The 1968 Exhibit: Covering 1968 - January, 2012

American Indians, Minnesota, and 1968

Mon, 2012-01-23 14:25 — Brian Horrigan

Check out this article about a new American Indian Movement Center slated to open in Minneapolis.  The American Indian Movement was founded in the city in 1968, and is featured in The 1968 Exhibit, on view at the Minnesota History Center until February 20, 2012.

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And-- breaking news:  This week, we've made a new addition to the exhibit:  this vest, on loan from Indian activist Kathryn "Jody" Beaulieu, an enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.   It was, she says, "designed by a friend from Alaska, painted by a Dakota, and worn by an Anishinabe equay [Ojibwe woman]," and so she calls it her "United Nations" vest.  Beaulieu wore it during the Indian occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969; again a year later at another occupation near Davis, California; at Pitt River in northern California when Pitt River Indians were in a standoff with the local electric company; and at the Wounded Knee occupation in 1973.   

Also, go to The 1968 Exhibit website and watch "Taking AIM"-- the award-winning short film by Lucas Langworthy.

 

 

 

1968 Tour of the Twin Cities

Tue, 2012-01-17 17:43 — lauren.peck

Can't get enough of 1968? The Minnesota Historical Society has created a new online virtual tour, the 1968 Tour of the Twin Cities, which highlights some of the most interesting and important places locally in the Twin Cities in the year 1968.


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Dorm room at St. Cloud State, 1968


 1968 was a pivotal year nationally, particularly in terms of the Vietnam War and the arts, and Minnesota was no exception.


Some highlights of the year that you can find as part of the tour:


 -Local record store Electric Fetus first opened its doors in 1968.


-Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix and The Door performed at the Minneapolis Auditorium.


-Students and staff from the University of Minnesota held a week-long sit-in at the mayor's office at St. Paul City Hall to protest the police department's possession of AR15 rifles.  


-Hundreds of protestors demonstrated at the Old Federal Building to protest the draft and the Vietnam War, and the Twin Cities Draft Information Center worked to provide men with alternatives to the draft.


To check out the full tour, visit: http://www.placeography.org/index.php/1968_Tour_of_the_Twin_Cities