Catalog
Diesel Heart: An Autobiography
Reviewer: Mary Lethert WingerdDiesel Heart: An Autobiography Author: Melvin Whitfield Carter, Jr. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2019 256 pages; soft cover; 27 b&w photos; $17.95 Melvin Carter and I both grew up in Saint Paul in the 1950s and ’60s. But Carter’s hometown was a world away…
Ramsey County History – Fall 2007: “Growing Up in St. Paul: Frogtown’s Arundel Street”
James R. BrownGrowing Up in St. Paul: Frogtown’s Arundel Street Author: James R. Brown Driving through his old neighborhood brought back memories to James Brown, especially while he was looking at the Edmund Street home where he lived in the 1920 and ‘30s. One of his recollections was about climbing up…
Ramsey County History – Fall 2006: “Memories of Frogtown in the 1930s”
James R. BrownMemories of Frogtown in the 1930s Author: James R. Brown Poet and playwright James Brown relates vignettes of the life of his family in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood during the 1930s. It was a community that was a mixture of public schools, churches, bars, and gambling houses, with a…
Ramsey County History – Winter 2006: “Rabies Scare in St. Paul ‘Mad Dog on the Loose.’ Panic Prevails as Fear Rips through the City in 1910”
Susan DowdRabies Scare in St. Paul ‘Mad Dog on the Loose.’ Panic Prevails as Fear Rips through the City in 1910 Author: Susan Dowd A short article that looks at two weeks of fear that began in St. Paul on April 13, 1901. On that day, a dog was reported…
Ramsey County History – Fall 2004: “The Rondo Oral History Project Kathryn Coram Gagnon: Operettas, Dances, Parties, and a Growing Love of Music”
Kate CavettThe 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 CavettThe 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 – Winter 2002: “A Memoir: Jimmy Griffin, St. Paul’s First Black Deputy Police Chief, Remembers His First Years on the Force”
Jimmy Griffin with Kwame J.C. McDonaldA Memoir: Jimmy Griffin, St. Paul’s First Black Deputy Police Chief, Remembers His First Years on the Force Author: Jimmy Griffin with Kwame J.C. McDonald In this excerpt from his autobiography, Jimmy Griffin, one of St. Paul’s best-remembered police officers, tells some of his stories. Born in 1906, Griffin grew…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1993: “Growing Up in St. Paul: Looking Back at the Black Community—Part II”
David V. TaylorGrowing Up in St. Paul: Looking Back at the Black Community—Part II Author David V. Taylor The author, historian and former Dean of the General College at the University of Minnesota, was born in St. Paul in 1945. This memoir recounts his childhood in a close-knit, socially conservative community; Maxfield…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1988: “The Guild of Catholic Women and Their ‘Constant Efforts To Brighten Lives’”
Virginia Brainard KunzThe Guild of Catholic Women and Their ‘Constant Efforts To Brighten Lives’ Author: Virginia Brainard Kunz “The 20th century’s great social movements—suffrage, social service, prohibition and temperance—were reflected in the work of St. Paul’s women,” according to the author. One of the institutions formed in this period of social…