Getting Started
The Minnesota Communities project was initiated to give teachers and students access to primary sources from the Minnesota Historical Society's collections of historical documents and artifacts. The educational materials contained emphasize doing historical research using historical sources.
For the initial year of the project, three Minnesota communities were selected to be featured. These are Hibbing, Red Wing, and St. Anthony. Source material from each of these communities was gathered and organized into thematic units. While the units do not provide comprehensive information about their topics, they do offer insights into some of the key elements of each of the communities they represent.
Technical Information
This web site operates most efficiently with a level four or above browser; that is, a browser whose version number is 4.0 or higher. If you would like to upgrade your browser, you can access the browser of your choice using the links below.
The Minnesota Communities web site was designed to accommodate the smaller monitors of many school computer labs. To view the web site most effectively, maximize the window space in your browser and close the toolbars in your browser window. (To close the toolbars, click on View at the top of your browser page and select Hide Toolbar from the drop-down menu. Or, click the close boxes in the actual toolbars.)
Navigation
The overall site navigation is accomplished primarily from the blue panel in the left-hand column of each web page. Below is a description of each of the menus that can be accessed in the left-hand column.
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The Communities button will display a menu of the communities into which the units have been organized. Select a community to open the Unit menu for that community. |
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The Themes button will present a menu of themes into which the units have been organized. Select a theme to open the Unit menu for that theme. |
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The Teachers page describes how the units are organized and provides access to the lesson plans and materials that your students can use while doing their research. |
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For those who would like to examine the entire range of primary sources available on this web site, our Gallery pages offer an opportunity to browse through the documents, images, and artifacts. |
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The Research page offers a menu of materials that may be of interest to anyone who would like to do further research in a given topic. Suggested materials include books, programs, and links to related sites. |
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On the About menu you will find background information about the Minnesota Communities web site and the people who created it. The Site Map provides a complete listing of all the pages included on this web site. |
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