May 2026 First Fridays

First Fridays: Sensory Experiences

Join us for the 2025-2026 season of First Fridays as we explore the things you can see, hear, touch, taste or smell in Archives and Special Collections. This penultimate program in the First Fridays season features presentations from the Andersen Horticulture Library and the Charles Babbage Institute Archives.

Light lunch at 11:30 a.m. Presentations begin at noon. A tour of the archival caverns will take place after the event concludes. ASL interpreters will be present for all First Fridays events.

Registration will open April 2026

A Touch of Tweed: Jewish Garment Businesses

Presented by Kate Dietrick, Archivist, Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
From fur coats to tweed coats, Jewish-owned clothing companies have thrived for decades in the Upper Midwest. Delve into fabric swatches and pinking shears, and learn more about how it might feel when the sitting United States President is attired in a St. Paul storm coat.

Poetry Out Loud

Presented by Erin McBrien, Interim Curator, Upper Midwest Literary Archives
Poetry is powerful on the page, but can be transformative heard aloud. Join us for a tour of UMLA’s audio collections and hear poems from local authors in their own voices.

About

First Fridays is a series of intellectually stimulating conversations from the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries. 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.

Event details 

What: First Fridays: A Touch of Tweed: Jewish Garment Businesses and Poetry Out Loud

When: Friday, May 1, 2025 | Lunch at 11:30 a.m. | Presentations begin at noon

Where: Elmer L. Andersen Library, room 120 and ONLINE | Parking and directions