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Minnesota History

40 years ago, massive Thanksgiving fire destroyed a block of downtown Minneapolis

40 years ago, massive Thanksgiving fire destroyed a block of downtown Minneapolis

It started late on Thanksgiving Day, 1982 — Nov. 25, to be exact. Forty years ago. Flames erupted from the vacant former Donaldson's Department Store building in downtown Minneapolis and quickly spread to the adjacent 16-story Northwestern National Bank building.
by Tim Nelson

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'The woman of the century': Nellie Stone Johnson honored with Minnesota Capitol statue

'The woman of the century': Nellie Stone Johnson honored with Minnesota Capitol statue

Minnesota policymakers and labor leaders on Monday unveiled the first Capitol statue to depict a female figure in history. And they remembered Nellie Stone Johnson for her coalition-building and influence shaping the current-day DFL Party.
by Dana Ferguson

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Split Rock’s beacon will shine to mark Edmund Fitzgerald anniversary

Split Rock’s beacon will shine to mark Edmund Fitzgerald anniversary

Today — Nov. 10 — is the 47th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in a Lake Superior storm. Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North Shore will mark the anniversary with its annual ceremony.
by Tim Nelson

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Olmsted County's creepy dolls are back — and they know what you did last summer

Olmsted County's creepy dolls are back — and they know what you did last summer

Since 2019, the History Center of Olmsted County in Rochester has been getting Halloween fans in the spirit of the season with its Creepy Doll contest and exhibit. The dolls are out, and polls are open now for most disturbing specimen of 2022.
by Cathy Wurzer, Britt Aamodt and Sam Stroozas

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Parks officials say historic Minneapolis home gutted by fire can still be saved

Parks officials say historic Minneapolis home gutted by fire can still be saved

The John H. Stevens House in Minneapolis has now apparently survived not only 170 years of Minnesota weather, but also repeated attempts to burn it down where it stands in wooded parkland at Minnehaha Falls Regional Park. 
by Tim Nelson

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New London woman wants name change for Sibley State Park

New London woman wants name change for Sibley State Park

Former naturalist Kelsey Olson doesn’t believe Minnesota’s first governor and military leader during the U.S.-Dakota War deserves to be the public park’s namesake.
by Kirsti Marohn

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A conversation with the new curator of U of M's LGBTQ archive library

A conversation with the new curator of U of M's LGBTQ archive library

A few decades ago, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter in Little Falls, Minn., started collecting documents and objects related to LGBT culture and communities. They were concerned those artifacts might be lost to history and with them an understanding of the history of LGBT communities.
by Melissa Townsend, Britt Aamodt and Sam Stroozas

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