Read This Book!

Wednesday marks 75 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii — an event familiar to anyone who has had a U.S. History class. But today our podcast focuses on the events on the homefront following the Battle of Pearl Harbor. Specifically, we will listen in on a discussion from 1946 on the discriminatory removal and, then, resettlement of persons of Japanese ancestry with Frank M. Rarig, Lauren Stiefel, and Reverend Daisuke Kitagawa.

By Karen Obermeyer-Kolb

University Archives continues the theme of Native American Heritage on our podcast this week, wrapping up November with a bit of documentary from 67 years ago.

In honor of the Minnesota Territorial Centennial, KUOM produced the program Tales of Minnesota which covered various topics of Minnesota history, including the Sioux Treaty of 1851. The particular episode we’ve chosen to highlight narrates and reenacts an interpretation of the events around the signing of the Treaty and the frustrations that lead to the Dakota War, or the Sioux Uprising, of 1862.

The program also included a contemporary component with a documentary unit of KUOM traveling around the state to complete interviews related to the historical topics. The second half of our podcast episode is dedicated to their visit with the Mdewakanton community in Morton, Minnesota. You can listen to the episode in the browser here and read the script below.

Episode 3: Native American Heritage with the Sioux Treaty

Cover of bulletin for Tales of Minnesota and University Reports to the People, 1949. The University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records, University Archives

You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial podcast and this is episode 3: Native American Heritage with the Sioux Treaty.

Hello! Karen here at University of Minnesota Archives and today we are continuing our theme around Native American Heritage Month with an episode of the Tales of Minnesota. This program was in celebration of Minnesota’s territorial celebration. In fact, it was broadcast in 1949,  the Territorial Centennial, but the announcer says a century and half of history because the program includes stories of explorers and pioneers that came before.  Tales of Minnesota in total was 13 episodes on a  variety of Minnesota history topics from Flour Milling to the Hinckley Fire of 1894 to Scandinavian Immigration and more. Today we focus on the Sioux Treaty. The narrator begins by describing the atmosphere leading up to the treaty.

The format of the program was a mix of narrated historical documentary with reenactments by the University Radio Guild followed by contemporary interviews or discussions. In the interest of keeping our podcast episodes more concise and the availability of these full half-hour episodes online soon, I wanted to focus more on highlighting the contemporary interviews at the end of this program. However, I would be remiss to not include at least a glimpse of the reenactments done by the Radio Guild and to discuss the stereotypes used within the dramatization. These segments present a startling disconnect between the Guild's racial caricature of Native American speech and the program's overall interest in highlighting historical mistreatment, reparation attempts, and the contemporary culture's progress. Here we will listen to the Guild’s interpretation of Little Crow, followed by their reenactment of Red Iron speaking to the Native American tribes after the presentation of the treaty.

The narration and reenactments continue with the signing of the treaty as well as a second paper, known as the Traders' Paper,  not translated or discussed at the meeting which held the Native Americans to a large debt created by only few individuals of the tribes for over 200,000 dollars owed to a few traders. The years that followed included selling more of their already small reservation land and remaining deep in debt. On top of that, a string of harsh winters did not provide good farming crops and purchasing provisions from settlers led to more debt.

University Archives continues the theme of Native American Heritage on our podcast this week, wrapping up November with a bit of documentary from 67 years ago. This KUOM-produced program "Tales of Minnesota" covered the Sioux Treaty of 1851 and the frustrations that lead to the Dakota War, or the Sioux Uprising, of 1862.

By Andrea Jenkins

Project Lead

As we recognize Transgender Awareness Month, there is much to celebrate in terms of awareness for the transgender community; however, there are also urgent issues that must be addressed that directly affect transgender lives.

We here at the Tretter Collection have recently posted the first videos from the Tretter Collection Transgender Oral History Project.

The Transgender Oral History Project of the Upper Midwest will empower individuals to tell their story, while providing students, historians, and the public with a more rich foundation of primary source material about the transgender community. The project is part of the Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesota, and the archives provides a record of GLBT thought, knowledge and culture for current and future generations and is available to students, researchers and members of the public.

As the National LGBTQ Taskforce writes:

“For the first time, and with activist and actor Laverne Cox blazing the trail, we have two popular television shows with transgender characters in lead roles—‘Transparent’ and ‘Sense8’—in addition to the reality shows ‘I am Cait’ and ‘I am Jazz’. The former has broken new ground by not only featuring Caitlyn Jenner, but also transgender activists such as Angelica Ross who have spoken to the experiences of trans women of color and low-income trans people. This has literally ‘introduced’ millions of Americans to transgender people for the first time and is a success indicator for the years of work to highlight the transgender community and the issues that they face. President Obama made history this year by being the first president to mention transgender people in a State of the Union Address. Indeed, the Obama Administration has continued to show strong support for the transgender community — from coming out against conversion therapy after the suicide of Leelah Alcorn, to speaking out against the violence against transgender women of color during a White House reception, to defending transgender teen Gavin Grimm’s right to use the school bathroom that corresponds with his gender identity under Title IX.”

Watch a video with Alonzo Wesley

Browse the video collection

About the Transgender Oral History Project

The Transgender Oral History Project tells the rich and unique stories of Trans and Gender Non-Conforming folks from the Upper Midwest. The diversity of stories is incredible and we invite you to view and learn from this initial sharing. Over the next months, we will continue to add new content for researchers, students, activists and storytellers. This project is being led by Andrea Jenkins, poet, writer, and trans-activist.

For more information contact Andrea Jenkins at [email protected]

As we recognize Transgender Awareness Month, there is much to celebrate in terms of awareness for the transgender community; however, there are also urgent issues that must be addressed that directly affect transgender lives. We here at the Tretter Collection have recently posted the first videos from the Tretter Collection Transgender Oral History Project.

Books about Bob Dylan were discussed in this episode of "Read This Book! — Books to Give," featuring Bill Pederson from the University of Minnesota Music Library. Dylan, a Minnesota native, recently was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Pederson and host Lisa Von Drasek discussed three Dylan books: Bob Dylan: American Troubadour, The Dylanologists, and Bob Dylan The Lyrics: 1961-2012. 

Books discussed

Bob Dylan: American Troubador by Donald Brown

* From University of Minnesota Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* From St. Paul Public Library

The Dylanologists by David Kinney

* From University of Minnesota Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* From Saint Paul Public Library

Bob Dylan The Lyrics:  1961-2012 (Simon and Schuster)

* From Hennepin County Library

* From Saint Paul Public Library

View all four episodes on YouTube

About Lisa Von Drasek and Bill Pederson

Lisa Von Drasek is the Curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Bill  Pederson works at the Music Library at the University of Minnesota. 

About Read This Book!

Read This Book!

Books about Bob Dylan were discussed in this episode of "Read This Book! — Books to Give," featuring Bill Pederson from the University of Minnesota Music Library. Dylan, a Minnesota native, recently was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The books  — "In Winter's Kitchen" by Beth Dooley and "Kitchens of the Great Midwest" by J. Ryan Stradal — were featured on this episode of "Read This Book!" from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Dooley and Stradal will be presenting at a special event on December 1, 2016, at Cowles Auditorium, at the University of Minnesota. 

Register for this event!

Books discussed

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* From Ramsey County Library

* St. Paul Public Library

In Winter's Kitchen by Beth Dooley

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* From Ramsey County Library

* From Saint Paul Public Library

About Lisa Von Drasek and Megan Kocher

Lisa Von Drasek is the ...

The books "In Winter's Kitchen" by Beth Dooley and "Kitchens of the Great Midwest" by J. Ryan Stradal were featured on this episode of "Read This Book!" from the University of Minnesota Libraries. Dooley and Stradal will be featured at a special event on Dec. 1, 2016, at the University of Minnesota.

The in-process and finished artwork for illustrator Melissa Sweet's non-fiction picture book, Balloons Over Broadway, was discussed on this episode of Secrets of the Archives.

The book is a biography of Tony Sarg, a puppeteer and illustrator from the early 20th century who is known for creating the balloon floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  

Host Tim Johnson was joined by Caitlin Marineau, assistant curator of the University of Minnesota's Children's Literature Research Collections. Marineau notes that the materials shown are available for viewing by the public at the University of Minnesota Libraries. You can also view the online exhibit that documents the creation of the book.

"Secrets of the Archives" is produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries.