Mill City Museum
Architectural Background |
Contacts |
Film "Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat"
Upcoming Events
Washburn A Mill Tour
Dates: Nov. 21, 2009, Dec. 5, 2009, Dec. 19, 2009, Jan. 9, 2010
Time: 1 p.m.
Get an in-depth look at the historic Washburn A Mill complex and the award-winning Mill City Museum building. A museum interpreter will take visitors into the building's many nooks and crannies, highlighting the lives of the men and women who worked there, how the building functioned during its peak flour milling years and the many changes to the building over time. Also covered will be the challenges of preserving the 120-year-old, fire-damaged building; its art, architecture and interior design; and the St. Anthony Falls Historic District.
Additional Dates: Jan. 23, 2010, Feb. 13, 2010, Feb. 27, 2010
Family Day: Railroads
Date: Nov. 21, 2009
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
Enjoy railroad-themed activities while learning about how railroads and Minneapolis grew up together. Build a paper boxcar like the 1879 St. Paul and Pacific boxcar on display in the museum’s Rail Corridor; taste foods from historical railroad dining cars in a cooking demo by Rae Katherine Eighmey, an award winning writer and cook; listen to storytelling about working the rails at the Minneapolis mills; take a mini building tour to see the remaining railroad features in the Washburn A Mill; go on a scavenger hunt to learn more about trains in Minneapolis history; use blocks to build a roman arch like those on Minneapolis’ Stone Arch Bridge; use the wooden trains, trucks, and boats of the "To Market to Market" exhibit to discover how wheat goes from field to table.
Film Screening: 'Betty Mystique'
Date: Dec. 3, 2009
Time: 7 p.m.
Join author and filmmaker Susan Marks for an evening celebrating the life and times of Betty Crocker. Marks will screen her short film "The Betty Mystique," answer questions about Betty Crocker and sign copies of her books (including "Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America’s First Lady of Food" and the new "Historic Photos of Minnesota.") Marks' books will be available for purchase in the museum store.
Mill City Museum is located within the National Historic Landmark Washburn A Mill complex, the birthplace of the company that created Betty Crocker in 1921. Susan Marks is a writer and documentary filmmaker. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history, as well as a master’s degree in liberal studies, with a focus on American
studies, history, and film—from the University of Minnesota.
Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest Winners
Date: Dec. 5, 2009
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
Get inspired for holiday baking when the finalists in the Star Tribune’s annual Taste Holiday Cookie Contest bake their winning recipes in the Mill City Museum Baking Lab. Visitors can drop in and meet the finalists as they bake their award-winning cookies, learn more about the history of the recipes and why they are so good, and get baking tips for the holiday season. Visitors will also be able to sample each of the winning cookies.
The Star Tribune’s Taste section sponsors the annual Holiday Cookie Contest in which readers submit their favorite holiday cookie recipes. The winner and 5 runners-up will be announced in the December 3 Taste section.
Family Storytime
Dates: Dec. 12, 2009, Jan. 16, 2010, Feb. 20, 2010
Time: 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Museum storytellers will share classic tales, teach songs and lead a simple book-making project for recording the steps that wheat goes through from the field to the table. Families can also try grinding wheat into flour and taste freshly baked bread. The 30-minute program for preschoolers and their families will feature a reading and project based on "Winter is the Warmest Season" by author and illustrator Lauren Stringer.
"Kevin Kling’s Holiday Inn" Reading and Book Signing
Date: Dec. 13, 2009
Time: 2 p.m.
Storyteller, playwright and humorist Kevin Kling will read from his new book, "Holiday Inn" in the museum’s West Engine House theater. Afterwards he will sign copies of the book, and audience members can view the film "Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat," Mill City Museum’s whirlwind tour of our fair city written by and starring Kevin Kling.
An 'Eventually' Christmas: Holidays at the Mill
Dates: Dec. 18, 2009, Dec. 19, 2009, Dec. 20, 2009, Dec. 26, 2009
Time: 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.
This unique theatrical event performed in the museum's Flour Tower elevator ride, features "The Ghost of Mill City Past" guiding an intimate look at the 1920 Washburn Crosby holiday party. The script is based on real stories taken from the pages of the company's employee newspaper. Scenes unfold on different floors of the mill and visitors will meet different characters along the way. Witness the rocky romance of Celia and Otto; meet marketing mastermind Benjamin S. Bull; experience the awesome sweeping power of Bill Smith; and learn the secret origin of the Washburn Crosby marketing slogan, "Eventually-Why Not Now?"
This piece is written by playwright Joseph Scrimshaw, directed by Laura Salveson, and stars a cast of professional Twin Cities' actors.
Additional Dates: Dec. 27, 2009
Storyboats
on-going through Dec. 31, 2009,
view site hours
Building friendships and encouraging conversations is the goal of ceramic artist Anna Metcalfe's work. In "Storyboats" on display at Mill City Museum from Sept. 20 to Dec. 31, 2009, she explores personal interactions with the Mississippi River.
In June of 2009, Metcalfe joined rangers from the National Park Service, staff from Wilderness Inquiry and Dakota elder Alameda Rocha for an event on Boom Island in Minneapolis. After traveling in a canoe, the participants drew and wrote about their river memories on a paper template. Metcalfe then transferred the drawings and writings onto porcelain canoes specially designed for each of the stories.
A selection of the porcelain boats will be on display in the museum's Rail Corridor. The exhibit is free, but does not include museum admission of $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and college students, $5 for children ages 6-17 and free for members of the Minnesota Historical Society.
Scratch vs. Mix: Which Brownie is Better?
Date: Jan. 3, 2010
Time: 2 p.m.
See how history is revealed in food in the Baking Lab. Museum staff demonstrate making brownies from scratch versus a mix and share the history of the development of baking mixes. Visitors will be able to taste the results and vote on their favorite, learn home baking tips and take home a copy of the recipe.
Minneapolis in the 20th Century with Iric Nathanson
Date: Jan. 14, 2010
Time: 7 p.m.
Hear a free talk by author Iric Nathanson about the checkered history of Minneapolis based on his new book, "Minneapolis in the 20th Century: The Growth of an American City," published by MHS Press. Nathanson shines a light in dark corners of the city's past, exploring corruption that existed between the police department and city hall, brutal suppression of Depression-era unions and reports on anti-Semitism at midcentury. At the same time community leaders made a difference when racial violence exploded across the country, and concerned neighbors guided transportation policy from more and bigger highways to forward-looking light rail transit. By the end of the 20th century, the riverfront was transformed into a magnet for people wishing to live and play at the site where the city began to grow. Books will be available for purchase and Nathanson will sign copies.
Scratch vs. Mix: Which Brownie is Better?
Dates: Jan. 30, 2010, Feb. 6, 2010
Time: 1 p.m.
See how history is revealed in food in the Baking Lab. Museum staff demonstrate making brownies from scratch versus a mix and share the history of the development of baking mixes. Visitors will be able to taste the results and vote on their favorite, learn home baking tips and take home a copy of the recipe.
Minneapolis Riverfront Then and Now, 1858 and 2008
on-going through March 28, 2010,
view site hours
Photographer Jerry Mathiason and Mill City Museum embarked on a project during the state sesquicentennial in 2008 to document change on the Minneapolis riverfront, selecting historic photos from the state's early years (1850s-1860s) and taking photographs of the contemporary landscape from the same vantage points. The pairs of then and now photographs reveal the dramatic changes to the city during its first 150 years, including the disappearance of St. Anthony Falls, changes in transportation, bridge collapses past and present, the growth of a small village into a major city, and continually evolving uses of the Mississippi River.
The exhibit is supported by a grant from the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board.
