In 2019, an amazing donation was made to the Murray County Historical Society by Margaret Lichty – ten banker boxes full of documents relating to the Dinehart and Holt families. Letters, photographs, reports, newspaper clippings, journals, and more! These documents were in Lichty’s possession because she is the daughter of Robert Holt, Jr., granddaughter of Florence and Robert Holt, Sr., and greatgranddaughter of Flora and Christopher Dinehart. After years of being held by the family, Lichty wanted the documents to come home to Murray County where they could be used for research. After assessing the size of the collection, the Murray County Historical Society (MCHS) applied for a grant to fund the proper sorting, inventory, and housing of these amazing documents.
The MCHS has been awarded a $6,432 grant by the Minnesota Historical Society. This project was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. These grants are made possible by the Legacy Amendment of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The Legacy Amendment supports efforts to preserve Minnesota land, water, and legacy, including Minnesota history and cultural heritage. The MCHS, who owns the collection, will independently hire Rose Moudry, part time Site Coordinator/Collections Manager of the Murray County Historical Museum, to inventory and rehouse all of the non-photo documents in the collection. This work is in addition to the work she regularly performs. There are approximately 2,400 documents in the collection. The goal of the project is to properly inventory all the documents to have a more complete understanding of the intellectual property of the Society and to rehouse the documents in archival quality folders for better preservation. After the project is completed, the MCHS will pursue further grant funding for processing the approximate 1,200 photographs in the collection. Stop in to see what Rose is working on! You’ll be interested in the depth of items in this collection.
For more information about this project and others, feel free to contact the museum at 507-836-6533 or museum@co.murray.mn.us Follow us on Facebook, too!
