A 12-panel exhibit commemorating the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862 created by Gustavus students in 2012 is now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The museum will have the exhibit on display through December 29, 2015.
The exhibit, which is titled “Commemorating Controversy: the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862”, was born out of a January Term class of the same name co-taught by Professor of English Elizabeth Baer and then-Executive Director of the Nicollet County Historical Society Ben Leonard. The exhibit explores the war’s causes, voices, events, and long-lasting consequences. It has been well received by tens of thousands of visitors and has won several awards.
The exhibit debuted at the College’s 2012 Building Bridges Conference and has since been on display in Flandreau, South Dakota, at President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, D.C., Fort Snelling in the Twin Cities, Winona State University, Macalester College, Augsburg College, and at libraries and historical societies all across Minnesota. The exhibit was on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in New York from January through July of 2014.
The fifteen students who helped create the exhibit are Laurel Boman ’14, Alex Christensen ’13, Victoria Clark ’14, Renee Hoppe ’14, Lindsey Lugsch-Tehle ’13, Claudia Martinez ’13, Cameron Nelson ’13, Victoria Ott ’13, Danyelle Paulson ’14, Kelli Phillips ’13, Daniel Schmalz ’14, Molly Schroeder ’14, Alexandra Smith ’13, Sam Warburton ’14 and Claire Wiese ’14.
“The fifteen students in the 2012 January Term class who created the exhibit deserve enormous credit. In four weeks, they put together a dynamic, historically accurate, and compelling exhibit on a topic about which they knew very little when they entered the class,” Baer said. “Such a class project demonstrates two things: the vitality of the humanities for engaging audiences in crucial issues and the incredible opportunity that January Term, with its emphasis on experiential and experimental learning, represents. Now, because of their work, thousands of people have learned about the war which has so influenced Minnesota history.”
The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. is located on the National Mall near Fourth Street and Independence Avenue between the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum and the U.S. Capitol Building.
About the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862
In the late summer of 1862, a war raged across southern Minnesota between Dakota akicitas (warriors) and the U.S. military and immigrant settlers. In the end, hundreds were dead and thousands more would lose their homes forever. On December 26, 1862, 38 Dakota men were hung in Mankato, Minnesota, by order of President Abraham Lincoln. This remains the largest mass execution in United States history.
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