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Editorial: MN 150 exhibits 150 years of change
It's a barnraiser of a History Center exhibit.
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Imagine that Minnesota has a giant attic full of state keepsakes and photos. Your job is to select from them the 150 best representations of 150 years of change in the state. In essence, that's the task that faced senior exhibit developer Kate Roberts and her team at the Minnesota Historical Society, who are charged with creating a display in honor of statehood's sesquicentennial in 2008.
So, in true Minnesota fashion, they asked citizens for help -- at the State Fair. In true Minnesota fashion, more than 2,700 responded.
Their advice must have been terrific -- for terrific is the word for the MN 150 exhibit that officially opens Saturday at the Minnesota History Center. It's an exuberant, eclectic collection of 150 familiar icons and surprising finds, rich with delights for anyone who takes pride in this state.
The fairgoers' nominations were winnowed by a panel of historians asked to identify the most potent changemakers -- people, places or things that left Minnesota or the world "fundamentally different," for good or ill, Roberts said.
That guideline led to some provocative groupings. First Gov. Henry Sibley is portrayed alongside recent Gov. Jesse Ventura, a State Fair butter sculpture and a Greyhound bus, all representing imagemakers. A tribute to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone stands near a Confederate flag captured by the First Minnesota regiment at Gettysburg and a panel describing the 1920 Duluth lynching of African-American circus workers -- all representing lost innocence.
The words of all those nominators are displayed too, giving the exhibit the participatory flavor of an old-time barnraising.
Seeing Paul Bunyan, Prince's Purple Rain costume, Bronko Nagurski, Veda Ponikvar, Elmer L. Andersen and more makes a fine start to a sesquicentennial celebration. Come for an hour, and we bet you'll stay for three.
About Opinion Exchange
Opinion Exchange is produced by the Editorial Department, which is dedicated to hosting the discussion on a range of issues of interest to Star Tribune readers online and in print. In its new format, it's our hope that Opinion Exhange will create a more dynamic dialogue between Star Tribune readers and the Editorial Board. Many individual posts will be written and signed by members of the Editorial Board and will reflect their own opinions. Daily editorials will continue to represent the institutional voice of the newspaper and be researched and written by the Editorial Department, which is independent of the newsroom.
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