CLA: IHRC Updates

The Michael G. Karni Scholarship provides up to $850 to support IHRC research about Finnish-American experience. The deadline for the 2010 funding cycle is November 1, 2009.

The IHRC offers extensive holdings related to Finnish-American identity, from publishing and music to family history and literary contributions. The Karni Scholarship provides up to $850 to a scholar visiting the IHRC for a minimum of 10 days (two weeks) and using collections on site. The award may be used for research between January 1 and December 31, 2010.

Applicants are encouraged to consult the IHRC's online holdings information at www.ihrc.umn.edu to learn about the Center's many research collections and to contact IHRC collections staff to verify the appropriateness of materials to a proposed topic.

Two recommendations, a brief estimate of expenses, and a concise statement of the applicant's publication plan or artistic project are required. Application materials will be evaluated on how closely they match selection criteria and qualifications listed at <http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/educators/pdf/Karnischolarship.pdf>.

For inquiries about the application process, please contact IHRC Program Director Haven Hawley at ehh@umn.edu.

The IHRC also offers grants in aid to visiting researchers and fellowships to University of Minnesota graduate students to support research in the Center's collections, with deadlines throughout the year. For more information about IHRC grants, fellowships and other funding opportunities, including the Michael G. Karni Scholarship, please see "Grants and Fellowships" under the For Educator and Students page on the IHRC website.

Posted by Elizabeth Hawley at 3:10 PM | Permalink

Recent University of Minnesota graduates Addie Mrosla and Ann Brigl contributed during summer 2009 to the IHRC as a collections intern and public services student assistant, respectively.

Addie Mrosla volunteered as a summer intern while preparing for coursework this fall in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee master of library science program. Ann Brigl assisted researchers and visitors to the IHRC as public services assistant during the summer semester. She was admitted to the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and entered the doctoral program in fall 2009.

Addie Mrosla's internship was supervised by Halyna Myroniuk and Daniel Necas, and she assisted with processing print and archival materials from May 26 to September 3. Addie helped to complete the final portion of the IHRC's multi-year "Current Newspaper Cataloging Project" in May 2009. She also accessioned and performed data entry of Ukrainian newspapers and periodicals on microfilm, doing "an exceptional job" at the detailed recordkeeping of materials in Ukrainian and English, according to Halyna Myroniuk.

She completed a series of archival studies and special collections theoretical readings as part of her internship, coordinated by Haven Hawley. Daniel Necas trained Addie in archival procedures, allowing her to process the John Krawiec Papers in the Polish American Collection.

Ann Brigl staffed the front desk during the summer semester, registering patrons and assisting with collections searches through the IHRC's online finding aids and online resources. She researched a variety of immigrant groups in COLLAGE, the IHRC's online digital images database.

Ann prepared materials for and assisted Haven Hawley with a presentation on Minnesota immigration history to 100 fourth-grade students in Edina during the summer. She spoke to the students about her Norwegian heritage and prepared a curricular component for teaching about ethnic identity, which will soon be posted as a K-12 Educator Resource on the IHRC website.

Congratulations to both Addie and Ann, and best wishes on your graduate school work!

Posted by Elizabeth Hawley at 3:03 PM | Permalink

Sixteen scholars have been awarded 2009-2010 grants in aid to support travel to and research in the historical collections of the Immigration History Research Center. Award recipients include doctoral candidates, independent scholars, creative artists, and heritage preservation personnel, with topics ranging from gender violence and refugee policies to Greek identity in the American Midwest.

Each researcher will be in residence for a minimum of five days and give a research-in-progress talk (see IHRC calendar for planned visits and dates).

Awards ranged from $250 to $500, with support provided by the IHRC's ethnic studies funds, director's research funding, and other Center funding. Visiting scholars will travel to the IHRC during 2009-2010.

Researchers proposed work to be conducted in the Center's array of archival and print collections. Applications were judged on the significance of the research topic; ability of the IHRC archival and print collections to support the research; and the scholar's ability to make use of the collections. Approximately half of the IHRC's holdings are in languages other than English.

The Center's collections are an exceptional record of migration experiences from 1880 to the present for a wide range of American immigrant groups.

The next grant-in-aid program deadline will be announced in spring 2010 on the IHRC website (www.ihrc.umn.edu).

Scholars receiving awards for the 2009-2010 year are:

Emelise Aleandri
Artistic Director, Frizzi & Lazzi The Olde Time Italian-American Music & Theatre Company
Trafalgar House, New York
"Italian American Immigrant Theatre of New York City in the 20th Century"

Karl Altau
Director, Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc., Rockville, MD
"Joint Baltic American National Committee"

Michele De Gregorio
Freelance Journalist, Rassegna Sindacale, Rome, Italy
"From the Shipyards of Trieste to the Streets of New York:The Triestini Dockers and the Italian Roots of Antifascist Movement in the United States"

Jüri Estam
Independent Scholar, Tallinn, Estonia
"History of the Estonian World Council and the Estonian American National Council"

Stacy Fahrenthold
Northeastern University
"Defining Ourselves, Teaching the Youth: The Arab-American Federation Movement and Diaspora Nationality, 1935-1950"

Frank Jankac
University of Manitoba
"Eager Immigrants, Reluctant Host: The Croatian Immigration Experience in Canada 1896-1960"

Aleksandra Loewenau
Centre for Health, Medicine and Society
School of Arts and Humanities, Oxford Brookes University
"Polish Catholic Priests in Dachau Concentration Camp"

David Palter
University of California-Santa Cruz
"A Shared Project: Race and Education in Early-Twentieth-Century San Francisco"

Ellen Pozzi
Rutgers University
"Immigrant Libraries"

William Samonides
Independent Scholar
"Greek Immigrants in the Urban Northeast and Midwest"

Joseph Sciorra
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College, CUNY
"Alessando Sisca and Internationally Popular Neapolitan Music Composed in the United States"

Hauke Siemen
University of Hamburg
"The Baltic Émigrés' Political Activities During the Cold War"

Kristel Tammik
National Archives of Estonia
"Estonian American Archives, Digital Archiving, and International Archival Information Systems"

Ann J. Toumi
University of Joensuu, Finland
Artistic Project: Historical novel about a Finnish American woman

Kathryn L. Wegner
University of Illinois-Chicago
"Constructing Citizenship: Education, Immigrants, and Americanization in Chicago, 1910-1940"

Vanessa Weinert
Columbia University/London School of Economics
"Asylum, Social Groups, and Violence: Women Navigating the Courts and Creating Identities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and United Kingdom, 1970-1998"

Posted by Elizabeth Hawley at 4:29 PM | Permalink

During the spring semester of 2009, the IHRC conducted a processing project that resulted in a new finding aid for the Hitti collection. Student assistant Mary George worked with Daniel Necas to complete the project. The finding aid as well as a new web feature showcasing selected items from the collection are now available on-line. More ...

Posted by Daniel Necas at 1:04 PM | Permalink

The 2 volume set Daily Life in Immigrant America 1820-1870 (by James M. Bergquist) and Daily Life in Immigrant America 1870-1920 (by June Granatir Alexander) is being released in soft cover. Readers will find the approach similar to David Kyvig's Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940.

Bergquist recreates "the world of the immigrants in order to understand their daily lives as they lived them." Alexander writes in the introduction: "This close examination of the multifaceted aspects of daily life reveals the strategies immigrants developed in order to survive and achieve the goals that brought them to America." Through compelling personal accounts, we learn how the first and second great wave of immigrants made their way in American life.

Daily Life in Immigrant America 1820-1870 info and order
Daily Life in Immigrant America 1870-1920 info and order

Posted by Cynthia Herring at 11:43 AM | Permalink