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Ramsey County History – Winter 2018: “Growing Up in St. Paul: Fifteen Minutes with My Dad: Reginald Hopwood”

Victoria Hopwood

Growing Up in St. Paul Fifteen Minutes with My Dad: Reginald Hopwood Author: Victoria Hopwood This is a daughter’s tribute to her father, a waiter on the Great Northern Railway’s Empire Builder that ran between Chicago and the two Pacific coast cities of Portland and Seattle…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2017: “William T. Francis, at Home and Abroad”

Paul D. Nelson

William 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…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2016: “John Anderson’s Fall from the High Bridge”

John T. Sielaff

John Anderson’s Fall from the High Bridge Author: John T. Sielaff On May 2, 1902, John Anderson, a painter working as part of a crew repainting the St. Paul High Bridge, fell 125 feet into the Mississippi River and survived. Although injured when he hit the footing of the…

Ramsey County History Podcast #5 – Spring 2016: Mayor for Life – George Latimer

Paul Nelson and George Latimer

Mayor for Life – George Latimer He was sometimes known as “mayor for life.” George Latimer served as mayor of St. Paul from 1976 to 1990, the longest consecutive term in St. Paul history. A lot happened on his watch: the Town Square and Lowertown developments; the…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2016: “The West Publishing Company Buildings and Ramsey County’s Adult Detention Center”

Paul D. Nelson

The West Publishing Company Buildings and Ramsey County’s Adult Detention Center Author: Paul D. Nelson Founded in 1876 in St. Paul, West Publishing Company established its offices and manufacturing plant on the south side of Kellogg Boulevard west of the Wabasha Bridge. By the 1920s, West provided…

Ramsey County History Podcast #1 – Spring 2014: The Saga of I-35; East Side Freedom Library

Paul Nelson, John Milton, and Peter Rachleff

The Saga of I-35; East Side Freedom Library Part 1: John Milton tells the story of how citizen opposition delayed for many years the completion of Interstate Highway 35 through St. Paul. Part 2: Labor historian Peter Rachleff describes how he and his partner Beth Cleary plan…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2014: “Citizens versus the Freeway: RIP-35E and the Pleasant Avenue Route through St. Paul”

John Watson Milton

Citizens versus the Freeway: RIP-35E and the Pleasant Avenue Route through St. Paul Author: John Watson Milton In September 1955, the National System of Interstate Highways identified the Pleasant Avenue corridor as the route for north-south Interstate 35E through the City of St. Paul, connecting with…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2014: “Fighting to Keep Seeger Running: Ralph M. Scalze and His Leadership of Local No. 20459, AFL-CIO, 1949–1955”

Gerald E. Scalze

Fighting to Keep Seeger Running: Ralph M. Scalze and His Leadership of Local No. 20459, AFL-CIO, 1949–1955 Author: Gerald E. Scalze A World War II veteran, Ralph Scalze was the leader of Local No. 20459 of the Refrigerator Workers’ Union of the AFL-CIO from 1949 to 1955, the largest…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2013: “Present at the Creation: The Turbulent Sixties and Seventies in St. Paul Politics”

Ruby M. Hunt

Present at the Creation: The Turbulent Sixties and Seventies in St. Paul Politics Author: Ruby M. Hunt Ruby Hunt, who served on the Saint Paul City Council between 1972 and 1982 and on the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners between 1983 and 1995, recalls several key personalities, primarily Mayor…