First Impressions of the Che Exhibition at Karpleles Manuscript Library Museum

Tuesday morning I visited the new Che Guevara exhibition now on display at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum. My very first thought was how powerful it feels to be inches away from history.

The Che exhibition is quite informative regarding events that occurred in my lifetime to which I--like many Americans--was fairly oblivious as regards what was really going on. Like many people and places, we have too readily assigned labels to things without doing any deeper research, without investigating beyond the surface explanations we've been spoon fed by our media and our government.

Who was Che Guevara? Wikipedia begins with this explanation.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara (June 14, 1928– October 9, 1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion (Italics mine) and global insignia in popular culture.

As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty, hunger and disease he witnessed. His burgeoning desire to help overturn what he saw as the capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Árbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow at the behest of the United Fruit Company solidified Guevara's political ideology. (See Related Links at the bottom of this page.)

The Karpeles Che exhibition makes the revolution in Cuba quite tangible. You'll see Che's birth certificate, fingerprints, and a variety of unexpected original documents. You'll even see Fidel Castro's high school yearbook. (Last month we saw Bob Dylan's high school yearbook here.)

As you enter the museum you will want to begin on the left, which has a picture of Fidel Castro and some information about him.

The next case features information about Fulgencio Batista, the despotic dictator whom the U.S. supported before he was overthrown in 1959. While Americans were all home enjoying Father Knows Best and the first golden age of television, Batista was enabling U.S. corporations to take over 70% of the arable land and milk the country of its natural resources for profit. Power was maintained by force and an estimated 1000 to 20,000 were killed.

In response, a peoples' resistance arose and after a final battle, led by Che Guevara, Bautista fled the island and Castro took over.

Che immediately became a CIA target as he sought to help other countries free themselves from being under the thumb of U.S. corporate interests.

On display next is a notebook belonging to CIA agent Ross Crozier and his handwritten description of Che Guevara, which begins: "Physical:-- 5' 11" -- 170 lbs. Med. well proportioned build. Well shaped head, oval face, clear white complexion under sun tan. Med. high forehead, slightly furrowed when concentrating. Large, expressive brown eyes."

The next section appears to be a sidetrack here, with numerous newspapers from around the country announcing the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I was perplexed by these until one of the displays had this front page story: "Fidel Castro Sympathizer Held In Dallas."

Next we see a display titled The Execution of Che Guevara which features details of his murder in Bolivia and a staged photo of Bolivian soldiers pointing rifles at the guerrilla leader.

This was followed by a memorandum from CIA Director Dick Helms to President Johnson regarding the death of "Che" Guevara. "SENSITIVE. Eyes Only" and a 2017 Newsweek article about how the CIA helped Bolivia "Kill the Marxist Revolutionary" using the newly released documents, partially redacted.

Here is Che's military registration, filled out by Che himself.

Numerous other original official documents are presented as well.

It's an impressive collection of original documents and an opportunity to take a mentally stimulating look at a portion of history that occurred in many of our lifetimes.

In closing, here are a handful of quotes from the guerrilla leader. The last of these is from a speech given at the United Nations. It implies--or declares--that the era of Colonialism has ended, and is an appeal to allow nations to have self-determination. The problem was, the United States corporations (and their shareholders) were benefiting from this current arrangement, where our puppet government leaders allowed our country to rape and pillage their resources and economies.

Quotes
"I knew that the moment the great governing spirit strikes the blow to divide all humanity into just two opposing factions, I would be on the side of the common people."
--Becoming Che

"If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine."
--The Quotable Rebel

"Words that do not match deeds are unimportant."
--Seeds of Revolution: A Collection of Axioms, Passages and Proverbs 

"The final hour of colonialism has struck, and millions of inhabitants of Africa, Asia and Latin America rise to meet a new life and demand their unrestricted right to self-determination."
--Address to the United Nations

If you have never been to the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, this is an invitation to take advantage of another opportunity to see unusual, rare and historical documents. 902 East 1st Street, Duluth. Admission is free.

Related Links
CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents
https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB4/

A Country for a Company – The 1954 US Backed Guatemalan Coup To Support United Fruit Company
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/country-company-1954-guatemalan-coup-support-united-fruit.html

An Apology for a Guatemalan Coup, 57 Years Later
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/americas/an-apology-for-a-guatemalan-coup-57-years-later.html

Duluth Dylan Fest Birthday Celebration: A May 24 Photo Gallery

Greg Tiburzi

The celebration began at the house, 519 No. 3rd Avenue East, where Abe and Beatty Zimmerman once rented the upper story of a duplex on Duluth's Central Hillside. This is where their firstborn son Robert lived for the first six years of his life and younger brother David the first year of his. Greg Tiburzi played Dylan tunes as the circle of friends expanded and circled the front of the house. Zane Bale of the Dylan Fest committee welcomed everyone and introduced her husband Don Dass who was one of a trio of advocates who successfully gained the city's support to name a road from the Depot to the Armory, where Bob Zimmerman saw Buddy Holly. Don shared a few words and invited Mayor Emily Larson to share a few words. Those words came from the heart and warmed everyone as she welcomed all who were visiting from around the world.

Mayor Larson points to the great lake below.

After singing Happy Birthday to Bob we cut the cake.

Early in the evening... "All aboard!"

Later we boarded the Blood on the Tracks Express and celebrated an evening of music and good times with friends old and new. Some kind of delay held us from an immediate return from Two Harbors, which only resulted in everyone hearing more music and a deepening of friendships. Here are photos from yesterday. We wish you were here.

Tom O'Keefe and Friends

Music here, music there, listen to music everywhere.

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The Two Harbors train depot welcomed us and the Rolling Blunder Revue entertained.

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Tonight we gather at the Sacred Heart on (Positively) Fourth Street at Second Avenue West for the annual singer/songwriter contest. Saturday morning there will be an informal Tour of Bob Dylan's Duluth featuring a number of points of interest. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Armory Annex parking lot on London Road across the street from Valentini's.

Then join us for our second John Bushey Memorial Lecture with Richard F. Thomas, author of Why Dylan Matters from 1–2 p.m. at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum.

Saturday night we'll reconvene at Carmody's Pub on Superior Street 
with Cowboy Angel Blue.

Finally, the Farewell Brunch will be at Zeitgeist Cafe at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Thank you to everyone who shared events with us this week.

Be sure to support our sponsors.

Treasures of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

For several years I have been aware of the existence here in Duluth of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, but had no idea what it was. The museum is housed in a former Christian Science church building within a block of the Kitchi Gammi Club and across from St Luke's Hospital. For reasons unclear to me I assumed that it was $7 or $12 to get in, so I was lacking in sufficient time or curiosity to actually investigate.

When I learned last week that a private collection of Dylan memorabilia was going to be displayed here in May, in conjunction with Duluth Dylan Fest, it seemed worthwhile to check it out.

First surprise: it's Free. Second surprise: it's awesome.

Yesterday I discovered that the Karpeles Manuscript Library here in Duluth is one of a dozen such Karpeles Manuscript Libraries around the country, in cities from New York to Charleston to Texas and Santa Barbera, and all manner of places in between. It is purportedly the world’s largest private collection of original manuscripts and documents.

According to Wikipedia the library was founded in 1983 by California real estate magnates David and Marsha Karpeles, with the goal of stimulating interest in learning, especially in children. How did we end up with a Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Duluth? As it turns out, Dr. Karpeles is a graduate of Denfeld High, one of the high schools here in our city, and a graduate of UMD. Upon coming home for a class reunion he was asked why he didn't have a Karpeles Manuscript Library here in Duluth, whereupon he purchased the retired church structure and made it home to an ongoing series of exhibits.

Some people collect cars (Jay Leno), others collect art or sports memorabilia or Hollywood movie posters. David and Marsha Karpeles collected historical documents. In addition to their dozen or so manuscript libraries, the Karpeles have as many as 200 mini-exhibits in schools and office buildings around the U.S.  In this 2004 article and interview in the L.A. Times the Karpeles share how they got into collecting:

In 1977, we took two of our kids to the Huntington Library in San Marino. The kids had no interest whatever. We had two cases left to see when they started asking if we were ready to go. But then my daughter Leslie said, 'Daddy, Daddy, here's a letter written by Thomas Jefferson.' My son Mark found one by George Washington and said excitedly, 'Look at the cross-outs. He made mistakes just like me!' They knew they were looking at originals famous people had touched, a completely different thing from just reading the documents. All of the sudden, everything changed for them.

At the library I was told that if I wanted to buy rare documents, I had to go to Sotheby's or Christie's auction houses.... So I sent away for catalogs. Most of the things for sale were unimportant, but then I turned a page and almost fell off my chair. It showed [one version of] the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, at an estimated sale price of $40,000. I got it for exactly that much, though now it's worth $2 [million] to $3 million.

The current exhibit in Duluth features manuscripts and documents from Robert Fulton, inventor, engineer, and artist who brought steamboating from the experimental stage to commercial success. There are original diagrams for the development of the torpedo, as well as documents pertaining to the creation and acquisition of the early ironclads that fount in the Civil War (many years after his death.) Fulton's creations helped make the young United States competitive in the naval battles during the War of 1812.

In the late 1700s Fulton proposed (to France) a submarine concept that he names the Nautilus, but they rejected the notion, for skuking around underwater and sinking enemy ships like that was not "an honorable way to fight."

It was in Paris that Fulton began to execute his first steamboat ideas, with a large paddlewheel on the side of the boat for moving the vessel. Returning to the U.S. his steamboat concept found suitable funding in New York and by 1807 he had a 150 foot steamship. Fulton boat required more efficient waterways and he went on to lobby for the Erie Canal. Documents and drawings pertinent to these developments are on display in Duluth.

If you find Fulton and steamships to be a tad obscure for super-interest, other displays and amazing finds have been through this way and more will assuredly return in the future. One such document that I saw yesterday is The Final Declaration of Allegiance Treaty signed by every Indian tribe in the United States and by the President of the United States. Not all of the chiefs who signed wrote their names, but all left their thumbprints.

The manuscripts are displayed in special cases which have little devices to monitor moisture levels within the case. Moisture is what damages old documents.

Near the entrance of the sanctuary there are a number of items of special interest to people who find ancient Egyptian history exciting. There are small statues of Egyptian gods as well as etched sandstone from the era when Moses lived in Pharaoh's palace on the Nile. Pretty heady stuff.

Other themes that have been displayed here over the years include Manifest Destiny (Treaties and docments pertaining to the expansion of our nation's boundaries), The Dreyfus Affair, Cortez + Pizarroand theConquest of the New World, Ferdinand and Isabella's Letter to the Pope announcing Their Possession of The New World on the Return of Columbus, and plenty more. One that especially caught my eye was titled Man's Inhumanity To Man, with documents pertaining to discrimination, oppression, slavery, violence and religious freedom. This collection includes the original version of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation as well as the Counter-Emancipation Proclamation signed by Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

The peacefulness in the sanctuary was soothing. 

To see what other historic, musical, literary and scientific themes the Karpeles have so graciously collected and shared, visit this page.

Discovering the Manuscript Library in Duluth felt like accidentally uncovering a rare treasure. Thank you, David and Marsha, for this gift.