Digital Reflections

The Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing is proud to present an important archive of historical photos and documents that are available online in the Minnesota Reflections collection at the Minnesota Digital Library.

The items in the online collection were donated by the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing community. On behalf of the community, the Commission submitted 173 items to the Minnesota Digital Library, including:

30 from the Charles Thompson Memorial Hall (a deaf clubhouse in St. Paul that is also on the National Register of Historic Places)
24 from the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens (MADC)
119 from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf Alumni Association Museum

All the hard work to collect this information and present it to the public was worth all the trouble because it not only allowed us to travel through history and learn, as well as celebrate, the accomplishments of these amazing communities. It allows the public to do the same.

We hope you enjoy exploring this astounding collection of deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing history.

This collection was supported by a grant from the Minnesota Digital Library. Current funding for "Minnesota Reflections" comes from the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the state's constitution.

Find collection
Credits

How to find and use this collection

You can use the site's online search feature to browse by topic, browse by contributor, or browse by format.

If you have questions about the items in our collection, or if you have information to add to the item descriptions, please contact the Commission at mn.commission@state.mn.us.
Acknowledgement and credits

Special thanks go to:
- Marian Rengel, Minnesota Digital Library Outreach Coordinator, for her steadfast support of this very special project. We couldn't have completed it without her expert assistance!
- The trustees of the Charles Thompson Memorial Hall, the board members of the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens, and the keepers of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf Alumni Association Museum for their generous donations of these valuable historical items.
- Doug Bahl and Cynthia Weitzel for selecting the items to be included in our collection and bringing them to be scanned at the University of Minnesota.
- Doug Bahl for providing the historical details for the item descriptions, and Teika Pakalns for writing and compiling the metadata that was submitted to the Minnesota Digital Library.