The Manuscript Heritage of Muslim Communities in Minnesota and Beyond

About

Exploring
History and Culture in Central Minnesota – Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

Learn
About Minnesota Cultures Through Their Ancient Manuscript Traditions With Online Lecture Series Hosted By Four
Area History Museums

Travel
the world this February with four central Minnesota history museums and the
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library of St. John’s University in Collegeville,
Minnesota. “Exploring History and Culture in Central Minnesota – Hill Museum
& Manuscript Library (HMML)” is an event series partnership project of the
Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Morrison County historical societies sharing
about cultures that have been and are part of central Minnesota and its
history.

The
2022 February event series takes place online via Zoom on Saturdays in February
(February 5, 12, 19, 26) and features programming from HMML, a global
organization whose mission is to preserve and share the world’s handwritten
past to inspire a deeper understanding of our present and future. To learn
more, go to www.hmml.org. The series of four
programs will share about cultures in our state through their ancient
manuscript traditions.

Learn
about a unique religious order founded by a small gathering of laity and
knights in the twelfth century during the first event of the series on February
5th. Presented by Dr. Daniel K. Gullo, “The Order of Saint John of
Jerusalem: Culture and Community,” will look at the order’s organization,
culture, and religious life and how members continue to care for the poor and
sick today.

Delve
into central Minnesota’s role in the origins of the Hill Museum &
Manuscript Library (HMML) with “The Boy from Buckman Plants a Seed,” presented
by Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman. Held on February 12th, the second
event in the series will showcase the work of Father Oliver Kapsner, OSB (aka
the boy from Buckman). Born Leonard Kapsner in Buckman, Minnesota, Father
Oliver’s leadership with the early work of the monks at Saint John’s Abbey laid
the foundations for HMML’s work today.

“The
Manuscript Heritage of Muslim Communities in Minnesota and Beyond,” the third
event in the series, takes place on February 19th and will be
presented by Dr. Josh Mugler. The program will provide an introduction to an
important and growing part of the Minnesota community using the visual and
textual elements of Islamic manuscript traditions from around the world.

The
final event in the series, “Ash pe pekran?
An Encounter with Coptic Cultural Heritage,” presented by Dr. David Calabro,
takes place February 26th. The program will give a brief
introduction to the ancient and fascinating Coptic Egyptian culture, which has
a small but growing community in Minnesota.

In
conjunction with the programs, two traveling exhibits featuring original
manuscripts from the HMML collection will be at each of the four history
museums on a revolving basis for two weeks during the month of February. For
more information about the events and the exhibits contact the Morrison County
Historical Society (320/632-4007), the Sherburne History Center (763/261-4433),
the Stearns History Museum (320/253-8424) or the Benton County Historical
Society (320/253-9614).

The
event series is free and open to the public. Registration is required. To
register for one or more of the programs, contact the Morrison County Historical
Society - [email protected] or call 320/632-4007.

This activity is made
possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central MN Arts
Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural
heritage fund.