Read This Book!

In this special episode of Read This Book!, Librarian Alicia Kubas and host Lisa Von Drasek reviewed two books that would make great gifts this holiday season. 

The books are: 

* Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — artwork by Yayoi Kusama

* Poetry From Scratch by Jennifer McCartney

About Lisa Von Drasek and Alicia Kubas

Lisa Von Drasek is the Curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Alicia Kubas is the Government Publications and Regional Depository Librarian at the University of Minnesota Libraries. 

About Read This Book!

Read This Book! is a video podcast produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries. It is available on YouTube and iTunes.

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to a clinic that's for the birds...

Season 2: Episode 4. A Clinic That’s for the Birds

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 4.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. Are you ready to take another field trip in sound on Look What We Found?  Today we’ll travel to the St. Paul campus to "A Clinic That’s for the Birds" – which also happens to be the title of the December 8, 1977 episode of Look What We Found.  If you haven’t yet deciphered the title of the broadcast, we are going on an audio tour of the Raptor Center.  The Raptor Center is a research and rehabilitation center for birds of prey which today cares for approximately 800 ill and injured raptors each year.

"A clinic that's for the birds" audio reel and playback note.

When the program “A Clinic That’s for the Birds,” aired in 1977, the Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program – as it was then known – was a relatively new program in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  The program was initiated with the research of Dr. Gary Duke in the early 1970s. According to a published history of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Duke’s area of study centered on the digestive systems of raptors.  He asked the Department of Natural Resources if they had any injured owls that he could examine, and the DNR brought 30 owls to him. Duke cared for their illnesses and injuries and developed methods to treat the birds with the hope of releasing them back into the wild. From 1972-1974 Duke and other veterinary students cared for 280 birds, 120 of which they were able to return to the outdoors.  After veterinary student Pat Redig graduated in 1974, the Mardag Foundation and the College of Veterinary Medicine offered funds to hire Redig to continue the raptor program. You will hear Redig in the broadcast as he gives a program producer and friends a tour of the raptor program facilities.

Information brochure for the Raptor Research & Rehabilitation Program, today's Raptor Center.

The Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program was housed in a building known as Temporary East of Haecker where Duke and Redig modified rooms to accommodate injured raptors. Other grants, including an annual grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supported their work and allowed them to start caring for the endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle.

Temporary East of Haecker and Veterinary Clinic, St. Paul Campus, 1954.

In 1988, with a donation from Don and Louise Gabbert, the Gabbert Raptor Center was built on the St. Paul campus and the rehabilitation program was renamed The Raptor Center.

So what did the Minnesota School of the Air intend to teach young students on this field trip broadcast? The teacher’s manual that was disseminated to educators offered clear suggestions for before and after broadcast discussions. Answer the questions “What is a bird of prey? What is an endangered species?

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to a clinic that’s for the birds… 

Season 2: Episode 4. A Clinic That’s for the Birds

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 4.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. Are you ready to take another field trip in sound on Look What We Found?  Today we’ll travel to the St. Paul campus to “A Clinic That’s for the Birds” – which also happens to be the title of the December 8, 1977 episode of Look What We Found.  If you haven’t yet deciphered the title of the broadcast, we are going on an audio tour of the Raptor Center.  The Raptor Center is a research and rehabilitation center for birds of prey which today cares for approximately 800 ill and injured raptors each year.

When the program “A Clinic That’s for the Birds,” aired in 1977, the Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program – as it was then known – was a relatively new program in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  The program was initiated with the research of Dr. Gary Duke in the early 1970s. According to a published history of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Duke’s area of study centered on the digestive systems of raptors.  He asked the Department of Natural Resources if they had any injured owls that he could examine, and the DNR brought 30 owls to him. Duke cared for their illnesses and injuries and developed methods to treat the birds with the hope of releasing them back into the wild. From 1972-1974 Duke and other veterinary students cared for 280 birds, 120 of which they were able to return to the outdoors.  After veterinary student Pat Redig graduated in 1974, the Mardag Foundation and the College of Veterinary Medicine offered funds to hire Redig to continue the raptor program. You will hear Redig in the broadcast as he gives a program producer and friends a tour of the raptor program facilities.

The Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program was housed in a building known as Temporary East of Haecker where Duke and Redig modified rooms to accommodate injured raptors. Other grants, including an annual grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supported their work and allowed them to start caring for the endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle.

In 1988, with a donation from Don and Louise Gabbert, the Gabbert Raptor Center was built on the St. Paul campus and the rehabilitation program was renamed The Raptor Center. 

So what did the Minnesota School of the Air intend to teach young students on this field trip broadcast? The teacher’s manual that was disseminated to educators offered clear suggestions for before and after broadcast discussions. Answer the questions “What is a bird of prey? What is an endangered species?  What would you do if you found a sick or injured bird of prey while walking in the woods?  Answer – Call the game warden or the Department of Animal Science at the University.

For more information on the Raptor Center’s research, rehabilitation work, and educational programs visit www.raptor.umn.edu

Now let’s look back and listen to “A Clinic That’s for the Birds,” the December 8, 1977 broadcast of Look What We Found on radio station KUOM.  

Broadcast Transcript

[Music]

Various voices: I don’t believe it. [Laughing] Wow! Psyched out.

[Group exclamation] Look what we found!

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners another way to go from Minneapolis to St. Paul!

Season 2: Episode 3. Another Way to Go From Minneapolis to St. Paul

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 3.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives.  Today’s field trip in sound on the program "Look What We Found" is more of a staycation.  On the November 17, 1977 episode, program announcers Walter, Patty, and Bill, gave a tour of the KUOM radio studios and interviewed the staff at the station.  The title of the program, “Another Way to Go From Minneapolis to St. Paul,” notes that the radio station is in more than one place: the studio, in Rarig Center on the West Bank campus in Minneapolis, and the transmitter located on the St. Paul campus.

Teacher’s manual description of the program

Before we listen to a guided tour of KUOM studios in Rarig Center in 1977, let’s look back at some other places on campus where KUOM was once located.  As early as 1912, Electrical Engineering professor Franklin Springer began experimenting with wireless telegraphy, and by 1914 the department was offering coursework in radio transmission and operation.  When Cyril M. Jansky, Jr. joined the department in 1920, he applied for an experimental license and began limited broadcasting under the call letters 9XI.  On January 13, 1922, the department received a non-commercial radio broadcast license and was assigned the call letters WLB. After a new Electrical Engineering Building was built on campus in 1925, the department outfitted the building with a radio studio where broadcasting continued in the spring of 1926.

Radio studio in the new Electrical Engineering Building, 1926

Radio equipment in the new Electrical Engineering Building, 1926

The April 17, 1926 edition of the Minnesota Alumni Weekly featured a description of the studio in the article, “U Has Complete Radio Plant.” The article stated that “The station has been under construction for some time, and consists of one room on the third floor of the Engineering building, fully equipped with a transmitter, microphone, and acoustical material. The walls are deadened and hung with heavy curtains. Wicker furniture and a grand piano are placed at the convenience of entertainers.”

In 1938, the University purchased a new transmitter that was erected on the St. Paul campus. A new home for the radio studio was made in Eddy Hall in 1939.

Radio station WLB transmitter, 1939

The University publication Minnesota Chats featured an article about the studio in Eddy on May 2, 1939 titled, “University Radio Station Busy in New Home.” The article stated, “The layout contains four studios for broadcasting, two of them large enough to accommodate casts of considerable size in dramatic or musical numbers, a main control room, a smaller control room adjoining the largest studio, ample office space, and air conditioning equipment made necessary by the fa...

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners another way to go from Minneapolis to St. Paul!

Season 2: Episode 3. Another Way to Go From Minneapolis to St. Paul

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 3.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives.  Today’s field trip in sound on the program “Look What We Found” is more of a staycation.  On the November 17, 1977 episode, program announcers Walter, Patty, and Bill, gave a tour of the KUOM radio studios and interviewed the staff at the station.  The title of the program, “Another Way to Go From Minneapolis to St. Paul,” notes that the radio station is in more than one place: the studio, in Rarig Center on the West Bank campus in Minneapolis, and the transmitter located on the St. Paul campus.

Before we listen to a guided tour of KUOM studios in Rarig Center in 1977, let’s look back at some other places on campus where KUOM was once located.  As early as 1912, Electrical Engineering professor Franklin Springer began experimenting with wireless telegraphy, and by 1914 the department was offering coursework in radio transmission and operation.  When Cyril M. Jansky, Jr. joined the department in 1920, he applied for an experimental license and began limited broadcasting under the call letters 9XI.  On January 13, 1922, the department received a non-commercial radio broadcast license and was assigned the call letters WLB. After a new Electrical Engineering Building was built on campus in 1925, the department outfitted the building with a radio studio where broadcasting continued in the spring of 1926.

The April 17, 1926 edition of the Minnesota Alumni Weekly featured a description of the studio in the article, “U Has Complete Radio Plant.” The article stated that “The station has been under construction for some time, and consists of one room on the third floor of the Engineering building, fully equipped with a transmitter, microphone, and acoustical material. The walls are deadened and hung with heavy curtains. Wicker furniture and a grand piano are placed at the convenience of entertainers.”

In 1938, the University purchased a new transmitter that was erected on the St. Paul campus. A new home for the radio studio was made in Eddy Hall in 1939.

The University publication Minnesota Chats featured an article about the studio in Eddy on May 2, 1939 titled, “University Radio Station Busy in New Home.” The article stated, “The layout contains four studios for broadcasting, two of them large enough to accommodate casts of considerable size in dramatic or musical numbers, a main control room, a smaller control room adjoining the largest studio, ample office space, and air conditioning equipment made necessary by the fact that the quarters must be kept closed to eliminate outside disturbances.”

Radio station WLB – which changed the call letters to KUOM for K University of Minnesota in 1945 – operated from Eddy Hall from 1939 to 1974 when it moved into new studios in Rarig Center.

Okay, now that we are all caught up on the history of KUOM locations at the University we can return to 1977 to Rarig Center for the November 17, 1977 episode of Look What We Found, titled “Another Way to Go From Minneapolis to St. Paul.”  

 

Broadcast Transcript

[Music]

Various voices: It’s fabulous! [unintelligible] I don’t know.

Flying Funny: My Life Without a Net by Dudley Riggs was the featured book on this episode of Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries. 

Performing Arts Archivist Kate Hujda joined host Lisa Von Drasek in sharing insights into the book, Riggs, and Riggs’ papers, which are in the Libraries’ Performing Arts Archives. 

Riggs was born into the fourth generation of traveling trapeze artists who also performed in vaudeville. In the book, Riggs shares stories about his early family life in entertainment and how it led to his founding the Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop.

Find the book

* Flying Funny by Dudley Riggs

* From Hennepin County Library

* Saint Paul Public Library

About Lisa Von Drasek and Kate Hujda

Lisa Von Drasek is the Curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Kate Hujda is the Assistant Curator for the Performing Arts Archives and the Upper Midwest Literary Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries. 

About Read This Book!

Read This Book! is a video podcast produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries. It is available on YouTube and iTunes.

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to a Vietnamese kitchen...

Season 2: Episode 2. Look What We Found! In a Vietnamese Kitchen

You are listening to U of M on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 2.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. Today we return to looking back and listening to Look What We Found, a program of the Minnesota School of the Air that aired on University radio station KUOM from 1977-1978.  Forty years ago, on October 27, 1977, KUOM took a field trip in sound to Bamboo Village, a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Paul.

Audio reel-to-reel tape for "Look What We Found: In a Vietnamese Kitchen." Available in the University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records at the University of Minnesota Archives.

The teacher’s manual for the program suggested that before the broadcast the class should start a conversation about Asian cuisine.  "Are any of the children familiar with it?" the description questioned. "Does anyone know the differences between Chinese and Japanese food? Discuss the war in Vietnam. What do your students know about it? Talk about the history of Vietnam, from the French colonial period to the Communist victory."

Teacher's Manual for "Look What We Found: In a Vietnamese Kitchen." Available in the University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records at the University of Minnesota Archives.

The Communist victory refers to the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975.  That event ended the Vietnam War and displaced millions of Southeast Asians.  In response, the U.S. Congress passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act that authorized over 400 million dollars in federal assistance for the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States.

In Minnesota, Governor Wendell Anderson established the Indochinese Resettlement Office to coordinate refugee relocation to the state. A task force was also established to create collaborations among federal agencies, state resources, and local charities to provide aid to incoming refugees.  An article in the Minneapolis Star published in November of 1977 estimated that Minnesota was then the new home to approximately 4,000 Southeast Asian refugees.

In this week’s episode of Look What We Found, titled "In A Vietnamese Kitchen," the producers teach an important lesson about cultural understanding by starting a conversation about cuisine. While interviewing the owner of Bamboo Village, Patty asked, "What made you decide to open a restaurant?" She replied, "I like a place where we can exchange the culture between the Vietnamese and the American and have something more to show, you know? We have a chance to interact with the American, to meet them on a day-to-day basis."

The After the Broadcast conversation suggestions in the teacher’s manual further reinforced her message.  The manual stated, "Discuss how food from different cultures differs and why. Discuss the problems of refugees entering an unfamiliar culture. If there are any Vietnamese families in your community, invite them to visit your class."

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial! 

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to a Vietnamese kitchen…

Season 2: Episode 2. Look What We Found! In a Vietnamese Kitchen

You are listening to U of M on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 2.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. Today we return to looking back and listening to Look What We Found, a program of the Minnesota School of the Air that aired on University radio station KUOM from 1977-1978.  Forty years ago, on October 27, 1977, KUOM took a field trip in sound to Bamboo Village, a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Paul.

The teacher’s manual for the program suggested that before the broadcast the class should start a conversation about Asian cuisine.  “Are any of the children familiar with it?” the description questioned. “Does anyone know the differences between Chinese and Japanese food? Discuss the war in Vietnam. What do your students know about it? Talk about the history of Vietnam, from the French colonial period to the Communist victory.”

The Communist victory refers to the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975.  That event ended the Vietnam War and displaced millions of Southeast Asians.  In response, the U.S. Congress passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act that authorized over 400 million dollars in federal assistance for the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States.

In Minnesota, Governor Wendell Anderson established the Indochinese Resettlement Office to coordinate refugee relocation to the state. A task force was also established to create collaborations among federal agencies, state resources, and local charities to provide aid to incoming refugees.  An article in the Minneapolis Star published in November of 1977 estimated that Minnesota was then the new home to approximately 4,000 Southeast Asian refugees.

In this week’s episode of Look What We Found, titled “In A Vietnamese Kitchen,” the producers teach an important lesson about cultural understanding by starting a conversation about cuisine. While interviewing the owner of Bamboo Village, Patty asked, “What made you decide to open a restaurant?” She replied, “I like a place where we can exchange the culture between the Vietnamese and the American and have something more to show, you know? We have a chance to interact with the American, to meet them on a day-to-day basis.”

The After the Broadcast conversation suggestions in the teacher’s manual further reinforced her message.  The manual stated, “Discuss how food from different cultures differs and why. Discuss the problems of refugees entering an unfamiliar culture. If there are any Vietnamese families in your community, invite them to visit your class.”

If you are interested in more information about the resettlement of Southeast Asians in Minnesota, I recommend the online exhibit Immigrant Stories: 40 Years of Southeast Asian Stories which features the stories of refugees that relocated to Minnesota after the Vietnam War.  This exhibit was produced by the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota. You can view the exhibit at immigrants.mndigital.org/exhibits. 

Now, join Walter, Patty,

We are welcoming back Emily Beck and her pumpkin-carving talents to the Wangensteen Historical Library as she brings us underwater adventures in jack o'lantern form.

What: Historical Pumpkin Carving by Emily Beck, Assistant Curator, Wangensteen Historical Library

When: Monday, October 30

Where: Wangensteen Historical Library, 5th Floor, Diehl Hall (Directions)

An Underwater Halloween

This year's carving is inspired by the Wangensteen Historical Library's current exhibit, Underwater, which explores humans, health, and science in watery spaces. We have selected a few of our favorite images from the exhibit and have made stencils so you can create your own underwater-inspired carving. 

Pumpkin Stencils

* Squid

* Octopus

* Lobsters

* Fish Monster

* Sea Creature Battle

Share your #UnderwaterPumpkin

We invite you to share photos of your final jack o'lantern made from our stensils. Just tweet an image of your carved pumpkin to @umnbiomedlib using #UnderwaterPumpkin.

Pumpkin Carving Process