Gretch-a-sketch (old)

Hello! My name is Elisabeth and I blog here where you can win a free copy of When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris.

I am getting a masters degree in Texas, but this summer I am an intern working in the great state of Minnesota, home of Garrison Keiller, Greyhound Bus, and Gratia Countryman, a pioneering and nationally famous librarian.

When I first came to Minnesota, I wanted learn more about my new home. Always a fan of history, my first stop was at the Minnesota History Center, which is currently holding an exhibit of 150 things that make Minnesota what it is, in honor of the state’s Sesquicentennial celebration. There I learned more about the people and company that I mentioned (I will never forget, thanks to the five+ people that told me, that Greyhound was invented by the Swedes).

What’s interesting about this exhibit is that the 150 things were made up of suggestions from around Minnesota. In this exhibit 38th vice president Hubert Humphrey stood side by side with the inventor of the paper bag with handles, whose famed creation I now appreciatively use to hold my recycling. I was fascinated by the history of WCAL, the nation's first listener supported public radio station, as I am now a devotee of both its replacement 89.3 The Current and its spiritual offspring, Minnesota Public Radio. Thanks to the internet, I can listen to two new favorite radio stations even when I go back to Texas.

I especially loved the features of the 150 exhibit that celebrated the women of Minnesota's history; the women who were pioneering and prominent librarians, like Countryman, or teachers (like Harriet Bishop, of Harriet Island fame) and writers. I was so intrigued by the life of Ignatius Donnelly, a politician who claimed that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays, that I got a copy of his biography. And whenever I walk across the Skyway to avoid the rain, I thank Edward Baker, "father of the skyways," for his 1962 creation.

This exhibit was not only my introduction to Minnesota, but Minnesota’s introduction to me. Musicians from Minnesota had their own listening stations, where one could hear Dylan sing “Like a Rolling Stone” or listen to a performance of the Minnesota Orchestra. Along with a plaque that described him a devout Christian, and held one of his Purple Rain suits, the exhibit about Prince plays eight of his hits. I listened to “1999” and after a brief resistance, danced like anyone listening to a classic song should dance. This is what I explained to people who passed by.

After I go back to Texas, the nation will be focused on Minnesota, as the Republican party takes over the Twin Cities. But when I think of the land of 10,000 lakes, I'll remember fondly what I learned as an intern, and what I learned as an eager history nerd and eighties hit dancing museum goer.