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History Revealed: Defying the Silence

Julie Ayer

Defying the Silence: A Chronicle of Resilience that Saved the World-Renowned Minnesota Orchestra Julie Ayer History Revealed Series Program Date: Thursday, November 30, 2023 Video on YouTube In partnership with the East Side Freedom Library & Roseville Library In this extraordinary example…

Ramsey County History Summer 2023 – Honoring Minnesota First Regiment

John Guthmann

Volume 58, Number 2: Summer 2023 Growing Up at Fort Snelling Honoring the First Regiment of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry for Fifty Years Author: John H. Guthmann When seventeen-year-old John Guthmann took at summer job as a tour guide at Fort Snelling, little did he know that he’d get “hooked…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2005: “Growing Up in St. Paul: I Remember My Aunt: Frances Boardman—Music Critic, Who Covered an Archbishop’s Funeral”

Alexandra (Sandy) Klas

Growing Up in St. Paul: I Remember My Aunt: Frances Boardman—Music Critic, Who Covered an Archbishop’s Funeral  Author: Alexandra (Sandy) Klas Written by the niece of Frances Boardman, the memoir starts with the background of the family. Boardman graduated from Central High School and became a pioneering woman in…

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 – Winter 2005: “Union Park in the 1880s—Band Concerts, Balloon Ascensions Once Lured 10,000 People in a Single Day”

Minnesota Junior Pioneers

Union Park in the 1880s—Band Concerts, Balloon Ascensions Once Lured 10,000 People in a Single Day Author: Minnesota Junior Pioneers In 1880, the Milwaukee Short Line Railroad opened up development in today’s Macalester, Groveland, and Merriam Park neighborhoods, then on the outskirts of St. Paul. Union Park, as it…

Ramsey County History – Fall 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Kathryn Coram Gagnon: Operettas, Dances, Parties, and a Growing Love of Music”

Kate Cavett

The Rondo Oral History Project Kathryn Coram Gagnon: Operettas, Dances, Parties, and a Growing Love of Music  Interview by Kate Cavett Based on oral history interviews, this is the story of Kathryn Coram Gagnon, an African-American woman who grew up in St. Paul’s old Rondo neighborhood. The interview…

Ramsey County History – Summer 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Beulah Mae Baines Swan Remembers Piano Lessons and a ‘Nice Vegetable Garden’ Out Back”

Kate Cavett

The Rondo Oral History Project Beulah Mae Baines Swan Remembers Piano Lessons and a ‘Nice Vegetable Garden’ Out Back An Interview by Kate Cavett This article is from an oral history interview with Beulah Mae Baines Swan, who was raised near Como and Dale in a very small…

Ramsey County History – Summer 1999: “The St. Paul Figure Skating Club and Those Popular Summer Pop Concerts”

Kathleen C. Ridder

The St. Paul Figure Skating Club and Those Popular Summer Pop Concerts Author: Kathleen C. Ridder Minnesota’s long, cold winters have provided a climate that encouraged the development of amateur and professional ice skaters of all types beginning with St. Paul’s Eddie and Roy Shipstad and Eddie’s partner, Oscar Johnson,…

Ramsey County History – Winter 1999: “‘300 Afro-American Performers:’ The Great Cuba Pageant of 1898: St. Paul’s Citizens Support the Struggle for Civil Rights”

Dave Riehle

‘300 Afro-American Performers:’ The Great Cuba Pageant of 1898: St. Paul’s Citizens Support the Struggle for Civil Rights Author: Dave Riehle In November 1898 the Twin Cities African-American community put on a grand show of patriotic enthusiasm, entitled “Cuba,” celebrating the U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War. Its cast of…