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Ramsey County History Fall 2024

John W. Diers, Jim McCartney, Adam Bledsoe

Ramsey County History Fall 2024 Volume 59, No. 4: Fall 2024 John W. Diers, Jim McCartney, Adam Bledsoe Link to download PDF of full Ramsey County History Fall 2024   Articles in this issue: Growing Up on the Empire Builder Author: John W. Diers John W. Diers’…

Clarence Hathaway: Civil Rights Pioneer

Jim McCartney

Although civil rights activists have, at times, been falsely accused of being communist, some Communist Party members, including Clarence Hathaway, did help advance the American civil rights movement. In the 1930s and ’40s, the Communist Party was prominent in the fight for racial equality in the American South, specifically Alabama,…

The Everyday Activism of the North Central Voters League in St. Paul

Adam Bledsoe

North Central Voters League President Raymond Hill did not mince words when it came to addressing disparities in St. Paul’s Black community. The NCVL first met at the Gopher Elks Lodge at 559 Carroll Avenue before moving to a building on Iglehart. Photograph by Dwight Miller, in Minneapolis Star, December…

Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love

Reviewed by Anne Cowie

Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love Marlene M. Johnson Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2024 248 pages; cloth/jacket, 15 b&w plates, $24.95   Marlene Johnson came to leadership early. When she was just thirty-seven, she became Minnesota’s first woman lieutenant governor, assuming that position…

Ramsey County History Summer 2024

Haley Prochnow, Cherelle Swain, Christine Podas-Larson

Volume 59, Number 3: Summer 2024 Link to download PDF of full Ramsey County History Summer 2024 Articles in this issue: Rondo Recreation in the St. Croix River Valley, 1909-1977 Author: Haley Prochnow For some Minnesotans with a little extra disposable income, “summertime” can translate to “cabin time.”…

Rondo Recreation in the St. Croix River Valley, 1909-1977

Haley Prochnow

The Silverbrook Estate/St. Croix Valley Country Club. Courtesy of Interstate State Park. By Haley Prochnow To see this complete magazine article with endnotes and additional images, please view the PDF version. The thermostat is set at 55°F during the winter in the Baker Land and Title Company…

March of the Governors: Al Quie

Paul Nelson and Tom O'Connell

Albert H. Quie (1923-2023) left a safe seat in Congress after twenty years to run for governor in 1978. In that, his timing was good. He rode around the “Minnesota Massacre” and into office as the state’s thirty-fifth governor along with fellow Republicans Dave Durenberger and Rudy Boschwitz, who were…

March of the Governors: Wendell Anderson

Ken Peterson and Paul Nelson

March of the Governors, Governor #33 Wendell Anderson (Series Podcast #36) Before an ignominious electoral end, Wendell “Wendy” Anderson was one of Minnesota’s most significant and popular governors. Born and raised on St. Paul’s East Side, he had been an Olympic hockey…

Whiteness in Plain View Discussion

Chad Montrie & James Curry

Whiteness in Plain View: A Discussion Chad Montrie & James Curry History Revealed Series Program Date: Thursday, August 10, 2023 Video on YouTube In partnership with the East Side Freedom Library and Ramsey County Libraries. Discussion with James Curry and the…