The Northfield Historical Society opened a new exhibit Thursday titled "Intersecting Communities" to commemorate 125 years of cooperation between Northfield and its colleges.

The exhibit focuses on the history that St. Olaf shares with Northfield and Carleton College as well as with the larger world. Started as a student project of recent St. Olaf graduate Anneliese Detwiler, now executive director of the Northfield Historical Society, the project was expanded by St. Olaf College archivist and history department professor Gary DeKrey and his assistant archivist, Jeff Sauve.

The exhibit includes black-and-white photographs of student life dating from the founding of the college and features information about all ten of St. Olaf's presidents. Artifacts from the college's past are also part of the display, including spectacles that belonged to the Rev. B.J. Muus, founder of St. Olaf College, an official Mark U. Edwards memorial Frisbee and a Mandarin gown from China.

DeKrey explained that the gown represents an important part of St. Olaf's history during the late 19th and early 20th century, when "St. Olaf probably sent more missionaries to ChinaŠthan any other religious college." This relationship with China was one of the original foundations of St. Olaf's emphasis on the "Global Perspective," said DeKrey, and it continues today through the college's exchange program with East China Normal University in Shanghai.

This is just one example of the wider connections between St. Olaf and other communities that DeKrey reveals in his exhibit. The exhibit also explores what DeKrey calls "St. Olaf's complicated history with the Lutheran Church" as well as the college's impact on the town. DeKrey also "very carefully" included information about the dispute between the college and the town over the proposed hospital access road through the St. Olaf nature lands.

The St. Olaf Band played at the exhibit opening for the large crowd gathered in Bridge Square, which is located next to the Historical Society on Division Street in downtown Northfield. Afterwards, St. Olaf President Christopher Thomforde, Northfield Mayor Keith Covey and Carleton College Dean of Budgeting and Planning Stephen Kelly performed the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Thomforde spoke briefly about the history of cooperation between the town and the colleges and said that Northfield has "a wonderful marriage here of town and gown, where a good idea has found the right place."

Kelly had the crowd rolling with laughter with his remarks about stereotypes of Oles and Carls. "The colleges do cooperate," said Kelly, "But we compete, too, and this has led to certain kind of stereotype. For example, Carls think of Oles as tall, Nordic, blond Midwesterners clutching copies of the Bible. On the other hand, Oles think think of Carls as short, hairy New Jerseyans clutching copies of Das Kapital." Amid the laughter of the crowd Kelly looked up at Thomforde and remarked, "I hope that Chris and I simply aren't reinforcing those stereotypes."

The exhibit will run for five weeks. It is free of charge and open to the public.