White Oak Learning Centre & White Oak Fur Post

Living History and Historical Reenactment in Minnesota

The members of the White Oak Society welcome you to our web site. We are a non-profit organization providing living history interpretations of the fur trade era within the Great Lakes region. We operate The White Oak Learning Centre & White Oak Fur Post near Deer River, Minnesota.

New for this year we have expanded the time periods that we are going to portray and educate through the “Living History” medium. From the mists of the dark ages emerge the Vikings and the last remnants of the Roman Empire. The medieval period as represented by the centuries from 1200 to 1500 A.D. and the early Renaissance of the 1500′s through the 1650′s, wherein we see the colonization of the new world and the origins of the Fur Trade. Lastly the late 1800′s and early 1900′s in the form of the tractors and early equipment of the small farming community.

The White Oak Society - Fur Trade Era Historical Reenactment in Deer River Minnesota

Housed within the White Oak Learning Centre are the The Great Hall, The Rick Balen Library, and the White Oak Society Office. Our goal is to expand today’s horizons with a hands-on experience of the past.

Our goal is to research and host educational workshops, history festivals, and other events using the Living History medium. We strive to re-create the various periods of history in as authentic a manner as we are capable and to constantly improve and expand our knowledge and presentations. Each year during the first weekend in August we sponsor the White Oak Rendezvous and History Festival where through our recreation of an 18th century fur post of the North West Company, our growing camp of 15th century Willenstark Company mercenaries and a cast of authentic and colorful characters, we hope to allow reenactors and the public the opportunity to relive the vibrancy and ambiance of times gone by.