When Anna Salzer died while a patient at Rochester State Hospital in 1897, her death was first reported as the result of heart failure after a twelve-hour illness. Later, the cause of death was changed to pneumonia. But another patient, Lydia B. Angier, reported details about Salzer’s death to officials, writing that “every day I saw her abused—shoved about—and on the last day actually kicked.” The incident reveals how abuse contributed to excess mortality among patients confined to insane hospitals at the turn of the twentieth century.

The Civic Caucus is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization that serves as a forum for citizens to learn, analyze, and debate critical public issues in Minnesota. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Minneapolis, the caucus has conducted nearly 600 interviews with civic and business leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, elected officials, researchers, academics, and other thought leaders from Minnesota and around the United States to glean their expert knowledge on policy challenges.

Frontenac State Park stretches over 2,600 acres along the widening of the Mississippi River known as Lake Pepin. The park is located in Goodhue County on the Mississippi Flyway, one of four major migratory bird routes in North America. With more than 260 bird species recorded within its boundaries, the park is a prime destination for Minnesota birders.

In the winter of 1981–1982, a severe homelessness crisis prompted ten Minneapolis churches and community organizations to open their doors as emergency shelters. The city’s large-scale response was an example of public–private collaboration that got people safely indoors. It was also Minnesota’s first contribution to the nationwide homeless shelter movement.

The battle flag of the Twenty-eighth Virginia Infantry Regiment was captured by the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. The storied Confederate banner has remained in St. Paul continuously since 1886, despite numerous requests to return it to its state of origin.

Christopher Columbus (C. C.) Andrews was a Minnesota lawyer and publisher known for his military service in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas during the Civil War. After working as an international diplomat in the 1870s and 80s, he embarked on a second career as a pioneer of scientific forestry and Minnesota's first chief fire warden. His work led to the creation of the two national forests in Minnesota and a state forest named in his honor.

A migratory diver of the loon family, the common loon (Gavia immer) has been important to people living in the Great Lakes region for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Its striking calls and black-and-white summer plumage have made it an emblem of Minnesota, where more of the birds live than in any other state except Alaska. The loon became Minnesota’s state bird in 1961.

The Vietnamese Catholic community at St. Adalbert Church in St. Paul (265 Charles Avenue) began growing in 1990, after Father Tim Kernan sponsored two Vietnamese families. Between 1990 and 2003, that community flourished due to increased immigration, a strong sense of faith, and the desire to maintain Vietnamese heritage in the youth born in Minnesota.

The original Commercial Historic District of the City of Albert Lea consisted of three square blocks of forty-eight structures built between 1874 and 1928. Featuring iconic examples of American architecture in a variety of styles, including Beaux Arts, Classic Revival, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, and Craftsman, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. Sixty-four additional properties added in 2004 extended its period of significance to 1953.

Dr. Roland Dille was the longest-serving president of what is now Minnesota State University Moorhead, from 1968 to 1994. While shepherding the campus through tumultuous years of Vietnam War protests, racial tensions, and other controversial issues, he earned the respect of his campus community and helped the university grow to its peak enrollment in 1990.