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Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Category Archives: Social Issues

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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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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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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Northfield’s Veterans

11 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by Stephanie Hess in History Blog, Military, People, Social Issues

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Throughout Northfield’s history, its citizens have consistently heeded the call to serve in our nation’s military branches. Many of the town’s early citizens were Civil War veterans, including bank hero Joseph Lee Heywood, and area military service has continued through today. The Northfield History Collaborative preserves documents and images detailing the service of its citizens. In honor of Veterans’ Day today, here is a selection of some of our favorite military and veterans’ documents:

Images:

John Norton’s Civil War promotion document

document_promoting_john_norton_to_first_lieutenant_in_the_civil_war

Rice County Historical Society collection 

Send-off for Spanish-American War volunteers, April 1898

spanish_american_war_volunteers_northfield_minnesota

Northfield Historical Society collection

Military parade on Division Street, 1915

military_parade_in_northfield_minnesota

Northfield Historical Society collection

Three world War I-era servicemen on Bridge Square, c. 1917

arne_winger_and_two_other_men_in_a_parade

Northfield News collection

Documents – follow the links to see the books in their entirety

Resume of Service Men from Waterford from the Civil War through Vietnam

page_1-waterford

Northfield News collection 

Minutes book for Northfield’s post of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization made up of Union veterans of the Civil War

Rice County Historical Society 

Attendance roll for Company K, 4th Infantry of Northfield, from the Spanish-American War of 1898

cover-attendance-roll-co-k

Northfield Historical Society 

American Legion Post 84 minutes, 1944-1949

cover-american-legion

Northfield Historical Society 

The NHC salutes our veterans and hopes to continue telling their stories, as our collection of military documents keeps growing. You can see many more of them on the NHC website here.

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♣ Recent History Blogs

  • Entertainment history
  • Local Architecture Resources
  • Settlement and Immigration primary source set
  • Primary Source Sets released
  • Women in Northfield local history resource

♣ Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

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