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 Building exterior | |
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| Established | 2006 |
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| Location | 901 1st St, Dassel, Minnesota 55325 |
| Type | Local history |
| Executive director | Carolyn Holje |
| Website | dassel.com/hs |
The Dassel History Center & Ergot Museum, is a museum in Dassel, Minnesota, United States. The museum was established in 2006 in the historic Universal Laboratories building which is listed on the National Register for its role in the production of ergot from the mid-1930s through the late 1960s.
The Dassel History Center & Ergot Museum, operated by the Dassel Area Historical Society established the museum in 2006 in the historic Universal Laboratories building. The museum features permanent exhibits relating to local history of Dassel, Minnesota alongside the story of ergot, a fungus that has had a profound impact on humanity. Permanent exhibits include, Ergot: From Blight to Blessing: This exhibit explores the complex history of ergot, delving into its dangers as a rye disease and its surprising benefits as a source for medicinal drugs; [1] Dassel Seed Corn Story: Planting the Seed: This exhibit highlights the significant role Dassel played in the seed corn industry, showcasing the area's agricultural heritage; [2] Magnus Johnson: No Yokel and No Man’s Echo: This exhibit tells the story of Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party politician Magnus Johnson, the only Swedish-born person to serve in the U.S. Senate. Johnson championed farmers' rights during his time in Congress. [3] The museum regularly features rotating exhibits that delve into various aspects of Dassel's history and culture. These exhibits might explore local businesses, prominent figures, or historical events. In addition to exhibits the museum organizes events throughout the year, such as lectures, workshops, and demonstrations related to local history and culture.
The FungusAmongus Players Theatre is an on-site theatre troupe of the Dassel History Center & Ergot Museum. This community theatre group stages performances that connect to the museum's themes or explore local history, offering audiences a unique blend of entertainment and historical insight.
The Dassel History Center & Ergot Museum maintains a comprehensive research collection chronicling the history of Dassel, Kingston, Darwin, and the surrounding townships. This valuable resource includes a detailed index of Dassel newspapers dating back to 1893, along with microfilm and original copies. Additionally, the collection boasts census records, plat maps, obituaries, photographs, published histories, church and school records, family histories, and a community entity index. The museum staff accepts queries via phone, mail, email, or in-person visits to assist with research needs.
Universal Laboratories Building | |
 The Universal Laboratories Building from the southeast | |
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| Location | 901 First St. N., Dassel, Minnesota |
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| Coordinates | 45°5′11″N94°18′27″W / 45.08639°N 94.30750°W |
| Built | 1937 |
| Architect | H.E. Swanson |
| NRHP reference No. | 96000191 [4] |
| Added to NRHP | March 1, 1996 |
Universal Laboratories Building is a building in Dassel, Minnesota, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was listed on the National Register for its role in the production of ergot from the mid-1930s through the late 1960s. [5]
The business was established in 1935 as Rice Laboratories, as a manufacturer of yeast for livestock feed. Yeast was used as a feed supplement because the enzymes fermenting in the digestive tracts of hogs and poultry would break down food and help in nutrient absorption. In 1937, the company built a new building on the north edge of town. In that same year, the manager of the company, Lester R. Peel, started production of ergot. Local farmers were discarding rye that was infected with sclerotia growths, because the ergot could cause deadly poisoning. Peel, a former school teacher, understood that the ergot also had medical applications, such as controlling postpartum bleeding and treating vasoconstriction, hypertension, vascular headaches, and migraines. [5]
Peel gave the ergot business the name Universal Laboratories. Production initially began with ergotic rye bought from local farmers. Universal Laboratories staff would then bring the rye through small mills that would break up the rye kernels. They would then pick the grain from the conveyor belt and let the ergot fall into a receptacle for bagging. The company also hired people to work from their homes in Dassel picking and bagging ergot. Later, the process was improved by new machines that automated the process of separating the ergot from the rye. The grain was passed through mills that would flow into gravity separators, which had spiraling chutes that would separate the light ergot kernels from the heavier rye kernels. [5]
Peel had good timing getting into the ergot business, because supplies in the United States had been subject to disruption. Russia was the world's principal exporter of ergot until the Russian Revolution in 1917. Spain then became the top producer of ergot, but supplies were then disrupted with the Spanish Civil War in 1936. In an effort to ensure his supply of raw materials, Peel began a campaign to educate farmers on the importance of ergot. Eli Lilly and Company, one of Peel's major customers, also assisted in this effort by providing publicity. Universal Laboratories began receiving considerable amounts of ergotic rye, which was stored in a grain elevator in downtown Dassel. The company supplied the vast majority of domestically produced ergot in the United States during World War II. In 1940, they produced 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg), while in 1941, production was 100,000 pounds (45,000 kg). [5]
Eli Lilly continued to do business with Universal Laboratories, even after World War II ended and foreign supplies became more stable. Peel died in 1959, and the company ceased producing yeast somewhere around that time. In the late 1960s, Eli Lilly dropped Universal Laboratories in favor of European suppliers of ergot. The company continued business for a while longer, providing ergot to Burroughs Wellcome, but it went out of business in 1975. The building sat empty until the late 1990s, when local citizens rehabilitated the structure. It now houses the Dassel Area Historical Society and its museum. [5]
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from eastern and northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than other cereals, making it useful in those regions; its vigorous growth suppresses weeds, and provides abundant forage for animals early in the year. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) which includes the cereals wheat and barley. Rye grain is used for bread, beer, rye whiskey, and animal fodder. In Scandinavia, rye was a staple food in the Middle-ages, and rye crispbread remains a popular food in the region. Around half of world production is in Europe; relatively little is traded between countries. A wheat-rye hybrid, triticale, combines the qualities of the two parent crops and is produced in large quantities worldwide. In European folklore, the Roggenwolf is a carnivorous corn demon or Feldgeist.
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures. Corn flour has been important in Mesoamerican cuisine since ancient times and remains a staple in the Americas. Rye flour is a constituent of bread in both Central Europe and Northern Europe.
A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits it in a silo or other storage facility.
Ergot or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps.
Ergotism is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, traditionally due to the ingestion of the alkaloids produced by the Claviceps purpurea fungus—from the Latin clava "club" or clavus "nail" and -ceps for "head", i.e. the purple club-headed fungus—that infects rye and other cereals, and more recently by the action of a number of ergoline-based drugs. It is also known as ergotoxicosis, ergot poisoning, and Saint Anthony's fire.
Rye whiskey can refer to two different, but related, types of whiskey:
Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical chemist and Union Army veteran of the American Civil War for whom the company was later named.
Rugbrød is a very common form of rye bread from Denmark. Rugbrød usually resembles a long brown extruded rectangle, no more than 12 cm (4.7 in) high, and 30 to 35 cm long, depending on the bread pan in which it is baked. The basic ingredient is rye flour which will produce a plain or "old-fashioned" bread of uniform, somewhat heavy structure, but the most popular versions today contain whole grains and often other seeds such as sunflower seeds, linseeds or pumpkin seeds. Most Danes eat rugbrød every day.
In brewing, adjuncts are unmalted grains or grain products used in brewing beer which supplement the main mash ingredient. This is often done with the intention of cutting costs, but sometimes also to create an additional feature, such as better foam retention, flavours or nutritional value or additives. Both solid and liquid adjuncts are commonly used.
Eli Lilly was an American soldier, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and recruited a company of men to serve with him in the 18th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery. He was later promoted to major and then colonel, and was given command of the 9th Regiment Indiana Cavalry. Lilly was captured in September 1864 and held as a prisoner of war until January 1865. After the war, he attempted to run a plantation in Mississippi, but it failed and he returned to his pharmacy profession after the death of his first wife.
Eli Lilly, sometimes referred to as Eli Lilly Jr. to distinguish him from his grandfather of the same name, was an American pharmaceutical industrialist and philanthropist from Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. During his tenure as head of Eli Lilly and Company, which was founded by his grandfather, the company grew from a successful, family-owned business into a modern corporation and industry leader. Lilly served as the company president (1932–1948), chairman of the board of directors, and honorary chairman of the board.
Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat flour. Compared to white bread, it is higher in fiber, darker in color, and stronger in flavor. The world's largest exporter of rye bread is Poland.
Conner Prairie is a living history museum in Fishers, Indiana, United States, which preserves the William Conner home. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the museum recreates 19th-century life along the White River. The museum also hosts several programs and events, including outdoor performances by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and summer camps.
Josiah Kirby Lilly Sr., nicknamed "J. K.," was an American businessman, pharmaceutical industrialist, and philanthropist who became president and chairman of the board of Eli Lilly and Company, the pharmaceutical firm his father, Colonel Eli Lilly, founded in 1876. Josiah, the colonel's sole heir, began working at his father’s company at the age of fourteen. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and became superintendent of the Lilly laboratories in 1882 and company president in 1898. Under his leadership, the company introduced standardized manufacturing processes, expanded its sales force, and increased its research efforts to develop new drugs. Eli Lilly and Company grew into one of the largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations in the world, and the largest corporation in Indiana. Lilly’s eldest son, Eli Jr., succeeded him as president in 1932. His younger son, Josiah Jr. ("Joe"), succeeded Eli as company president in 1948. J. K. served as chairman of the board from 1932 until his death in 1948.
Claviceps purpurea is an ergot fungus that grows on the ears of rye and related cereal and forage plants. Consumption of grains or seeds contaminated with the survival structure of this fungus, the ergot sclerotium, can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals. C. purpurea most commonly affects outcrossing species such as rye, as well as triticale, wheat and barley. It affects oats only rarely.
The John Dwan Office Building, located at 201 Waterfront Drive in Two Harbors, Minnesota, in the United States, is a historical building and now a museum for 3M.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Meeker County, Minnesota.
The 1951 Pont-Saint-Esprit mass poisoning, known in French as Le Pain Maudit, took place on 15 August 1951, in the small town of Pont-Saint-Esprit in Southern France. More than 250 people were involved, including 50 people interned in asylums, and there were seven deaths. A foodborne illness was suspected; among these it was originally believed to be a case of "cursed bread".
The production of corn plays a major role in the economy of the United States. The US is the largest corn producer in the world, with 96,000,000 acres (39,000,000 ha) of land reserved for corn production. Corn growth is dominated by west/north central Iowa and east central Illinois. Approximately 13% of its annual yield is exported.
