Since our last newsletter, the museum staff and volunteers have:
Attended the Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums conference in Alexandria. Information acquired at the conference helped us to choose a new collection cataloging software program called Collective Access. The move to the new software will allow the veterinary museum’s collection to be viewed on a single website along with other Minnesota museums, making it easy for people to locate examples of historic items at numerous museums with a single search. Hired a veterinary student to scan pictures for the Sorensen book on the history of the College of Veterinary Medicine. Placed a version of Sorensen’s book on our website as a way of gathering input for improvement. Awarded a stipend to a veterinary student to write a paper on Dr. Ben Pomeroy. The project will be used to improve the interpretation of the Pomeroy Gallery in the Pomeroy Center. Completed oral interviews with Drs. Bob Hardy, Dick Olson, Larry Anderson, Mike McMenomy, and Ralph Farnsworth. Thanks to our interviewers Drs. Ben Porter, Julie Larson, and Teresa Hershey. Acquired publications and other material from the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Advancement Office. This material, donated in the spring, included pristine copies of the wide variety of items issued by this office, including clinic brochures, magazines, and video tapes. It’s a wonderful snapshot of the publicity for the college, covering several years. Acquired the school notes of veterinarian Gerald Drehmel, class of 1955.
The museum has enjoyed free space and other services provided by the College of Veterinary Medicine since 1985. We are grateful to the college for providing space since that time. The college is now asking us to make a critical choice: become a center incorporated within the college, or remain a separate non-profit.
WE INVITE the veterinary community to nominate leaders in the profession to be interviewed in our oral history work. We also welcome volunteers interested in interviewing. See our website for the many interviews completed to date.
