Catalog
Ramsey County History – Fall 2021: “Closing the Book: The James Jerome Hill Reference Library, 1921-2021”
Eileen McCormackClosing the Book: The James Jerome Hill Reference Library, 1921-2021 Author: Eileen McCormack James J. Hill, was a creator of businesses, railroads, banks, trusts, and mansions. In 1912, he set to work on one more creation—a gift to the people of St. Paul. Hill died in 1916 before his dream—the James…
Ramsey County History – Summer 2021: “Growing Up Hmong in the Twin Cities: Gatherings from Before”
Kao Kalia YangGrowing Up Hmong in the Twin Cities: Gatherings from Before Author: Kao Kalia Yang Large and extended family gatherings are a steadfast tradition for members of the Hmong community in the Twin Cities area. St. Paul writer Kao Kalia Yang reflects on these familial celebrations where aunties and…
History Revealed: Booth Girls
Kim HeikkilaBooth Girls: Pregnancy, Adoption, and the Secrets We Kept Kim Heikkila, PhD History Revealed Series Program Date: Thursday, April 8, 2021 Video on YouTube In partnership with the East Side Freedom Library & Roseville Library “Booth Girls” is a thoughtful, multigenerational story of…
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 PettersenGrowing 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…
Neighborhood Architecture–Irvine Park, Saint Paul: a coloring book.
Jeanne Kosfeld, Illustrator and Richard Kronick, AuthorTwin Cities-based illustrator Jeanne Kosfeld and author Richard Kronick have together transformed a simple sketchbook featuring pen and ink drawings into a brief storytelling of the Irvine Park neighborhood’s unique 173-year history. Artists of all ages and abilities may colorize their own imagined versions of these historic edifices, including fanciful…
Ramsey County History – Summer 2020: “The View from Summit Avenue: Inspiration Point for Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street”
Ralph L. GoldsteinThe View from Summit Avenue: Inspiration Point for Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street Author: Ralph L. Goldstein When a young Sinclair Lewis traveled to Saint Paul at the turn of the twentieth century to take his Yale University entrance exams, he found time to explore the city, marveling at…
Minnesota’s Geologist: The Life of Newton Horace Winchell
Reviewer: Paul NelsonMinnesota’s Geologist: The Life of Newton Horace Winchell Sue Leaf Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2020 280 pages; hardcover, 30 b&w plates, $29.95 Newton Horace Winchell deserves to be remembered. He was probably Minnesota’s greatest nineteenth-century scientist, a giant in not only geology but paleontology and…
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 – Fall 2019: “Three Jewish Writers”
Steve Trimble and Paul NelsonThree Jewish Writers Authors: Steve Trimble and Paul Nelson What do three men who grew up in St. Paul’s predominately Jewish neighborhoods in the first half of the twentieth century have in common? Quite a bit, actually. Authors Steve Trimble and Paul Nelson highlight the lives of…