Dickinson Museum Center

DMC Receives Book Collection through IMLS Grant

2008-02-25T12:28:00.002-07:00

The Dickinson Museum Center has been notified that it will be receiving a collection of books, DVDs, and other materials as part of a core resource collection. This *Connecting to Collections Bookshelf* collection is part of a grant developed by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)and the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)to supply archives, libraries, and museums throughout the U.S. with relevant information about protecting the nation's cultural heritage resources. Dickinson Museum Center staff applied to the grant in the fall of 2007. The collection is expected to be shipped in the spring of 2008. To read the full press release visit: www.imls.gov/news/2008/021908.shtm.

Women in Combat: Women's History Month

2008-02-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

As part of our focus on Women’s History during March, the Dickinson Museum Center will be hosting a lecture from the Larry Remele Memorial Fellowship program of the North Dakota Humanities Council. Dr. Christina Weber, one the 2008 Remele Fellows, will make a presentation at the Dickinson Museum Center on March 4, 2008, at 7:00 p.m.

In "Missing Voices: Women's Experience in War and Combat,” Dr. Christina Weber of NDSU’s department of sociology and anthropology will use in-depth interviews with women in North Dakota who have served in recent wars, including Vietnam and Iraq, to tell of the dangers and hardships women experience in war and the challenges they have with reintegrating into home and civilian life. Women have played (and continue to play) a significant role in war, largely as a result of the increasingly blurred boundaries between combat and combat support. Although there has been extensive public interest in men’s experiences of war, demonstrated by the myriad published biographies and memoirs of men’s experiences in the Vietnam War and numerous memoirs already emerging from male Iraqi War veterans, relatively little is known about women’s war experiences.

Christina D. Weber, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at North Dakota State University (NDSU). She earned her doctoral degree at the State University of New York—Buffalo in 2005 and began her position at NDSU in the fall of that year. Dr. Weber’s professional work ranges from research on the social impact of war to theoretical analyses of social inequality and social change. In her doctoral research, she examined the effects of the Vietnam War on children of Vietnam Veterans. Currently, she is collaborating with the North Dakota National Guard’s Family Program on a research project that explores institutional responses to war.

If you have any questions, please contact the museum center for more information at 701-456-6225 or info@dickinsonmuseumcenter.org. We hope to include women in our history all year long, but have an opportunity to take part in a national promotion effort for Women’s History Month in March. For more information visit: www.nwhp.org

Tourism Conference

2008-01-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

The Southwest North Dakota Tourism conference is slatted for Tuesday, January 29th, 2008. The conference, to be held at the Dickinson Days Inn, is $15 to pre-register, and $18 at the door. Not too bad for a meal, opportunity to network, and a seat at some interesting sessions. Click here for the PDF brochure and registration form.

Oil Boom

2008-01-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

This article from the New York Times features the oil boom currently impacting the state. The oil industry has a long and interesting history in the region that continues to have a large impact on both the history and the economy of Southwest North Dakota.

Ghost Towns, Outmigration, and North Dakota

2007-12-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of National Geographic features a rather depressing article about North Dakota, outmigration, and ghost towns. Here is another site about North Dakota ghost towns that is a little less disheartening.

Spring Cleaning

2007-12-08T13:06:00.001-07:00

Here at the museum we do our "spring cleaning" in the dead of winter, when visitation is at its lowest. In the midst of annual reports, newsletter deadlines, assorted board meetings, and various stages of exhibit development, we also did a little refreshing on our website and blog. Nothing more than a little face lift--still feels good to have something new to look at once in a while, though doesn't it? Check out our website at www.dickinsonmuseumcenter.org, have a look around, and come back once in a while to see what changes.

Pearl Harbor Day

2007-12-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

Today's online issue of the Fargo Forum features several articles on regional residents who have some connection to Pearl Harbor. One of the articles (here) is an update on a story carried a few months ago on how the North Dakota chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association had to disband as its membership had dropped to four.

This brings to mind sasa and zamani, which refers to an African (Swahili) concept of time. Sasa is overlapping time, where those who have died are still remembered by someone who is living--their lives overlapped; while zamani is time where ancestors may still be remembered, but there is no longer have anyone alive who personally knew them or remembers them. While this isn't a perfect explanation of the two stages, or dimensions, it is still useful for understanding history and the process by which we develop our historical understandings.

These concepts of sasa and zamani cause us concern when we see the number of people connected to significant historical events who are no longer living and/or capable of telling their stories. Every year as Veteran's Day and Pearl Harbor Day pass on the calendar, there are articles about how few are left from the so-called Greatest Generation to tell the stories of war, genocide, the home-front, and other events.

Rather than lamenting the progression of time, let this be a challenge to everyone to take the opportunity to interview older friends and relatives to learn more about their experiences and stories. Record it, transcribe it, publish it--before it is all zamani.

What came first? Photos from the Valley of the Shadow of Death

2007-12-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

This article from the New York Times is an elaborate attempt to determine which of two historic photographs was taken first. The article follows attempts to research the photographs, the photographer, the context of the Crimean War, and the scientific analyization of shadows. This is one of the best recent articles I've seen that gives people an idea of what historians and curators do to determine the "facts" of a story or event. Through some very circular, and often inconclusive, arguments the photographs are studied, researched, torn apart, recreated, and put back together again. This is the type of detective work historians and curators love to get involve with--a real puzzle.

USA Today article

2007-11-07T10:11:00.002-07:00

The USA Today is featuring Preservation North Dakota and the Prairie Churches projects in an article

If you pick up a hard copy version of the paper, the article includes a lot more statistics, photos, and other information. This is fantastic coverage for preservation in our state, and excellent work by PND's Executive Director, Dale Bentley.

Church for Sale

2007-11-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

Grassy Butte church for sale
By LAUREN DONOVAN
Bismarck Tribune

Cold winds of November blow winter to the doorstep and rattle the windows of the old white church in Grassy Butte.

Saturday, the church will remain dark and chilled when, for most of 35 years on the same day it had been a lighted beacon, fragrant with roast beef and gravy, where hunters and the community gathered for the annual Hunters' Supper.

More than 200 would come, many still in blaze orange from the day afield for deer, to eat the altar society's good food, bid outrageously for the women's homemade pies and get their souls warmed in a way that only a church basement can warm them.

No more, like too many rural places.

St. Peter Canasius Catholic Church, named for a sainted German Jesuit who helped restore Catholicism to Germany in the late 1500s, had its last Mass on Oct. 13.

The church building will be sold to the highest bidder.

The supper tradition will go on, but over in the Grassy Butte community hall. It was moved there two years ago, because the church has never had running water; instead church men fired up a well and rigged a pump to run the soapy dishwater back outside.

Sentiment has no purchasing power, so instead of staying with those to whom it means the most, it will go to the person willing to pay the most.

Continue reading this article...
www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/11/07/news/local/142248.prt

Old Red Trail

2007-10-23T13:24:00.001-06:00

The Old Red Trail committee is developing a website about their efforts to develop a scenic byway between Mandan and Dickinson. The site can be found at www.oldredtrail.org. Check the site out to see what is going on with the group and what activities they are promoting.

Prairie Public Television has produced a documentary about the Old Red Trail as well. More information can be found at their website, which provides a great deal of interesting information about the Old Red Trail and highway development in North Dakota. They have a timeline of the development of the Old Red Trail into Highway 10, and later into Interstate 94. They also have a history of how the development of the highway affected the communities along the route with postcards and photographs.

Museum Staff Helps Preserve Historic Farmsite

2007-10-22T16:04:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, October 20, 2007 the Dickinson Museum Center staff assisted volunteers for Preservation North Dakota in their efforts to restore the Hutmacher farmsite near Manning, North Dakota. Museum staff Jessica Magnuson and Danielle Stuckle helped with efforts to install a new roof on the east end of the house, over one of the bedrooms. The roof is constructed in several layers including cedar rafters, willow branches, flax straw, and clay. While the materials are environmentally friendly and available locally, it is labor intensive work. The Dickinson Museum Center staff have been involved in the project throughout the summer and fall of 2007, and Stuckle serves on the board for Preservation North Dakota. Work on the site will resume in the spring of 2008 with efforts to stabilize the walls of the house and rebuild the rest of the roof.

The Hutmacher farm is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was listed twice on Preservation North Dakota’s 3 Most Endangered Properties (2000 and 2003). The site consists of a house, barn, garage, granary, and chicken house. The buildings were each constructed of stone slab walls covered by a mud roof. The farm was lived on from 1928 to 1979. For more information on the project, visit www.prairieplaces.org.

Free Workshop

2007-10-22T12:15:00.000-06:00

The Dickinson Museum Center will host a free family history workshop on preserving and organizing family papers and photographs. The workshop runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at the Dickinson Museum Center (Joachim Museum).

For more information contact Danielle Stuckle at 701-456-6225, e-mail info@dickinsonmuseumcenter.org, or visit www.dickinsonmuseumcenter.org.

October is American Archives Month

2007-10-08T11:23:00.000-06:00

October is celebrated by archivists throughout the nation as Archives Month. This is a time when we push especially hard to promote and celebrate archival collections in museums, historical societies, and libraries. Although published books and 3-dimensional artifacts can usually be found in archival collections, archives generally have unpublished papers as the core of their focus.

Letters, diaries, business records, photographs, and ephemera (concert programs, movie tickets, etc...) are the bulk of archival collections. This material is integral to researchers everywhere, especially sociologists and historians and anyone studying local communities. People can use archival collections to find information about the businesses in local communities, family and neighborhood history, and many other unique discoveries.

Archives are much more than record repositories, they maintain the valuable memories and heritage of a community. Help us celebrate Archives month. Contact the Dickinson Museum Center for more information about maintaining personal papers, donating papers to an archive, researching archival collections, or volunteering time to help organize and maintain these valuable records.

Its a Dangerous Job

2007-08-30T13:59:00.001-06:00

Here at the museum I frequently remind volunteers and staff that not only can we cause harm to the collections if we are not careful, but the collections can also cause harm to us. Here is an NPR story on an archiving project that uncovered weapons of mass destruction at the U.N.:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14055750

NPR.org, August 30, 2007 · United Nations staff members discovered some forgotten vials of chemicals when they were archiving files from U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspectors who had been in Iraq, according to a U.N. news release.

They found two small, plastic packages with vials of unknown liquid substances that inspectors collected from Al Muthanna, a former Iraqi chemical weapons facility, in 1996. An inventory of the vials showed the substances included an agent that could be used in chemical warfare.

The news release said the discovery was made August 24 at the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) offices at 866 East 48th Street in New York.

A U.N. spokeswoman said one of the substances, phosgene suspended in oil, was identified on Wednesday. Phosgene can be used as a chemical warfare agent.

UNMOVIC weapons experts sealed the packages and tested the room where the vials were found with a portable chemical detector.

There were no toxic vapors in the air, according to the U.N. news release.

The U.N. release said the packages have been secured and pose no danger to the public.

Shifting Demographics on the Great Plains

2007-08-30T13:38:00.000-06:00

Shifting Demographics Give New Face To Great Plains

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY

27 August 2007 - 8:00am

The population shift from rural to urban areas is making big changes in the Great Plains. While many rural small towns are disappearing, the shift is opening new doors for business and preservation.

"The Great Plains, which makes up more than 15% of the USA's land area through 10 states but holds barely 3% of the nation's population, is going through another transformation. The more rural parts of the region gradually are adapting to a century of decline in farming and the steady exodus of young people. Scattered corners of the Plains that have suffered economic setbacks are adjusting partly by reverting to nature: land preservation, eco-tourism, wildlife products, hunting grounds and recreational ranches."

"The Great Plains, long known as the nation's breadbasket, remains the primary source of wheat for the USA. It's also a prime producer of flax seed, sorghum, sunflower, barley, corn, cattle and cotton. Despite population declines in many areas, the total acres of corn, soybean and wheat in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana are up 7.2 million acres since 1950 to 48.3 million acres, says Jim Stephens, president of Farmers National Commodities, a grain-marketing consultant."

"Few envisioned then what is happening on the Plains today. The private sector, state and local governments and non-profit groups are pouring money into preserving land and returning it to wildlife. Small towns are still dying, but economic enterprises are emerging from this environmental effort — from bison and dried-fruit snacks produced by Native Americans in South Dakota to Lewis and Clark Trail motorcoach tours in Nebraska."

"Almost two-thirds of the 376 counties in the Great Plains, as defined by Census Bureau researchers, lost people from 1950 to 2006. Four counties in North Dakota lost two-thirds or more of their population in that time."

"But the region's population almost doubled to 9.7 million during the same period, largely because of growth in metropolitan areas such as Denver, Wichita and Billings, Mont. Technology is fueling a push to retain and lure professionals who can work anywhere but choose the Great Plains because of its natural beauty and low cost of living."

Read the rest of the article here:

www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-12-great-plains_N.htm

History in Surprising Places

2007-07-17T12:54:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I attended a family reunion. The reunion was a rather small gathering of cousins and second-cousins, most of whom remembered a shared grandmother. It was interesting to visit with people I hadn't seen in ages, but what I really enjoyed was seeing all the different photos, scrapbooks, and other ephemera drug out and displayed by all the cousins. Some people brought grandma's letters and recipes, while others brought photo albums. Much to my surprise, at one time my grandmother had received a letter from William (Wild Bill) Langer. One of the most colorful and notorious politicians to come from North Dakota, Langer was one time governor of the state, removed from office on fraud charges, voted back into office, and later served as senator. It was a reminder for me of how much important historical material people have without recognizing the value to others. Most people can understand the personal value of a letter, but to envision how the same item could be valuable to others is sometimes more difficult to comprehend. You never know what someone might have hidden in the back of their closet.

Reinventing the Museum

2007-07-05T13:22:00.001-06:00

If you have not yet heard of Second Life, MySpace, or Facebook, you can officially count yourself out of touch, and, dare I suggest, old. Internet and video game technology is revolutionizing how people communicate, socialize, learn about things, and spend money. Museums across the world are beginning to take advantage of these new opportunities, establishing a presence in Second Life, developing podcasts, and registering with social networking websites. See: Brooklyn Museum, Museum Podcasts, and Museums and Second Life for some interesting examples. Other museums are going for technology enhanced interactive exhibits, while others have embraced YouTube. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns recently called for the YouTube generation to create their own oral history documentaries, especially for WWII, before the stories disappear. Read his editorial here.

Another track some are taking is to create virtual realities featuring historic locations, events, and people. This idea is not entirely new as history themed video games, such as Civilization and Medal of Honor, have been around for some time now. A number of professions rely on this software including museums, archaeologists and architects, often using it to recreate ancient civilizations and cities. Now a professor in California is using video game technology to recreate a specific Oakland neighborhood to help people visualize and immerse themselves in a historic community. The Remembering 7th Street project will make it possible for players to walk through an 8-block section, listening to authentic music, meeting club owners and area residents, and ultimately save the community from the redevelopment efforts that in the real world created deterioration and decline.

This gives museums a whole new way to interest and excite visitors. As some critics point out, it is important to maintain the scholarship. However, if technology can attract and engage visitors, it is definitely worth consideration.

Hutmacher Project--Volunteer Work

2007-07-04T11:18:00.000-06:00

Saturday, July 14, through Saturday, July 21, will be a week-long opportunity for volunteers to get their hands dirty rescuing the historic Hutmacher farm site.

The Hutmacher farm is a unique, architectural treasure, and a time capsule of the last major settlement periods in North Dakota history. The site was, in many ways, ahead of its time utilizing "green" architecture and eco-friendly construction techniques. Built in 1928, the farm consists of six buildings, all made of slab-stone construction with clay mortar and earthen roofs. It now needs significant work to stabilize and secure the buildings. The farm has twice been listed on the 3 Most Endangered Places list by Preservation North Dakota.

So join us for a day, a weekend, or even the whole week. Come and spend your vacation with us for an opportunity that few people have ever participated in. Don’t just spend your time looking at historic buildings and reading about history…roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty!

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SCHEDULE
Morning Work Schedule: 8am – 11:30am

Lunch: 11:30am – 12:00 noon (bring your lunch for a nice picnic at the site--remember to bring plenty of water!)

Afternoon Work Schedule: 12:00 noon - 4pm

*Special arrangements can be made for evening work schedules to fit your needs.
**In case of severe weather, work will be re-scheduled into evening time slots.

Evening meals and entertainment will be planned daily, depending on the number of volunteers interested in participating. Some options include museum tours, campfire songs, historic site visits, and more. You can join the group or head out on your own [volunteers are responsible for their own transportation and any expenses for participation in evening activities].

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To Register:

Volunteers need to register prior to working so that work, tools, and supplies can be coordinated. Call 701-633-2763 to register as soon as possible. After 5 pm on July 11 call 701-764-2763 or cell 701-361-0438

All volunteers must sign a Waiver of Liability Form and have the appropriate safety gear including protective eyewear, hand gloves, and dust masks to work on the site. PND can provide the use of these items for a $10.00 fee, which includes access to a First Aid Kit and medical supplies on site.

*Volunteers under the age of 18 need permission from an adult to work on the site.
**Volunteers under the age of 13 need to be accompanied and supervised by an adult.

Suggested Supplies:
Protective clothing – long sleeves and long pants suggested
Bring gloves if you have a favorite pair
Hard soled shoes – no open toed shoes allowed on the site
Wide brimmed hat
Lawn chair and/or picnic blanket
Cooler with plenty of fluids and/or lunch
Insect repellent, Hand sanitizer
Sunglasses, Sun block
If you have shovels, large and small, please bring them.

Contact us for more information about volunteer opportunities, supplies, and accommodations.

Six-Layer-Sofa

2007-07-04T10:38:00.000-06:00

Caring for museum collections can be a time consuming and delicate project, but the process can also reveal a lot of information. Collection managers and conservaters are often like detectives, researching and investigating artifacts to learn more about how people lived their lives. Follow this link to see a research project undertaken by the the Minnesota Historical Society on one of their artifacts.

The MHS staff took a 1956 sofa that no longer fit into their collection plan. They decided to remove the upholstery to learn more about how the item had been decorated and used over the years. Surprisingly, they found several layers of upholstery that varied significantly in weight, color, and texture. After removing the older layers of upholstery, they re-upholstered the sofa in a material and color that would have been available and popular when the sofa was first built. It is surprisingly bright red in color. It is important to note that such projects must be thought through carefully as this can significantly change the value of an object.

An important lesson can be learned from this project, in that not all museum furniture was originally dull and plain, but got that way by fading over time through exposure to light and dirt. Also, generations past often appreciated furniture as bright and colorful as any produced today.

New Domain Name

2007-06-15T13:01:00.000-06:00

The Dickinson Museum Center has relocated our website to a new location: www.dickinsonmuseumcenter.org. Please update your bookmarks, and be sure to visit our new site!

National Trust Blog

2007-05-19T13:39:00.000-06:00

For all the tech-savvy preservationists out there, the planners for the 2007 National Trust Conference have established a blog to document their work. They are giving all the conference sessions a dry-run and posting their adventures online. The conference will be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in October, and features some pretty interesting architecture including a bank building designed by Louis Sullivan and a gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (no, I'm not kidding, it is a fully functioning gas station). They've got some great photos posted on the blog, including a photo featuring one of the most beautiful rooms ever constructed--the breakfast room at Glensheen Mansion (definitely worth a trip to Duluth).

Deadwood Trail

2007-05-12T15:58:00.000-06:00

After the Custer expedition discovered gold in the Black Hills in 1874, a booming freighting and passenger service was built up between Bismarck (in modern North Dakota), and Deadwood (in modern South Dakota). By 1877, the Northwestern Express and Transportation Company had obtained a contract for a mail route between Bismarck and Deadwood, and the company soon established 10 stage stations along the 210 mile route. They used 12 Concord stages and 150 horses to haul passengers, and had Studebaker freight wagons with 150 mule and ox teams (more than 300 head of stock). The first stagecoaches left Bismarck on April 11, 1877 with 68 passengers, and by May they had established a regular schedule leaving Bismarck 3 times a week. Stage fare from Bismarck to Deadwood was $26.

By June the company was using 26 Concord coaches to haul passengers; used 200 ox teams to haul freight; had 175 men on the payroll; and had invested $100,000 in the route. In October of 1879 the company reported a 10 day period where they moved 300,000 tons of freight and 72 passengers from Bismarck to Deadwood. This route was abandoned in 1880 after a shorter route developed between Pierre (South Dakota) and Deadwood.

After the railroad reached Dickinson in 1881, a new attempt was made to haul freight to the Black Hills from this area. Local business man and politician, A.C. McGillivray, served as a local forwarding agent for the Black Hills freight line in the late 1880s. McGillivray had extensive business interests including property in Missouri; a hotel and bank interests in Michigan; a fruit farm in California; and the Indian Springs Ranch, consisting of 32 sections of land, northwest of Dickinson. The ranch ran 485 riding horses, 100 work and draft horses, and 1650 head of purebred Aberdeen-Angus cattle. The Dickinson freight route was faced by competition in 1883 from the Marquis de Mores in the Badlands, who sought to develop a stage and freight line between Deadwood and Medora (North Dakota). The Marquis had 150 horses, 4 Concord coaches, and 15 stations. However, the Marquis gave up the Medora-Deadwood stage in 1885, and the following year he abandoned his other business enterprises in the Badlands as well.

Portions of the Bismarck-to-Deadwood Trail have been marked, and the wagon wheel ruts are still visilbe in some sections.

Your always less than 22 miles from a road.

2007-05-12T15:15:00.000-06:00

Discovery News reports on a new study published by Raymond Watts, a scientist at the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center and USGS Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado. The study determined that any point in the continental United States is within 22 miles or less of a road. They take some liberty in defining what qualifies as a road, however. Anything from a jeep trail to an interstate road system is included in their research. The densest road network is in Brooklyn, New York, while the fewest roads are found in Hinsdale County, in southern Colorado. Not surprisingly, deserts and mountains have few roads, as well as areas with abundant water--such as the Louisiana Bayous and the Florida Everglades. The researchers concluded that the amount of roads available is often mismatched with the population so that some areas have more roads to maintain than they need.

BetterWall: Vinyl Banners as Hot New Art Trend

2007-04-26T11:30:00.000-06:00

An article published by a car company to spotlight their customers also brought a lot of attention to their business of recycling vinyl museum banners. Nora and Nicolas Weiser sell the vinyl banners through their Denver-based business, BetterWall. The banners, the typed displayed outside to promote exhibits and events, often feature a range of interesting art images. The Weisers' estimate they've kept more than 15 tons of vinyl out of landfills.