Ramsey County History Spring 2025

Ramsey County History Spring 2025

Volume 60, No. 2: Spring 2025

Chia Youyee Vang, PhD, Janice R. Quick, Pete Boulay

Link to download PDF of full Ramsey County History Spring 2025

Articles in this issue:

Reflections from the 1.5 Generation

Fifty Years of Hmong Lives in Ramsey County

Author: Chia Youyee Vang, PhD

Dr. Chia Youyee Vang shares her first-person recollections as a part of the Hmong diaspora and what has come to be known as the 1.5 generation. The article highlights the amazing accomplishments and contributions of Hmong people to the Ramsey County community. Included are stories and photos from Lee Pao Xiong and MayKao Y. Hang, DPA.

Feather Frenzy

Three Extraordinary Years in St. Paul Millinery: 1908, 1909, 1911

Author: Janice R. Quick

Fashion, feathers, and the future. This article discusses the millinery trends in St. Paul in the early 1900s, and a heist which sought to profit off of these extravagant designs.

“First Show at Dusk”

A History of Drive-in Movie Theaters in Ramsey County

Author: Pete Boulay

At the midcentury, the drive-in movie theater was more than just a place to catch the latest film—it was a cultural touchstone and a communal gathering place for a whole generation of young people across America. In his article “First Show at Dusk,” Pete Boulay tells the story of the three drive-in movie theaters that once sat in Ramsey County: The Rose in Roseville (known when the theater opened in 1948 as Rose Township); the Minnehaha, which opened in Maplewood in 1949; and the Maple Leaf, which was the last to open (in 1959) and the last in the county to close in 1994.

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