Organization Receives Cultural Heritage Grant
In late February, the Oberholtzer Foundation learned that it will receive a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant through the Minnesota Historical Society to update the Oberholtzer photo collection. Specifically, we will be creating a database and expanding upon an inventory of the photo images that was first established by Ray Anderson of International Falls. We have hired, on contract, an Archivist ~ Historian who will help design a collection inventory with standardized fields, help volunteers perform that inventory this summer, and begin the process of improving both organization of and access to the collection of images. Oberholtzer took black and white images and later transferred his skills to colored slide photography. Ober’s work was both documentary and artistic in nature. The image of the swimming moose (shown here) was taken by Ober in 1910.
For this new effort, we have continued and expanded upon our relationship with Ms. Paula DeMars, “Archivist, Historian, Researcher” who manages a small business for herself to do “custom creation, design, and maintenance of document and archive management systems.” You have read Paula’s words in the last two Mallard Island Newsletters, and she is also writing about history of Indigenous Peoples in the far north. We are eager to continue this professional relationship and to get a better understanding of this part of the archives, held by the Foundation. Ernest Carl Oberholtzer lived a long, interesting and far-reaching life, and he documented and enhanced a great deal of it through his love of photography.
Tim Heinle 1939-2017
Tim lived life with a go-getter attitude, and with the strength and will to get jobs done. He loved hard work. He spent decades in a leadership capacity at Camp Koochiching on Rainy Lake, and he left them a far stronger organization. The Oberholtzer Foundation welcomed Tim to its board in 2004, and we can certainly say that he also left us in a stronger and more sophisticated financial position. Plus, he made his mark in so many areas including building and wall maintenance, as a member of the “Inaakonigewin” (Anishinaabe) committee and as chair of the Finance and Fundraising Committee. It’s also true that the way that Tim “was” leaves as much of a mark as all the things he accomplished. Here was a man who was always smiling, constantly welcoming, continually cheering us on. “Need any help?” he would always ask. He accepted change, and he gently taught people about conflict resolution. “Tim was as good as they come, and I am forever glad that I got to work all those years with him,” said Executive Director, Beth Waterhouse. “He often ended his letters with the phrase, ‘seek the joy of being alive,’ and I believe he lived that philosophy to the fullest.”
