Portraits & Voices: Shoemaking Skills of Generations

Sept. 25, 2010 -

The shoe industry touched many lives in the Twin Cities and prospered  because of the wide range of skills in this community of  hard-working people. This exhibit focuses on the expertise and craftsmanship of the shoe industry through oral histories, documentary photographs, videos, and images from archival collections and from shoeworkers and their families. 

Learn the process of how a shoe is made through photographs and videos from factories then and now. View a timeline that depicts the impact and growth of the industry throughout the Twin Cities. Discover the personal accounts of those who worked in the industry through the audio oral history kiosk. Share the experience through interactive exhibits for the whole family. View a specially-commissioned painting by artist Ray A. Michaud titled “The Hand Sewer.”

Shoeworkers’ photographs and oral histories are available online at our new Interactive Oral History site.  Add your own story to our growing collection.