Brainerd Public Schools Archives is an office within Brainerd Public Schools , supporting the educational mission of BPS by collecting, preserving, protecting and educationally utilizing the artifacts and stories of students, graduates, staff, former staff, community and the institution itself.
BPSA provides curatorial services within Brainerd Public Schools, including recommendations with respect to BPS exhibition spaces and their contents, as well as maintenance and operation of several BPS exhibition spaces primarily for the use of BPSA.
BPSA connects its constituents, which include institutions and people of the future, as well as those of today and emphasizes the importance of history, its daily creation and critical thinking by:
- BPS history related presentations within BPS and the BPS community;
- Identifying archival materials for the BPS collection;
- Presentations of engaging, and educational archival content to BPS constituents;
- Exhibitions, displays and presentations using available media platforms
Brainerd Public Schools Archives is a steward of Brainerd Public Schools history as it is defined by the approximately 150 years of people of BPS, by the BPS community and by the BPS itself.
BPSA seeks donations of potential archival material, including, but not limited to, photographs, trophies, books, uniforms, posters, athletic equipment, programs, report cards, class rings and an unlimited range of items related to Brainerd Public Schools and its people since its inception in 1872.
No item is too small, seeming too insignificant, to be a potential artifact of BPS or of its people. What may seem like a “throw away” program from a play, a concert or a game will assuredly become a precious artifact of BPSA marveled over by people 100 years from now, not unlike the 1920s playbill, in the BPSA collection today of, “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” performed in the long gone Park Theatre, there being no high school theatre at the time.
Because BPS history happens every day, and graduates are found all around the world, BPSA also solicits materials for special collections, i.e., from BPS artists, writers, athletes, scholars, government servants, community leaders and others who are representative of BPS and the importance of education in the BPS community and in every other community BPS women and men have migrated to.
The office of BPS Archives is located in the former Washington High School, re-purposed as Washington Educational Services Building, 804 Oak Street, Brainerd, Minnesota 56401. Contact BPS Archives at 218-330-1780 or via email at
[email protected] to discuss donations to BPS Archives, to arrange for BPS Archives to speak about the importance of history and of BPS history to any group, to inquire about volunteering to assist BPSA and to inquire about specific BPSA artifacts.