JAN 15, 2013 ROTARY IN REVIEW:
Steve Elliott
President Dan McKeown struck the opening bell at precisely 12:30 p.m. with assistance from:
Greeter – Larry Morgan
Scribe – Jim Kosmo
Song Leader – David Laird
Piano – Doug Hartford (America the Beautiful)
Invocation – Carol Bufton
Introductions – Scott Howard
RYLA – Steve Gerber
President Dan noted that membership has declined to 179. That’s the bad news. Good news--retention is good. Historically the club has always lost about 20 members annually to transfers, etc. and that continues to be the case, but we are struggling with new members.
Membership is every members responsibility, he emphasized, pointed to the list of upcoming programs and a sheet of thoughts of why join Rotary on each table, and asked everyone to invite people to upcoming meetings. A specific membership campaign is in development that will include prizes for those who bring in new members.
Steve Gerber, Camp RYLA, said he needs volunteers to assist in working with the one hundred students attending RYLA at the St. Croix camp ground April 26-30. He urged members to respond at mnryla@gmail.com and to check out MN RYLA on Facebook.
Kay Baker is seeking six families to host foreign news media experts from the Czech Republic April 14-19 through the Rotary Group Study Exchange.
Shelly Rucks then introduced MHS Director Elliott noting that he is a former Rotarian and a Paul Harris fellow who “lives by the Four-Way Test.”
“What a great city, what a great state...we love it here,” Elliott said and launched into a tale of how his love for history was ignited. “I was second grader invited to teacher's home,” he said. Her husband had died leaving an entire wall books and she told him “pick all the books you want. I filled boxes. I have been hooked ever since.
“History is not just for historians; it is for everybody, MNHS takes that very seriously.”
When Minnesota became territory and convened its first territorial legislature in 1849, one of its first acts was to charter the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) (fifty years before NY created a state historical society). MHS was here at the beginning, two years before the University of Minnesota.
MHS collects – a lot! In addition to being state archives, MHS has a huge photographic collection and giant store of letters and diaries, newspapers (every newspaper by law required to send copy of every paper to historical society.) The Hubbard family provided copies of every newscast from 1948 to 1990. And, of course, there are huge museum collections, 6,000 art pieces from Minnesota artists, and a large archeology collection.
In addition to public exhibits, MHS works with Dept. of Education to develop the curriculum about Minnesota for all 6th grades in Minnesota. More than 30,000 secondary students participate in an historical project competition and MHS interactive video programs are used by schools across the country.
MHS is the state’s oldest publisher, having published a Dakota dictionary in 1859. MHS has 400 titles in print and 140 eBooks, and just published a book on the Somali in Minnesota.
Historical preservation is paramount to ensure the state’s cultural landscape is preserved for future generations. “What would St. Paul be today without Landmark Center, St. Paul Hotel, and other historic buildings?” he asked. MHS provides grants to preserve history (1,000 in last couple of years), and grants and technical support to local historical societies.
Elliott said MHS reaches into the universities to recruit college students as mentors to work with younger students. “If kids can relate to another young person and get into a library and have a little success, it feels good. They get to pick a subject, and they own it. I have seen a reform school that was reluctant to participate but two of its students who had had no interest in school got involved in History Day and went all the way to state competition. Yes, we can transform lives.”
He noted that Minnesota is becoming more ethnically diverse. “Immigrants in the 19th century had steamer trunks. From Hmong immigrants we’ve collected cardboard boxes with duct tape that they used to bring their belongings. We want to document and collect their stories as part of Minnesota’s developing history.”