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Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Author Archives: Stephanie Hess

Entertainment history

04 Tuesday Jun 2019

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Arts and Culture, Carleton College, History Blog, KYMN Radio, People, Primary Source Sets, Recreation, Social Issues, St. Olaf College

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Education, Entertainment, History, Leisure, Movies, Music, Recreation, Theater

Have you ever wondered how people in the past spent their free time? In Northfield, they had plenty of options. There were theater performances and motion picture houses. Musical groups often performed in town, and the people of Northfield also participated in bands, choirs, and other groups. People listened to the radio and went to dances. And there were many more things to do, too, of course.

For an overview of the many kinds of entertainment from Northfield’s history, I’d check out this Primary Source Set – Entertainment in Northfield.

Northfield Community Band, c. 1920

As you look at these materials, imagine what it might have been like to be entertained the way these Northfielders in the past were. How has entertainment changed over time? How is it still the same?

If you’re an educator, this lesson plan may be another great place to start:

Bruce, Charlotte and Helen Stephan. Twentieth Century Entertainment: When Work is Done. Lesson plan developed for the Library of Congress.

Also, this set is only one of a group of 12 available on the DHC’s website. See the other Primary Source Sets here!

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Local Architecture Resources

16 Thursday May 2019

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Arts and Culture, History Blog

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May is Preservation Month, and here in Northfield we have a lot of historic buildings and places to celebrate! In fact, sixty-five of our downtown buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, and that doesn’t even count the residential houses or either college campus.

If you want to learn more about the architecture of Northfield, a good place to start is one of our new Primary Source Sets – Architecture in Northfield !

This set introduces some of the various styles and types of buildings that are common in Northfield, and provides visual examples. I also found some really great curriculum guides and lesson plans that help us explore the built environment around us and try to imagine how buildings were used, and how that has changed over time.

Architectural history is more than memorizing what a Corinthian column is, after all! We live, work, drive, and walk by buildings every day of our lives. They shape the growth of a city like Northfield and the people who live here.

If you want to know more about Minnesota architecture, I highly recommend these articles written by Charles Nelson for the Minnesota Historical Society:

  • Nelson, Charles. “Early Architecture of Minnesota: Tech Talk on Minnesota’s Architecture, Part I.” In Minnesota History Interpreter, pages 3-6. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, January 1999.
  • Nelson, Charles. “Post-Civil War Architecture: Tech Talk on Minnesota’s Architecture, Part II.” In Minnesota History Interpreter, pages 3-6. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, May 1999.
  • Nelson, Charles. “The Bric-a-Brac Styles: Tech Talk on Minnesota’s Architecture, Part III.” In Minnesota History Interpreter, pages 3-6. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, September 1999.
  • Nelson, Charles. “The Academic Revival Styles: Tech Talk on Minnesota’s Architecture, Part IV.” In Minnesota History Interpreter, pages 3-6. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, November 1999.
  • Nelson, Charles. “Styles of the Modern Era: Prairie School, Bungalow, Art Deco, International & Revivals: Tech Talk on Minnesota’s Architecture, Part V.” In Minnesota History Interpreter, pages 3-6. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, January 2000.
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Settlement and Immigration primary source set

10 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by Stephanie Hess in History Blog, People, Primary Source Sets

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Primary Source Sets

Every month, we are featuring one of the 12 Primary Source Sets developed for the Collaborative in 2018. April’s feature set focuses on the people who settled in and emigrated to the Northfield area.

Settlement and Immigration Primary Source Set

This set has links to primary sources that tell the stories of Northfield’s founders, like John W. North, Hiram Scriver, and more. It also includes information on the many immigrant groups who have come to the area and called Northfield home.

There are also questions that help us all dig into the reasons why people came to Northfield so we can try to see ourselves in their shoes. For those who want more, there are plenty of links to additional resources and lesson plans under this topic, as well.

See the other Primary Source Sets here!

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Primary Source Sets released

02 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Agriculture, Arts and Culture, History Blog, James-Younger Bank Raid, Malt-O-Meal, Military, People, Recreation, Religion, Social Issues, Women, World War I

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Primary Source Sets

We are pleased to announce that we recently released a set of educational guides to Northfield-area history called Primary Source Sets. Primary source sets are online collections of digitized historical materials—from photographs to diaries and more—arranged by topic. These sets all reflect the local Northfield experience of a larger historic event, theme, or era.

The sets explore these twelve topics:

  • Settlement & Immigration
  • The James-Younger Gang Bank Raid
  • Malt-O-Meal in Northfield
  • Agriculture & Farming
  • Milling in Northfield
  • Women in Northfield
  • World War I Home Front
  • 1918 Influenza Epidemic
  • World War II in Northfield
  • Northfield Architecture
  • Religion in Northfield
  • Entertainment in Northfield

Each set includes a topic overview, links to approximately 20 digitized items on the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection (DHC), discussion questions, related resources, and a guide to using primary sources for research. Several benchmarks of the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in both Social Studies and English Language Arts can be explored using these sets, as well.

Some of the Primary Source Sets available on the DHC

Mark Heiman, Northfield history enthusiast and member of the DHC steering committee, observed, “This is an invaluable starting point for anyone interested in local history, whether you want a deep dive into a topic you’re already familiar with or an introduction to fascinating people and stories that may be new to you.”

The Project Coordinator for the DHC, Stephanie Hess, explained, “One of the primary goals of the DHC is to provide access to a wide variety of digitized materials about local history. We want to spread the word about these amazing resources and provide guidance so teachers, students, and the whole community can discover their stories.”

Northfield founder John W. North and his daughter, Emma, in 1855. Find this primary source along with others in the Settlement & Immigration Primary Source Set on the Northfield History Collaborative.

Northfield founder John W. North and his daughter, Emma, in 1855. Find this primary source along with others in the Settlement & Immigration Primary Source Set on the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection.

The DHC developed these sets with guidance from the Minnesota Digital Library and the Digital Public Library of America. These publications were made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The sets are open to all researchers: please follow the link to the Primary Source Set landing page.

For more guidance, check out our Primary Source Set Users Guide.

Send us feedback about these primary source sets!

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Women in Northfield local history resource

11 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by Stephanie Hess in History Blog, People, Primary Source Sets, Women

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In honor of Women’s History Month, we are excited to share an amazing new guide to women’s history in the Northfield area.

Women in the Northfield Area Primary Source Set

It’s called a Primary Source Set because it includes links to 24 different primary sources shared on the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection website. It also includes some historic context, discussion questions, and related resources to help you dig deeper into the topic.

This set is part of a larger group of Northfield history sets developed in 2018 – stay tuned for more info on those!

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The Armistice of 1918

09 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by Stephanie Hess in History Blog, Military, People, St. Olaf College, World War I

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One hundred years ago this month, people in Northfield waited with the rest of the world to hear that the devastating Great War was finally over. Rumors that Germany was going to agree to an Armistice—or cease-fire—ran rampant.

On November 8, 1918, the Northfield News ran a political cartoon showing American troops, and American resources, were forcing Germany’s Kaiser to end the war. It was more than wishful thinking, since at that very moment a German delegation was considering the terms of an armistice with the Allied countries.

Northfield News cartoon, published Nov. 8, 1918

Northfield News cartoon, published Nov. 8, 1918

Homer Mason, one of Northfield’s service men stationed in France, was the assistant N.C.O. in charge of a radio station. At his post, he frequently received press reports sent out by the Allied troops. It was here, he later wrote, that he heard Germany “send out her press at the critical period before the armistice was signed.” He sent copies of these press reports to his parents.

Press Report, delivery of Armistice terms, Nov. 10, 1918

Press Report, delivery of Armistice terms, Nov. 10, 1918

The very next day, November 11, 1918, Homer had just come into the station when he heard that the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch had just sent out his orders to all of the Allied troops to cease firing at 11 o’clock French time. The Germans had signed the Armistice terms, and the war was finally over.

Order from Marshal Foch, November 11, 1918

Order from Marshal Foch, November 11, 1918. Translation available on the Collaborative.

The world rejoiced, but none as much as people in France, whose country had been completely devastated by trench warfare and German occupation. Homer reported that “The French people are certainly a happy bunch of folks nowadays. They are celebrating everywhere.”

Letter from Homer Mason to his parents, Nov. 13, 1918

Letter from Homer Mason to his parents, Nov. 13, 1918

Northfield was celebrating, too. Homer’s parents both told of the jubilation they felt and provided details on just how Northfield celebrated the end of the war. On November 12, Homer’s mother Melinda wrote:

This is a day after we got the news that the war was over, but yesterday I could not write – so many came in and then there was so much merriment and noise that you could not hear yourself think. The bells commenced to ring at 3:30 in the night. We got up and lit up the whole house. We knew what it meant and how glad and thankful we [were]. And after it got light the soldiers came and the band and after that, all the school children, with old pails and dish pans and anything they could make noise on. All [are] so thankful it is over.

Homer’s father, George, later said all the church bells and whistles in town blew after they got the news at 3:30 a.m. and they “kept it up until 6 o’clock.” He said he “grabbed the Flag and whirled it around and posted it at the front door.”

Letter from George Mason to Homer Mason, November 27, 1918

Letter from George Mason to Homer Mason, November 27, 1918

“We are glad the armistice is signed,” wrote George, “and I hope that they will soon come to a peace that will be just and durable. We don’t want any more of this war business.”

What did the Armistice mean for the boys from Northfield stationed in places “over there” as well as “over here”? It did not mean they could come home immediately, especially since it only halted the military operation of the war. The official end to the war came with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.

In the meantime, servicemen stationed in Europe changed their focus from military offensive to occupying force. Homer Mason, for one, hoped he would be home by the summer [he was]. Other servicemen, like Northfield’s Arthur Houston and his road crew, now focused on rebuilding blasted roads without the threat of German bombs overhead. Others were recovering in hospitals from injuries or the flu, serving as military escorts, and other duties as assigned by the American Expeditionary Force.

Some Northfield residents served the military at camps scattered throughout the United States. When the Armistice was signed, and a military force at peak strength was no longer necessary, many of them were given a few options. Fredrick Heiberg was at an officer’s training school at the time, and he reported on November 16 that he was offered three options:

  1. Remain here and finish his course – get a commission and be placed in the Reserve Corps.
  2. Get an immediate discharge from the Army.
  3. For men from S.A.T.C. units to return to them.

“Which should I choose?” he asked his mother. “After considering all points from all angles and points I think I’ll choose the second.” He was discharged on November 30, 1918, returned to Northfield shortly after that, and became a dentist.

With the Armistice came the end of fighting the “war to end all wars”. The Northfield men and women who served remained forever changed by their experiences. We honor their service and sacrifice every year on Veterans Day, but especially this year—the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice.

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World War I book donations

27 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Arts and Culture, History Blog, Military, Northfield Historical Society, Northfield News, Northfield Public Library, Recreation, Rice County Historical Society, World War I

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Did you know that books can help win wars?

At least, that is what Northfield citizens thought 100 years ago, when their country was deeply involved in World War I. The Northfield News urged its readers to “Let Your Idle Books Help Our Soldiers.”

Northfield News, September 14, 1917

Northfield News, September 14, 1917

There were book collection points at the Northfield Public Library and other libraries in Rice County.

Book collection poster, 1918

Book collection poster, 1918

Book collection poster, 1917-1918

Book collection poster, 1917-1918

Even the Boy Scouts helped the cause – they “did their bit” to collect books from the community by driving around Northfield in a car with a large banner on it. According to their scrapbook from the time, the boys collected almost 1,300 volumes on March 23, 1918. This scrapbook has many other great photographs of the Boy Scouts activities during this period, including Liberty Loan parades and more.

Boy Scouts book collection drive, 1918

Boy Scouts book collection drive, 1918

During wartime, there are many ways to contribute to the war effort. Books – and knowledge – may have been just what they needed to win.

Poster, c. 1918

Poster, c. 1918

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What’s new on the DHC?

13 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Agriculture, Businesses, Carleton College, City of Northfield, History Blog, Malt-O-Meal, Northfield Historical Society, People, Politics and Government, Religion, Rice County Historical Society, Social Issues, St. Johns Lutheran Church, St. Olaf College

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Residence of Frederick Albers, c. 1900. Bridgewater Township collection.

We have been busy so far in 2018! Here is a list of some of the highlights that have been added to the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection since January:

Bridgewater Township collection:

  • Birth Register 1907-1915
  • Individual documents and photos

First United Church of Christ collection:

  • Looking Backward: A History of the Congregational Church in Northfield
  • Manual of the Congregational Church of Northfield, 1878

Three Links Care Center collection:

  • I.O.O.F. Home for Elderly and Children Scrapbook

St. John’s Lutheran Church collection:

  • Ladies Aid Past Presidents scrapbook

Rice County Historical Society collection:

  • Miscellaneous historical documents

Northfield Historical Society collection:

  • 1878 Newton S. Persons Diary
  • Northfield City Council meeting minutes book, 1893-1903
  • Malt-O-Meal photographs and documents
  • Sheldahl Co. photographs
  • Reminiscences of Elise K. Ytterboe
  • Minutes book of the Northfield Improvement Association, 1884-1937
  • Northfield High School commencement programs: added years 1929, 1930, 1937

Carleton College born digital collection:

  • World War II photographs and documents

More to come!

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Rebirth and Reflection: Glimpses of Spring in Northfield during the early Twentieth Century

20 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Arts and Culture, Carleton College, History Blog, Northfield Historical Society, Northfield News, People, Recreation, Religion, St. Johns Lutheran Church, St. Olaf College, World War I

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by guest columnist Robert Coleman

Spring is finally here! Well, at least according to the calendar. In Minnesota it can sometimes be a little difficult to tell. But before long, song birds will be returning, trees will be budding, and gardens will need tending. This year’s frigid winter will soon be only a distant memory as the last of the remaining snow melts away. Easter approaches, as do commencement celebrations and spring festivals such as May Day. Finally time to escape the homes we have been cooped up in all winter and pull out the barbeque or have a picnic. In my family, spring also means getting out the rain boots and coats so we can do some serious puddle splashing!

In the early years of the twentieth century, citizens of Northfield welcomed the germination of the new year in ways both analogous to and different from today. Perhaps a larger contingent of the population was occupied with planting the season’s crops, and masses of children probably did not descend on the city’s parks to search for candy-filled plastic eggs. Still, many parallels can be drawn, and it is certainly possible to imagine oneself sitting on a blanket having a picnic along the Cannon River on a fine April afternoon, whether in 2018 or in 1918. Exploring the wealth of documents digitized by the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection opens a window into these early years. These documents span many aspects of life, from histories of the city’s early schools and churches to letters sent home from sons at war, all giving us opportunities to study these spring days of long ago.

Early spring on the Lakes, Carleton College, undated. Harvey Stork, photographer. Carleton College Archives.

St. John's Lutheran Church Sunday School picnic at Heath Creek, May 1910.

St. John’s Lutheran Church Sunday School picnic at Heath Creek, May 1910. St. John’s Lutheran Church collection.

Spring is first and foremost a time of rebirth. It is a time for planting gardens and fields. As leaves return to the trees, so do the song birds that escaped to warmer climates for the winter. An early undated photo from the Carleton College archives shows a spring view of Lyman Lakes that could nearly have been taken today, minus the newer buildings and the highway. The lakes were created and given to the College in 1916-1917 by George and Marietta Lyman in memory of their son George Huntington Lyman.[1] A second photo, from May of 1910, shows a group of children from St. John’s Lutheran Church having a Sunday picnic. The trees overhead show relatively bare branches with few leaves yet still manage to shade this idyllic seen. At least one of the young girls has a hat covered with early spring flowers, which she deftly wears on what appears to be a blustery day.

Page 288 of The History of Carleton College

Excerpt from page 288 of The History of Carleton College, 1904. Carleton College Archives.

Of course, for many community members the spring holiday of Easter marks a pivotal rebirth. Apparently, those Carleton students not home for the holiday could look forward to a special morning. According to a 1904 history of the school, “Easter morning, in place of the rising bell, a carol is sung, and singing carols, all descend to breakfast with a butterfly or daffodil awaiting each one.” A story in the Northfield News of April 21, 1906 tells of a particularly packed house at All Saints Episcopal Church for that year’s Easter observances. “The church was crowded to its utmost capacity at each of the services, and all agreed that never before had the parish passed a more pleasant and impressive Easter […] A special train on the Great Western railroad brought about ninety from Faribault and adjacent towns.”[2]

Spring picnic near the Cannon River, 1909.

Spring picnic near the Cannon River, 1909. St. Olaf College Archives.

As the snows finally melt away after a lengthy Minnesota winter, people across the years have wanted to get outside and enjoy themselves. The parks have filled with families enjoying the sun and the Cannon River has provided ample opportunity for an afternoon river trip. The 1909 photo above shows a group of St. Olaf students having a picnic next to their canoe. What better way to spend a warm weekend afternoon after a long week of classes?

May Fete 1922

Four women dancing in the May Fete pageant of 1922. Carleton College Archives.

May Fete 1923

Frances Emge’s solo dance in the May Fete pageant of 1923. Harvey Stork photographer. Carleton College Archives.

Nothing epitomized this need to get out in the warming sun and celebrate more than Carleton’s elaborate Mai Fete pageants which were held each May on one of the islands in Lyman Lakes. As the two photos above show, Mai Fete was foremost a springtime dance festival. These extravagant events were produced by students and came to involve a majority of the women on campus. First celebrated in 1918, Mai Fete reached its peak popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, regularly drawing thousands of spectators.[3]

Tornado damage

Tornado damage behind a house on St. Olaf Avenue in 1922. Northfield Historical Society.

As we all know, spring weather can be fickle and the citizens Northfield had ample opportunity to witness nature’s unpredictability in the early years of the twentieth century. The city has known its fair share of floods along the Cannon River and late season snows, along with the early appearance of summer thunderstorms. A particularly dramatic spring storm occurred on May 3, 1922. The photo above shows some of the damage incurred by the tornado that hit the St. Olaf area that evening. The Northfield News noted that “Northfield had a visit from an early season tornado Wednesday evening that threw a scare into everybody in town, and wrought considerable havoc in the northwest portion of the city […] Those who had the opportunity to view it at close range admit that they are satisfied and have no desire for an introduction to another.”[4] Luckily, while considerable property damage was sustained, there were no injuries, not even among the occupants of a bus that was blown into a ditch along Lincoln Street.

The Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection has been focused on commemorating the centennial of World War One over the past many months. What must the families at home have thought of a spring planting of the family farm or of attending an Easter service without their loved ones by their side? Capturing the contrast between spring’s joy and the darkness of war, one Carleton member of the student training corps recorded in his diary on March 1918: “Only one class. Ushering in Spring – Playing catch […] Good long sleep […] Drill until 4 P.M. Home at 10:01 – [..] Big day at home. Red Cross Auction. Worked in shop. Dance.” What a week! Went to class, played catch, and practiced for war.

Still, even during a time of war, spring brought with it some light-heartedness and apparently a desire to go out and buy a new suit. Two ads for tailors seem oddly out of place during such difficult times. A Chas Stern Square Dealing Clothier ad from March 1917 notes, “Easter 1917 Fashion Decrees Military Effects.” That certainly could have made for some interesting suits at Easter service. An ad for Olberg’s Tailory the next year, however, departed from military styles: “Don’t think that just because the country is at war you can do without your Easter Suit.” Instead, the country needs prosperity during such times and, after all, “you cannot feel prosperous unless you look prosperous.”

Northfield News, March 30, 1917

Northfield News, March 30, 1917

Northfield News, March 8, 1918

Spring is such a contrasting season, the first colorful songbirds bursting onto an otherwise wintertime scene, or bright warm days leading quickly to dangerous floods when the snows finally melt. Though seemly a disparate group of documents—from an advertisement for military style suits to a photo of a church picnic—all of these sources display this distinct contrast that so defines springtime. The pictures taken of Lyman Lakes or of St. Olaf students on a picnic, could easily have been taken in 2018, though perhaps without such formal attire. A diary entry about students drilling for war at Carleton College, or an ad telling us that it is our patriotic duty to purchase suits in war time, perhaps seem a little more out of place.

As the days lengthen again, let’s reflect on the different meanings of spring, and maybe contemplate what it may have been like to welcome the season here in Northfield a century ago. Most importantly, let’s all go grab our rain boots and splash in a puddle or two. I am sure that Northfield residents, young and old, were doing the same a century ago!

—

Robert Coleman is an independent historian and current stay-at-home dad. His background is in public history with an emphasis on Native American history, the environment and changing understandings of landscapes. He has enjoyed working on transcribing projects for the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection over the course of the past year and looks forward to continuing to research and write about the fascinating history of his newly adopted home.

—

Notes:

[1] Ben Weiss, Lyman Lakes, http://northfieldhistorical.org/items/show/67

[2] “Easter Services,” Northfield News, April 25, 1906.

[3] Carleton College Student Activities, “Mai Fete,” https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/campact/programs/maifete/

[4] “Tornado Visits Northfield Early Wednesday Evening,” Northfield News, May 5, 1922.

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WWI Primary Source Sets

31 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by Stephanie Hess in History Blog, World War I

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The DHC has been busy finishing up our year-long World War I project. We finally have some new resources available to help student and researchers delve more deeply into some of the topics found in our newly-digitized primary sources. They’re called Primary Source Sets, and they provide background to the topic, links to approximately 15 primary sources, discussion questions, related resources, and more.

One of the goals of this World War I project was to understand the Northfield experience during the war years. So we are pleased to share our first Primary Source Set with you – all about the Northfield home front.

Home Front Primary Source Set

Another story from the war years that affected life in Northfield to a great extent was the influenza epidemic of 1918. Just when people in Northfield were beginning to celebrate the end of the war, they were struck by this terrible disease, and the entire community shut down. Learn more by checking out some of the primary sources that tell of that Northfield experience using this 1918 Influenza Epidemic primary source set.

Influenza Primary Source Set

Influenza Primary Source Set

We hope to create more of these primary source sets in the future to cover ALL of the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection’s online collections, so stay tuned, and check back on our Primary Source Set landing page throughout the year!

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