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Ramsey County History – Summer 2022: “Bob Brown: ‘Paint What You See'”

Paul Nelson

Bob Brown: “Paint What You See” Author: Paul Nelson This is the story of a solitary St. Paul resident named Bob Brown. Attempting to make a living in the midst of the Great Depression was difficult, to say the least, but Brown took long walks around the…

History Revealed: Closing Time

Bill Lindeke and Andy Sturdevant

Closing Time Bill Lindeke and Andy Sturdevant History Revealed Series Program Date: September 17, 2020 YouTube Video Authors and historians Bill Lindeke and Andy Sturdevant talk about the history of some of the iconic bars that have come and gone in the Twin…

Metropolitan Dreams: The Scandalous Rise and Stunning Fall of a Minneapolis Masterpiece

Reviewer: Alan K. Lathrop

Metropolitan Dreams: The Scandalous Rise and Stunning Fall of a Minneapolis Masterpiece Author: Larry Millett Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2018 248 pages; hardcover/cloth jacket; 140 b&w photos; $29.95 Larry Millett, author of Metropolitan Dreams: The Scandalous Rise and Stunning Fall of a Minneapolis Masterpiece, has done an…

The Scott Collection: Minnesota’s Black Community in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s

Reviewer: Earl Ross

The Scott Collection: Minnesota’s Black Community in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s Author: Walter R. Scott Sr. Introduction by Anthony R. Scott; Preface by Chaunda L. Scott; Foreword by William D. Green St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2018 500 pages; softcover; 500 photos; $29.95 Published previously…

Ramsey County History: Summer 2014: “The History of the Mississippi River Boulevard”

Donald L. Empson

The History of the Mississippi River Boulevard Author: Donald L. Empson In 1872, the Saint Paul City Council decided to build public parks in the city, and soon, thereafter, hired landscape architect Horace W. S. Cleveland to prepare a plan for where this should be done. One park that…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2014: “‘A Banner with the Strange Device:’ Longfellow and Saint Paul”

Moira F. Harris

“A Banner with the Strange Device:” Longfellow and Saint Paul Author: Moira F. Harris Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is widely known as the poet who wrote “The Song of Hiawatha,” which was inspired by reports of Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. Although he never visited Minnesota, Longfellow wrote the poem “Excelsior”…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2007: “Minneapolis and St. Paul Stumble: Henry Ford Wins the Struggle for the High Dam “

Brian McMahon

Minneapolis and St. Paul Stumble: Henry Ford Wins the Struggle for the High Dam  Author: Brian McMahon There were two early Ford plants in the Twin Cities—one in Minneapolis and another on University Avenue in St. Paul. Henry Ford was a big promoter of hydroelectric power; consequently, he wanted…

Ramsey County History – Winter 2005: “Curtain Up in 1933: The Legacy of the St. Paul Opera Association”

Steve Trimble

Curtain Up in 1933: The Legacy of the St. Paul Opera Association  Author: Steve Trimble Inspired by a trip to Europe, Mrs. W. Homer Sweeney successfully spearheaded the creation of the St. Paul Municipal Opera. Opening in 1933, it was a “civic opera” that chose to present quality music…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2003: “Fear a Powerful Motivator—A Harvest of Victims: The Twin Cities and St. Paul’s Traumatic Small Pox Epidemic of 1924”

Paul D. Nelson

Fear a Powerful Motivator—A Harvest of Victims: The Twin Cities and St. Paul’s Traumatic Small Pox Epidemic of 1924 Author: Paul D. Nelson The Twin Cites most traumatic encounter with smallpox took place in 1924–25. There were two different variations of smallpox, and, at the time, the local health departments’…