Hennepin History Museum

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Hennepin History Museum
Hennepin History Museum.jpg
Hennepin History Museum
Established1938
Location2303 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Coordinates 44°57′36.5″N93°16′21″W / 44.960139°N 93.27250°W / 44.960139; -93.27250
DirectorJohn Crippen
Website hennepinhistory.org

Hennepin History Museum is a museum dedicated to the history, people, and communities of Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The museum provides in-house exhibits, history-themed programming, and social events throughout the year.

Contents

Location

The museum is located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis in the historic Christian Mansion, a historic home built in 1919. Today, it is included in the Washburn-Fair Oaks Mansion District of Minneapolis, and is located on the east side of Washburn-Fair Oaks Park. [1] The house was designed by Hennepin County architects Hewitt and Brown.

Exhibits

The Hennepin History Museum features a combination of permanent and changing exhibits. The permanent collection showcases objects, artifacts, and documents that tell the story of Hennepin County from its earliest days to the present. Visitors can explore various aspects of local history, including:

Programs

The museum offers a variety of public programs throughout the year, including lectures, workshops, family events, and tours. These programs provide opportunities for the community to learn more about local history and engage with the museum's collections. [6]

Community

The museum is home to a wide variety of events, including monthly "Fireside Chats" on various historical topics, as well as social events and author talks. [7]

The museum has also worked to spotlight various communities in Hennepin County. In 2003, the museum partnered with the Walker Art Museum and 30 East African students from local high schools to use letters and photographs to create an exhibit about East African communities in Minneapolis. [8] The museum's cultural outreach continued in 2009, when University of Minnesota interior design students exhibited designs for culturally sensitive homes for Somali and Mexican immigrants. [9]

Library

The museum's library is open to the community and highlights the museum's archival collections. The library has reference materials such as city directories, photos of houses and buildings, maps, atlases, genealogical resources, city history files, business histories, and many other reference materials. A professional archivist is on site during library open hours to assist researchers. [10]

Funding

About 40% of the museum's annual budget is funded by Hennepin County. The remaining 60% is funded by individual donors. [11]

Magazine

Three times a year, the museum publishes Hennepin History Magazine. [12] Redesigned in 2017, the magazine features topics of interest from all over Hennepin County. Digital reproductions of Hennepin History, the official publication of the Hennepin History Museum, are available online thanks to the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections. Earlier issues included articles such as "The Birth of Target", [13] which explores the history of the Target Corporation, placing it in a historical context with the Dayton family and their department store Daytons. Such examinations of local companies are common in the magazine; the Winter 2012 issue explored Northwest Airlines in the 1930s. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Hennepin County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named for the 17th-century explorer Louis Hennepin. It extends from Minneapolis to the suburbs and outlying cities in the western part of the county. Its natural areas are covered by extensive woods, hills, and lakes.

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Hennepin County Library is a public library system serving Hennepin County, Minnesota, US. The current iteration of Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of urban Minneapolis Public Library and suburban Hennepin County Library on January 1, 2008. The system has 41 library locations, deposit collections at nursing homes and correctional facilities, mail service to the homebound, and extensive outreach services. The library is a department of Hennepin County Government. The library headquarters are in the Ridgedale Library in suburban Minnetonka. The library system has an eleven-member advisory Library Board appointed by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. It is a member of the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, a consortium of eight Twin Cities library systems.

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References

  1. "George Christian Mansion". Placeography. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. Jovanovic, Marija (2019-09-09). "New Director Says Hennepin History Museum Has 'Room for Growth'". Southwest Journal. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  3. "The History Of Eat Street - CBS Minnesota". www.cbsnews.com. 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  4. Anderson, Christine (2022-03-09). "Museum Exhibit Reveals I-35W's Impact on a South Minneapolis Community". Crossroads. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  5. Regan, Sheila (2023-02-28). "Hennepin History Museum highlights 'Hidden Gems' after cataloguing its art collection". MinnPost. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  6. "Hennepin History Museum". Explore Minnesota. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  7. "Fireside Chats". Hennepin History Museum. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  8. "Hennepin History Museum Spotlights New East African Neighbors". South Side Pride. Archived from the original on 17 December 2006. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  9. Kim Palmer (3 February 2009). "The Culture of Home". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 6 March 2010.
  10. "Museum Library and Collections". Hennepin History Museum. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  11. "Membership". www.hennepinhistory.org. Archived from the original on 2017-09-30.
  12. "Hennepin History Magazine". Hennepin History Museum. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  13. Dayton, Bruce; Green, Ellen (2012). "The Birth of Target". Hennepin History. 71 (2). E.B. Green Editorial: 20.
  14. Johnson, Frederick (2012). "Fly Northwest circa 1932". Hennepin History. 71 (1). E.B. Green Editorial: 10.