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Minnesota History

Remembering environmentalist Sigurd Olson, 40 years after his passing

Remembering environmentalist Sigurd Olson, 40 years after his passing

Forty years ago, on Jan. 13, 1982, environmentalist icon Sigurd Olson passed away in Ely, Minn. To remember Olson, host Cathy Wurzer was joined by biographer David Backes, who recalled how Olson changed his life.
by Cathy Wurzer and Alex Cheng

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Search for Indian boarding school records gets a boost

Search for Indian boarding school records gets a boost

A new collaboration between the federal government and a Minnesota nonprofit aims to make Indian boarding school records more accessible.
by Dan Gunderson

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'Christmas of Swing' honors WWII veterans through letters and song

'Christmas of Swing' honors WWII veterans through letters and song

The U.S. entered World War II 80 years ago this month, and as Americans in the military went out to fight, they sent back letters to friends and family filled with stories. Now, the History Theatre in St. Paul is bringing some of those stories together on stage, including four people from the north side of Minneapolis whose parts in the war effort were different, but very important.
by Ava Ewald

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Holiday nostalgia: Dayton's project hearkens back to window shopping

Holiday nostalgia: Dayton's project hearkens back to window shopping

The newly renovated Dayton’s building in downtown Minneapolis reopened to the public Thursday. While the department store is long gone, the project’s developers revived an old Dayton’s tradition, the holiday display windows.
by Matt Sepic

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Why a St. Paul church is making reparations for racial inequality

Why a St. Paul church is making reparations for racial inequality

A century ago, Pilgrim Lutheran Church was founded in Mac-Groveland, a white neighborhood of St. Paul, less than a mile from the home of a Black couple facing racist harassment and threats for moving to the neighborhood. Today, Pilgrim Lutheran is undertaking a reparations project. A parishioner told Cathy Wurzer why.
by Cathy Wurzer and Alex Cheng

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Why do we wear poppies on Veterans' Day? A Minnesotan established the tradition

Why do we wear poppies on Veterans' Day? A Minnesotan established the tradition

On Veterans' Day, you might see people wearing red paper poppies to honor service members. Randy Anderson, the director of the Faribault County Historical Society, told host Cathy Wurzer about the life of Dr. Helen Hughes Hielscher, the pioneering Minnesotan who established the poppy tradition a century ago.
by Cathy Wurzer and Alex Cheng

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We wear red poppies on Veterans Day because of this pioneering Minnesotan

On Veterans Day, you might see people wearing red paper poppies to honor service members. Randy Anderson, the director of the Faribault County Historical Society, told host Cathy Wurzer about the woman who established the poppy tradition a century ago.
by Cathy Wurzer

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Split Rock ceremony to remember Edmund Fitzgerald, crew on 46th anniversary of wreck

Split Rock ceremony to remember Edmund Fitzgerald, crew on 46th anniversary of wreck

A crowd is set to gather under forecast moody, gloomy skies along Minnesota’s North Shore on Wednesday afternoon for a memorial ceremony marking the 46th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
by Andrew Krueger

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