Sherburne History Center Blog

  A new exhibit on the Sherburne History Center web page explores postcards and their popularity as a means of communication.   An equally interesting development in Sherburne County history is the adoption and use of the telephone.   Beginning in the early 1890s and continuing through the 1920s several small telephone companies organized in Sherburne County to offer this unique method of communication.   Delving into the early history of companies such as the Meadowvale Rural Telephone Company and the Haven Telephone Company, and the efforts of anonymous companies in Elk River provide an interesting appreciation of a rising telephone technology in the county.   Drawing of candlestick style telephone common in 1900 As early as 1893, the opportunity to reach out to friends in distant communities arrived in Elk River.   The Elk River Star News reported a telephone company installed a “hello line” at the Merchant Hotel.   A telephone at the hotel allowe...

  Labor shortages, in World War Two the phrase commonly referred to necessary work in the factories and armament industry.   Often associated with Rosie the Riveter, the phrase suggested a shortage of workers to man the factories and build necessary war machines.   Yet, the phrase carried a tragic and not often considered meaning in Sherburne County.   Although the federal government exempted most farm workers from the draft and created programs to provide more farm workers, the area around Sherburne County witnessed a severe shortage of labor during the war years of 1943 to 1945.   These labor shortages in farming caused more than a few farm failures and forced auctions.             With the opening months of 1943, a new phase of the war developed.   The conclusion of the North Africa campaign signaled success for allied troops.   Plans for invasion of Italy continued.   And the offensive a...

  A few weeks ago, I wrote of artists from Minnesota.   I failed to mention perhaps the most significant artist in Minnesota history: Charles Monroe Schulz, (1922-2000).   A master illustrator and creator of the widely read and enjoyed comic strip of all time: Peanuts .   Schulz, born in Minneapolis, lived in the twin cities for nearly forty years.   The exceptions to this, was during his service in World War Two and a brief time spent in Colorado Springs, Colo. Ripley’s Believe it or Not published his first original illustration.   A 1937 drawing featuring the family dog, a hunting dog that ate unusual household items such as pins and tacks.   This illustration he signed as “Sparky” a family nickname for the young Schulz. Seventy years ago, October 2, 1950, seven newspapers published the first Peanuts comic strip.   The syndicated comic grew to the point 2600 newspapers in 75 countries carried the daily antics of the Peanuts gang.   ...

  Minnesota Artist Anton Gag (1859-1908), self portrait This past week, at the Sherburne History Center, the annual Sherburne Area Visual Arts Showcase exhibited work from several local artists.   With art history playing around in my mind, I wanted to take a moment and give mention to a couple of Minnesota visual artists.   I want to acknowledge there is a force within the state that inspires painters, illustrators, photographers, and other visual artists.   Here are four artists born or lived in Minnesota and played a significant impact on the national art world. Sarah Louise Judd (1802-1881) born in Farmington, Connecticut.   She came to Stillwater, Minnesota in 1845 as an educator.   She also produced daguerreotypes and later, other portrait images.   She is regarded as the first photographer in the state of Minnesota. Perhaps the best known of all Minnesota visual artists, Wanda Gag (1893-1946) trained under the tutelage of her father, artist ...

  WAAC recruitment poster, 1943 During World War Two, young men receive a significant amount of attention in joining the service or being drafted to serve.   Rightly, we need to recognize their service to the country.   Yet, many young women also served in the military.   Their service also warrants recognition. There were a few opportunities for young women to serve the country during the war.   The government called upon women flyers to ferry aircraft to Britain that had been manufactured in the United States.   Nurses served an equally important role in the military.   And a multitude of administrative duties put the efforts of women enlistees to the task. The first of the women branches of service, other than nurses, organized as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.   Beginning in 1942, the Army recruited 150,000 women to serve in administrative duties and still later as mechanics stationed around the United States.   In February 1943, C...

  With the coming holiday weekend, we need to stretch outside of Sherburne County History to explore the origins of Labor Day.   Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing to the declaration of a national holiday, the day to celebrate workers remains important.   Quarry workers in west Sherburne County The commemoration of labor and working often associated with May 1, May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day.   In the United States, in the late 1880s, May Day became more closely associated with radical philosophies often associated with socialism, anarchy, and communism.   A variety of more conservative labor unions and activists started promoting the first weekend in September as an alternative; a new Labor Day.   The Haymarket Massacre, on 4 May 1886, further solidified May Day as a celebration of radicalism.   In 1887, Oregon became the first state to recognize the Labor Day holiday in September.   Within 7 years, thirty stat...

  Newsletter advocating for reactor in Elk River, 1955 A truly unique anniversary passed this week, 57 years ago, on August 24, 1963.   On that date , the Elk River atomic reactor generated the first nuclear power in Minnesota.   After eight years of campaigning and planning, the Elk River nuclear plant opened for business.   Unfortunately, the plant operated for only a brief time.   Yet, it served as a highly informative experiment in nuclear plant operations.   Only ten years after nuclear power proved its strength, the Rural Cooperative Power Association of Elk River developed a campaign to introduce nuclear energy into the upper Midwest.   According to a proposal submitted to the Atomic Energy Commission in June 1955, a nuclear plant in Elk River could reduce electricity production costs by fifty percent in five years.   The Atomic Energy Commission looked favorably on the Elk River proposal.   In 1958, they granted approval to the p...