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MNopedia

A resource for reliable information about significant people, places, events, and things in Minnesota history.

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Women Industrial Workers in the Twin Cities, 1860s–1945

Disproving the saying, "A woman's place is in the home"

Minneapolis Teachers' Strike, 1970

A turning point in Minnesota's labor history

Minnesota State Flag

The changing face of a familiar state symbol

Dream of Wild Health

One of the oldest Native-led non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities

Children’s Preventorium of Ramsey County

The only institution of its kind to operate in Minnesota

Highway 61 in Minnesota

A vital transportation channel along the state’s eastern corridor

Swift and Company ICE raids, 2006

The federal immigration raids that reached into southern Minnesota

Jun Fujita Cabin, Rainy Lake

A St. Louis County hideaway built by a famous photographer

White Earth Land Recovery Project

A project based in the White Earth Reservation of Ojibwe

Spotlight On Landmarks

Colorized postcard of the Duluth Armory, c.1920.
Duluth Armory
Foshay Tower
Foshay Tower
Color image of Schott Barn with its roof intact, c.1985.
Frank Schott Barn, Stevens County
Glensheen, 2015.
Glensheen Historic Estate
Bird’s-eye view of the reconstructed Grand Lodge on Grand Portage Bay
Grand Portage National Monument
Beltrami County History Museum (Old Great Northern Depot, Bemidji)
Great Northern Depot, Bemidji
Highland Park Water Tower, 2018
Highland Park Water Tower, St. Paul
Color image of the Hopperstad Stave Church Replica, 2011. Photograph by Flickr user Steve Borsch.
Hopperstad Stave Church Replica, Moorhead
Jun Fujita’s cabin
Jun Fujita Cabin, Rainy Lake
Color image of the Minnesota Building, 2009.
Minnesota Building, St. Paul
Color image of a pipe quarry pit, Pipestone National Monument, 2009. Photograph by the National Park Service.
Pipestone Quarry
Prospect Park Water Tower, Minneapolis
Prospect Park Water Tower, Minneapolis
Color image of the Round Tower at Historic Fort Snelling, 2010. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user Jonathunder.
Round Tower, Fort Snelling
Exterior view of the Socialist Opera building in Virginia, Minnesota.
Socialist Opera House, Virginia
Color photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse, c.2000
Split Rock Lighthouse
Color image of the Winona Masonic Temple, c.1998.
Winona Masonic Temple
See all spotlights


September 21

1805

Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, reaching the mouth of the Mni Sota Wakpa (Minnesota River), stops at Wita Tanka (later called Pike Island after him) and raises the Stars and Stripes inside present-day Minnesota for the first time.

1836

Fur trader Alexander Faribault, a son of Pelagie Faribault, contracts with mason Michel Le Laire to build a house in Mendota.

Select a new date

From The Minnesota Book of Days (Minnesota Historical Society Press).

Recently Added Articles

Minnesota State Seal
Minnesota State Seal

The Great Seal of Minnesota was created by men who tied their fortunes to the progress (as they defined it) and settlement of the state, often at the expense of Native Americans. Since the late 1960s, critics of the seal have argued that its imagery reflects an anti-Native American bias. Recent calls to change the seal’s design have sparked new conversations about the symbols that best represent twenty-first century Minnesota.

Virginia Lane in uniform
Frazier, Virginia Lane (1921–2012)

Virginia Lane Frazier was one of the first Black US Army’s Women’s Corps (WAC) soldiers to enlist in Minnesota during World War II. She served with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, a unit made up entirely of Black women that was stationed in England between February and November of 1945. The battalion won praise for clearing a backlog of mail that provided solace to American soldiers in combat.

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Made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.
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