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Ramsey County History – Fall 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Kathryn Coram Gagnon: Operettas, Dances, Parties, and a Growing Love of Music”

Kate Cavett

The 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…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2004: “From Farm to Florence: The Gifted Keating Sisters and the Mystery of Their Lost Paintings”

Margaret M. Marrinan

From Farm to Florence: The Gifted Keating Sisters and the Mystery of Their Lost Paintings Author: Margaret M. Marrinan This article centers on two Irish farm girls, Anysia and Sophia Keating who became nuns and developed into prolific painters. The mystery had to do with a search for information…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Beulah Mae Baines Swan Remembers Piano Lessons and a ‘Nice Vegetable Garden’ Out Back”

Kate Cavett

The Rondo Oral History Project Beulah Mae Baines Swan Remembers Piano Lessons and a ‘Nice Vegetable Garden’ Out Back An Interview by Kate Cavett This article is from an oral history interview with Beulah Mae Baines Swan, who was raised near Como and Dale in a very small…

Ramsey County History – Spring 2004: “‘High and Dry on a Sandstone Cliff:’ St. Paul and the Year of the Chicago and Rock Island’s Great Railroad Excursion”

Steve Trimble

‘High and Dry on a Sandstone Cliff:’ St. Paul and the Year of the Chicago and Rock Island’s Great Railroad Excursion Author: Steve Trimble This article examines what St. Paul looked like in 1854 when the Great Railroad Excursion came to the city. St. Paul was part of the…

Ramsey County History – Spring 2004: “A Quilt and a Diary: The Story of the Little Girl Who Rode the Orphan Train to a New Home”

Ann Zemke

A Quilt and a Diary: The Story of the Little Girl Who Rode the Orphan Train to a New Home Author: Ann Zemke The author made a quilt that is used to tell the story of her grandmother, Margaret Peterson, who was an orphan. From 1854 to 1929, thousands…

Ramsey County History – Spring 2004: “Growing Up in St. Paul: Mechanic Arts—An Imposing ‘Melting Pot’ High School that Drew Minorities Together”

Bernice Fischer

Growing Up in St. Paul: Mechanic Arts—An Imposing ‘Melting Pot’ High School that Drew Minorities Together Author: Bernice Fischer After seven years at St. Adalbert’s School, in classes of thirty consisting of all white Catholic children, the author entered Mechanic Arts High School with its four floors, many nationalities,…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2004: “A Century Ago: Hundreds of Thousands Greet the Liberty Bell the Day It Came to Town”

Susan C. Dowd

A Century Ago: Hundreds of Thousands Greet the Liberty Bell the Day It Came to Town Author: Susan C. Dowd The Liberty Bell, with its twenty-four-inch-long crack, came to St. Paul on June 6, 1904. The nation’s “most cherished relic” was on its way from Philadelphia to St. Louis…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2003: “Growing Up in St. Paul: A Stroll Down Memory Lane: Payne Avenue in the 1950s—’It Was Like Living in a Small Town'”

DeAnne Marie Cherry

Growing Up in St. Paul: A Stroll Down Memory Lane: Payne Avenue in the 1950s—“It Was Like Living in a Small Town” Author: DeAnne Marie Cherry The author, who grew up in the 1950s at 973 Payne Avenue on St. Paul’s East Side, relates a teenager’s memories of her neighborhood…

Ramsey County History – Spring 2003: “Sitting Bull and His 1884 Visit to St. Paul: ‘A Shady Pair’ and an ‘Attempt on His Life’”

Mark Diedrich, adapted by Paul D. Nelson

Sitting Bull and His 1884 Visit to St. Paul: ‘A Shady Pair’ and an ‘Attempt on His Life’ Authors: Mark Diedrich, adapted by Paul D. Nelson Sitting Bull, a symbol of Native American resistance, once came to St. Paul, an event not well covered in local newspapers. The Lakota…