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Ramsey County History – Winter 2021: “Growing Up Along the Mighty Mississippi: The Great Depression Through the Eyes of a Young ‘River Rat'”

Harriette Peterson Koopman, with Connie Koopman Pettersen

Growing Up Along the Mighty Mississippi: The Great Depression Through the Eyes of a Young “River Rat” Author: Harriette Peterson Koopman, with Connie Koopman Pettersen When Harriette Peterson Koopman was growing up during the Great Depression, she and her siblings were sometimes called “river rats” by classmates. The derogatory slur…

Ramsey County History – Spring 2020: “Women and Children First: The Volunteers of America and Louis W. Hill Build Fresh Air Rest Camp”

Eileen R. McCormack and Aine C. McCormack

Women and Children First: The Volunteers of America and Louis W. Hill Build Fresh Air Rest Camp Authors: Eileen R. McCormack and Aine C. McCormack In the early 1920s, Irving and Martha Starr, a married couple employed by the Volunteers of America (VOA) approached St. Paul businessman…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2020: “Ramsey County’s ‘Boy Problem:’ Snapshots of Boys Totem Town”

Bobbie Scott

Ramsey County’s “Boy Problem” Snapshots of Boys Totem Town Author: Bobbie Scott When Boys Totem Town, a detention home on St. Paul’s east side, closed its doors in 2019, administrators, teachers, judges, and several men who once spent time there as boys, gathered to remember. The facility opened…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2020: “#MinneAsianStories: Illustrated Living History”

Bert Lee, Yusanat Tway, and Zoua Vang

#MinneAsianStories: Illustrated Living History Authors: Bert Lee, Yusanat Tway, and Zoua Vang There’s a common misperception that many young people aren’t necessarily interested in history. But over the last few years, the Coalition for Asian American Leaders (CAAL) has invited young Asian Minnesotans to not only think…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2020: “Growing Up with the St. Paul Saints: Memories of a Teen Groundskeeper at Lexington Park”      

Vern Schultz

Growing Up with the St. Paul Saints: Memories of a Teen Groundskeeper at Lexington Park         Author: Vern Schultz Anyone stopped at the traffic light at University and Lexington Avenues in St. Paul today might see dozens of small businesses and fast food restaurants and never realize that this…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2018: “Terror Visits Fort Snelling: The 1940 Murder of Mary Jane Massey”

Steve Lydon

Terror Visits Fort Snelling: The 1940 Murder of Mary Jane Massey Author: Steve Lydon On the afternoon of July 13, 1940, thirteen-year-old Mary Jane Massey disappeared from the grounds of Fort Snelling, a quiet US Army base on the western outskirts of St. Paul. Mary Jane’s father…

Ramsey County History Podcast #9 – Fall 2017: Gibbs Farm

Paul Nelson

The Gibbs Farm The Gibbs Farm museum preserves remnants of both Indigenous and pioneer life from the mid-nineteenth century, right in the middle of a densely populated urban environment. There, you can find farm buildings from the Gibbs family, an archeological site, recreations of a sod hut,…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2007: “Growing Up in St. Paul: Frogtown’s Arundel Street”

James R. Brown

Growing Up in St. Paul: Frogtown’s Arundel Street Author: James R. Brown Driving through his old neighborhood brought back memories to James Brown, especially while he was looking at the Edmund Street home where he lived in the 1920 and ‘30s. One of his recollections was about climbing up…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2017: “‘Onward Central, Onward Central:’ The 150-Year Legacy of St. Paul Central High School”

Steven C. Trimble

“Onward Central, Onward Central:” The 150-Year Legacy of St. Paul Central High School Author: Steven C. Trimble   Central High School in St. Paul has been operating continuously for more than 150 years. Founded in 1866 as St. Paul High School, it opened its doors in the heart of…