Welcoming helping hands
Kassandra Mackenthun
Yharnet Browne
In the museum world, summers mean activities, fairs, festivals and … interns.
The time after graduation or between years at the university provide the perfect space for newly minted history geeks to explore their career choice more in depth.
At the Anoka County Historical Society, we have seen many of these individuals come through our doors. We enjoy the opportunity to hear new ideas from the classroom, explore new perspectives and give back to the industry — we’ve all started somewhere with the help of someone.
This summer, our internship program looks a bit different, as we specifically asked for people to help us process the Federal Cartridge Company collection in preparation for the company’s centennial celebration. We selected Yharnet Browne and Kassandra Mackenthun from a pool of applicants for this paid opportunity lasting 12 weeks.
Yharnet just graduated from St. Catherine’s University with her master’s of library and information science degree, specializing in archives and special collections. Currently Yharnet splits her time between her internship with ACHS, another one in the oral history department of the Minnesota Historical Society and working part time as a library page at Ramsey County Library in Mounds View.
She volunteered to inventory the offerings at the George Floyd Global Memorial and the installation of the exhibit at the Chicago Fire Arts Center. Yharnet brings skills to help ACHS input metadata into our collection system, Collective Access, as well as extensive experience in creating publicly accessible collections.
Kassandra has one more year before graduating with her master’s of science in history, where her coursework has included museum and indigenous studies.
She has volunteered at several libraries and archives before coming to ACHS this summer, where she has spent time sorting 20 bankers’ boxes of printed pictures into decades. Kassandra would like to pursue a master’s of library and information science degree specializing in archives — a degree that would qualify her to work in museums, libraries or corporate archives keeping the material sorted, categorized and accessible to their respective audiences.
Over the next two months, Yharnet and Kassandra will work with ACHS archivist Erin McBrien to make more of the Federal Cartridge Company collection publicly accessible to residents of Anoka County as well as writers reporting on the centennial anniversary.
Once the photographs are sorted by decade, they will be further sorted by theme, digitized and uploaded to our database. The framed objects, printing plates and packaging are already available at tinyurl.com/4a4t95n2.
By searching “Federal” and filtering for “Anoka County Historical Society,” you’ll discover full-color images of Hi-Power, Champion, Lightning, Monarch and Cleanfire cartridges through the years, as well as their corresponding metal printing plates. You’ll also find interview transcripts and even wedding photos taken in the Federal Clubhouse (Celia A. Charest, bride, Donald K. Foss, groom, in 1955).
Our interns will also work to create a portion of our online exhibit, a physical exhibit at the Federal campus, and sort digital assets into our collection. By the end of summer, they will have helped us well on our way to providing you with access to 100 years of local history from one of the largest employers in the county.
Taken at the Federal Cartridge Clubhouse, Anoka, Minnesota, Sept. 17, 1955. The clubhouse was built in 1954. From J. Daly, Chanel Charest, Celia A. Charest (bride), Donald K. Foss (groom), Andy Bodick, Red Sell, Charlie Sell. Flower girl, Jeanie Hall (Photo ID 2018.0233.001)