Pandemic Both Challenges and Inspires Hennepin History Museum Staff

Article by Doug Verdier

When COVID-19 closed the Hennepin History Museum to the public on March 14, 2020, Museum Curator Alyssa Thiede was deeply disappointed. But the pandemic also inspired the current Local Heroes exhibit itself and motivated her to create an exhibit that paid tribute to healthcare workers.

“The situation also presented a creative opportunity to reimagine how to organize and offer exhibits to the public in a safe and accessible way,” Thiede said. “The pandemic created a number of new and different challenges to developing an exhibit as well, because access to many resources suddenly was cut off.”

With libraries and archives closed, Thiede reached out to people in the healthcare community as primary sources for ideas on what to include. “Marie Manthey, a nurse who sits on the Heritage Committee of the University of Minnesota School of Nursing was a valuable resource,” said Thiede. “She helped me connect with experts in the healthcare field, as well as several retired nurses who volunteer at the Hennepin Medical History Center Museum at HCMC.”

The evolution of the exhibit was truly collaborative. “So many people contributed, since access to libraries and other sources were not available,” said Thiede. “The stories they shared helped make the exhibit more experiential and personal.”

The interviews and research helped identify and narrow down the individuals, organizations, places and timeframe that the exhibit would emphasize.

“From the beginning, I knew that I didn’t want to focus too much on the big names that people already know,” said Thiede. “I wanted to celebrate the more unsung healthcare heroes. That’s why you’ll see a lot of women, people of color and other less known individuals featured throughout the exhibit.”

Above, Dr. Charles E. Dutton’s Medical Bag, circa 1900. Dr. Charles E. Dutton was the last surviving member of the first class to graduate from the University of Minnesota’s Medical School in 1889. He practiced medicine in downtown Minneapolis until 1935, but continued to treat patients out of his home almost until the time of his death in 1955 at the age of 94. He was also well known as the first doctor in Minneapolis to make house calls out of an automobile. His medical bag, pictured, includes a stethoscope, speculum, forceps, steel calipers, anesthesia mask, trephine, bone saw, scalpel, syringe and needle, and many other tools. After use, instruments that required sterilization would have been boiled in the copper chamber in the lower compartment of the medical bag. Hennepin History Museum Collections. Gift of Mrs. Charles E. Dutton.

When it came to selecting the artifacts to be part of the exhibit, Hennepin History Museum’s own in-house collection was invaluable. Other items are on loan from the Hennepin Medical History Center at HCMC, which is not currently open to the public.

At the same time, the physical layout of the Local Heroes exhibit had to be designed in a way that would allow visitors to feel comfortable and safe going through the museum when it was open again. Consideration of how many people could go through at the same time, what direction they would go and how to arrange exhibits for the best visibility all were reviewed. One element in the layout of the exhibit was the use of  portable hospital dividers to separate portions of the displays. These not only served a social-distancing function, but also added to the healthcare atmosphere of the gallery.

A bonus in all this, Thiede explained, was a renewed emphasis on providing exhibit content online for visitors who were not yet comfortable going to a museum during the pandemic. “I had been thinking for a couple of years about how to create online content in addition to a physical exhibit,” she said. “The pandemic pushed that idea higher on the priority list. It actually was something of a silver lining to everything else.”

Thiede explained that the museum had not previously explored in detail what resources would be needed to give it the necessary level of online capability. This required some experimentation to see how virtual content could look and be engaging to viewers.

“With Local Heroes we are offering for the first time both a physical exhibit as well as an online version of the entire exhibit, including full text, photos of each artifact, and images of the people and places featured,” Thiede said. “We are learning from this first online offering and look forward to viewer and visitor feedback so we can improve the online experience going forward. Having the exhibits available online will make them available to a wider audience. Our plan is to provide an online version of all future exhibits. We want to share the historic stories with as many people as possible!”

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The Local Heroes exhibit is scheduled to run through September 11, 2021.

While the Hennepin History Museum is once again welcoming visitors, masks are required by persons age 6 and older. Also, visiting this museum requires the use of stairs. In addition to the physical exhibit, Local Heroes is also available online at www.hennepinhistory.org.

Hennepin History Museum is located at 2303 Third Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN 55404.

Current hours are: Thursdays, 10a–3p; Fridays, 10a–3p; Saturdays 10a–5p.

Limited free parking is available in the rear of the building.

Admission: Adults $8, Seniors/Students $5, Free for Members an Children age 6 and under