Catalog
Ramsey County History – Spring 2005: “Growing up in St. Paul: Simple, Carefree Days—Hague and Fry—and the Center of a Boy’s Universe”
James B. BellGrowing up in St. Paul: Simple, Carefree Days—Hague and Fry—and the Center of a Boy’s Universe Author: James B. Bell The author lived his first sixteen years at the house of his grandfather, a businessman engaged in finance. Life at 1618 Hague was simple and had many carefree days.
Ramsey County History – Fall 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Kathryn Coram Gagnon: Operettas, Dances, Parties, and a Growing Love of Music”
Kate CavettThe 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 – Fall 2004: “The Life and Death of Central Park—A Small Part of the Past Illuminated”
Paul D. NelsonThe Life and Death of Central Park—A Small Part of the Past Illuminated Author: Paul D. Nelson The Central Park story begins in 1884. It was a time of city expansion, and the affluent and powerful residents in an area near today’s State Capitol wanted a park to buffer…
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 CavettThe 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 – Summer 2004: “Spring Wagons and No Roads: A Gibbs Daughter Remembers a Pioneer Family’s Sunday as a ‘Serious Undertaking’”
Lillie Gibbs LeVesconteSpring Wagons and No Roads: A Gibbs Daughter Remembers a Pioneer Family’s Sunday as a ‘Serious Undertaking’ Author: Lillie Gibbs LeVesconte This is a reminiscence of the youngest daughter of Heman and Jane Gibbs. She recalls that getting to church services was no easy task in the 1870s. It…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2004: “Irvine Park in 1854: Its Homes and the People Who Lived There 150 Years Ago”
Robert J. StummIrvine Park in 1854: Its Homes and the People Who Lived There 150 Years Ago Author: Robert J. Stumm There are an impressive number of homes in Irvine Park today that were already there in 1854. The neighborhood dates from 1849 when the land for a park was donated.
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 ZemkeA 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 – Winter 2004: “‘He Loved a Tall Story’ The Life and Times of I.A. O’Shaughnessy, the Man Who Happily Gave His Money Away”
John M. Lindley and Virginia Brainard Kunz‘He Loved a Tall Story’ The Life and Times of I.A. O’Shaughnessy, the Man Who Happily Gave His Money Away Authors: John M. Lindley and Virginia Brainard Kunz Born in 1885, Ignatius Aloysius O’Shaughnessy was an oilman and philanthropist. His parents, who were of Irish decent, moved to Minnesota…
“Bought 2 Horses & a Wagon:” The Story of the Murphy Companies
Virginia Brainard KunzThis is the story of how E. L. Murphy Sr. established his business, gradually converted it from horses to trucks, suffered through the takeover of Murphy Transfer and Storage Company and Murphy Motor Freight Lines by a St. Paul bank in the midst of the Great Depression, and how brothers…