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 Debby Nitz, reference librarian at the Northfield Public Library.

From July 7 -10, 1955, the citizens of Northfield put on quite a celebration for the centennial of the founding of Northfield. The weekend was full of picnics, parades, a centennial queen, style shows and a pageant.

The pageant was held the first three nights of the celebration at the Carleton College stadium. The cast included more than 200  people who played all kinds of roles including early pioneers, Native Americans, Norwegian dancers and voyageurs.  The Bank Raid was also enacted.

The play was produced by the Hal Garven Production company  from Minneapolis and directed by Bert Merling.  The list of participants was like a “who’s who” of Northfield, with last names that included Longstreet, Scott, McRae, Harmon, Nystuen, Schrader, Southworth, Drentlaw, Lunder, Harkness, Flaten, Skluzacek, Kucera, Gill, Fossum, and Quist.

Read the text of the play (“The Genesis and Rise of Northfield”) for yourself! An original script, held at the Northfield Public Library, was recently scanned by the Northfield History Collaborative and added to the library’s collection there.