Archives and Special Collections

Formerly a student staff employee in the U of M's Performing Arts Archives, Joseph Moen brings prior research experience and a strong measure of enthusiasm to the work, as helps researchers uncover and use material deep in the archives.

An impactful Libraries exhibit, "A Woman's Place: Women and Work," is now online. Curators Kate Dietrick, Linnea Anderson, and Caitlin Marineau decided at the start of this labor-intensive project that they wanted it to have a second life as an online exhibit. After it was taken down, they didn’t return all the materials immediately but instead had a student worker scan them all.

Email, PowerPoint presentations, Google documents, and spreadsheets — these are just some examples of born-digital materials that make up the digital stream coming to the Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections (ASC). “ASC has wanted/needed a position to help us deal with born-digital materials for several years,” says Kris Kiesling, Elmer L. Andersen Director of Archives and Special Collections. Managing these born-digital materials is now the role of Lara Friedman-Shedlov.

What began in the early part of the 20th century as a week dedicated to studying the history of Black people in America by the 1960s was expanding to a month. Starting in the mid-1970s, U.S. Presidents have annually proclaimed February to be Black History Month. Yet people can explore Black history any month, taking online avenues through primary source materials and special collections available through the Libraries.

In trying times, we all want someone to lean on — someone reliable, professional, and caring. Someone like Mary Blissenbach, Student Supervisor for Archives and Special Collections. “[Mary] is our front line as we open up Archives and Special Collections to researchers. She has done a fantastic job in coordinating a difficult changing world for them.”

Two outstanding local public TV productions used Libraries’ resources in their runs for a Midwest Emmy. One was successful; each is worth a look.

Jewish Community Action Records, C. P. Frank's Atlas of the city of Duluth, Minn., (1902), “Mama Cat Has Three Kittens," and many more notable acquisitions were made in fiscal year 2020 by the University Libraries.

As a Global Studies major with a regional focus in Europe, I gain knowledge and more tangible rewards in my job as Student Assistant for the Immigration History Research Center Archives. In the two years, I’ve gained invaluable exposure to thousands of archival materials documenting the personal experiences of 20th-century European immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons. Since spring break, however, I’ve had to learn how to do my job without this hands-on and face-to-face component.

Guest author Teresa Bertilotti shares about her research project, Becoming Italian-American: Entertainment and Historical Culture, 1860-1930, and about her research at the Immigration History...

They stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the curved staircase of the atrium of the Elmer L. Andersen Library — a crowd gathered for the building’s official opening April 8, 2000. One can sense their eagerness in the U of M video that captured that ceremony and related the background of this new home for the U’s Archives and Special Collections.

Spotlight on Research: Our guest author Andrew Marion visited the Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) recently, and writes about both the visit and his research on the topic of Humanitarian Capitalism: Displaced Person Resettlement in America, 1948-1952. Marion is one of this year’s Grant-in-Aid Award recipients, and is a History Ph.D. candidate at the University of Mississippi.

"A Woman’s Place: Women and Work" is a new exhibit at Elmer L. Andersen Library that attempts to unpack the stories of what “women’s work” truly embodies by pulling materials from units across the University Libraries. The exhibit runs through March 6, but a special exhibit reception will be held January 16.

Guest author Alana Kosklin visited the Immigration History Research Center Archives recently, and shares her experience doing research for her topic of interest, the Kalevala and Finnish-Americans. Kosklin is the recipient of this year’s Michael G. Karni Scholarship, which is awarded by the Immigration History Research Center. Kosklin is an English Ph.D. candidate at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Spotlight on Research: Our guest author Nina Bogdan was awarded the Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) Grant-in-Aid Award this year, and visited us for five days to explore the material in the IHRCA. This blog post explains Bogdan’s research project and how these sources relate to it. Bogdan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of Arizona.

The Performing Arts Archives recently received a treasure trove of new archival materials from the Minnesota Opera. These new acquisitions document the opera company’s more-than 50-year commitment to staging new works. Founded in 1964, the Minnesota Opera began as the Center Opera, an organization that operated under the aegis of the Walker Art Center.

This fall, the Performing Arts Archives welcomed the archives of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Dominick Argento. The collection includes letters, score manuscripts, signed photographs, and several rare recordings — and illustrate the composer’s impressive creative output as well as his collaborative relationships with other Twin Cities musicians and musical groups.