Learn About Minnesota Cultures Through Their Ancient Manuscript Traditions With Online Lecture Series Hosted By Four Area History Museums

Travel the world this February with four central Minnesota history museums and the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. “Exploring History and Culture in Central Minnesota – Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML)” is an event series partnership project of the Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Morrison County historical societies sharing about cultures that have been and are part of central Minnesota and its history.

The 2022 February event series takes place online via Zoom on Saturdays in February (February 5, 12, 19, 26) and features programming from HMML, a global organization whose mission is to preserve and share the world’s handwritten past to inspire a deeper understanding of our present and future. To learn more, go to www.hmml.org. The series of four programs will share about cultures in our state through their ancient manuscript traditions.

“The Manuscript Heritage of Muslim Communities in Minnesota and Beyond,” the third event in the series, takes place on February 19th and will be presented by Dr. Josh Mugler. The program will provide an introduction to an important and growing part of the Minnesota community using the visual and textual elements of Islamic manuscript traditions from around the world.

The final event in the series, “Ash pe pekran? An Encounter with Coptic Cultural Heritage,” presented by Dr. David Calabro, takes place February 26th. The program will give a brief introduction to the ancient and fascinating Coptic Egyptian culture, which has a small but growing community in Minnesota.

In conjunction with the programs, two traveling exhibits featuring original manuscripts from the HMML collection will be at each of the four history museums on a revolving basis for two weeks during the month of February. For more information about the events and the exhibits contact the Morrison County Historical Society (320/632-4007), the Sherburne History Center (763/261-4433), the Stearns History Museum (320/253-8424) or the Benton County Historical Society (320/253-9614).

The event series is free and open to the public. Registration is required. To register for one or more of the programs, contact the Morrison County Historical Society – staff@morrisoncountyhistory.org or call 320/632-4007.