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Three Extraordinary Years in St. Paul Millinery: 1908, 1909, 1911

Janice R. Quick

A 1908 newspaper ad for Philipsborn’s featured line drawings of lovely urbane ladies wearing elaborately decorated hats and “dainty silk dresses” priced from $16.50 to $25, the equivalent of $566 to $857 in today’s economy. In the St. Paul Pioneer Press, May 17, 1908. Feather Frenzy By Janice R. Quick…

Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love

Reviewed by Anne Cowie

Rise 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…

Ramsey County History Summer 2024

Haley Prochnow, Cherelle Swain, Christine Podas-Larson

Volume 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.”…

Violet Gould’s Operetta School

Christine Podas-Larson

The 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…

History Revealed: Defying the Silence

Julie Ayer

Defying the Silence: A Chronicle of Resilience that Saved the World-Renowned Minnesota Orchestra Julie Ayer History Revealed Series Program Date: Thursday, November 30, 2023 Video on YouTube In partnership with the East Side Freedom Library & Roseville Library In this extraordinary example…

Ramsey County History Fall 2023 – Dakhóta Iápi: A Brief History in Three Parts – 2024 Virginia B. Kunz Award Winner

Deacon DeBoer, Eileen Bass, Justis Brokenrope, Ava Grace, Dr. Rev. Clifford Canku, Heather Menefee, and Šišókadúta

Volume 58, Number 3: Fall 2023 Link to download full issue of Fall 2023 Ramsey County History magazine Dakhóta Iápi: A Brief History in Three Parts 2024 Virginia B. Kunz Award Winner This year, Dakhóta language scholars from the University of Minnesota, with their instructor Šišókaduta…

Ramsey County History Fall 2023 – Full Issue

Daniel W. McGuiness, Maggie Lorenz, Deacon DeBoer, Eileen Bass, Justis Brokenrope, Ava Grace, Dr. Rev. Clifford Canku, Heather Menefee, Šišókadúta

Volume 58, Number 3: Fall 2023 Link to download full issue of Fall 2023 Ramsey County History magazine Articles in this Issue: A Sacred Dakhóta Site Inspires Community Renewal: From Lower Phalen Creek Project to Wakaŋ Tipi Awaŋyaŋkapi Authors: Daniel W. McGuiness, with Maggie Lorenz…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2022: “Bob Brown: ‘Paint What You See'”

Paul Nelson

Bob Brown: “Paint What You See” Author: Paul Nelson This is the story of a solitary St. Paul resident named Bob Brown. Attempting to make a living in the midst of the Great Depression was difficult, to say the least, but Brown took long walks around the…