From the Carlson collection, this photo creates a loud noise. Many hours of marching band practice, shoes hitting the streets in unison, the drum cadence, wrong notes, cheers, clapping, the sound of pride in a perfect appearance, and the joy in leading a group of peers through the parade. Whose daughter is this? Call 763-689-4229 or email ichs@izoom.net to report the sound of history that you hear from this photo.


As I watched the Grammy Awards and listened to all the music this past weekend, I began to wonder about the kinds of sound that history makes. We can all hear it you know, if we take the time. It is all around us and deep inside us. The sounds show themselves when we least expect them, and are fueled by a number of sources.

How about an old ice skate? It brings me back to evening skates at our neighborhood rink with all my friends from school. The blades hitting the ice, the laughing and screaming as we played crack the whip around the rink. Then there was the music and the heat of the warming house and the blades hitting the wooden floor before getting to the rink.

Close your eyes and see what comes to life in your mind’s eye. A conversation which took place in days past between you and your mom or dad. It could be the one where they say, “You will thank us for this one day” in their voices, with their inflections at a time of “less than perfect” behavior? Or hearing their sorrow at the news of the death of one of their parents. Or just sitting with your dad at the kitchen table and talking about “things” as he plays solitaire, with each card being flipped (snapped) over off the deck and placed or discarded.

Photographs really speak loud. They tell stories about people, places and events captured in time. Bring out the old photos at a family gathering and listen to the sounds: the sighs, the smiles, the tears and cries, the questions and the “real” story behind the picture. Sounds you will never expect, and if not written down will be silenced forever.

What else will speak to you? A place, a building, an article of clothing, a song, a letter, a sibling? Your assignment for the week is to become aware of the sound of history in your life. However fleeting, you will recognize it when it surfaces, and how. History is everywhere, all the time, is global and also very personal. And it will be as loud as you will allow it to be! Just listen and enjoy!

The mission of the Isanti County Historical Society is to promote and preserve its history, and all the sounds that it makes. As we process salvaged documents we are hearing many sounds long forgotten as we look over the contents of each folder. This is Week 32 after the fire and our marathon journey in recovery and rebuilding continues. Fiscal support is still needed to replace funds lost due to lack of programs and events. If you want to support ICHS, donations are greatly appreciated and can be made by mail, at our website, or directly at Cambridge State Bank. For all other inquiries, visit www.ichs.ws, follow us on Facebook, call us at 763-689-4229, email at ichs@izoom.net or drop us a letter at 1700 E. Rum River Drive S., Suite K, Cambridge, MN 55008. We are open by appointment only at this time.

Kathleen J. McCully, Executive Director

Isanti County Historical Society

__Anyone have information on this family or photo? Time unknown, occasion unknown, maybe 1930’s or 40’s, but a part of the Carlson negative collection, but this family would have been unique enough to Isanti County that perhaps someone can help us identify the picture.

It has been two weeks since my last update, ushering in Week 28 since the fire. The work on all recovered archives and photo negatives continues and one negative in particular caught our attention. With the Martin Luther King holiday upon us, it seemed fitting to bring it forth.

 

Isanti County was first settled by the New Englanders, followed by the Swedes, Germans and a smattering of other Scandinavians/Europeans. Taking all of these nationalities into account, we have not been surprised that all Carlson negatives have been of white residents thus far. That is, until this wonderful photo of a family of color surfaced. Because we do not have access to this negative’s original number, there is no way for us to check the logs to see when it was taken. Perhaps the 1930’s or 40’s, and we can only make a guess by the clothing and hairstyles. We probably will never know their names, where they lived, if it was in our county, or if they just visited the photo studio for this sitting. However, this is the case with all the negatives and photos in our collections that are not properly identified. Photo identification and stories are so important to history, and this fire is making us very aware of this fact as we handle the archival remains.

 

We continue to process the salvaged negatives, and I am sure there will be many more surprises to come. Also, our goal is to have inventoried all 61 boxes of freeze-dried material by the end of January. We are half-way there. There are surprises here too. Many photos have been saved—however, not all in good condition. We are very thankful for digital photo restoration and the fact that water stains, creases, burns, and other imperfections can be repaired. This is due to the magic of technology, and the talent and skills of photo restoration professionals.

 

Our marathon journey in recovery and rebuilding continues. If you want to support ICHS, donations are greatly appreciated and can be made by mail, at our website, or directly at Cambridge State Bank. For all other inquiries, visit www.ichs.ws, follow us on Facebook, call us at 763-689-4229, email at ichs@izoom.net or drop us a letter at 1700 E. Rum River Drive S., Suite K, Cambridge, MN 55008. We are open by appointment only at this time.

 

Kathleen J. McCully, Executive Director

Isanti County Historical Society

by Kathy McCully
Several years back Carlson Studios donated a large collection of negatives to Isanti County Historical Society. We had one person exclusively creating a digital database of the photo logs for 15 months (part time). Our next step would be to scan all the negatives in reverse so we could match the photos with the database. This cannot be done now because so many of the negatives were fused and burnt. Of those that were saved, all the ID numbers were on the edge and have been burnt off. This is a huge loss for our history as I am sure there were many “hidden treasures” among these negatives. My goal was to create several books of the most memorable, or a line of greeting cards to support our operating budget. If you can identify these folks, please let us know.

Our marathon continues as we move forward to process all the recovered material. Two fundraisers are also in the works. The first, a pancake breakfast on October 22 at the Cambridge Chamber Business Exp. The second will be a musical performance by several musicians and performing groups—tentatively October 23. Your support is greatly appreciated, and we hope that we can personally thank everyone who attends for their kind words and actions of support since the fire.

Monetary donations can be made by mail, at our website, or directly at Cambridge State Bank. For all other inquiries, visit www.ichs.ws, follow us on Facebook, call us at 763-689-4229, email at ichs@izoom.net or drop us a letter at 33525 Flanders St. NE, Cambridge, MN 55008.