A Remembrance
1921-2006

Virginia Brainard Kunz, editor of Ramsey County History for more than forty years, died on January 7, 2006, in Minneapolis. Members and supporters of the Ramsey County Historical Society will miss Virginia’s deft editorial hand, her nearly encyclopedic knowledge of St. Paul history, and her talent as a writer.

            Born in 1921 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Virginia graduated from Iowa State University in 194X with a degree in journalism. Shortly thereafter the Minneapolis Tribune hired Virginia. Her early work with the newspaper involved cropping and sizing photos for news stories, writing short articles, and crafting headlines. These skills would serve her well when in 1962 she became the Ramsey County Historical Society’s executive secretary. Two years later, Virginia founded Ramsey County History. At the time the Society’s magazine came out twice a year. It expanded to quarterly publication in 1989. In 1973 the Society made Virginia its executive director, a position she held until her retirement in 1989.

During her tenure as executive director, Virginia oversaw the Society’s move from offices at the Gibbs Farm Museum (now the Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakota Life) in Falcon Heights to larger quarters in the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. In the 1970s she was one of a number of civic-minded leaders who were involved in persuading St. Paul and Ramsey County officials to restore the old Federal Courts Building and convert it to the Landmark Center. A skilled manager, Virginia also oversaw the growth of the Society from operating two afternoons a week on an annual budget of $10,000 to more than 1,200 members and a budget that exceeded $500,000 at the time of her retirement.

In addition to all the responsibilities she had as executive director of the Society, Virginia found time to write fifteen books, three of which were histories of St. Paul. Her two best-known books are probably St. Paul: Saga of an American City (1980) and St. Paul: First 150 Years (1991), but she also authored a number of corporate and institutional histories. Virginia’s last book, ‘Bought 2 Horses & a Wagon’: The Story of the Murphy Companies, was published by the Society in late 2004.    

Leaving Landmark Center in 1989, Virginia took her duties as editor of Ramsey County History with her. She edited the magazine from her home and kept in touch with authors, Society members, staff personnel, and her many contacts in journalism and local history via the telephone, mail, e-mail, and frequent meetings. During her long run as editor, Virginia also wrote many articles for the magazine. These included extended biographical profiles of local leaders Richard C. Lilly, Lucius P. Ordway, and I. A. O’Shaughnessy.

As editor, Virginia strived to make sure that contributors to the magazine got their facts correct. She also wanted to publish history that told a good story. This attitude reflected her training as a journalist. Its importance came through in the positive feedback about the magazine that the Society received from readers over the years. Twice during her years as editor, Ramsey County History earned an award for excellence from the American Association for State and Local History.

Virginia evaluated potential articles on the merit of their content and value as historical research. Thus she fostered an open approach to new or different topics in local history. Many of the authors who worked with Virginia stayed in touch with her even if they were no longer actively practicing their craft. They would often tell her of other historians she might like to contact on behalf of the magazine or share an idea or suggestion for a future article that would appeal to the magazine’s readers. In the words of Mary Lethert Wingerd, one of today’s foremost historians of St. Paul, Virginia “was a master at making our history accessible to the public.” Virginia was actively working on the Winter 2006 issue in which this remembrance appears when she fell ill just over a week before her death.

Virginia is survived by a daughter and a son and four grandchildren. Her family has indicated that memorials to Virginia are preferred to the Ramsey County Historical Society. The Society’s Board of Directors is currently considering how it can permanently honor Virginia’s long service to the Society, to the community, and to history.

                                                                                    J. M. L.