Catalog
History Revealed: Alvin Karpis and the Barker Gang
Deborah Frethem & Cynthia Schreiner SmithAlvin Karpis and the Barker Gang in Minnesota With Deborah Frethem & Cynthia Schreiner Smith History Revealed Program Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021 Video on YouTube In partnership with the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society From their home base in Minnesota, the Karpis-Barker…
Diesel Heart: An Autobiography
Reviewer: Mary Lethert WingerdDiesel Heart: An Autobiography Author: Melvin Whitfield Carter, Jr. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2019 256 pages; soft cover; 27 b&w photos; $17.95 Melvin Carter and I both grew up in Saint Paul in the 1950s and ’60s. But Carter’s hometown was a world away…
Ramsey County History – Winter 2018: “Terror Visits Fort Snelling: The 1940 Murder of Mary Jane Massey”
Steve LydonTerror Visits Fort Snelling: The 1940 Murder of Mary Jane Massey Author: Steve Lydon On the afternoon of July 13, 1940, thirteen-year-old Mary Jane Massey disappeared from the grounds of Fort Snelling, a quiet US Army base on the western outskirts of St. Paul. Mary Jane’s father…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2014: “Kisses in the Parks after Dark: Spooners in the News, 1921–1922”
Janice R. QuickKisses in the Parks after Dark: Spooners in the News, 1921–1922 Author: Janice R. Quick Author Janice Quick discusses the challenges that couples (spooners) faced when trying to find some privacy in the parks for hugging and kissing. The police were actually given orders to arrest such individuals who…
Ramsey County History – Winter 2013: “‘Cold Blooded Fraud:’ The White Bear Lake Sewer Project of 1926–1935”
James Lindner“Cold Blooded Fraud:” The White Bear Lake Sewer Project of 1926–1935 Author: James Lindner In the mid-1920s, the City of White Bear Lake occupied a relatively remote portion of Ramsey and Washington counties in Minnesota, but its population was growing and city leaders decided that they needed to replace…
Ramsey County History – Summer 2010: “A Saint Paul Chronicle: The Return of the ‘Black Maria'”
Maya J. BeechamA Saint Paul Chronicle: The Return of the “Black Maria” Author: Maya J. Beecham A short article based on an excerpt from a letter written by Bernard M. Schorn Jr. whose grandfather drove a “Black Maria.” This was a name given to the workforce vans that transported convicts from…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2008: “A Whirlwind of Crimes: The Crimes and Times of Wonnigkeit and Ermisch”
Janice R. QuickA Whirlwind of Crimes: The Crimes and Times of Wonnigkeit and Ermisch Author: Janice R. Quick The story of two friends who ran around together and ran afoul of the law together. Both were of German ancestry. They were first arrested for burglary in 1892 and were sentenced to…
Ramsey County History – Spring 2004: “‘High and Dry on a Sandstone Cliff:’ St. Paul and the Year of the Chicago and Rock Island’s Great Railroad Excursion”
Steve Trimble‘High and Dry on a Sandstone Cliff:’ St. Paul and the Year of the Chicago and Rock Island’s Great Railroad Excursion Author: Steve Trimble This article examines what St. Paul looked like in 1854 when the Great Railroad Excursion came to the city. St. Paul was part of the…
Ramsey County History – Fall 2003: “‘Laid to Rest by Strangers’ Hands’ Death in the Railroad Yards: The Century-old Mystery of a Beautiful Young Woman”
Susan C. Dowd‘Laid to Rest by Strangers’ Hands’ Death in the Railroad Yards: The Century-old Mystery of a Beautiful Young Woman Author Susan C. Dowd In the late evening on March 12, 1902, a young woman was run over by a train just west of the railway station at Dayton’s Bluff.