Photo
January 17, 2013
6 notes
Before the Museums Came: A Social History of the Fine Arts in the Twin Cities (via Before the Museums Came: A Social History of the Fine Arts in the Twin Cities) Saturday, February 16, 201311 a.m. – Noon Friends Community Room, Minneapolis Institute of Arts Lecturer: Leo J. (John) Harris Trace the origins and growth of the fine arts in the Twin Cities, from 1840 to the opening of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts building in 1915. Harris will explore the institutions that were created to support the fine arts, review the events, including art exhibitions which resulted, and consider the collectors, dealers, and artists whose efforts, generosity, and creativity made all of this possible. Harris had three careers: 10 years in the State Department and Foreign Service; 15 years as a practicing international lawyer; and 20 years as a small press publisher. In retirement he writes articles and books on local history and popular culture. $10; $5 for MIA members. Free for members of the Library Affinity Group. Before the Minneapolis Institute of Arts was built, the Society of Fine Arts was located at the Minneapolis Public Library at 10th and Hennepin. Above is a 1905 photo of the art gallery at the library.

Before the Museums Came: A Social History of the Fine Arts in the Twin Cities

(via Before the Museums Came: A Social History of the Fine Arts in the Twin Cities)

Saturday, February 16, 2013
11 a.m. – Noon

Friends Community Room, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Lecturer: Leo J. (John) Harris

Trace the origins and growth of the fine arts in the Twin Cities, from 1840 to the opening of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts building in 1915. Harris will explore the institutions that were created to support the fine arts, review the events, including art exhibitions which resulted, and consider the collectors, dealers, and artists whose efforts, generosity, and creativity made all of this possible.

Harris had three careers: 10 years in the State Department and Foreign Service; 15 years as a practicing international lawyer; and 20 years as a small press publisher. In retirement he writes articles and books on local history and popular culture.

$10; $5 for MIA members. Free for members of the Library Affinity Group.


Before the Minneapolis Institute of Arts was built, the Society of Fine Arts was located at the Minneapolis Public Library at 10th and Hennepin. Above is a 1905 photo of the art gallery at the library.

Tags: Minneapolis Institute of Arts Minneapolis Public Library

Photoset
August 21, 2012
6 notes

From the Desk of Gratia Countryman, Temporary Donation Edition, 1923

Gratia Countryman was very important to the history of Hennepin County Library.  She was the director of Minneapolis Public Library for over 30 years and she founded Hennepin County Library. 

I came across this letter while looking for something else.  An individual donated a book to the library and and then asked for it back over 20 years later:

From John Regan, January 8, 1923: “Some years ago, I think about twenty or twenty-five years past, I presented the Public Library with a Chinese Dictionary…my daughter is now very interested in a Mission located in China, where this dictionary could be used to great advantage, I would like to ask if it is possible for me to have the dictionary returned to me…”

Ms. Countryman’s response: “I remember that years ago you gave us a Chinese dictionary which we still possess…It has been bound in morocco by the Library and has been entered on all of our records as our property. I do not feel that I have any more right to return it to you than I would if it had been a purchase. In other words it is city property. Moreover the book shows considerable signs of wear and apparently has been used considerably, probably by Chinese students. Although we are much crowded for room…still we are not for that reason discarding anything valuable or giving away our books.”

This was during the time Countryman was seeking a new Central Library. A new wing was put on the the main library two years later to alleviate the crowding in the stacks.

If you are interested in donating a book to the library, here is our policy. Most books are sold by the Friends of HCL but donations to Special Collections of unique materials such as high school yearbooks are added to the collection, depending on condition and availability.

 

Tags: Minneapolis Public Library Donations Gratia Countryman John J. Regan

Photo
August 15, 2012
19 notes
Invisible Minneapolis Tour (Aug. 22) Imagine the Block E site as a downtown park modeled after The Boston Commons. Invisible Minneapolis is a tour of Minneapolis’ ghost structures and sites that never were because they lost out to alternate plans. A series of guest presenters will discuss some controversial and some unknown sites that almost were. Invisible Minneapolis aims at exploring the juxtaposition between the reality of what is Minneapolis and the alternate reality of what almost was Minneapolis. Ian has been asked to talk about the 1917 Plan of Minneapolis and some alternatives that were proposed before the public library moved from 10th and Hennepin to 3rd and Nicollet in 1960. The photo above is of workers preparing the library’s Minerva statue for its move to 300 Nicollet Mall, circa 1959. The tours meet at the Soap Factory and leave promptly at 6:30 pm.

Invisible Minneapolis Tour (Aug. 22)

Imagine the Block E site as a downtown park modeled after The Boston Commons. Invisible Minneapolis is a tour of Minneapolis’ ghost structures and sites that never were because they lost out to alternate plans. A series of guest presenters will discuss some controversial and some unknown sites that almost were. Invisible Minneapolis aims at exploring the juxtaposition between the reality of what is Minneapolis and the alternate reality of what almost was Minneapolis.

Ian has been asked to talk about the 1917 Plan of Minneapolis and some alternatives that were proposed before the public library moved from 10th and Hennepin to 3rd and Nicollet in 1960. The photo above is of workers preparing the library’s Minerva statue for its move to 300 Nicollet Mall, circa 1959.

The tours meet at the Soap Factory and leave promptly at 6:30 pm.

Tags: Minneapolis Public Library Common Room Plan of Minneapolis

Photoset
June 25, 2012
4 notes

Arch at the entry of Special Collections

This mahogany arch originally served as the fireplace over mantel in the Ladies Reading Room in the Main Library at 10th and Hennepin Avenue that opened in 1889.

In 1960 the arch was relocated to the second Minneapolis Central Library building at 4th and Hennepin Avenue and served as a niche for the Minerva statue (now in the library’s atrium). Since Minneapolis Central opened in 2006 it has served as the entrance for Special Collections.

Tags: Minneapolis Public Library Special Collections

Photo
April 19, 2012
6 notes
Hennepin County Library Headquarters at Minneapolis Public Library, 1960s Founded in 1922 by MPL director Gratia Countryman, Hennepin County Library headquarters was housed at the Minneapolis Main/Central Library until it moved to the Southdale library in 1973.  The move marked a divorce between Minneapolis Public Library and Hennepin County Library.  They had been negotiating a merger but their differences on how a merger would take place were too many.  The move marked a physical separation that was followed by a financial separation in 1974 when the city agreed there would no longer request an annual county payment for city library services to county residents and the county agreed to stop seeking a merger.  The libraries finally merged in 2008 with great work done by both sides to pragmatically accomplish a merger. The Hennepin County Library space in old Minneapolis Central (razed 2003) was later occupied by Special Collections when it was created in 1986.

Hennepin County Library Headquarters at Minneapolis Public Library, 1960s

Founded in 1922 by MPL director Gratia Countryman, Hennepin County Library headquarters was housed at the Minneapolis Main/Central Library until it moved to the Southdale library in 1973.  The move marked a divorce between Minneapolis Public Library and Hennepin County Library.  They had been negotiating a merger but their differences on how a merger would take place were too many.  The move marked a physical separation that was followed by a financial separation in 1974 when the city agreed there would no longer request an annual county payment for city library services to county residents and the county agreed to stop seeking a merger.  The libraries finally merged in 2008 with great work done by both sides to pragmatically accomplish a merger.

The Hennepin County Library space in old Minneapolis Central (razed 2003) was later occupied by Special Collections when it was created in 1986.

Tags: Hennepin County Library Minneapolis Public Library

Photoset
January 11, 2012
30 notes

Minneapolis Public Library, 1960  - “Built by the people of Minneapolis to symbolize their continuing faith in books and knowledge.”

A conscientious collector from Colorado sent us this brochure for the old building that was here at 300 Nicollet Mall from 1960-2003.  A place of wonder that included a planetarium, a science museum and the headquarters of Hennepin County Library.  It was also built like a tank - it took a long time for the wreckers to demolish it in 2003.

Tags: Minneapolis Public Library

Photo
December 03, 2011
7 notes
From the Desk of Gratia Countryman Gratia Countryman was very important to the history of Hennepin County Library.  She was the director of Minneapolis Public Library for over 30 years and she founded Hennepin County Library. Her first job in the library included classifying the 30,000 volumes that made up the library’s initial collection in 1889. Within a year she was appointed head of the cataloging department.  In the photo above she is the one reading, her cataloging co-worker at the time, Louise Lynsky is also in the photo.  “We seem to be living in a period when children must be entertained continually…it is to be deeply regretted that the home no longer takes the burden of recreation activities, but throws the burden off upon the school, the public park and playgrounds, the library…” - Gratia Countryman, 1915 Annual Report of Minneapolis Public Library, page 22.

From the Desk of Gratia Countryman

Gratia Countryman was very important to the history of Hennepin County Library.  She was the director of Minneapolis Public Library for over 30 years and she founded Hennepin County Library. Her first job in the library included classifying the 30,000 volumes that made up the library’s initial collection in 1889. Within a year she was appointed head of the cataloging department.  In the photo above she is the one reading, her cataloging co-worker at the time, Louise Lynsky is also in the photo.

 “We seem to be living in a period when children must be entertained continually…it is to be deeply regretted that the home no longer takes the burden of recreation activities, but throws the burden off upon the school, the public park and playgrounds, the library…” - Gratia Countryman, 1915 Annual Report of Minneapolis Public Library, page 22.

Tags: Gratia Countryman Minneapolis Public Library

Photo
September 29, 2011
4 notes
Temporary Market, 10th & Hennepin, 1934. Etching by Paul H. Winchell. From Minneapolis Central Library’s artwork collection.  Winchell was an instructor at the Minneapolis School of Art (Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s predecessor) from 1929-1942. During the Teamster’s strike in 1934, the main city market area was blocked by the striker’s pickets.  Temporary markets may have been a way for farmers to get their food downtown and bypass the pickets.  The Minneapolis Public Library is in the background.

Temporary Market, 10th & Hennepin, 1934. Etching by Paul H. Winchell.

From Minneapolis Central Library’s artwork collection.  Winchell was an instructor at the Minneapolis School of Art (Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s predecessor) from 1929-1942.

During the Teamster’s strike in 1934, the main city market area was blocked by the striker’s pickets.  Temporary markets may have been a way for farmers to get their food downtown and bypass the pickets.  The Minneapolis Public Library is in the background.

Tags: Paul Winchell Minneapolis Public Library

Photo
September 25, 2011
5 notes
From the Desk of Gratia Countryman (Banned Books Week edition) Gratia Countryman was very important to the history of Hennepin County Library.  She was the director of Minneapolis Public Library for over 30 years and she founded Hennepin County Library.  Here is a note she sent to Florence Mettler, the head Librarian of the North Branch Library in 1935. December 11, 1935 Dear Miss Mettler, You asked in your Daily Happenings what to do about the Birth control magazine which is sent to you as a gift. I see no reason whatever why it should not be out on the open magazine shelves. I went through the file after your letter came and I couldn’t find a single article which had anything about method, apparatus, or anything else that would harm children. I think it might be very valuable for adults to peruse. You have a good many German Catholics in your region who might object to it, but they don’t have to read it and they certainly would have no right to object to other people reading it. Yours truly, Librarian

From the Desk of Gratia Countryman (Banned Books Week edition)

Gratia Countryman was very important to the history of Hennepin County Library.  She was the director of Minneapolis Public Library for over 30 years and she founded Hennepin County Library.  Here is a note she sent to Florence Mettler, the head Librarian of the North Branch Library in 1935.

December 11, 1935

Dear Miss Mettler,

You asked in your Daily Happenings what to do about the Birth control magazine which is sent to you as a gift.

I see no reason whatever why it should not be out on the open magazine shelves. I went through the file after your letter came and I couldn’t find a single article which had anything about method, apparatus, or anything else that would harm children. I think it might be very valuable for adults to peruse.

You have a good many German Catholics in your region who might object to it, but they don’t have to read it and they certainly would have no right to object to other people reading it.

Yours truly,

Librarian

Tags: Gratia Countryman Florence Mettler Freedom of the Press Minneapolis Public Library Birth Control