Public Library System development, early library automation in Minnesota, and the Extension of Access Law (1987 law passed that required the counties to levy a tax for public library service and join a regional public library system). This interview also includes an audio recording, recording table of contents, transcript, and photograph of the interviewee.
In an oral history, Charles Warnberg, a former sheriff of Crow Wing County, talks about the the old jail/sheriff's residence, the state of law enforcement when he was in office, and some the crimes that were committed.
Dr. Hyman is a history professor at Winona State University and author of the book, "Dakota Women's Work: Creativity, Culture, & Exile." She shared memories her pathway to becoming a history professor and how she became interested in the traditional arts and crafts of Dakota women.
Jill was the editor for the St. Charles Press at the time of this interview and shared memories about former editor, L. A. Warming, and his role in lobbying for the establishment of Whitewater State Park in 1919.
Hear stories of what kept kids busy (and in trouble!) in New London and what is was like to be a teenager graduating in 1967 in politically turbulent times.
