Catalog
March of the Governors: Mark Dayton
Tom Beer and Paul NelsonMark Dayton, Minnesota’s fortieth governor, was the oldest to assume that office for the first time at sixty-three. He stepped into the role with vast political experience. In the 1970s, he served as legislative aide and Minnesota Economic Development commissioner and later worked four years as state auditor and six…
March of the Governors: Tim Pawlenty
Paul Nelson and Ken PetersonTim Pawlenty grew up in a family of South St. Paul Democrats but embraced Republicanism as a teenager. He was a hard worker and excellent student in public schools and at the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Law School. He was hired by a prestigious Minneapolis law…
Deeper Blues: The Life, Songs, and Salvation of Cornbread Harris
Reviewed by Tom EggumDeeper Blues: The Life, Songs, and Salvation of Cornbread Harris Andrea Swensson Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2024 200 pages; cloth/jacket, 50 b&w illustrations, $22.95 Andrea Swensson’s Deeper Blues: The Life, Songs, and Salvation of Cornbread Harris is a biography of James Samuel Harris II (Cornbread Harris) and…
Ramsey County History Summer 2024
Haley Prochnow, Cherelle Swain, Christine Podas-LarsonVolume 59, Number 3: Summer 2024 Link to download PDF of full Ramsey County History Summer 2024 Articles in this issue: Rondo Recreation in the St. Croix River Valley, 1909-1977 Author: Haley Prochnow For some Minnesotans with a little extra disposable income, “summertime” can translate to “cabin time.”…
Rondo Recreation in the St. Croix River Valley, 1909-1977
Haley ProchnowThe Silverbrook Estate/St. Croix Valley Country Club. Courtesy of Interstate State Park. By Haley Prochnow To see this complete magazine article with endnotes and additional images, please view the PDF version. The thermostat is set at 55°F during the winter in the Baker Land and Title Company…
A Family Reclaims Its Heritage: Growing Up with Anna Belle Rideaux
Cherrelle SwainAnna Belle Rideaux. Courtesy of Rideaux, Edmond, Swain Family Archives. by Cherelle Swain To see this complete magazine article with endnotes and additional images, please view the PDF version. Whether material or spiritual, experiencing loss changes people, families, and communities. This article examines how losing a matriarch impacted her…
Violet Gould’s Operetta School
Christine Podas-LarsonThe Violet Gould Operetta School presented Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore in 1959. In St. Paul Dispatch, June 2,1959, from the collection of Christine Podas-Larson. by Christine Podas-Larson To see this complete magazine article with endnotes and additional images, please view the PDF version. Read the companion piece…
Violet Gould’s Civic Opera Musical Circle
Mady Metzger-Ziegler founded the St. Paul Opera Workshop. Her son, Max Metzger, followed in his mother’s musical footsteps as an orchestra conductor. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society. Mady Metzger-Ziegler (1897-1979), mezzosoprano, was a featured performer in the St. Paul Civic Opera Association (Civic Opera) and its associated Pops concerts. She…
Honoring Minnesota History Scholars
National History Day 2024 Team Minnesota Sixty-four “Team Minnesota” history scholars competed at National History Day (NHD) at University of Maryland–College Park in June. Over nine months, students in grades six through twelve identified topics related to the theme, “Turning Points in History,” and created detailed research…