Catalog
Ramsey County History Podcast #12 – Winter 2018: Crusade for Forgotten Souls
Paul Nelson and Susan Bartlett FooteCrusade for Forgotten Souls Podcast Link In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Minnesota led the nation in reform and modernization of the treatment of the mentally ill. But it didn’t last. Author Susan Bartlett Foote has told the story, a story at the same time inspiring…
Ramsey County History Podcast #11 – Spring 2018: North Star: Civil War Stories
Paul Nelson, Daniel Bergin, and Bill GreenNorth Star: Civil War Stories Ramsey County Historical Society (RCHS) and Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) have collaborated in the production of the documentary film, North Star: Civil War Stories, about Minnesotans of African heritage who served in the Civil War. At the premiere screening, filmmaker Daniel…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2018: “How St. Paul’s Federal Courts Building and Post Office Became Today’s Landmark Center”
Bob RoscoeHow St. Paul’s Federal Courts Building and Post Office Became Today’s Landmark Center Author: Bob Roscoe In 1969, demolition of St. Paul’s Federal Courts Building and Post Office, a Richardson Romanesque Chateauesque-style public building that the federal government had constructed between 1892 and 1901, seemed imminent. When a…
RCHS/TPT Film – North Star: Civil War Stories
RCHS and TPTNorth Star Civil War Stories Ramsey County Historical Society is proud to partner with TPT-Twin Cities PBS to produce a ground-breaking new documentary, North Star: Civil War Stories, which uncovers hidden details of African-American men from Minnesota involved in the Civil War. Using emerging research and scholarship, North Star: Civil War…
The Crusade for Forgotten Souls: Reforming Minnesota’s Mental Institutions, 1946–1954
Reviewer: Gary GleasonThe Crusade for Forgotten Souls: Reforming Minnesota’s Mental Institutions, 1946–1954 Susan Bartlett Foote Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2018 312 pages; soft cover; photos; $22.95 Susan Bartlett Foote has written an impressive book that combines a great story and exhaustive research about the early years of social…
Ramsey County History – Summer 2017: “Can America Be Bombed? The St. Paul Science Museum’s Answer”
Brian McMahonCan America Be Bombed? The St. Paul Science Museum’s Answer Author: Brian McMahon In the spring of 1941, the St. Paul Science Museum (predecessor to today’s Science Museum of Minnesota) opened an exhibit provocatively titled “Can America Be Bombed?” The museum’s president, Charles Lesley Ames, was alarmed…
Our Minnesota State Capitol: From Groundbreaking through Restoration
Reviewer: Alan K. LathropOur Minnesota State Capitol: From Groundbreaking through Restoration Author: Denis P. Gardner Foreword by Former Governor Mark Dayton St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2017 104 pages; softcover; 70 color and b&w illustrations; $19.95 With the brilliant restoration of the State Capitol building in St.
Ramsey County History Podcast #8 – Spring 2017: Fort Snelling and the Civil War
Paul Nelson and Steve OsmanFort Snelling and the Civil War The Euro-American phase of Minnesota history begins with Fort Snelling, starting in 1820. The fort’s busiest period was 1861-1865 — with the Civil War and the US Dakota War of 1862. All of the soldiers headed south to fight for the…
Ramsey County History – Winter 2017: “William T. Francis, at Home and Abroad”
Paul D. NelsonWilliam T. Francis, at Home and Abroad Author: Paul D. Nelson William T. (Billy) and Nellie Francis were a “Golden Couple” in Ramsey County in the 1920s. They were good-looking, intelligent, talented, ambitious, and successful. Then they went to Africa, and things went terribly wrong. This article presents the…