Primary Source Sets
The Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop critical thinking skills by exploring a variety of topics related to Minnesota’s history and culture. Using both primary and secondary sources, these sets bring together resources in new ways to help students better understand historic events in their context.
Drawing materials from libraries, archives, and museums across Minnesota, these sets use letters, photographs, advertisements, oral histories, postcards, newsletters, speeches, and more. Each set includes a topic overview, ten to twenty primary sources from the MDL collection, links to related resources, and a section called “Think Like a Historian” which offers discussion questions and classroom activities. We invite educators and researchers to use these primary source sets in their teaching and learning.
Construction of the Apron at St. Anthony Falls, Mississippi River
Learn about the need for and development of the St. Anthony Falls Apron in Minneapolis, MN.
Flour Milling in Minnesota
Learn about the development and significance of milling in Minnesota
Lumber Industry in Minnesota
Learn how the lumber industry used natural resources, labor, technology, and transportation to harvest Minnesota's pine forests.
Made in Minnesota: Patent Medicine on the Prairie
This primary source set provides a brief overview of patent medicine with some Minnesota-related resources.
New
Main Streets
Learn about Minnesota's main streets, their role in a community, and how they have changed over time.
Mechanization of Farming in Minnesota
Learn about the mechanization of farming in Minnesota and its impact on the state.
Mining on the Iron Range
Learn about Minnesota's Iron Range, the immigrants who settled there and how iron mining has helped shape Minnesota.
Minnesota's Three Major Railroads
Learn how three of Minnesota's major railroads formed and how they contributed to the development of Minnesota.
Morgan Park: U. S. Steel's Company Town in Duluth, Minnesota
Learn about Morgan Park, a neighborhood in Duluth, constructed by U.S. Steel as a planned community and company town.
St. Anthony Falls
St. Anthony Falls, the only true waterfall on the Mississippi River, is responsible for powering mills and birthing a city.
Twin Cities Streetcars - The Rise and Fall
Learn about the rise and fall of streetcars in the Twin Cities - the first public transit system in the area.
Whaleback Boats on the Great Lakes
This set outlines the development, construction, and use of whaleback boats on the Great Lakes.