With Susan Hvistendahl

Thursday, January 21, 7 pm

Local author and historian Susan Hvistendahl will present “Historic Happenings of Rice County”, an online program for the Rice County Historical Society on Thursday, January 21, at 7 pm.

Hvistendahl, who wrote a “Historic Happenings” column for the Entertainment Guide of Southern Minnesota from 2007-2016, will speak on four topics: Heisman trophy winner Bruce Smith of Faribault, the early bicycling craze in Rice County, the history of the St. Olaf Band since 1891 and Northfield’s iconic Archer House, ravaged by fire last November.

For more information contact RCHS at 507-332-2121 or check www.rchistory.org. You can join the meeting at 7pm using this link: https://meet.google.com/tby-vsmc-xyu

Thursday, January 14, 2021

7:00 pm

(Please note that this program has been changed from January 7 to January 14, 2021.)

Please join Susan Garwood, RCHS Executive Director, for this online program about navigating state-wide research sites.

Local historical societies are the go-to places for local research but, with limited access to museums and libraries due to Covid-19 you need to look online for your research sites. Of course, free sites such as Family Search and WikiTree as well as paid sites such as Ancestry are very good at finding census, birth and death records, and so on. But if you want to know more than their names and basic their vital statistics, you need to dig deeper.

The Rice County Historical Society has given a number of workshops on using Rice County-focused resources but during this online program, Garwood will demonstrate and share some tips to navigating the state-wide resources such as the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, the Minnesota Official Online Marriage System, and Minnesota Reflections.

Reservations are not necessary. However, to get a link emailed to you directly, please contact the museum at rchs@rchistory.org or call the museum at 507-332-2121.

This program will be held online using Google Meet at https://meet.google.com/gkz-fjfw-dtp.

As mandated by Minnesota Executive Order 20-99 and 20-100, the Rice County History Center closed at the end of the business day on Friday, November 20th, and will remain closed until at least January 10, 2021.

In Minnesota, Museums are classified as “Indoor Entertainment” and so, during this Dial-Back period, we are closed. For more information on the Executive Order and details about the Stay Safe Plan, click here.

In the meantime, watch our social media feeds and website for digital programs and more!

Saturday, November 14, 2020: 10:00 am

Join Dave Nichols, Rice County Historical Society Curator, to learn how to preserve your family archives on Saturday, November 14, 2020, at 10 am online.

This program will focus on preserving your family history, both digital and physical. Nichols will touch on the best materials to use to keep your photographs and documents safe, as well as ways to properly store digitally scanned photographs and documents. Additionally, he will provide background on the kind of information most people forget to include for future generations, and how to capture your family history in a digital format.

Dave Nichols has 5 years of experience in Collections and Preservation. He received his Master’s degree in History and Museum Studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato. He has worked for Steele County and Goodhue County Historical Societies before becoming the Curator at Scott County Historical Society in 2018. He has worked in the University Archives at MSU and has been an advocate for digital collections.  He joined the Rice County Historical Society as its Curator/Assistant to the Executive Director in March 2020.

This program will be held online using Google Meet at: https://meet.google.com/rvv-dmta-zjv .

You can also find that address on the museum’s website,  http://rchistory.org.  For more information, please contact the museum at 507-332-2121.