Becoming Minnesota
In 2008 Minnesota celebrated its 150th year of statehood--its sequicentennial. The Department of Archives and Special Collections of the University of Minnesota Libraries commemorated the event with this exhibit reflecting Minnesota's history as represented in its collections. While we are not the primary repository for the state's historical documents, various aspects of what it means to be Minnesotan show up in the collections in interesting and sometimes unexpected ways. The exhibit focused on six themes: exploration and discovery, peiople, recreation, business and agriculture, education, and the arts.
"Becoming Minnesota" was first mounted in the Fine Arts Building at the 2007 Minnesota State Fair, and was on display in the Elmer L. Andersen Library January 23 - March 12, 2008.
Each of the twelve Archives and Special Collections primary collectiong areas contributed to this exhibit:
- Charles Babbage Institute Archives
- Children's Literature Research Collections
- Givens Collection of African American Literature
- mmigration History Research Center Archives
- James Ford Bell Library
- Kautz Family YMCA Archives
- Upper Midwest Literary Archives
- Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
- Social Welfare History Archives
- Special Collections and Rare Books
- Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies
- University of Minnesota Archives