The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

Minnesota Historical Society. Minnesota History Center

345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, Minnesota 55102

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 651-259-3300

Repository URL: http://minnesotahistorycenter.org/

Repository code: mnhi

Repository description (CRHP): The library holds several collections (including those compiled by historian David V. Taylor) that document black life and freedom struggles in Minnesota; portions of them have been digitized and are available online.

Repository description (extant): The Minnesota Historical Society is chief caretaker of Minnesota's story -- and the History Center is home to the Society's vast collections. Within its archives reside artifacts ranging from American Indian moccasins and artwork to furniture and photographs, Civil War-era flags and a wealth of geneaological information. All of it is accessible today and for future generations.
[. . . ] An interactive museum with both permanent and changing exhibits, the Minnesota History Center hosts concerts, lectures, family days and other special events throughout the year. The building is also home to the Minnesota Historical Society library and archives, a research destination for schoolchildren, family historians and academics.

[from Oral History Collections page]: The Minnesota Historical Society has used oral history since 1948 as a means of documenting Minnesota's past and present. The Society's oral history collection now includes hundreds of interviews with Minnesotans from all walks of life and all corners of the state. Topics, chosen to explore specific issues in the state's history and current affairs, include politics, business, labor, agriculture, the environment, ethnicity, religion and education.

Oral history provides a rich source of information that usually does not exist in any other form. Interviews are recorded on audio tape, and many include transcripts that allow easy access to the material. Since 1984 the Historical Society has also operated a video history program to complement a number of its oral history projects.

In addition to undertaking its own projects, the Society's Oral History Office offers advice and workshops for civic and community groups interested in using oral history and video history to document their work.

Repository Notes (CRHP): The MHS Division of Library and Archives also includes the Minnesota State Archives.

Repository type: State Historical Society

Collections:

Rondo oral history project
Minnesota black history project
Minnesota's greatest generation oral history project: Part I
Minnesota's greatest generation oral history project: Part II
[Interviews with S. Edward Hall]
Kathleen A. Olson papers
Oral history interview with Nettie Sherman
Our gathering places oral history project