Director's Blog

Earlier this week the First National Bank of Northfield (FNB) removed two safes that have been in their vault since 1893.  Do not worry though, the FNB has donated the 115 year old safes to the Northfield Historical Society and they will be making an appearance probably in November, so stay tuned!  I was at the bank for part of the day when one safe was being removed and below is a slide show of it being taken out.

In addition, Jodi Lawson, a FNB Vice President and NHS Board member, found an article in an 1893 Northfield News paper relating to the vault and the safes.

After you click on the article click on it again to zoom in.

Are you a motorcycle rider?  Do you like Southern Minnesota in August? Are you a history buff?  Well, if you are any of those you are going to enjoy the Outlaw Run!  The Outlaw Run is a motorcycle rally sponsored by the Northfield Historical Society to raise money for our youth education programs.  The run is going to take place on August 23, 2008.  For more information go the the Outlaw Run page.

We will be updating the page frequently, so come back for more up-to-date information.

Well, it's the Monday after the 4th of July and what a great weekend!  It was a great event for Northfielders of all ages to come out and enjoy the great weather and celebrate America's birth day!  Can anyone tell me what organization in town also celebrated a birthday on July 4th?  See the slideshow below for pictures I took during the event. Also see Girff's blog on Locally Grown and the photo album at Northfield.org for more pictures of the event.

Well, tomorrow is the the 4th of July and that means that Northfield's Red, White and Blue Hometown Celebration is back!  To view the event's scheduled, click on the poster to the right.  The Museum and Museum Store will be open from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. tomorrow as well.  We will also have a hospitality tent up in which we will be giving information out and free American Flag tattoos!

You can see pictures from last year's celebration in the slideshow below.

Just in time for the 4th of July, the city got the first coat of pavement down on the Water Street parking lot.  I have updated my Picasa photo gallery on the project.  I am trying to take pictures every week of the project, and you can see progress in the slideshow below.

See you tomorrow on the Square!

The Northfield Historical Society just received our new T-shirts for the summer.  View the slide show below for the new shirts.  They range from $12.95 to $19.95 in price.

The Museum Store is open from 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. Sunday.  If you would like to call us our phone number is 507-645-9268 or you can email us by clicking here.

We are holding our Volunteer Appreciation Day on June 12 at 6:30 p.m. This is our way to say THANK YOU!   We will be honoring  Scott Elmer (Past Board President) and  Matt Hagen-Stowe (former Summer Assistant and Jr. Curator) with our Volunteers of the year award.  There will be free ice cream and cake!  The ice cream is being donated by Hogan Brothers and the cake is from Quality Bakery.  If you are a current member or volunteer, stop on down for some good food and fun.  The night is all about you!  If you are wanting to volunteer with us, this is the best way to find out what we offer, and you get to meet current volunteers and find out what it is like to work with us.  Without volunteers the Historical Society would not be the great organization it is today! 

(Top to Bottom: Scott Elmer, Matt Hagen-Stowe)

I was going through some of our images we had scanned by the Minnesota Digital Library, and I came across this photograph and I thought I would share it with you all.  It is a picture of a circus parading through downtown Northfield in about 1880.  I believe the picture is looking south down Division Street.

Well now that it is sunny and the grass is green, the Northfield Historical Society has extended hours! We are now open Monday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.  Our Research Library is still open, Monday - Friday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and please call ahead to make an appointment if you are planning on researching.  If you would like to contact us please call us at 507-645-9268 or you can email us by clicking here.

I am sorry, I have been very behind on posting pictures that are relevant to the Northfield Historical Society.

Below see the slide show for the Water Street Parking Lot construction project.  My goal is to chronicle this event to its completion.  See Griff's post on Locally Grown for more pictures on this project as well.

In addition, you can view the slide show for when the MN 150 banner visited Northfield a few weeks ago.

Water Street

MN 150 Banner

The Northfield Silver Stars prevailed over the formidable Minneapolis Quicksteps last Saturday at Murphy's Landing. The score was 3-2. Jeff Silkey scored twice and David Appleyard, the winning hurler, helped us own cause, scoring once.

The next game for the Northfield Silver Stars is June 7 at 1:00 p.m.  The game will be played at the foot of Old Main at St. Olaf College.

We would like everyone to join us for our upcoming program title The History of Memorial Day and the Significance of the World War I Poppy.  This event takes place on May 15, at 7:00 p.m. here at the Northfield Historical Society.  If you have ever wondered how Memorial Day got started and why the poppy is so important stop on down at NHS on the 15 and find out.  This event is free and open to the public!

Sorry I did not get this posted yesterday, but the upload took longer than I thought.  You can view the documentary online by clicking on the play button below or by going to the Northfield History Video section of our website.  If you would like to purchase a copy of the video they are for sale in our Museum Store for $5.00.

Update, May 12.

I just saw that the Manitou Messenger, the St. Olaf student produced newspaper, published an article about the documentary on their web site.  Click here to view it.

Ytterboe the Dog: A Community Tale DVDs are now for sale in our Museum Store.  You can purchase a DVD by calling NHS at 507-645-9268, by emailing us and telling us you would like a copy or you can stop by NHS, we are located at 408 Division Street, right on Bridge Square!  The DVD is for sale for $5.00.

Scott Richardson is the 2008 Joseph Lee Heywood Award Winner.  Scott is a long time Northfielder and has been involved in many civic organizations in town. Scott has been involved in the Chamber of Commerce, Northfield Booster Club, the Defeat of Jesse James Days and the Northfield Historical Society to name a few.  See Locally Grown for their post and some better pictures and the Northfield News, for their story.    CONGRATS SCOTT!

Last night at Viking Theater on the St. Olaf College campus, the Northfield Historical Society premiered our second student produced documentary on Northfield history, Ytterboe the Dog: A Community Tale.  Jessica Steinbach and Stephanie Tanner were the two St. Olaf interns that produce the documentary.  The theater was packed and everyone seemed to enjoy the video.  Check out Locally Grown for pictures from last night.  The video will be for sale in the Museum Store sometime next week, check back here for more up-to-date information.

left to right in the picture is Jessica Steinbach, myself (Hayes Scriven) and Stephanie Tanner.

On May 1, the Northfield Historical Society will premier it's second student produced documentary on Northfield history. This years documentary will chronicle the events surrounding the shooting of Ytterboe the Dog. Ytterboe was the unofficial mascot of St. Olaf College in the late 1950s and was beloved by many in town. The documentary was produced by two St. Olaf interns.  The Northfield News ran a story about the video in the Saturday April 19 paper, click here to view.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at Viking Theater.  Viking Theater is located in Buntrock Commons on the St. Olaf College Campus.  The documentary will start at 7:00 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to stay after the showing to share their memories of Ytterboe.

First off, I have to apologize for not updating the site in so long.  We have been doing some updating to the site and I have been putting off writings posts.  Anyway, it is time everyone was updated on the Annual Meeting.

On March 15, we held our Annual Meeting at Great Hall on the Carleton College Campus.  We have to thank Carleton and the First National Bank of Northfield for their sponsorship.  It was a great meeting, everyone had a wonderful time dancing to Christine Rosholt's amazing music and eating some very good food.

The membership approved many items that night .  They approved new mission and vision statements and they are:

Mission

To serve as the primary stewards of the unique history of the Northfield area, fostering an awareness of its meaning and relevance through the discovery, documentation, preservation and interpretation of our collective stories.

Vision

To achieve a fiscally sound organization driven by a large, diverse and engaged membership, innovative educational exhibits and programming, and a successful presences downtown and throughout the Northfield area.

In addition to approving those statements we formally adopted new values for NHS.

Values

Integrity—Demonstrate integrity with our relationships with the community and in authenticating of our collected history.

Stewardship—To serve as dedicated guardians of our local history, maintaining the highest legal, ethical and professional standards.

Education—To teach Northfield history through creative, inclusive programs and exhibits, that help people learn the true, meaningful uses of the past.

Collaboration—To work effectively with culturally and ethnically diverse community, state, national, and international organizations in furthering our mission and outreach; to work together respectfully as internal team comprised of board, staff, volunteers.

Diversity—To embrace our community’s ethnic and cultural diversity, and ensure our programs, exhibits, and collections celebrate and reflect the differences and commonalities of our collective past.

Finally, the membership approved our new slate of board members.  Renewing for another term with NHS was Chip DeMann and Deanna Kuennen.  Coming onto the board we welcome; Heather Scott, Carol Donelan and Dan Jorgenson.  Since we had new members coming on we say goodbye to Scott Elmer, Chris Ellison and Eric Fure-Slocum.  We thank them for their service and wish them the best of luck.  I will update the Board and Staff page after our board meeting on April 21 with pictures of the new board members.