HUMBOLDT 鈥� The Humboldt and District Museum is seeking stories, photographs and objects pertaining to specific events and people for the next chapter of the Stories of Humboldt exhibit.
The focuses of the chapter are Rev. Bruno Doerfler (1866-1919), the German American Land Company (est. 1902), the Sisters of St. Elizabeth in Humboldt, James 鈥淒oc鈥� Ogilvie, the Trolley Caf茅 (1934-1941), the Hobo Jungle (1930s), the Humboldt Lions Junior Band, and the Potash Pete Derby at Stoney Lake.
Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Humboldt鈥檚 director of cultural services, said that all information provided will be kept for research and information purposes, even if it doesn鈥檛 make it into the exhibit.聽
鈥淭his is part of the larger redesign of the museum to ensure that when visitors come, they have stories to view that are specific to our area, not, let鈥檚 say, more of a pioneer exhibit,鈥� Fitzpatrick said.聽
鈥淲e want to ensure the stories are related to Humboldt experiences and we know the community has these fantastic stories.鈥�
The exhibit is planned to be displayed early summer and kept up for about a year.
The first focus, Rev. Bruno Doerfler (1866-1919), was a Minnesota priest who immigrated in the early 1900s. Doerfler would go on to found St. Peter鈥檚 Colony.
鈥淲e know that there were many faiths here in the early years and our exhibits will be designed to ensure that we have those multiple narratives of the story,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or this one we鈥檙e primarily focusing on St. Peter鈥檚 Colony.鈥�
The second focus, the German American Land Company (est. 1902), was part of the drive to encourage immigration to the area, purchasing 100 acres of land.
鈥淲e have an excellent archival document that was written in German, primarily to entice people from the United States to come up to this area,鈥� Fitzpatrick said, adding the document has been translated for the exhibit.
鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for information. Would that have drawn one of the people who homesteaded in that area to this location?鈥�
The third focus, the Sisters of St. Elizabeth, includes the convent, the nursing school and the hospital.
Fitzpatrick said they鈥檙e encouraging people to come forward with stories about the facilities, even if they鈥檙e just from the 1990s.
鈥淲e really want to encourage people to share contemporary community stories, so if anyone does have any information on the convent, school or hospital we always encourage people to come in and share those.鈥�
The fourth, James 鈥淒oc鈥� Ogilvie, was a physician in Humboldt who retired in 1958.
The Government of Saskatchewan didn鈥檛 pass a universal socialized hospital care plan until 1947, before then patients were required to pay for their own individual treatments. This presented a cost barrier for many residents.
鈥淥gilvie was a loved physician in Humboldt, there鈥檚 a lot of great stories about his compassion, about how he helped people even if they couldn鈥檛 afford to pay him,鈥� Fitzpatrick said. 鈥淪o we know there are stories out there of Doc. Ogilvie helping people.鈥�
She said in one of those stories that the museum has been told, the doctor accepted firewood for payments resulting in a 鈥渞idiculously large鈥� woodpile behind his house.
The fifth focus, the Trolley Caf茅, was a Humboldt caf茅 started by two men from 1934 to 1941.
鈥淭hey were looking for a place to open a caf茅 and they couldn鈥檛 find one, so they got a streetcar, like a trolley car from Saskatoon,鈥� Fitzpatrick said. 鈥淭hey brought it out, put it on the streets of Humboldt and made it a caf茅.鈥�
Due to the lack of locks, Fitzpatrick said the duo had to keep the business open 24 hours a day.
鈥淲e know a little bit about it, we have a great photo of it and a little bit of a writeup from one of the people involved, but we don鈥檛 know what happened to the trolley.鈥�
The sixth focus, the 鈥淗obo Jungle,鈥� was a place in Humboldt near the south west of the train station in the 1930s.
During the Great Depression it served as a safe place where men who rode the trains looking for work could gather and share information about where to find food, employment and shelter.
The seventh focus, the Humboldt Lions Junior Band, was started in the early 1950s and went until the 1970s.
鈥淭his is one of the marching bands, people remember they had the purple and yellow uniforms. I think a lot of people remember going down to a marching competition in Williston, North Dakota, it was kind of an annual event,鈥� Fitzpatrick said.
鈥淚f they have great stories like that we鈥檇 be interested to just hear about those contemporary stories.鈥�
The eighth and final focus of the exhibit is the Potash Pete Derby at Stoney Lake.
This is one that Fitzpatrick said they don鈥檛 have too much information on, which they hope to change through community members reaching out.
鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 in the 1970s and 鈥�80s, and I think it was at Waldsea Lake as well, but this is what we need community members to tell us. It involved things like distance running, swimming, canoeing. It was like a team event.鈥�
To contact the museum to submit a story, community members can phone 306-682-5226 or email [email protected] 鈥� The Humboldt and District Museum are seeking stories, photographs and objects pertaining to specific events and people for the next chapter of the Stories of Humboldt exhibit.
The focuses of the chapter are Rev. Bruno Doerfler (1866-1919), the German American Land Company (est. 1902), the Sisters of St. Elizabeth in Humboldt, James 鈥淒oc鈥� Ogilvie, the Trolley Caf茅 (1934-1941), the Hobo Jungle (1930s), the Humboldt Lions Junior Band, and the Potash Pete Derby at Stoney Lake.
Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Humboldt鈥檚 director of cultural services said that all information provided will be kept for research and information purposes, even if it doesn鈥檛 make it into the exhibit.聽
鈥淭his is part of the larger redesign of the museum to ensure that when visitors come, they have stories to view that are specific to our area, not let鈥檚 say more of a pioneer exhibit,鈥� Fitzpatrick said.聽
鈥淲e want to ensure the stories are related to Humboldt experiences and we know the community has these fantastic stories.鈥�
The exhibit is planned to be displayed early summer and kept up for about a year.
The first focus, Rev. Bruno Doerfler (1866-1919), was a Minnesota priest who immigrated in the early 1900s. Doerfler would go on to found St. Peter鈥檚 Colony.
鈥淲e know that there were many faiths here in the early years and our exhibits will be designed to ensure that we have those multiple narratives of the story,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or this one we鈥檙e primarily focusing on St. Peter鈥檚 Colony.鈥�
The second focus, the German American Land Company (est. 1902), was part of the drive to encourage immigration to the area, purchasing 100 acres of land.
鈥淲e have an excellent archival document that was written in German, primarily to entice people from the United States to come up to this area,鈥� Fitzpatrick said, adding the document has been translated for the exhibit.
鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for information. Would that have drawn one of the people who homesteaded in that area to this location?鈥�
The third focus, the Sisters of St. Elizabeth, includes the convent, the nursing school and the hospital.
Fitzpatrick said they鈥檙e encouraging people to come forward with stories about the facilities, even if they鈥檙e just from the 1990s.
鈥淲e really want to encourage people to share contemporary community stories, so if anyone does have any information on the convent, school or hospital we always encourage people to come in and share those.鈥�
The fourth, James 鈥淒oc鈥� Ogilvie, was a physician in Humboldt who retired in 1958.
The Government of Saskatchewan didn鈥檛 pass a universal socialized hospital care plan until 1947, before then patients were required to pay for their own individual treatments. This presented a cost barrier for many residents.
鈥淥gilvie was a loved physician in Humboldt, there鈥檚 a lot of great stories about his compassion, about how he helped people even if they couldn鈥檛 afford to pay him,鈥� Fitzpatrick said. 鈥淪o we know there are stories out there of Doc. Ogilvie helping people.鈥�
She said in one of those stories that the museum has been told, the doctor accepted firewood for payments resulting in a 鈥渞idiculously large鈥� woodpile behind his house.
The fifth focus, the Trolley Caf茅, was a Humboldt caf茅 started by two men from 1934 to 1941.
鈥淭hey were looking for a place to open a caf茅 and they couldn鈥檛 find one, so they got a streetcar, like a trolley car from Saskatoon,鈥� Fitzpatrick said. 鈥淭hey brought it out, put it on the streets of Humboldt and made it a caf茅.鈥�
Due to the lack of locks, Fitzpatrick said the duo had to keep the business open 24 hours a day.
鈥淲e know a little bit about it, we have a great photo of it and a little bit of a writeup from one of the people involved, but we don鈥檛 know what happened to the trolley.鈥�
The sixth focus, the 鈥淗obo Jungle,鈥� was a place in Humboldt near the south west of the train station in the 1930s.
During the Great Depression it served as a safe place where men who rode the trains looking for work could gather and share information about where to find food, employment and shelter.
The seventh focus, the Humboldt Lions Junior Band, was started in the early 1950s and went until the 1970s.
鈥淭his is one of the marching bands, people remember they had the purple and yellow uniforms. I think a lot of people remember going down to a marching competition in Williston, North Dakota, it was kind of an annual event,鈥� Fitzpatrick said.
鈥淚f they have great stories like that we鈥檇 be interested to just hear about those contemporary stories.鈥�
The eighth and final focus of the exhibit is the Potash Pete Derby at Stoney Lake.
This is one that Fitzpatrick said they don鈥檛 have too much information on, which they hope to change through community members reaching out.
鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 in the 1970s and 鈥�80s, and I think it was at Waldsea Lake as well, but this is what we need community members to tell us. It involved things like distance running, swimming, canoeing. It was like a team event.鈥�
To contact the museum to submit a story, community members can phone 306-682-5226 or email [email protected].
