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March of the Governors #25: Harold Stassen

Paul Nelson with Ken Peterson

March of the Governors Harold Stassen, Governor #25 March of the Governors Podcast #27 Harold Stassen, Minnesota’s twenty-fifth governor, is among our most intriguing. He sprang to national attention as the state’s “Boy Governor,” elected in 1938 at…

March of the Governors: The Farmer-Labor Party

Paul Nelson with Fred Johnson, Tom O'Connell, Tyler Norris Taylor.

March of the Governors The Farmer-Labor Party March of the Governors Podcast #26 Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party was the most successful third party in American history. Between 1930 and 1938, the party far outpaced both traditional parties in vote-getting,…

March of the Governors #24: Elmer Benson

Paul Nelson & Tom O'Connell with Steve Trimble

March of the Governors, Governor #24 Elmer Austin Benson (Series Podcast #25) We are unlikely to see a politician like Elmer Benson ever again. The small-town, left-wing banker served briefly as a US Senator before becoming governor. He was a genuine political…

March of the Governors #23: Hjalmar Petersen

Paul Nelson and Tyler Taylor

March of the Governors, Governor #23 Hjalmar Petersen (Series Podcast #24) Hjalmar Petersen (1890-1968) holds many distinctions as a governor of Minnesota: our only Dane, our only Hjalmar, our last immigrant (so far), our only governor from Askov (so far), and the…

March of the Governors #22: Floyd B. Olson

Paul Nelson, Fred Johnson, and Tom Beer

March of the Governors #22 Floyd Bjornstjerne Olson (Series Podcast #23) By age thirty, Floyd Bjornstjerne Olson (1891-1936) had been a shabbos goy, a college dropout, a stevedore, and a Wobbly. By age forty, he had served ten years as Hennepin County…

March of the Governors #21: Theodore Christianson

Paul Nelson and Matthew Wright

March of the Governors #21: Theodore Christianson (Series Podcast #22) Theodore Christianson (1883-1948) was a farm boy from Lac Qui Parle County and a progressive Republican who proved eminently successful as a vote-getter and as a government reformer. He was the…

History Revealed: Farmer-Labor Movement

Randy Croce, Tom O’Connell, and Anna Kuharjec

The Farmer-Labor Movement: A Minnesota Story Documentary Film Screening & Discussion with Filmmakers Randy Croce, Tom O’Connell, and Anna Kuharjec History Revealed Series Program Date: Thursday, November 10, 2022 Video on YouTube In partnership with the East Side Freedom Library and the Roseville Library…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2022: William Mahoney

Jim McCartney

Volume 57, Number 3: Fall 2022 Farmer-Labor Founder William Mahoney and his Battle with Communists Author: Jim McCartney Writer Jim McCartney and William Mahoney, St. Paul mayor (1932-1934), have something in common—a house on Dayton Avenue. The McCartneys have lived there for thirty years. Mahoney owned the home from…

March of the Governors #20: Jacob A. O. Preus

Paul Nelson and Matt Wright

March of the Governors, Governor #20 Jacob A. O. Preus (Series Podcast #21) By age forty-one, Jacob A. O. Preus had been Minnesota’s insurance commissioner and state auditor and had served two successful terms as governor (1921-1925). On his watch, the Minnesota…