Barn constructed in 1906 near the current site of the Dittmann Center. The college farm is one of the topics discussed in the American Environmental History course papers now available in the Northfield Student Research Collection. Image courtesy of St. Olaf College Archives collection via the Northfield History Collaborative.
Once a month for the coming year, the Collaborative will host a guest blog from one of our board members. Today’s post comes from Kris MacPherson, Reference & Instruction Librarian and Professor of Asian Studies at St. Olaf College.
Who made up HATPIN and what wonderful locale are they credited with saving?
Which European explorers found huge stands of elm, sugar maple, and basswood trees and how is it that we can still enjoy them today in a selected location?
The answers to these and other questions can be found in one of the important sections of the Northfield History Collaborative collections, the Northfield Student Research Collection. Many papers get written about Northfield – by sixth graders, by college students, and more – that add wonderful material to the formal histories that have been published. We have just added contributions from St. Olaf’s American Environmental History course, taught last spring by Professor Megan Raby. Detailed studies of the history of Sibley Marsh and HATPIN, Nerstrand Big Woods, Native Americans and the Cannon River, and the St. Olaf natural lands/agricultural lands/prairie, among others, are included. Browse through the research from this class here. Happy exploring!