Black and white photograph of miners in the pit of the Tower-Soudan mine, 1890.

Tower-Soudan mine

Miners in the pit of the Tower-Soudan mine, 1890.

Immigration to the Iron Range, 1880–1930

During the early twentieth century, the population of the Iron Range was among the most ethnically diverse in Minnesota. Tens of thousands of immigrants arrived from Finland, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Canada, England, and over thirty other places of origin. These immigrants mined the ore that made the Iron Range famous and built its communities.

Black and white photograph of the exterior of Fisher’s Barber Shop splashed with red paint, c.1940s.

Fisher’s Barber Shop

The exterior of Fisher’s Barber Shop splashed with red paint, c.1940s. During this period, shops perceived as communist—especially those allied with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)—were vandalized with red paint.

Black and white photograph of Governor Elmer Benson signing a barbers’ fair trade bill. Photograph by the St. Paul Daily News, 1937.

Elmer Benson signs barbers’ fair trade bill

Governor Elmer Benson signs a barbers’ fair trade bill. Photograph by the St. Paul Daily News, 1937.

Cover of the March 18 1918 edition (vol. XIV, no. 2) of the <em>Journeyman Barber</em>, the national newsletter of the Journeymen Barbers International Union (JBIU).

Cover of the "Journeyman Barber"

Cover of the March 18 1918 edition (vol. XIV, no. 2) of the Journeyman Barber, the national newsletter of the Journeymen Barbers International Union (JBIU).

Black and white photograph of African American barber Prince Honeycutt in his Fergus Falls shop, c.1900.

Prince Honeycutt in his Fergus Falls shop

African American barber Prince Honeycutt in his Fergus Falls shop, c.1900.

Journeymen Barbers in Minnesota

Journeymen barbers were skilled craftsmen whose labor organizations helped shape the barbers’ trade in Minnesota. Politically active from their first arrival, they allied themselves with third-party movements after World War I. Shopping mall barbershops, consumer choices, and lost union membership led to organizational decline in the 1970s.

Black and white photograph of the funeral of Henry Ness, a striker killed during the strike, in front of strike headquarters at 215 South Eighth Street, Minneapolis, 1934.

Funeral of Henry Ness

Funeral of Henry Ness, a striker killed during the strike, in front of strike headquarters at 215 South Eighth Street, Minneapolis, 1934.

Black and white photograph of Minnesota National Guard at the truck drivers' strike, Minneapolis, 1934.

National Guard at truckers’ srike

Minnesota National Guard at the truck drivers' strike, Minneapolis, 1934.

Black and white photograph of police with guns on a Minneapolis street during the strike, 1934.

Police with guns during the truckers’ strike

Police with guns on a Minneapolis street during the strike, 1934.

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