Northfield Community Video Project

"We see the videos as giving us an opportunity to step back and better appreciate the strengths of this community. It will help us recommit to making the personal investments in our people and our institutions so Northfield remains a quality place to live and work."

Will Healy, host of Over And Back

The Northfield Community Video Project (NCVP) was created in 1998 by Paul Krause and Dennis Wilcox, two professional filmmakers and Northfield area residents. Between 1999 and 2001 they produced and distributed eleven documentaries about various aspects of Northfield life. These videos have been used by the Northfield Library, St. Olaf College, Carleton College, the City of Northfield, and many individuals, to engage and interest a wide variety of people, groups, and businesses in what "quality of life" means to the average Northfielder. The NCVP was recently featured in the Minneapolis StarTribune and is recognized as one of the finest examples of community video production in the nation.

Generous sponsorship from the community, including both colleges, and the Minnesota Humanities Commission, made this series possible.

Four of these documentaries were recently updated for a series of showings and discussions for Northfield's Sesquicentennial Celebration which took place in November, 2005. These showings were sponsored by the Community Services Division of the Northfield Public Schools.

Below are titles and brief descriptions of the eleven documentaries. The recently updated programs are noted.

Individuals and groups interested in using these programs to supplement discussions about community issues in Northfield should contact the producers for more information (see end of page for contact information):

1. Where in the World is Northfield, Minnesota? - Our location in the world is defined in large part by two "rivers," the Cannon and the subterranean Jordan aquifer that provides our drinking water.

2. The Borderlands - Where does Northfield stop and start? How people who live in the surrounding area relate to Northfield? Why do people in outlying areas proudly call themselves Northfielders?

3. On the Square - The heart of Northfield lies in this tiny park. We see it used by Northfielders to commemorate, celebrate and simply enjoy each other's company by the river.

4. Making Music Together - How Cora Scholz and Will Healy create a deeper sense of community by bringing us together with the music they make and share with others.

5. Celebrating the Defeat of Jesse James - A day in the life of the annual celebration of the defeat of the James-Younger gang in 1876.

6. (Updated, 2005) Minding Your Own Business - The past, present and possible future of retail and manufacturing business in Northfield. Update shows many of the changes that have occurred in Northfield in the last five years. It also discusses business life on the south side of town.

7. (Updated, 2005) Fifty Years or More on Division Street - The Bierman, Klinkhammer and Jacobsen families tell their family business stories. Update discusses the closing of Jacobsen's and what it has meant to the community.

8. The Garden of Quiet Listening - One of the world's finest Japanese gardens is located on the campus of Carleton College.

9. The Legacy of John and Ann North - John and Ann North created Central Park when they platted Northfield in 1855. This video documents the history of the park and the controversy surrounding its use.

10. (Updated, 2005) Cannon River - Northfield began because of the economic advantages the Cannon River provided. In its early years Northfield was part of a "Silicon Valley" of its times as the milling industry had its heyday along the Cannon River and its tributaries. It is an exciting history. Today, because of its location on the river Northfield recognizes it is now part of bigger community: the watershed. Update discusses the current state of the Cannon River watershed and what changes may be taking place along the waterfront and waterway in Northfield in the very near future.

11. (Updated, 2005) The Manger Inn - How a creative group of Northfielders came together to create a new model of community housing. Update discusses the success of the project four years later.