MN90: August Wilson: Shining a Light on Black Life

August Wilson (1945–2005) is among America’s most critically acclaimed playwrights. He penned several groundbreaking plays while living in St. Paul in the 1980s, including Pulitzer Prize winners Fences and The Piano Lesson. They are both part of Wilson’s magnum opus: a series of ten historical plays called the Pittsburgh Cycle. In the series, each decade of the twentieth century is represented through a play, exploring the cultural, spiritual, and daily lives of African Americans. MN90 producer Marisa Helms reports.

MN90: Chess on Ice

The sport of curling, according to Bemidji native and Olympian Cassie Potter mixes elements of golf, shuffleboard, chess, and bowling. MN90 Producer Andi McDaniel finds out why Minnesotans and others decided to combine all those games on ice.

MN90: Dr. Martha Ripley, an Early Champion for Women's Rights

Martha Ripley was a nurse by training when she moved to Minneapolis with her husband in 1883. Her expertise in medical care and her commitment to the rights of some of the city's destitute young mothers led to her to open a hospital dedicated to their care. Allison Herrera tells us about her remarkable life.

MN90: Eliza Winston's Case for Freedom

Britt Aamodt tells the story of Eliza Winston and her suit for freedom in Minnesota.

MN90: F. Scott Fitzgerald — the voice of his generation

St. Paulite F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of America’s greatest authors. MN90 producer Marisa Helms speaks with Minnesota writer Patricia Hampl who says though Fitzgerald’s reputation was solidified in more glamorous places like New York and Europe, Fitzgerald always had a romance with the Midwest, and his Midwest was St. Paul.

MN90: Fiddler on a Chanhassen Roof

The not-so tiny town of Chanhassen, Minnesota is home to one of the longest running dinner theater's in the country. It began when Herbert and Carolyn Bloomberg, both lovers of Broadway shows, asked themselves, " Wouldn't it be nice to have a little bit of Broadway in Chanhassen?" Now, four decades and over ten million visitors later, the rest is history. Allison Herrera tells us about the Chanhassen Dinner Theater.

MN90: Freedom Ride

Claire O'Connor was a freshman at the University of Minnesota in June 1961, when she took a Greyhound bus into the heart of Jim Crow. The Freedom Rider shares her story with Britt Aamodt.

MN90: From Grand Marais to Paris

George Morrison had an art career that spanned several decades and two continents. He taught at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and studied abroad for several years. But he always came back to Minnesota’s North Shore. Producer Allison Herrera explores the world of one of Minnesota’ s most important artists.

MN90: George Bonga: Minnesota's First Fur Trader

Half black, half Ojibwe, George Bonga was the first person of African descent born in what was then the territory of Minnesota in 1802. He was a fur trader and a treaty translator that forged vital relationships with both Europeans and Native Americans. Allison Herrera tells us more about his important role in Minnesota history.

MN90: Hello from Minnesota, Herr Hitler

August 1933, Charles Fremont Dight, Minnesota physician and founder of the Minnesota Eugenics Society, was tapping out a letter of congratulations. His recipient? Germany’s new chancellor, Adolf Hitler. MN90's Britt Aamodt reports.

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