September 27, 2017 A Tale of an Extraordinary Ship and an Ordinary Bowl The USS Monitor was the first ironclad ship, and although it did not have a long life, it left quite a legacy. In fact, Winston Churchill stated, "The [...]
September 18, 2017 By Evan Walker This desk was made by students in the industrial arts class at South High School for the 1892 Republican National Convention. The chairman of the Republican Party, James S. Clarkson, sat behind it during the [...]
September 6, 2017 The Mu-So Choral Club, a Minneapolis-based choir of approximately 40 African American singers, depending on the year, was formed in 1917 and remained active through the 1920s. Members were drawn primarily from local church choirs, and the group was [...]
August 30, 2017 By Evan Walker Today’s Object Lesson might be one of the most exciting objects so far--at least to photograph. At almost 5 feet wide by 3 feet deep, the only way to fit the entire desk in the [...]
August 22, 2017 In 1932 twenty-nine counties from across Minnesota gathered at the Minnesota State Fair grounds to compete for fame and glory. Well, at least glory. The entrants in the "lively" county booth competition were judged on "general scope and [...]
August 15, 2017 Above: one of two copy presses in the Hennepin History Museum collection. The letter copying press was invented in 1780 by the Scotsman James Watt, also the inventor of the steam engine. Watt's machine eliminated the need for laborious [...]
August 4, 2017 This appetizing assortment of biscuits sits in a frame that was once a display “window” on the outside of the Burch Pharmacy at Hennepin and Franklin Avenues in Minneapolis. It contains 22 different products, all made by Huntley [...]
July 7, 2017 Hennepin County's famous Aquatennial has been part of the Minneapolis summer since 1940. So, too, have been its royalty, including the festival's Queen of the Lakes. Young single women representing cities and companies across the state gather in [...]
July 1, 2017 In the summer of 1955, the life of a "summertime shop girl from Uptown" was changed forever. Judy Penney, a 19-year old language student at the University of Minnesota and a retail clerk at the Purple Door gift [...]
June 28, 2017 Many people today have heard of the famous African American Buffalo Soldiers, but did you know that the Buffalo Soldiers were based here in Minnesota during the 1880s? This photograph, part of Hennepin History Museum's archival collection, shows [...]
