Events

Correspondence, letters, notes, messages, mail – there are many words for these materials that comprise the backbone of the archives. This year we will uplift the humble letters that pepper our collections. 

Please register to attend in person or online. ASL interpreters will be present for all First Fridays events.

Light buffet lunch at 11:30 a.m. | Presentations begin at noon | A tour of the archival caverns will follow the presentation. 

Register

How to Handle Hate Mail

Presented by Kate Dietrick, Archivist, Upper Midwest Jewish Archives

The Jewish community has dealt with various types of antisemitism for decades. But what do you do if you’ve received hate through the post? We’ll dive into the materials of the Jewish Community Relations Council and learn how they have historically handled hate mail, and why we would want to preserve these hate-filled documents in the archives.

“Write, Don’t Forget:” Immigrants Receiving and Writing Letters

Presented by Daniel Necas, Archivist, Immigration History Research Center Archives

In the postal era, pre-internet and pre-telephone, letters written on paper traveled between immigrant homes in the United States and their relatives who stayed behind. They provided often the only means of communication helping to maintain ties and relationships. IHRCA holdings contain numerous collections of letters in a host of languages documenting that communication, sometimes with a strong emotional charge.

About

First Fridays is made possible by a generous gift from Governor Elmer L. Andersen and Mrs. Eleanor Andersen in honor of former University Librarian Dr. Edward B. Stanford.

English Dept., Queens College, CUNY

Title: Ordinary Bodies: Care, Disability, and Cultural Representation

Abstract: Can the feminist and disability-studies theory of “ethics of care” give us an alternative model for understanding disability? In this talk, I take us back to a mode of thinking about bodies that predates the medical model. Early Victorians regarded suffering as an inevitable part of life, to be ameliorated through social support provided by a community of care. Cultural representations from the nineteenth century preserve this human variability as enmeshed in relationships, giving us a welcome alternative to the modern assumption that bodies with flaws require diagnosis, intervention, and cure. An ethics of care not only characterizes historical texts but also connects them to a rich range of global practices, including queer families of choice and African-American other-mothering, as well as the care-collective vision of disability justice activists are advocating today.

Title: A Powerful Partnership: Critical Disability Studies & the Health Humanities

Abstract: During this lunchtime lecture, Dr. Carter will provide a brief overview of the history of critical disability studies (CDS) as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry and the current of state of CDS at the UMN. Carter will from her own research on contemporary U.S. discourses of mental illness, access-centered pedagogies, and academic ableism within graduate programs to exemplify the relationship between CDS and the health humanities. In doing so, Carter will outline both the necessity for, and potential next steps toward, building stronger and more sustainable cross-disciplinary and cross-college partnerships. 

Correspondence, letters, notes, messages, mail – there are many words for these materials that comprise the backbone of the archives. This year we will uplift the humble letters that pepper our collections. 

Please register to attend in person or online. ASL interpreters will be present for all First Fridays events.

Light buffet lunch at 11:30 a.m. | Presentations begin at noon | A tour of the archival caverns will follow the presentation. 

Registration for the February event opens on Nov. 1.

The Salesman’s Scalpels: How to Succeed in Medical Sales Without Even Trying

Presented by Emily Beck, Assistant Curator, and Caitlin Lenox, Metadata Researcher, Wangensteen Historical Library

The Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine (WHL) recently acquired a correspondence archive of an early 20-century traveling salesman for medical instruments and supplies. With letters and documents ranging from 1924-1933, this archive reveals stories about medical practices in the years leading up to the Great Depression, prices of medical supplies, workplace frustrations, automobile obsessions, and even a romance! In the second half of this presentation, the WHL’s Artifact Metadata Researcher Caitlin Lenox will discuss medical instruments held in the WHL’s artifact collection that are featured in this archive.

About

First Fridays is made possible by a generous gift from Governor Elmer L. Andersen and Mrs. Eleanor Andersen in honor of former University Librarian Dr. Edward B. Stanford.

Correspondence, letters, notes, messages, mail – there are many words for these materials that comprise the backbone of the archives. This year we will uplift the humble letters that pepper our collections. 

Please register to attend in person or online. ASL interpreters will be present for all First Fridays events.

Light buffet lunch at 11:30 a.m. | Presentations begin at noon | A tour of the archival caverns will follow the presentation. 

Registration for the February event opens on Jan 3.

Delivering History: Messages From the Social Welfare History Archives

Presented by Linnea Anderson, Archivist, Social Welfare History Archives

From search letters to hate mail to telegrams, mail in the archives helps tell the story of social work history. Explore examples of personal and professional communications from the Social Welfare History Archives. Puzzle lovers will have a chance to translate coded messages from vice investigations.
 

Trading Letters: Seeing the World Through Merchant Correspondence

Presented by Marguerite Ragnow, Curator, James Ford Bell Library

In the days before modern technology, it could take people — and letters — six months or more to reach their destination. Imagine conducting business at that pace! It was a waiting game, too, for merchant families as news of their loved ones was scant, scarce, and often disastrous. Join the Bell Library for a glimpse into the merchant life, both at home and abroad.

About

First Fridays is made possible by a generous gift from Governor Elmer L. Andersen and Mrs. Eleanor Andersen in honor of former University Librarian Dr. Edward B. Stanford.

Correspondence, letters, notes, messages, mail – there are many words for these materials that comprise the backbone of the archives. This year we will uplift the humble letters that pepper our collections. 

Please register to attend in person or online. ASL interpreters will be present for all First Fridays events.

Light buffet lunch at 11:30 a.m. | Presentations begin at noon | A tour of the archival caverns will follow the presentation. 

Registration for the February event opens on Feb 1.

Off Topic: Letters From the Children’s Literature Research Collections

Presented by Caitlin Marineau, Assistant Curator, Children’s Literature Research Collection

From editorial notes and rejection letters to fan mail, romance, personal lives, and complaints, letters in CLRC collections span a wide range of topics, only some of which are related to children’s books.
 

Community by Mail: Finding Liberation Through Reader Written Magazines

Presented by Aiden Bettine, Curator, Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies

Before mass print production and the age of the internet, LGBTQ people built community and found each other through reader written magazines. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, sending mail to underground publications became a critical way to engage in community. Gain a glimpse into the publications held in the Tretter Collection that were made by mail.

About

First Fridays is made possible by a generous gift from Governor Elmer L. Andersen and Mrs. Eleanor Andersen in honor of former University Librarian Dr. Edward B. Stanford.