Catalog
Ramsey County History Spring 2023 – People Mover
Matt GoffVolume 58, Number 1: Spring 2023 A Slow Track to Nowhere St. Paul’s Downtown People Mover Author: Matt Goff In 1976, the federal government selected St. Paul as one of four US demonstration cities, along with Cleveland, Houston, and Los Angeles, to receive funding for a…
March of the Governors #24: Elmer Benson
Paul Nelson & Tom O'Connell with Steve TrimbleMarch of the Governors, Governor #24 Elmer Austin Benson (Series Podcast #25) We are unlikely to see a politician like Elmer Benson ever again. The small-town, left-wing banker served briefly as a US Senator before becoming governor. He was a genuine political…
Ramsey County History – Summer 2022: “Traveling Without Aggravation: How Victor H. Green Changed Travel for Black Americans: Green Book Locations in the Historic Rondo Community (1940-1956)”
Nieeta L. PresleyTraveling Without Aggravation: How Victor H. Green Changed Travel for Black Americans: Green Book Locations in the Historic Rondo Community (1940-1956) Author: Nieeta L. Presley Traveling, especially with young families, is never easy. Scheduling, packing, locating gas stations, and securing reservations can be a challenge. Traveling for…
March of the Governors, Governor #16, John Albert Johnson
Paul Nelson and Ken PetersonJohn Albert Johnson Podcast Link Minnesota’s sixteenth governor, John Albert Johnson, was our fourth from St. Peter. He had a “rags-to-riches Horatio Alger life.” The son of Swedish immigrants, he quit school at age twelve to support his mother and siblings. Self-educated, he eventually became a newspaper…
March of the Governors, Governor #15, Samuel Van Sant
Paul Nelson and Tom O'ConnellSamuel Van Sant was Minnesota’s fifteenth governor—the first to serve in the twentieth century and the first to occupy the current capitol. After three years of combat duty in the Union cavalry (1861-1864), Van Sant joined the family steamboat business in LeClaire, Iowa. In 1883, he moved…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2022: “The Man and the Can: Patrick J. Towle and the St. Paul Origins of Log Cabin Syrup”
Matthew M. ThomasThe Man and the Can: Patrick J. Towle and the St. Paul Origins of Log Cabin Syrup Author: Mathew M. Thomas In 1888, after a grocery business failed in Chicago, Patrick J. Towle relocated to St. Paul with a new focus on packaging and selling a single product—maple-flavored syrup. Settling on…
March of the Governors, Governor #13, David Marston Clough
Paul Nelson and Matt WrightDavid Marston Clough was a lumber baron and politician who served as Minnesota’s Republican governor from 1895 to 1899. Born in New Hampshire in 1846, he moved with his family to Spencer Brook Township, Minnesota, in 1857. He was successful in the lumber business and moved into politics,…
Ramsey County History – Winter 2022: “Fifty Years of Friendship Connected in Community Service: The Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated”
Marion Jones KennonFifty Years of Friendship Connected in Community Service: The Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated Author: Marion Jones Kennon In 1972, sixteen women joined in friendship and service to charter the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. Today, their chapter is one of 292 across most…
Mairs & Power at 90: A Rich History, A Bright Future
Dave BealOver the last nine decades, nearly all the firms in the tumultuous and unforgiving financial services industry have been rolled up, split up, spun out, or blown up. A shining exception: St. Paul’s Mairs & Power, the oldest continuously independent investment management firm in Minnesota and one of relatively few…