Catalog
Ramsey County History – Winter 2016: “The Slaveholders of Payne-Phalen”
Christopher P. LehmanThe Slaveholders of Payne-Phalen Author: Christopher P. Lehman The year 2016 is the 160th anniversary of the purchase of the eastern part of St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood by three southerners from Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Two of them—William Sprigg Hall and Harwood Iglehart—owned slaves in Maryland, and the latter…
Ramsey County History – Winter 2015: “Robert C. Minor: Steward on James J. Hill’s Private Railway Car”
Eileen R. McCormackRobert C. Minor: Steward on James J. Hill’s Private Railway Car Author: Eileen R. McCormack An African American who was the steward on James J. Hill’s private railway car (the A-18) for more than twenty years and was one the small number of Black employees of the Great Northern,…
Ramsey County History Podcast #1 – Spring 2014: The Saga of I-35; East Side Freedom Library
Paul Nelson, John Milton, and Peter RachleffThe Saga of I-35; East Side Freedom Library Part 1: John Milton tells the story of how citizen opposition delayed for many years the completion of Interstate Highway 35 through St. Paul. Part 2: Labor historian Peter Rachleff describes how he and his partner Beth Cleary plan…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2012: “Community Health with a Heart: The History of Open Cities Health Center”
Katie JaegerCommunity Health with a Heart: The History of Open Cities Health Center Author: Katie Jaeger The Open Cities Health Center (OCHC) in St. Paul got its start in 1967 when a group of the city’s residents opened one of Minnesota’s first medical clinics dedicated to helping people of color.
Ramsey County History – Fall 2011: “A Different Sesquicentennial: Remembering Fredrick McGhee”
Paul D. NelsonA Different Sesquicentennial: Remembering Fredrick McGhee Author: Paul D. Nelson On October 28, 2011, Author Paul Nelson paused to reflect that Fredrick McGhee (1861–1912) was born on that date 150 years ago. Nelson remembered him that day because he admired the man so much, and because, as his biographer,…
Ramsey County History – Summer 2011: “Growing Up in St. Paul: The Rondo Years, 1948–1950”
Susanne Sebesta HeimbuchGrowing Up in St. Paul: The Rondo Years, 1948–1950 Author: Susanne Sebesta Heimbuch The author describes her years growing up in the Ramsey Hill district in the late 1940s. The neighborhood was a mix of whites and Blacks, as she recalls it, but was known as Cornmeal Rondo and was…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2010: “They Played for the Love of the Game: Adding to the Legacy of Minnesota Black Baseball”
Frank M. WhiteThey Played for the Love of the Game: Adding to the Legacy of Minnesota Black Baseball Author: Frank M. White Based on a Ramsey County Historical Society exhibit, this article reveals the untold story of some of the local St. Paul baseball players who struggled to overcome racial indignities…
Ramsey County History – Fall 2006: “Memories of Frogtown in the 1930s”
James R. BrownMemories of Frogtown in the 1930s Author: James R. Brown Poet and playwright James Brown relates vignettes of the life of his family in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood during the 1930s. It was a community that was a mixture of public schools, churches, bars, and gambling houses, with a…
Ramsey County History – Fall 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Kathryn Coram Gagnon: Operettas, Dances, Parties, and a Growing Love of Music”
Kate CavettThe Rondo Oral History Project Kathryn Coram Gagnon: Operettas, Dances, Parties, and a Growing Love of Music Interview by Kate Cavett Based on oral history interviews, this is the story of Kathryn Coram Gagnon, an African-American woman who grew up in St. Paul’s old Rondo neighborhood. The interview…