MINNESOTA's GREATEST GENERATION GETS A big BOOST

Now's your chance to support Minnesota's Greatest Generation in a big way! Thanks to a $500,000 challenge grant from the Katherine B. Andersen Fund of the St. Paul Foundation, for every $4 in new corporate, foundation and individual commitments made, the Society recieves $1 from the fund. To find out how you can support the project, call 651-259-3120.

"Minnesota's Greatest Generation" is a four-year project which encourages Minnesotans who survived the Great Depression, fought in World War II and helped build unprecedented prosperity in the post-war years, to preserve their stories for future generations.

HURRY IN! 'RED WING RETRO' ENDS SOON

The popular exhibit, Red Wing Retro, featuring hundreds of pieces of Red Wing Pottery, is on display at the History Center through April 1. This Sunday, March 11, come out for Red Wing Retro Family Day and bring in your own Red Wing Pottery for a value estimate, plus paint a ceramic tile to take home. Check out the special Museum Store discount just for e-newsletter subscribers!

HISTORY MATTERS RALLY A SUCCESS

Tell your legislator why history matters to you!

It's not too late to make your voice heard. Join the folks who attended the third annual "History Matters Day at the Capitol" on Feb. 22 by speaking up about history.

HELPING CHILDREN EXPERIENCE HISTORY

During March and April every fourth-grade student from eight elementary schools on St. Paul’s East Side will visit the “Open House: If These Walls Could Talk” exhibit and participate in the History Happened Here museum lesson. It's part of a program developed by the Society’s staff and HOPE Community Academy. “Under-resourced urban schools, ironically the very schools that are closest to the History Center, have had the toughest time affording field trips,” says History Center Director Dan Spock. “This program helps address that problem.”

To find out more about how you can support related efforts call 651-259-3117 or e-mail sherri.gerbertfuller@mnhs.org.

NEW MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS

The Society has acquired a number of new manuscript collections. Among them are the papers of James Lloyd Breck, an early missionary and founder of the Seabury Divinity School, which later became the Shattuck School- St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minnesota. The collection includes letters to Bishop Henry Whipple in the 1860s. Once processed, these letters will become an important addition to the Episcopal Church, Diocese of Minnesota, Diocesan records, housed in the Society's collections.

PARTING SHOT

Among the 150 topics to be showcased in Minnesota 150, an exhibit opening at the History Center in October 2007, is the Greyhound Company, which was founded in Hibbing in 1914. The exhibit will include part of a bus being restored by Society staff and volunteers from the Minnesota Transportation Museum. This is a "before" picture. Once restored, exhibit visitors will be able to "board" the bus to learn about Greyhound and other Minnesota history topics.