This year’s Exploring History & Culture in Central Minnesota February event series explored cultures in Minnesota through their handwritten heritage. The events were held online on the four Saturdays in February. The presentations provided by the curatorial staff of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, shared information and expertise on cultures from across the world. Along with the presentations, two traveling exhibits featuring original manuscripts from the HMML collection were at each of the four history museums on a revolving basis for two weeks during the month of February.
Topics covered included everything from the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in Malta and Rhodes, the connection of Morrison County to the early work of HMML, Islamic manuscript traditions, and Egyptian Coptic cultural heritage. The series provided a comprehensive overview of cultures in our state that are little known and often misunderstood.
A partnership of four Central Minnesota county historical societies – Benton, Morrison, Sherburne and Stearns – the series seeks to foster greater understanding and awareness of cultures that have been and continue to be part of Minnesota and its history. Previous series have featured The Somali Museum of Minnesota, The Museum of Russian Art, and The Minnesota African American Heritage Museum & Gallery. This year’s series was supported by the Arts & Cultural Heritage fund.
To learn more, visit the Exploring History & Culture in Central MN page on our website – https://morrisoncountyhistory.org/?page_id=8698
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central MN Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
