Primary Sourcery

In my previous article, I explored Minnesota poet Bill Holm’s use of boxelder bugs and pigs in his writing. Now, I turn my attention to two other elements that are key to understanding Holm’s work — Walt Whitman and the concept of “failure.”

This September, the Wangensteen Historical Library's new Underwater Exhibit will open to the public - exploring the intersection of humans, health, and science in watery spaces. Communications Intern A’Davian Smith sits down with curators Emily Beck and Lois Hendrickson to get a behind-the-scenes look as they walk through the process of creating this exhibit.

Thanks to Courtney Johnson for writing this post! Courtney is a student in the Youth Development Leadership program. She joined the program in 2015 and...

The University of Minnesota Libraries is partnering with Adam Matthew Digital to make some of its rich primary source material available for undergraduate research...

When Bill Holm’s papers came to the Upper Midwest Literary Archives a few years ago, much of the collection was in disparate pieces. Archives staff, myself included, have completed numerous iterations of sorting this material into categories that best reflected Holm’s life and work. It has been nothing short of challenging to acquaint myself with a lifetime’s worth of Holm’s work. At any given time, I have a number of Holm’s books on my desk that have become my reference tools — both for biographical information and for identifying Holm’s writing.

Margaret Hasse is known for her candid poetry and down-to-earth point of view. But from 1973 to 1975, Hasse also was an artist-teacher for “New Focus: Arts & Corrections,” a workshop focused on bringing the arts into correctional programs. It was Hasse’s first job teaching creative writing and a particularly entertaining and uplifting part of the Upper Midwest Literary Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

May is Jewish American Heritage Month, a time set aside to recognize and celebrate Jewish American achievements and contributions to our country. To celebrate, we've included some highlights in this blog post of examples from the Libraries' Upper Midwest Jewish Archives.

Employee perks, clubs, and interest groups have always been a part of the high tech culture — in a competitive industry, having a robust set of perks and benefits is critical to drawing top talent. And, the ways in which companies treat their employees is indicative of an engaging corporate culture and management approach. But, where does this idea come from?

As part of National Poetry Month, the Upper Midwest Literary Archives is doing some extra celebrating as it kicks off its year-long grant project dedicated to exploring the archives of Minnesota poets. Our project, aptly titled "Prairie Poets and Press: Literary Lives of the Upper Midwest," will organize, describe, and reveal the contents of four important literary collections.

By Kathryn Hujda Assistant Curator, Upper Midwest Literary Archives From messy handwritten notes to concise editorial markings — from proof to print — poetry in the...

The Wangensteen Historical Library has over 1,000 medical artifacts from the 19th and 20th centuries within its collection. As these items are cataloged, interesting tools of medicine's past are re-discovered. This includes the Seabury and Johnson Bandage Kit that was recently cataloged by Katie Otto. Read about Katie's experience cataloging the bandage kit for a behind-the-scenes look at the process.

The University of Minnesota Libraries has partnered with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota to archive the organization’s historical records, including more than 50 linear feet of photographs, minutes, correspondence, newsletters, promotional materials, reports, and other records documenting more than 100 years of Lutheran Welfare Society and Lutheran Social Service history.

By Kirsten Buvala Project Manager, Immigration History Research Center Archives I have had the great fortune to be project manager for a digitization project here at...

Louise A. Merriam Archivist, YMCA of Greater New York In the 19th century, the CEO of the New York City YMCA, then called a secretary, spent...

By Daniel Necas Archivist, Immigration History Research Center Archives Between September 15 and October 14, the IHRC Archives hosted two archivists from the National Archives of...