Community Voices
Looking back to 1887, when a Ramsey Co. sheriff killed a Black Minnesotan
On the evening of Sept. 27, 1887, Ramsey County Sheriff Fred Richter shot and killed Tim Graham in the basement of the county jail in downtown St. Paul.
Dave Kenney
Articles by this author:
Community Voices
The true scope of a pandemic only becomes clear after it’s over
Whatever the numbers tell us today about infections and fatalities, they almost certainly represent a significant undercount.
MNopedia
How snowmobiles launched Polaris into a nationally known company
Minnesota’s snowmobile industry was born in January 1956, when a mechanic named David Johnson assembled a prototype of a snow-going vehicle in the garage of Polaris Industries, a small machine shop in Roseau.
Community Voices
Mankato, 1971: Minnesota’s own monument-removal experience
Minnesotans would do well to remember what happened in our state just over a century ago.
MNopedia
Think Minnesota doesn’t have earthquakes? Think again
Glassware rattled. A paint can fell off a ladder. No one was hurt.
MNopedia
Yellow margarine was illegal in Minnesota until 1963
No state retained its anti-margarine laws longer than Minnesota.
MNopedia
Duck and cover: civil defense in Minnesota, 1950–1974
Minnesotans embraced civil defense measures invented during the Cold War as enthusiastically as citizens of any other state.
Minnesota Blog Cabin
Debut of the Minnesota Zoo Monorail, Apple Valley, Minnesota, 1979
The monorail debuted in September 1979, giving the “New Zoo” (which opened the year before) a touch of futuristic pizzazz.
Minnesota Blog Cabin
Dr. Jane Hodgson challenged Minnesota abortion restrictions
On April 29, 1970, Jane Hodgson, a respected St. Paul obstetrician, performed an abortion on a woman who had contracted rubella early in her pregnancy.
Minnesota Blog Cabin
July 1977: Kinney, MN secedes from the Union
The Iron Range town pulled the stunt to try to secure funding for its water system.
Minnesota Blog Cabin
Intrigue and violence on the Twin Cities food co-op scene
It may be hard to imagine from today’s perspective but Twin Cities food cooperatives were once rife with intrigue and occasional violence.
Minnesota Blog Cabin
1978: Minnesotan Pat Benedict makes the cover of TIME
TIME magazine could have chosen to put any number of rural Americans on its November 6, 1978, cover. But in the end, it went with Minnesota’s Pat Benedict.
Minnesota Blog Cabin
Jack Baker and Michael McConnell apply for marriage license in Minneapolis, 1970
On October 15, 1971, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the state’s prohibition of same-sex marriage.
