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…
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…
March of the Governors: Mark Dayton
Tom Beer and Paul NelsonMark Dayton, Minnesota’s fortieth governor, was the oldest to assume that office for the first time at sixty-three. He stepped into the role with vast political experience. In the 1970s, he served as legislative aide and Minnesota Economic Development commissioner and later worked four years as state auditor and six…
March of the Governors: Tim Pawlenty
Paul Nelson and Ken PetersonTim Pawlenty grew up in a family of South St. Paul Democrats but embraced Republicanism as a teenager. He was a hard worker and excellent student in public schools and at the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Law School. He was hired by a prestigious Minneapolis law…
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.”…
Violet Gould’s Operetta School
Christine Podas-LarsonThe 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…