Program areas at MNHS
Historic Sites and Museums: MNHS operates 26 historic sites and museums throughout the state that allow people to access history through public programs and tours. After two years of pandemic restrictions, MNHS was able to welcome visitors back to our sites in the summer of 2021 and forward into 2022. While still limited, our sites and museums were open to the public four days a week. After more than two years of revitalization and rehabilitation, Historic Fort Snelling reopened to the public in 2022. The revitalization included a new visitor center inside a rehabilitated 1904 cavalry barracks, stunning river overlooks, Indigenous landscapes with native plantings as well as expanded interpretive spaces, scenic walking paths, and enhanced accessibility. The site is now open to the public year-round.
Library and Collections: Our library and collections departments maintain and make available to the public the MNHS' collection of books, newspapers, maps, objects, photographs, works of art, oral history recordings, private manuscripts, and periodicals on Minnesota history. MNHS catalogs, restores, and digitizes documents and records to make them available for public use. This program includes the acquisition, preservation, and cataloging of public records, as well as the Historical Society's responsibilities as State Archivist. Our collections continued to grow in FY22 with the addition of more oral histories and over 1,900 new artifacts. The Gale Family Library reopened to visitors in 2021-2022 on a limited basis. In addition, the Art Speaks exhibit showcased MNHS's Minnesota art collection, which is the most comprehensive in the world. More than 160 new paintings, sculptures, and photos that have been acquired over the last five years were featured in the exhibit. The Archaeology program continues to perform services for the State of MN Department of Natural Resources as well as other historic and archeological surveys as required.
Education, Outreach, and Content Development: MNHS develops Minnesota history curriculum, provides teacher education, and coordinates the Minnesota History Day program. After two years of restrictions due to COVID-19, school groups returned to the Minnesota History Center for on-site programming in 2022. History Day continues to be a signature program for MNHS. In FY 22, 17,000 of Minnesota's students, from 134 schools, participated in the program, in school, regional, state and national levels. In addition to in-person learning, MNHS continues to expand our virtual educational programming. That has enabled us to serve a much broader audience, including fifth and sixth grade students through the Northern Lights digital curriculum. Diversity and inclusion are a focus of our educational programming and outreach by engaging with traditionally underrepresented communities. It is our goal to ensure the diversity of Minnesota is reflected in all that we do. Our Native American Initiatives department continues to work on building relationships and being an advocate for Native peoples across Minnesota and beyond. Our Native American Undergraduate Museum Fellowship exposes Native American students to careers in the museum field and our Native American Artist in Residence program expands Native American artists' understanding of traditional art. Additionally, The MNHS Press launched a major collaboration with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to publish Ojibwe stories. Our exhibits department, which plans, fabricates and installs exhibits at Society interpretive facilities and museums throughout the state, hosted Our Home, the Minnesota History Center's first permanent exhibit devoted to Native American content, and prepared for the opening of Sherlock Holmes exhibit in FY 2023.
Heritage Preservation: Our Heritage Preservation department provides technical assistance and grants for historic preservation, administers grant programs supporting projects in preservation and interpretation of Minnesota history, and administers the National Historic Preservation Act in Minnesota. In FY22, statewide preservation saw almost $8.0M awarded in Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund monies awarded through 201 Legacy grants across Minnesota. These grants serve many purposes across the entire State of Minnesota, including historic preservation, education and programming, digital preservation, archaeology, exhibits, inclusion and community engagement, publications as well as several partnership agreements.