In 1914, miners often walked two miles from their homes in Alice, Minnesota, to their jobs in the iron mines of Hibbing, even during dangerous winters. Former driller and failing car salesman C. Eric Wickman changed that when he decided to use a Hupmobile to transport miners for a small fee: 15 cents for a one-way trip and 25 cents for a round trip. Wickman’s service became one of the earliest examples of intercity busing in the US and, fifteen years later, led to the establishment of the multimillion-dollar Greyhound Bus Corporation.

For women to earn wage income in the 1800s, they first had to overcome the conventional, and often legal, strictures that led to the saying, “a woman’s place is in the home.” In the early twentieth century, technological and economic change—as well as two world wars—transformed the industrial workplace, and much of daily life. In Minnesota and throughout the US, the women’s suffrage movement overlapped with these changes and helped the campaign for economic and social equality, including the right to work.

Dream of Wild Health is a regenerative farm in Hugo, Minnesota, that offers programs to restore the health and well-being of the Native American community in Minneapolis–St. Paul. Founded in 1998, it is one of the oldest Native-led non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities and has one of the largest Indigenous seed collections in the country.

The American Crystal Sugar Company evolved out of its predecessor, the American Beet Sugar Company, in 1934 to operate factories in Minnesota, Iowa, and Colorado. After the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association bought it in 1973, American Crystal moved its headquarters to Moorhead, Minnesota, and became the first farmer-owned sugar beet cooperative in the United States.

Penumbra Theatre is one of the premier legacy Black theaters in the United States, and one of the few founded during the Black Arts Movement that survived into the twenty-first century. Penumbra's plays examine universal themes rooted in the daily lives and perspectives of Black folks across a spectrum of African American theater ideologies.

Wards 1 and 3 in Northeast Minneapolis have been the center of the Twin Cities’ Ukrainian community since the late nineteenth century. Vibrant and long-lasting cultural institutions—including churches, Kramarczuk’s Sausage Company, and the Ukrainian American Community Center—have made Ukrainians in Northeast one of the city's most visible groups of European immigrants, in spite of their relatively small population.

Linda Z. Andrews founded Zenon Dance Company in early 1983 as the combination of her two pre-professional troupes, Rezone and Just Jazz Dancers. In its nearly four decades of operation, Zenon became one of the premier repertory dance companies in Minneapolis, performing on local, national, and international stages. After Zenon closed its doors in 2019 due to lack of funding, Zenon Dance School continued to operate out of its 1989 headquarters at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts.

The Minneapolis chapter of Up and Out of Poverty Now! was a highly visible organization created by and for the houseless community in the early 1990s. Although short-lived, Up and Out provided a voice for those without permanent housing and helped secure affordable options for those in need by using the radical tactic of occupying publicly owned buildings.

The Minnesota Valley Historical Society (MVHS) was formed in 1895 under the leadership of Charles D. Gilfillan to determine and mark sites significant to the US–Dakota War of 1862 in Redwood and Renville counties. MVHS was largely Gilfillan’s project. He founded it, was its principal leader during its most active period, and personally funded significant portions of its work. After his death in 1902, MVHS became much less active, and the group dissolved in 1915.

Mi Perú-Minnesota (Mi Perú-MN) is a non-profit organization that promotes Peruvian culture through folkloric dances and ethnic events. Founded in Minneapolis in 2017, the group strives to bridge Peruvian and Minnesotan cultures while contributing to the diversity within Minnesota’s Latinx population and society at large. Over the years, it has grown to become a multigenerational and multiethnic group with a presence as one of the primary Peruvian folkloric dance groups in Minnesota.