Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now

Minnesota History

This Black northern Minnesota inventor changed the world. Many Minnesotans don’t know him

This Black northern Minnesota inventor changed the world. Many Minnesotans don’t know him

Frederick McKinley Jones invented refrigerated shipping, allowing trucks and trains to move food worldwide. The self-taught engineer who lived in Hallock held dozens of patents that transformed America, yet Minnesotans might be hard-pressed to recognize his name.
by Dan Gunderson

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Twin Cities Green Book sites were touchstones for Black travelers in the segregation era

Twin Cities Green Book sites were touchstones for Black travelers in the segregation era

During the era of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, 87 locations in Minnesota were listed in the Green Book, which helped Black travelers find businesses that would serve them. But less than a quarter of these sites in Minnesota remain standing today.
by Nina Moini and Ellie Roth

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
From territory to today: Mapping Minnesota’s Black history

From territory to today: Mapping Minnesota’s Black history

In celebration of Black History Month in February, MPR News is highlighting Black history throughout the state. From a fur trader believed to be one of the first African descendants in a territory that is now Minnesota, to streets and parks renamed in 2024 after Black community leaders, these sites span the state and the centuries.
by Lisa Ryan, Elisabeth Gawthrop, Kyra Miles and MPR News Staff

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Mapping Prejudice Project granted access to Stearns County property records

Mapping Prejudice Project granted access to Stearns County property records

Stearns County commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the University of Minnesota Libraries so they could comb for racial covenants — clauses in property deeds that barred specific ethnic groups from owning homes or land.
by Cathy Wurzer and Gracie Stockton

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Alleged accomplice in ruby red slippers heist plans to plead guilty

Alleged accomplice in ruby red slippers heist plans to plead guilty

Jerry Hal Saliterman of Crystal, plans to plead guilty in federal court in Minneapolis on Jan. 10 for his alleged role in the infamous theft of a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.”
by Dan Kraker

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Newspaper archives reveal 'morbidity and tenderness' of historic Minneapolis morgue auctions

Newspaper archives reveal 'morbidity and tenderness' of historic Minneapolis morgue auctions

“The lesson is that there’s just no telling [where] our human curiosity and a kind of fascination with morbidity is going to lead us. But that goes hand in glove with empathy,” longtime CBC host William Richardson said.
by Cathy Wurzer, Gracie Stockton and Lukas Levin

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Prayers, songs greet Dakota Riders in Mankato 162 years after hangings

Prayers, songs greet Dakota Riders in Mankato 162 years after hangings

In a revival of a tradition which seemed to have ended two years ago, participants in not one but two Dakota Rides arrived in Mankato Thursday. The event commemorates 38 Dakota men hanged on the day after Christmas in 1862 following the U.S.-Dakota War, and two other Dakota men hanged later.
by Hannah Yang

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Pain, hope, history share the ride as Dakota Exiles commemorate Mankato hangings

Pain, hope, history share the ride as Dakota Exiles commemorate Mankato hangings

A nearly 300-mile journey ends in Mankato this week to mark the 161st anniversary of one of the grimmest chapters in Dakota history, the hanging of 38 men after the U.S.- Dakota War. Riders hope their work will bring more understanding of this history. 
by Allison Herrera

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Twenty years after first proposed, NewRange still vying to build Minnesota’s first copper mine

Twenty years after first proposed, NewRange still vying to build Minnesota’s first copper mine

Nearly 20 years after it was first proposed to state and federal regulators, the project formerly known as PolyMet Mining — now NewRange Copper Nickel — soldiers on, despite environmental groups’ contention that the project in its current form is dead.
by Dan Kraker

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
A sweet lesson: History museum teaches appreciation for buildings, design through gingerbread

A sweet lesson: History museum teaches appreciation for buildings, design through gingerbread

The Stearns History Museum sponsors community classes that aim to teach concepts of architecture and design using an unusual medium: gingerbread. Its organizers say if people know more about how buildings are put together, they’ll be able to better care for them and keep them in use.
by Kirsti Marohn

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!