Milk carton kayak
Hymnal with beaded cover
Prince's gloves from Purple Rain
Handwritten Hubert Humphrey speech
Earl McGee contact sheets
Milk carton kayak
Made by David Garron
1971
2004.142.1
Milk carton kayak
Built in 1971 and raced in the second Minneapolis Aquatennial Milk Carton Boat Race a year later, this kayak crossed Bde Maka Ska (then known as Lake Calhoun) several summers until 1977.
Thirty years later, maker David Garron cleaned up the kayak and dubbed it “The Spirit of ‘71.” He recruited 71-year-old Dudley Flamm to steer the boat and, you guessed it: “Spirit” won first place in the 2001 race.
Okodakiciye Wakan Tadowan Kin/Hymnal According to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Missions Among the Dakotas of the Missionary District of South Dakota
Compiled by William Hobart Hare, 1902
Purchase supported by Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Rare Books Fund
PM1024 .O463 1902
Hymnal with beaded cover: Okodakiciye Wakan Tadowan Kin
The artist—or artists—who created this book cover didn’t sign it. Missionary churches organized Wíƞyaƞ Omníc̣iye (women’s gatherings) where members created needlework, quilts, quillwork, and beadwork to sell to raise funds for the church. This book cover might have been made in such a group.
Native women used these church-sponsored maker spaces to build and reinforce community ties, and to pass along art traditions. That’s what makes this work so intriguing. Elements of Ojibwe and Cree beadwork styles appear on this Dakota-language hymnal. Where did the artists come from? Did women from other tribes visit or live at this reservation? Who taught whom?
Headband and gloves from Purple Rain
1984
1987.124.4, 1987.144.6.A,B
Headband and gloves from Purple Rain
Prince wore these gloves in the film Purple Rain. Both the gloves and headband (not pictured) were donated to MNHS in 1987 by PRN (Prince Rogers Nelson) Productions, along with the Purple Rain costume.
Pages from Hubert Humphrey’s speech at the Democratic National Convention
July 1948
Hubert H. Humphrey papers, MNHS 8,138
Pages from Hubert Humphrey’s speech at the Democratic National Convention
Late on the last day of the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Hubert Humphrey took the podium. He was midway through his second term as mayor of Minneapolis and was little known beyond his home state.
When Humphrey urged delegates to add a civil rights plank to the Democratic platform, the nation took notice. The speech was a turning point for Humphrey and for the country. A tireless advocate for human rights had made his presence known.
Earl McGee’s photo album and contact sheets
1961–66
Gift of Caroline Schimmel
Photo albums 354-359
Earl McGee’s photo album and contact sheets
If you spent time in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood in the 1960s, you or someone you knew probably had their photo taken by Earl McGee (1929–2003). A community insider, McGee photographed large celebrations and the small details of daily life. Youth sports, neighborhood gatherings, parties, businesses, civil rights activities, and formal portraits—McGee captured it all.
A graduate of Macalester College, McGee taught at St. Paul Central High School before moving to Rochester, Minnesota. He spent 20 years there working on equal opportunity programs for IBM, but he considered Rondo his true home. You can take people out of Rondo, but you can’t take Rondo out of people, he wrote in 1983. None of us are promised tomorrow, but our yesterdays were grand.
Funding provided by the State of Minnesota's Legacy Amendment, through the vote of Minnesotans on Nov. 4, 2008, and our generous donors and members.
Sponsors
The Ruth A. and Raymond A. Reister Endowed Fund
