Stearns History museum

   One of the places that provided information to tell Thresa’s story, which is featured in the first podcast, was the Stearns History Museum in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  (Fortunately, they were open “by appointment” while other organizations were closed during Corvid.).

​Searching through their records provided much of the information that allowed us to piece together Thresa’s life in St. Cloud.  Church records recorded family life, newspaper archives told of family events, Sanborn maps provided a description of her house and the other buildings in the neighborhood, local maps provided a picture of the town (including trolley routes), city directories showed year by year who lived where…and with whom, business and industry files told the importance of specific businesses to Thresa’s everyday life, and family files provided information about her friends and those with whom she did business.  
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So, a big thank you to Jessica and Steve in the Research Department who helped us discover more about Thresa! And a gentle reminder not to overlook all the resources local organizations have to offer.