The American Indian Center in Minneapolis (1530 Franklin Avenue East), 1980.

People without housing wait outside to enter the House of Charity at 714 Park Avenue in Minneapolis. Photo by Jean Pieri, 1981.

A person without housing sleeping in an abandoned building in Minneapolis. Photo by Minneapolis Star photographer Stormi Greener taken on December 11, 1981. From box 478 of the Minneapolis and St. Paul newspaper negatives collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Two people without housing sleeping under an I-94 overpass in Minneapolis. Photo by Mitch Kezor taken on November 11, 1981. Published with Jeff Brown, “Welfare—the Safety Net Slips: Number of Homeless Rises as Public Assistance Falls Short,” Minneapolis Star, November 13, 1981, 1. Original caption: “Crevices beneath I-94 overpass near Hennepin Avenue provided sleeping space for persons who have made the place home.” From box 477 of the Minneapolis and St. Paul newspaper negatives collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

Photo by Earl Seubert taken in Minneapolis on July 1, 1981—the same day that 9,000 Minnesotans lost their eligibility for General Assistance (GA). A similar version of the image was published without an accompanying article in the Minneapolis Tribune on July 2, 1981, 6B. Original caption: “Indians Hold ‘Housing Reality Day’ rally: About seventy-five Indians marched from the Little Earth of United Tribes housing project, 25th St. and Cedar Av. S., to the Hennepin County Government Center Wednesday to protest housing conditions in Minneapolis. The protesters claimed there was a lack of affordable housing in the city and called on city officials to support rent control, a moratorium on condominium conversion, an end to discrimination in renting to families with children and funding for independent tenants’ organizations.” From box 474 of the Minneapolis and St. Paul newspaper negatives collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

People without housing in St. Stephen’s Church, Minneapolis. Photo by Minneapolis Tribune photographer Mike Zerby taken on July 2, 1982. From box 485 of the Minneapolis and St. Paul newspaper negatives collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. Original caption: “Men, women and children share sleeping quarters at St. Stephen’s; curtains separate the men’s and women’s sections.” Published with “Church Gathers in the Poor, But Its Neighbors Worry,” Peg Meier, Minneapolis Tribune, July 10, 1982, 1B.

The Bessesen Building (224 South Broadway Avenue, Albert Lea, originally used as the Bessesen Opera House) and surrounding buildings. Photograph by Titian Butash, July 30, 2024.

Fountain Lake Park, Albert Lea. Photograph by Titian Butash, July 30, 2024.