History 21 The Podcast - 3.10 Conference Fun at MALHM

Kassy and Rebecca (ACHS Archivist and Director) traveled to a conference overrun by other history nerds this past month, and brought the microphones along with them. Listen to what the museum folk got up to at the Minnesota Alliance of Local History (MAHLM) conference, how Kassy survived the SPAM museum, and conversations with museum friends all over MN from Otter Tail County to Richfield.

Hosts Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator, Kassy Mackenthun, ACHS Collections Manager, and Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director.

MN Alliance of Local History Museums

MALHM Conference: April 25-27, 2023

For 32 years, The Alliance has been the voice of the local history community in Minnesota. Together, history groups large and small have supported each other, fostered professionalism in the field and collaborated on important projects.

Friends from MALHM

Anoka County Library Minute

Adult fiction:

The Curator by Owen King

In this fantasy, which Kirkus Reviews called “dark, chaotic fun,” social classes and human nature are examined. This book has a lot - murder, multiverses, lots of cats, and city residents’ stories interconnected by the artifacts they pass along. The main character, Dora, takes a position as curator at the Museum of the Worker, a position held by her late brother, in order to solve his murder.

A Sweet Lowcountry Proposal by Preslaysa Williams

This story of love lost and found is about how the past can get tied up into our futures. Jaslene thought that her relationship with Marcus was over following the tragic loss of her sister. She’d decided to focus on the wedding planning business the sisters had started together. When Marcus comes back into her life with his own problems – the Black History Museum he’s an archivist for is about to close – they come together to try to save the museum and perhaps even their love for each other.

Meet Me in Madrid by Verity Lowell

This is the story of a long-distance relationship between museum courier, Charlotte, and art historian, Adrianna. The once Ivy League acquaintances find themselves together again in the capital city of Spain, and a spark ignites a long-distance relationship. But they soon find difficulties in balancing their relationship with their work and academic pursuits. While this is a love story, it is not all flowers and fluff, but one that also deals with big issues, like discrimination.

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

Shortly after taking the position as curator of the Wilde House, Charley, hears of the house’s captivating ghost story: the tragic love story of a captured French officer serving in the Seven Years War and the original homesteader’s sister. The novel, written in alternating storylines, weaves itself together through the artifact trail Charley follows to reveal what really happened in the house so long ago.

Impossible Views of the World by Lucy Ives

While on the surface, it seems this is yet another book about a mystery set in a museum, this book has quirkiness that will have readers laughing out loud, as well as an unusual amount of heart. Stella, a curator at Manhattan’s Central Museum of Art, doesn’t exactly have her life together lately. But the appearance of a mysterious map leads her on a research mission, which reveals a missing colleague’s secret, and aids Stella in taking control of her life.

Childrens:

The Paper Museum by Kate S. Simpson

In this middle grade fiction story, Lydia is from a world where paper is no more. Everyone reads on a device and everything you need is delivered to you. The only refuge for paper and those who love it, is the Paper Museum, run by Lydia’s uncle. But this too will be extinguished if Lydia can’t find her missing parents.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

This middle grade story is a modern-day retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen”. Science-led Ophelia must suspend her disbelief to save a young boy locked away by the Snow Queen in the strange museum where her father works.