On November 11th of each year, Americans celebrate Veteranrsquo;s Day, acknowledging the services and sacrifices of the men and women of the American military. But in the minds of many Minnesotans the day evokes an additional memory: that of a powerful winter storm that exploded over Minnesota in 1940 and is remembered today as the Armistice Day Blizzard. Collections Assistant Tony Krosschell discusses this tragic event that took over 150 lives and its impact on the National Weather Service's forecasting practices.

This year, 2010, is the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. Linda McShannock, Object Curator at the Minnesota Historical Society, shows objects from the Collection relating to the important Womenrsquo;s Suffrage Movement. We also learn that pink was not the first color to be associated with a cause!

Since 1948 the Minnesota Historical Society has used oral history to collect stories of our statersquo;s past. Project Assistant Jillian Odland shares oral history interviews conducted with new immigrants and refugees, which have recently been digitized and are now available in two web resources: Becoming Minnesotan and Immigrant Oral Histories.

Military service has been an important event in the lives of many Minnesotans since the statersquo;s earliest years.nbsp; The Minnesota State Archives, part of the Minnesota Historical Society Collections,nbsp; is a rich resource for documenting Minnesotansrsquo; service in the statersquo;s National Guard as well as overseas.nbsp; The collection is particularly strong for the period from the Civil War through World War I, with less complete documentation through the Vietnam War.

Curator Matt Anderson shares the story behind a World War II-era folding reed organ used at the Fort Snelling post hospital. Organist Sally Reynolds performs the hymn "Rock of Ages" on the recently-conserved instrument.

When handling rare and often valuable historic objects and books, are gloves always necessary? Object Curator Matt Anderson and Acquisitions Librarian Patrick Coleman discuss when gloves are helpful versus when they do more harm than good; several specific examples are shown.

The Minnesota Historical Society is home to a large variety of documents, books, and photographs related to Glacier National Park in Northwestern Montana. In this podcast Collections Assistant Jillian Odland explains Minnesotarsquo;s connection to the foundation and history this spectacular park.

Seeing historic objects is a wonderful experience, but some things are meant to be heard. In this episode, Objects Curator Matt Anderson listens to a few items from the collection that are either pleasant-sounding, melodic, or just plain noisy.

Paratroopers jumped into danger during the D-Day invasion of Normandy and in campaigns across the globe during World War II. To mark Memorial Day and the anniversary of D-Day, curator Matt Anderson introduces a few of Minnesota's own airborne soldiers while looking at their personal artifacts found within the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Art Curator Brian Szott shows three new additions to the Minnesota Historical Society's Art Collection, including two modernist sculptures of Mother and Child.