“I get such a bang out of things the way that they are that I’ve always tried to paint them that way.” - Josephine Lutz Rollins, 1964. Josephine Lutz Rollins (1896-1989) was a local artist renowned for her talent in watercolors. She [...]
Street Car Scene by Paul Johnson Public transportation is a vital part of many people’s lives. It creates less pollution, and the average cost for a year of public transport is cheaper than the cost of a car’s gas [...]
These six brass stanchions with their velvet ropes tell a fascinating history of architectural styles and a Minnesota-based bank. They originally stood in the Northwestern National Bank building, which opened in 1930 in downtown Minneapolis. While the building has long since disappeared, [...]
Susan Treice Naysmith donated this wool coat to Hennepin History Museum in 1964. Naysmith wore it during her time as a military nurse in World War I and it serves as an artifact of a short period of her rather full life. Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania in 1876, Naysmith was both married and widowed at age 23. She never remarried and the next documented information [...]
This handkerchief, now in the collection of Hennepin History Museum, is one of many commemorative items made to celebrate the centennial of Minnesota’s statehood in 1958. It bears the Minnesota Centennial logo, with one face looking toward the past and one looking [...]
Today, it seems too bizarre to have happened, but it did. What’s more, it happened twice. The John H. Stevens House was transported by schoolchildren. This piece of rope, held in the collection at Hennepin History Museum, is a fragment of one [...]
This marching music stand in the collection at Hennepin History Museum was used by a clarinetist in the Minneapolis Journal Newsboys’ Band. It would have screwed into a bracket on the front of the clarinet and held sheet music so that he could see it while [...]
The phrase “Safe Energy – No Nukes” can be found on protest signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts like this one in Hennepin History Museum’s collection. The anti-nuclear movement in Minnesota was strong throughout the late 1970s and 80s and left an impression on the environmentalist perspectives of today. The Northern Sun Alliance was a large proponent of the movement and created this shirt with the help [...]
Madame Mitchell was a talented local milliner in the late nineteenth century and the creator of this hat, which can be found in the collection of Hennepin History Museum. She worked in Chicago for twenty-five years before opening a store on Nicollet Avenue in 1883 which was known for its elegance. She sold hats and bonnets, ribbons and plumage, and many other accessories [...]
This is a German Concert Zither from Hennepin History Museum’s collection. Known for its high difficulty level, the modern-day concert zither has 187 basic tones and a greater range than both the piano and the guitar. It is also the traditional instrument of the Bavarian Alps, and is [...]