Health and Medicine | Page 39

Crispus Attucks Home, St. Paul

In 1910 there were over sixty orphanages and homes for the aged operated by and for African Americans in the United States. Minnesota had one of them: St. Paul's Crispus Attucks Home. The home was named for the African American patriot killed in the Boston Massacre of 1770. It served the community for six decades, beginning in 1906 during the Jim Crow era and ending in 1966 at the peak of the civil rights movement.

MN90: Opening the Era of Open Heart Surgery

For most of history, the human heart was off limits to medicine. The first closed heart surgery began in the 1940’s. In the 1950’s, a pair of physicians who worked in mobile surgical units of World War II discovered that open heart surgery could be an option.

MN90: The Citizens League

What makes Minnesota unique? The lakes, the weather...and the Minnesota Citizen's League. For over 60 years, the Minnesota Citizens League has helped tackle some of the toughest problems in the state. MN90 producer Allison Herrera tells us more about this influential organization.

World War II K-ration issued to Minnesota soldier

World War II K-ration (supper variety) issued to Wendal Jerome Kulenkamp (1917–1998). Kulenkamp was in service between 1941 and 1944.

Richard DeWall

Photograph of Richard DeWall. From the Pioneers of the Medical Device Industry in Minnesota Oral History Project.

Earl Bakken

Photograph of Earl Bakken. From the Pioneers of the Medical Device Industry in Minnesota Oral History Project.

C. Walton Lillehei

Photograph of C. Walton Lillehei. From the Pioneers of the Medical Device Industry in Minnesota Oral History Project.

Lillehei, C. Walton (1918–1999)

Dr. C. Walton Lillehei was a world-famous professor of surgery at the University of Minnesota and an innovator in the field of open-heart surgery. He participated in the world's first successful open-heart operation, developed techniques and devices that made open-heart surgery more successful, and pioneered the use of pacemakers and artificial heart valves.