Ramsey County History – Summer 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Beulah Mae Baines Swan Remembers Piano Lessons and a ‘Nice Vegetable Garden’ Out Back”

The Rondo Oral History Project
Beulah Mae Baines Swan Remembers Piano Lessons and a ‘Nice Vegetable Garden’ Out Back
An Interview by Kate Cavett

This article is from an oral history interview with Beulah Mae Baines Swan, who was raised near Como and Dale in a very small black community in St. Paul. Her father’s business was in the Rondo area, where he sold coal, wood, and ice. The family struggled as they made it through the Great Depression. Swan offered memories of going to Gorman School. Most of her friends were white, and she wasn’t highly race conscious until searching for employment. She started out working for a private company and then had a job at the post office for twenty-six years. She took college business courses and then worked as a stenographer for the state.
PDF of Rondo article