Archives and Special Collections: Resources in the Twin Cities

Minnesota Historical Society

Search the historical society’s library and special collections in a range of subject areas, including the Visual Resources database. This is an invaluable online collection of digitized images from photographs, postcards, paintings and other visual materials.

Minneapolis Public Library – Special Collections

The Special Collections department holds materials that are especially pertinent to the research of Minneapolis history. Links to over “25,000 books and other materials in ten special collections.”

In addition to the Special Collections department site, there is an online database of digitized photographs from library collections.

Minnesota Digital Library

“Minnesota Reflections is the initial digitization effort of the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition. This digitization project involved more than 50 participating historical societies, special archives, and libraries. The MDLC and participants digitized more than 6,000 unique photographs and images.”

This resource contains thousands of digitized photographs from a wide variety of libraries and historical societies around the state.

MNPALS Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Project for Automated Library Services

Search MNSCU catalogs; special, public, and school libraries; and the libraries of private colleges and state government departments.

Hennepin History Museum

The Hennepin History Museum collections include objects such as toys and dolls, quilts, Native American artifacts, household items, decorative arts objects and costumes, in addition to collections of personal papers, photographs, and business and government documents.

Ramsey County Historical Society

The society’s website contains general information on their collections, which include books, maps and atlases, personnel papers and organizational records, periodicals, directories and photographs. Link to online information about St. Paul neighborhoods.

St. Paul Public Library, special collections at the Central Library

The library houses directories, house history information, and local history materials.

The Bakken Library and Museum

The Bakken is a center for education and learning that furthers the understanding of the history, cultural context, and applications of electricity and magnetism in the life sciences and their benefits to contemporary society.

In addition to these sources, there are a number of other local city or county historical societies that maintain web sites for researchers. The following are some examples: