Author Archive
Library News: July ’23
By CARZ NELSONAll information listed here is accurate as of June 15, 2023. For the most recent information, check out the library website at www.hclib.org. FRANKLIN LIBRARY HOURSMonday 9 AM to 5 PM Tuesday 12 PM to 8 PM Wednesday 12 PM to 8 PM Thursday 12 PM to 8 PM Friday 9 AM to 5 PM Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM Sunday 12 PM to 5 PM SOMALI ARTS AND ARTIFACTSJoin us for a celebration of Somali art and artifacts! Experience the rich cultural heritage of Somalia through a series of educational workshops and engaging activities.Franklin LibraryThursday, July 6 at 1 to 5 PM LIVE SHOW: JAPANESE TAIKO DRUMMINGExperience driving rhythms and movements inspired by martial arts. Taiko (“big drum” in Japanese) is a joyful and expressive way to experience Japanese-American culture, move your body, and have a great time!Franklin LibrarySunday, July 9 at 2 to 2:45 PM MAKE ART! WITH THE WALKER ART MUSEUMSpend an afternoon making art with the Walker Art Museum! This drop-in style artmaking [...]
Tales: Strawberries in October
Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery 212th in a Series By SUE HUNTER WEIR Keeping the tradition alive. Students have been an integral part of Memorial Day observances since 1869. This year was no exception. Students from the Minnesota Transitions Charter School posted the colors and read “The Gettysburg Address” and “General Logan’s Orders.” Photo: Tim McCall Maria Elizabeth Siglin was born in Sweden on July 12, 1850. She emigrated to the United States in 1880, when she was 30 years old. One year later, on September 27, 1881, she married Johan Herman Siglin who was born in Sweden on April 27, 1851. He was the youngest of his parents’ six children.In 1853, when Herman (his preferred name) was two years old, his father died. His mother died in 1861, leaving him orphaned by the time that he was ten years old. When he was 22, he emigrated to the United States, arriving on May 26, 1873. Immigration records indicate that he was single and traveling [...]
Something I Said: The Ku Klux Klan in Minnesota
By DWIGHT HOBBES Dwight Hobbes Mention the KKK and your next thought probably is its history of hunting, harassing and hanging black folk. However, it didn’t start there – at least not in Minnesota. African Americans simply became these terrorists’ preferred target (a black woman, Beulah Mae Donald, it turns out, bankrupted the organization in court). Before black people, Elizabeth Dorsey Hatle’s The Ku Klux Klan in Minnesota (The History Press) documents, it was Germans. That would eventually include Catholics, Jews and just about everybody who wasn’t them – working class Protestants.Newspapers like the Waseca Herald, Anoka Herald and Owatonna Journal-Chronicle helped things, along with Hollywood propagandist hit film, The Birth of a Nation, (originally titled The Clansman) aiding the cause. Which, importantly, selective law enforcement and slick politicians insidiously empowered. Earle Brown, for instance, qualified on both accounts. As Hennepin County Sheriff, he [...]
