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MNopedia

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

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African Americans in Minnesota

More than two centuries of social history, politics, and community building

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)

A scenic wilderness with thousands of lakes, canoe routes, hiking trails, and campsites

Mi Perú-Minnesota

A dance ensemble bridging Peru and Minnesota

Faribault, Pelagie (1783–1847)

The matriarch of an influential Anglo-Dakota family

Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater

The oldest prison in Minnesota

Moving through Minnesota: Transportation in the Land of Lakes

From sleds and snowshoes to airplanes and light rail

Exchange, Industry, and Adaptation: Economics in Minnesota

From subsistence and exchange to services and tech

Heart of the Earth Survival School

A Minneapolis school designed to nurture Native youth

Spotlight On African Americans

Intersection of Sixth and Minnesota Streets, St. Paul
Arrest of Cecelia Regina Gonzaga, 1885
Rev. Denzil A. Carty
Carty, Rev. Denzil A. (1904–1975)
Cooke, Marvel Jackson (1901–2000)
Image of Ida Dorsey’s bordello at 212 Eleventh Avenue South, Minneapolis. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, February 19, 2019. CC BY-SA 4.0
Dorsey, Ida (1866–1918)
Scan of a drawing of Joseph Godfrey, 1862. Drawing by Robert O. Sweeny.
Godfrey, Joseph (ca.1830–1909)
S. Edward Hall of St. Paul sitting for a portrait. ca. 1940.
Hall, S. Edward (1878–1975)
Anna Arnold Hedgeman, ca. 1950s. Used with the permission of Hamline University.
Hedgeman, Anna Arnold (1899–1990)
Photograph of Sheriff John Lyght, 1984
Lyght, John (1927–2010)
Black and white photograph of Ethel Ray (later Ethel Ray Nance), 1917. From the 1917 Duluth Central High School yearbook, Zenith.
Nance, Ethel Ray (1899–1992)
Gordon Parks
Parks, Gordon (1912–2006)
J. Otis Powell‽, ca. 2014. Photograph by Eric Lorberer.
Powell‽, J. Otis (1955–2017)
Prince performing “Purple Rain” at First Avenue, 1983.
Prince (1958–2016)
Harry Shepherd, 1906. Photo from the Appeal, August 18, 1906.
Shepherd, Harry (ca. 1854–?)
Black and white publicity photograph of Hilda Simms, c.1955.
Simms, Hilda (1918–1994)
Black and white photograph of Lena O. Smith, first female African American lawyer in Minnesota, undated.
Smith, Lena Olive (1885–1966)
Black and white photograph of Toni Stone meeting her idol, boxer Joe Louis, c.1949.
Stone, Marcenia Lyle (Toni), 1921–1996
See all spotlights


February 26

1853

Edward D. Neill obtains a charter for the Baldwin School, which would become St. Paul's Macalester College.

1857

Territorial delegate Henry M. Rice succeeds in lobbying Congress to pass the enabling act for the state of Minnesota. This act defines the state's boundaries and authorizes the establishment of a state government.

1857

Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation, the first Jewish organization in Minnesota, is formed in St. Paul.

1883

Hubbard County is organized and named for Lucius F. Hubbard, who served as governor from 1882 to 1886.

1985

Minneapolis native Prince sweeps the Grammy Awards as his soundtrack to Purple Rain earns awards for best soundtrack, best rock performance, and best R&B song.

Select a new date

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

Recently Added Articles

Edna Larrabee and Beulah Brunelle
Escape from Shakopee State Reformatory for Women, 1949

Edna Larrabee and Beulah Brunelle (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) escaped from Shakopee State Reformatory for Women five times between 1946 and 1949. Though most of the breakouts ended in their recapture within a few days, their fourth escape, in 1949, led to eight months of freedom and allowed the two women to live together as a couple while traveling around the United States.

Women at the March for Oromia in St. Paul, 2007
Oromos in Minnesota: The Making of Little Oromia

After Kenya, which supports about half a million native Oromos, the state of Minnesota has the largest population of Oromo people outside their homeland in Ethiopia. As a result, Oromo people worldwide know the Twin Cities as Little Oromia. The story of how the area came to earn this name is intertwined with Oromo culture, politics, migration, religious faith, and adaptation to life in the United States in the late twentieth century.

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