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Best Places To Celebrate Women's History Month 2014 In Minnesota

March 3, 2014 / 7:00 AM CST / CBS Minnesota

Women's contributions to the progress of the human experience are recognized annually in the month of March. Here are the five best places in Minnesota to celebrate Women's History Month this year. See last year's event list in a previously published article Best Ways To Celebrate Women¹s History Month 2013 in Minnesota.

Votes for Women Tour
Minnesota State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
(651) 296-2881
www.sites.mnhs.org

Date: March 8, 2014 at 11 a.m.

Minnesota women provided leadership with great effort resulting in many successes for the suffrage movement. This exclusive tour features many photographs and visual aids depicting the epic struggle to win the right to vote. Hear numerous stories of who these Minnesota women were and about their hard work and long hours in the State Capitol to change legislators' and other elected officials' minds in support of women. Reservations are required, register online.

History Lounge: Justice Rosalie Wahl
Minnesota History Center
345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 259-3000
www.minnesotahistorycenter.org

Date: March 11, 2014 at 7 p.m.

Lori Sturdevant, author of "Her Honor: Rosalie Wahl and the Minnesota Women's Movement," explores Wahl's life and her place in Minnesota's women's movement. Wahl advanced the rights of women and others and influenced fellow judges, elevating their awareness of displaced homemakers, women abused by their partners and disadvantaged persons. Wahl herself experienced childhood tragedy and an abusive marriage, yet she rose above these personal setbacks to become a defense attorney and the first woman on the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1977 to 1994.

Ramsey After Dark: Victorian Secrets
Alexander Ramsey House
265 S. Exchange St.
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 296-8760
www.sites.mnhs.org

Dates: March 14, 2014 at p.m.

Secrets were never spoken in public. Sexuality, birth control, mental illness and addiction—components of Victorian life—were especially taboo. Discover a few "secrets" in a 90-minute adult-themed program about the Victorian era. The private lives of the Ramsey family, their neighbors and friends come to life from a peek into the Ramsey family letters and journals. Learn how the family faced many of the same issues of any modern family and how they sought healing and restoration as any modern family would. Reservations are required, register online.

Topics on Family History: Women in the Family: Genealogical Challenge and Opportunity
Gale Family Library
345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102
(651) 259-3300
www.sites.mnhs.org/attend-library-class

Dates: March 15, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Filling out women's ancestries on the family tree often leads to a dead end. Identifying grandmothers' parents, siblings and cousins may seem insurmountable but it is nothing new to those who are experts. Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., CG, with more than 30 years of professional research experience, will discuss traditional genealogical approaches but plans to cover new techniques such as DNA research. Participants should expect to gain ideas, insights and hands-on problem solving through lecture and small group genealogical workshop sessions to better tell the stories that were often not told.   Eichholz edited a leading genealogy guidebook, "Red Book: American State, County and Town Sources." The majority of her research has focused on New England and colonial America. Reservations are required, call or register online.

Women of Mill City Family Day
Mill City Museum
704 S. 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 341-7555
www.millcitymuseum.org

Dates: March 22, 2014 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

This Women's History Month event is loaded with activities for family members of every age. Experience the exhilaration of extemporaneous performances throughout the day as four Mill City Museum History Players portray local female 19th and 20th century historical figures. Discover your occupational fate had you lived in the 18th and 19th century from a brief questionnaire about "women's work." Then assess your manual dexterity against 19th century work standards with the "Piecework Challenge" test.

Robin Johnson was born in Annandale, Minn. and graduated from Richfield High School and then the University of Minnesota where he studied Political Science, Business and Industrial Relations. A writer for Examiner.com, he also consults with a variety of organizations and individuals helping them develop and grow. His work can be found at Examiner.com.

Minnesota State Capitol