Catalog
Ramsey County History Fall 2024
John W. Diers, Jim McCartney, Adam BledsoeRamsey County History Fall 2024 Volume 59, No. 4: Fall 2024 John W. Diers, Jim McCartney, Adam Bledsoe Link to download PDF of full Ramsey County History Fall 2024 Articles in this issue: Growing Up on the Empire Builder Author: John W. Diers John W. Diers’…
Communist Clarence Hathaway and His Powerful Impact on Minnesota Politics
Jim McCartneyThe Communist Party played an influential role in Farmer-Labor Party politics in the 1930s and early ’40s, thanks, in part, to relationships that Minnesota-born Clarence Hathaway developed with Gov. Floyd B. Olson and Gov. Elmer Benson. Hathaway image in Minneapolis Newspaper Photograph Collection, courtesy of Hennepin County Library; Olson/Benson images…
Clarence Hathaway: Civil Rights Pioneer
Jim McCartneyAlthough civil rights activists have, at times, been falsely accused of being communist, some Communist Party members, including Clarence Hathaway, did help advance the American civil rights movement. In the 1930s and ’40s, the Communist Party was prominent in the fight for racial equality in the American South, specifically Alabama,…
The Everyday Activism of the North Central Voters League in St. Paul
Adam BledsoeNorth Central Voters League President Raymond Hill did not mince words when it came to addressing disparities in St. Paul’s Black community. The NCVL first met at the Gopher Elks Lodge at 559 Carroll Avenue before moving to a building on Iglehart. Photograph by Dwight Miller, in Minneapolis Star, December…
Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love
Reviewed by Anne CowieRise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love Marlene M. Johnson Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2024 248 pages; cloth/jacket, 15 b&w plates, $24.95 Marlene Johnson came to leadership early. When she was just thirty-seven, she became Minnesota’s first woman lieutenant governor, assuming that position…
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…