The Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest (JHSUM) will hold its annual meeting on August 17, 2008, at Eastcliff, home of the president of the University of Minnesota, 176 N. Mississipi River Blvd., Saint Paul.

Dr. Linda Mack Schloff, who is retiring from JHSUM, will comment to two decades of collecting and interpreting Jewish history.

RSVP by August 8 to the JHSUM office - phone: 952-381-3360, or e-mail: jtarshish@jhsum.org.

What: Celebrate Minneapolis during its sesquicentennial with eight special events on four nights – from July through October – at Minneapolis Central Library. Details and event descriptions follow.

Who: Local historians, authors, educators and experts will present information on history, culture, architecture, immigration and growth.

When: July 22, August 19, September 23, October 21
5-6 p.m. social hour (boxed dinners can be ordered for $15 by calling 612-630-6081);
6-7 p.m. first session;
7:20-8:20 p.m. second session

Where: Minneapolis Central Library, Pohlad Hall, 300 Nicollet Mall

Cost: FREE

The Redwood county and Renville County historical societies will jointly host a tour of sites related to the 1862 US-Dakota War on Saturday June 21, 2008, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The next day, Don Heinrich Tolzmann, director of German-American Studies at the University of Cincinnati, will speak on his book “German-American Pioneer Accounts of the Great Sioux Uprising.” Sponsored by the Renville County Historical Society, Tolzmann’s talk will be at the Olivia Public Library on Sunday June 22, 2008, beginning at 2 p.m.

Contact Jill Wohnoutka, 507-697-6147, for more information on either event.

Jeff brought this to the attention of the group at the May monthly meeting.

The Pond-Dakota Mission Park, on the site of the 1840s Oak Grove Mission, recently got nine new interpretive signs throughout the park to tell the story of the area’s history. The new signage was dedicated by Mayor Gene Winstead on 27 April 2008.

The fruit of almost two years of research and editing, the signs allow visitors to enjoy a self-guided tour any day of the year. The signs include a large number of historic photographs, commissioned illustrations, and reproductions of Seth Eastman artwork.

Signs include:

• Dakota Missions on the Minnesota Froniter
• Missionaries to the Dakotas
• Pond Family Heritage Timeline
• Changing Landscapes
• Gideo and Agnes Pond House
• Oak Grove Mission
• Dakota Life, and
• Minnesota River Valley.

The City of Bloomington website has a picture of one of the signs.

Upcoming programs at the Pond-Dakota Mission include:

U.S.-Dakota War Documentary, by Sydney Beane, Sunday May 18 at 2 p.m. Syd Beane will talk about his upcoming U.S.-Dakota War Documentary, which he is negotiating to have aired on a national TV network. Syd is a descendant of Chief Cloud Man, Seth Eastman and his wife Stands Sacred (daughter of Cloud Man), Mary Nancy Eastman, who married Many Lightnings (Jacob Eastman) and Rev. John Eastman.

Working with Horn, by David Vavreck, Sunday June 1, drop-in program from 2-4 p.m. Meet one of America’s few remaining horn workers, see a wide variety of horn products, and even try using horner’s hand tools. Until the invention of synthetics in the later 19th cnetury, animal horn was used all over the world as a raw material in the manufacture of thousands of products such as combs, spoons, powder horns, and more.

House tours from 1:30-4 p.m. both days.

“Commemorating Discovery: Our Past and Our Future.”

The University of Minnesota is sponsoring four panel discussions in April to celebrate Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial:

• April 3 - The Arts and the Built Environment; Changes in Suburban Life
• April 10 - Agriculture and Forestry in the Natural World
• April 17 - Changing Demographics: Snapshots of a New Minnesota and a New America
• April 24 - A Changing World: Past and Present Threats to the Public’s Health.

These Sesquicentennial discussions are free, but reservations are required and will be accepted as long as space remains available, although Ann P. says they expect the sessions to be oversubscribed, so register early! Thursday evenings, 5:30-8:30 in the Campus Club (4th Floor Coffman Union).

For more information on the sessions, speakers, and to register, visit Minnesota’s 150 Birthday.

Uprising, an Historical Novel About the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 Book Signing and Presentation, Sunday, March 16, 2:00 p.m.

Author and State Rep. Dean Urdahl will give a presentation and book signing for his new book. Steeped in the history and lore of the area in which he lives and knows well, Urdahl has given us an absorbing story about human tragedy, heroism, and survival by ordinary folks on a grand scale during a clash of cultures whose legacy still lives with us today.

Dean Urdahl taught American History for thirty-five years at New London-Spicer Middle School in New London, Minnesota. In 2002, he was elected as a member of the Minnesota State House of Representatives.

Pond House tours at 1:30 and 3:15 p.m.

When: 2 March 2008 at 1:00 p.m.
Where: Fort Snelling State Park
Directions: Take the Post Road exit off Highway 5 and follow the signs.
For More Information: 612-725-2389, or call the Visitor Center 612-725-2724.

Bruce White, author of We Are at Home: Pictures of the Ojibwe People, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, will be at Fort Snelling State Park on March 2 at 1 p.m., to speak about his book and about the frequent visits by Ojibwe people to the area of Fort Snelling in the 19th century. Copies of We Are at Home: Pictures of the Ojibwe People will be available for sale at the program, and Mr. White will autograph copies for those who have them.

Beginning in the 1850s Ojibwe people in Minnesota were photographed by many different kinds of photographers who were interested in recording them, mostly for an audience of non-Indians. These photographs emphasized the exotic, stereotypical look of the Ojibwe, their chiefs, their birch-bark houses and canoes, sometimes recorded with the idea that the Ojibwe were disappearing from the landscape. As time went on, however, Ojibwe people began to obtain photos for their own purposes, recording communities, family members, and relationships. In the process they created a much richer record of people who have not disappeared but who survived and who thrive today.

The audio-visual presentation will be based on the book, We Are at Home: Pictures of the Ojibwe people, a book published in 2007 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, which took the author over twenty years to research and write. The author will also discuss the many delegations Ojibwe people in the 19th century to the Fort Snelling area, where they traded with the local Dakota, shared ceremonies, and took part in U.S.-government sponsored diplomacy at the fort and at Coldwater Spring.