In today’s Untold Story of Central Minnesota, KVSC Station Manager Dan Seeger welcomes back a regular guest of the program: Tom Steman, the archivist of St. Cloud State University.

In his role preserving the history of SCSU and the surrounding community, Tom encounters untold stories every day.

In this visit to the program, he discusses a new exhibition celebrating the centennial of SCSU student newspaper The Chronicle. You can view a digital version of exhibition at this link.

For this interview, Tom brought along a special new addition to the archive’s rare books collection. They recently acquired an early copy of Gideon Planish, the 1943 novel by Nobel prize–winner Sinclair Lewis that bears the author’s signature as well as a striking inscription.

Tom also discusses some of the famous visitors who’ve come to the SCSU campus over the years, including iconic Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy. Tom tells the story a recently unearthed photograph of that image.

Tom provides more information about the photo as part of his contribution to the Contributor’s Choice 2025 series at the Minnesota Digital Library.

This program was made possible through support from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

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