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May/June 2024
Check out what’s new and noteworthy this spring in Special Collections.
 Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 19, noon – 5 p.m.
Visit Minneapolis Central Library during Doors Open Minneapolis, a community event offering visitors a chance to explore the buildings that tell the story of Minneapolis. Take a self-guided tour of the library, a downtown destination for reading, learning, and connecting, designed by renowned architect César Pelli. Stop by Special Collections on the 4th floor to see updated historical displays on the current and previous Minneapolis central libraries—a peek into the library’s past with old photos, plans, posters, books, and more. A rare opportunity to visit Special Collections on a weekend!
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Brian and Jeff began volunteering shortly after they retired in the fall of 2016. “We are long time contributors to the library and when we retired, opted to volunteer as well,” Brian said. “We have kept with it because the projects are interesting, the hours very flexible, and the staff is fun to work with.” Over the years they’ve worked on many projects including the newspaper photo archive, Star Tribune photo archive, Minneapolis Fire Department photos, Hennepin History Museum’s residential photo collection, County plat maps, restaurant menus, and postcards. Brian even continued volunteering from home when the library was closed in early pandemic times!
Jeff (left) and Brian (right) recently celebrated their 40th anniversary and have lived in Minneapolis that whole time. Thanks to their early retirement, they’ve been able to travel extensively—most recently to New York for their anniversary, and also to Panama and Palm Springs for winter getaways.
Here’s more from Brian and Jeff:
Q: What is one of the most memorable things you’ve encountered while working here?
Brian: In working on the newspaper photo archive, I ran across an odd story about two neighboring farm families who ended up trading spouses. Several children and a cow to keep them in milk were also traded from one family to the other.
Q: What is your favorite part about working with archives and local history?
Brian: It's interesting to see how things were and how much things have changed. For instance, working with the original plat maps gave insight into how Hennepin County was built out from the core. Working with the menu collection has brought up a lot of nostalgia for restaurants we used to patronize. Working with the Fire Department photos and newspaper photo archive made me aware of how much more common fires used to be. You never know what you'll learn.
Q: Favorite place, building, or neighborhood in Minneapolis or Hennepin County?
Jeff: Favorite surviving building is Thresher Square, but my favorite is the sadly lost Metropolitan Building.
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Q: If you could transport yourself to another time in history, when would you choose and why?
Jeff: I would love to visit downtown Minneapolis in the 1920s. The city bulldozed so much of its history during the 1960s and it would be a treat to see the city in its prime. Editor’s note: Transport yourself to 1920s downtown Minneapolis in the Digital Collections!
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Q: Book you’re currently reading or favorite book of all time?
Jeff: Favorite book is Just Kids by Patti Smith. Autobiographies can be dull catalogs of a life or period of a life but this one’s beautifully written in Patti Smith’s lyrical style. Its richest chapters focus on her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their early days at the Hotel Chelsea.
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Southeast Newspapers
The Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association, using a grant from the University of Minnesota Good Neighbor Fund, has digitized several former community newspapers covering southeast Minneapolis and donated the digital files to the library. They have also secured permissions from board members of the former Southeast Publications Corporation for the library to make these digital versions available to the public. So far, we have loaded The Bridge (2005-2009), which brought together the Southeast Angle and Seward Profile; Riverbank Rambler (1987-1990) and Southeast (1975-1995), covering the Marcy-Holmes, University, and Prospect Park/East River Road neighborhoods; and Tower Talks (1974-1988), covering the Prospect Park/East River Road Neighborhood. Southeast Angle will be available online soon.
A collection of photographs, originally in two photo albums, taken in the fall of 1914. The collection focuses on manufacturing and distribution businesses along the Hiawatha Avenue and 29th Street railway corridors. They serve as a reminder of how industrial Minneapolis once was and how local manufacturing used to be. Products we are now used to receiving from across the country or overseas were made right in town. Also noteworthy is the role of railroads: Every one of the businesses in these photos was on the railroad and had to be. All heavy transportation at the time depended on the railroads. Adequate roads and long-haul trucking were still years away. Browse the collection
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Minneapolis Public Works is the city department responsible for public infrastructure. Public Works oversees city fleet vehicles, trash and recycling collection, sewer and storm water systems, traffic and parking services, transportation design and planning, street and sidewalk maintenance and snow removal, and water treatment and distribution. This collection of over 6,500 photographs was donated by the City of Minneapolis in July 2022. Over 3,000 of these photos are now available to search and browse in the Digital Collections as part of the City of Minneapolis Collection. Browse the collection
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Recent donations have included North High School materials from the 1940s donated by Wendy Harrison; Minneapolis Symphony materials from the 1950s donated by John Michel; documents from the Winslow House condominium building donated by Nicole Isaacson; and correspondence, photos, and more related to Edina pastor and activist Arthur Rouner, donated by Steve Chicoine. Our largest and most significant recent donation is a collection of photographs from Northeaster, the neighborhood newspaper.
Northeaster Photographs
Over 30 boxes of print photographs and negatives from the Northeaster newspaper. Since 1978, the Northeaster has documented community life in Northeast Minneapolis. The photographs document several decades of the people, places, and activities of the area.
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A collection of hundreds of curated lists of library materials, mostly books, created by Minneapolis Public Library staff for the public from 1905 to 2005. Most booklists contain books on a specific topic or for a particular group. Topics include historical events, geographic locations, belief systems and ideas, current events, and library departments. Some lists are intended for particular age groups, genders, or affinity groups. Lists are arranged chronologically by age group or by material type. View finding aid
Ledgers, financial reports, audits, and other financial records created and compiled by Minneapolis Public Library administrators from 1886 to 2007. View finding aid
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All of our photo descriptions (we call it metadata) are created by humans. And humans make errors! If you see something that needs correcting or if you’re able to identify someone or someplace we haven’t identified, submit a suggested change with our online form, which now has a new look and URL. You’ll need the URL or identification number of the item that needs updating, and a short description of what needs correcting. Thanks to our Digital Collections superusers, we’ve made nearly 400 corrections or additions in the past three years—everything from reversed slide transparencies to incorrectly identified buildings and misspelled names. A favorite contribution: We were able to add the name and address of the woman pictured above, thanks to a submission from her grandchild!
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James K. Hosmer Special Collections
Hennepin County Library
Minneapolis Central Library
300 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Hours: Monday - Thursday, 9am - 4:30pm.
Appointments are not necessary, but you do need to call Special Collections or check-in at the 4th floor reference desk upon arrival for department access. You can speed up your visit by requesting materials be pulled in advance. Photocopier and scanners are available. Please bring a flash drive to store your scanned images.
Photo: Inside the climate-controlled Special Collections vault, where rare books, negatives, and AV material is stored.
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