#vertical files

[mythicthiccith]

Oaklawn Files: Cemetery Series Part I of _?

There is an irrevocable sadness to estate sales and cemeteries.

Difficult to describe, impossible to ignore.

One of my favorite people, @alli-hallows-eve, says "In the end your life will be summed up as a dash between two dates", and in a place like Oaklawn Cemetery in Tulsa, OK that is heavy.

Oaklawn Cemetery holds shadows beyond what’s visible. All the marked graves are white, from Tulsa’s segregated past. But in 2020–2021, mass grave excavations here began connecting Oaklawn to the city’s most violent wound — the 1921 Race Massacre. I can’t speak for that history, but I can name that this ground is layered with truths not written on the stones. For more information please read Scott Ellsworth's excellent book, "Death in a Promised Land".

What I will do is share my observations, experiences, and research from my personal exploration of this cemetery and the Tulsa Library archives. This will be a slice of life journey, not rigorous academia.

Hold my hand, let's go look at gravestones!

[hclib]

Lake Minnetonka Streetcar Boats

In the early 1900s, streetcars were quickly becoming the way Twin Cities residents commuted to work and play. The Twin City Lines streetcar network was growing across the metro area, including a new line to Excelsior on the banks of Lake Minnetonka in 1905. After reaching Excelsior, though, the streetcar company faced a problem: Lake Minnetonka was an incredibly popular summer destination, but its many bays and miles of shoreline made additional streetcar lines impractical. What could be done? The answer: streetcar boats.

Starting in the summer of 1906, six "Twin City Express Boats" operated on the lake. Within a couple of years, the streetcar boats regularly stopped at over 25 docks across the lake. From any scheduled stop, express boat riders could arrive at a streetcar stop in 45 minutes or less. From there, the ride to Minneapolis was just another 45 minutes. For the first time, people could live on Lake Minnetonka and easily commute to work downtown and vice versa.

Despite the huge success of streetcar boats in their early years, ridership declined in the 1920s. As roads improved and the automobile surpassed the streetcar in popularity, the streetcar boats were abandoned. All streetcar boat service ended in 1926, and the boats were sold or purposely sunk.

In 1980, one of the sunken boats, Minnehaha, was discovered and raised. After years of careful restoration, Minnehaha is now owned by the Museum of Lake Minnetonka.

This brochure from the early 1900s is a new addition to our Minneapolis and Hennepin County Vertical Subject Files.

[hclib]

Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank Annual Report, 1951

Whoever said that bank annual reports should be boring? This fanciful booklet, made in the shape of the Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank building, is a new addition to our Minneapolis and Hennepin County Subject Vertical Files. 

Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank was founded in Minneapolis in 1874. In 1982, it merged with Marquette National Bank. The Farmers and Mechanics Bank building at 6th and Marquette is now a hotel. 

Explore photos of the Farmers and Mechanics Saving Bank in the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections.

[hclib]

Minneapolis and Hennepin County Vertical Subject Files

The finding aid for the Hennepin County Vertical Subject Files is now searchable online. One of our most popular and largest collections, the vertical files contain newspaper clippings, brochures, flyers, and other ephemera covering a multitude of topics in local history. The files were compiled by library staff over several decades, with the bulk of material dating from the 1940s to 1990s. For many years, library workers clipped articles from local papers to add them to this vast filing system. While we no longer clip the papers, we do still add materials to the collection. All together, the collection fills 112 file drawers!

The files are a go-to source for information on nearly any topic, organization, or event in Minneapolis history. If you are working on a Minneapolis or Hennepin County research project -- whether for National History Day, a dissertation, or your own enjoyment -- this collection is a great starting point. (If you are looking for similar information on a person who lived in Minneapolis, check out the Minneapolis and Hennepin County Biography Files.)

While our reading room is currently closed, we are happy to help with remote reference requests. If you find a file of interest, contact Special Collections staff. If you do not find your topic in this collection, try searching across all our finding aids, searching the Digital Collections, or reaching out to us for more ideas.

[webuyofficefurniture7894]

Vertical Files

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[u-mspcoll]

unstacked! | highlights from the depths of our collections | feature #26

Corporate Accountability International. “Think Outside the Bottle – Challenge Corporate Control of Water.” Subject Vertical Files (“Ecology – Water”), Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University Library Special Collections, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Federal Water Pollution Control Administration. “Needed: Clean Water.” Greenfield, MA: Channing L. Bete, Co. 1968. Subject Vertical Files (“Ecology – Water”), Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University Library Special Collections, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

“People of the State of Michigan in the Court of the People, Case No. 2016-H2O-Justice.” Subject Vertical Files (“Michigan – Flint – Flint Water Crisis”). Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University Library Special Collections, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Gift of J. Herrada.

People’s Water Board. “Water is a Right.” Subject Vertical Files (“Ecology – Water”), Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University Library Special Collections, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

“Wanted for Poisoning of Flint.” Flyer. Subject Vertical Files (“Michigan – Flint – Flint Water Crisis”). Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University Library Special Collections, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

“Whatever Happens to the Water Happens to the People.” Subject Vertical Files (“Ecology – Water”), Joseph A. Labadie Collection, university Library Special Collections, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

This week we feature a selection of ephemera on environmental justice, specifically water justice, from the Labadie Collection’s Subject Vertical Files.

The Labadie Collection Subject Vertical Files consist of approximately 8,500 folders containing ephemeral materials such as flyers, handbills, leaflets, and clippings on a variety of topics centered on radical history and social protest. Each folder is named with a topical descriptor, with roughly 75% of the material falling under one of the following folder headings: Anarchism, Civil Liberties, Colonialism and Imperialism, Communism, Co-operatives, Ecology, Labor, Pacifism, Prisons and Prisoners, Radical Right, Religion, Sexual Freedom, Socialism, Underground Press, Women, Youth and Student Protest.

View a searchable list of the subject vertical files here!

[canadianlesbianandgayarchives]

Our vertical files hold thousands of newspaper clippings, flyers, letters, posters, and ephemera that document community histories.

clga.ca

[hirshhornvolunteer]

A recent dig through the vertical files focused on Glenn Ligon, whose mixed-media pieces use text and sometimes sound to explore issues of race, sexuality, and identity. In 1993 the Hirshhorn featured Ligon in its Directions series with an exhibition titled "Directions: Glenn Ligon: To Disembark." Ligon’s artist file is full of notes and memos related to the creation of this exhibition and the brochure that accompanied it. These items include a working bibliography for Ligon (which has certainly grown since 1993!), and letters from our librarian Anna Brooke confirming basic facts about Ligon to be included in the final publication. The Hirshhorn currently has six works by Ligon in the collection, five of which can be viewed on the Hirshhorn website.