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On July 13th, 1984, Elmore was swarming with people. 

Secret service officers, a motorcade and hundreds of people were gathered on the sidewalks of this tiny farming community in south central Minnesota.

The crowds were there to welcome home the town’s most well-known son, Walter “Fritz” Mondale. 

Already a long-time U.S. senator and vice president to President Jimmy Carter, Mondale had also been named the Democratic party’s presidential nominee. 

That July day, he was home to introduce the crowd to his running mate: Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, a congresswoman from Queens, N.Y. 

He stood on the back porch of his childhood home and addressed the crowd. 

“This is a day full of memories and hopes for me,” he said. “In this home, I spent 10 of the happiest years of my life. I think I learned more, grew stronger there than any other possible place on earth. And to come back to my hometown with a magnificent choice for vice president, Geraldine Ferraro.” 

Mondale's pick of Ferraro made history because she was the first woman at the top of the ticket of a major political party. It opened doors for women to run for the highest office in the future. 

Today, the owners of this nearly 130-year-old-home want to register it on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Mondale’s visit with Ferraro in 1984 is the historical moment that makes the Mondale house special, because it reset expectations about what a presidential ticket could look like, said Josh Manske, whose family owns the house. 

But it’s also about what the house means to the town, he said. 

Like many rural communities, Elmore’s population has shrunk since Mondale lived there. The schools consolidated with nearby Blue Earth’s district years ago. Businesses that most communities take for granted have shuttered. 

He said listing the house on the National Register would help shine a light on the beauty of living in a small town.

"Greatness can come from anywhere,” he said. “You can be born here in Elmore, Minn., and have the opportunity to represent your country as a United States senator, as vice president of the United States and as the nominee of a major political party."

In their quest to list Mondale’s home on the National Register, Manske’s family has made improvements to the house. They recently updated the roof. They painted the exterior white with green trim to look just as it did in 1984. They’ve hired a consultant to help in the lengthy process. And even then, their application needs to be approved by state and federal officials. 

Mondale announces Ferraro as running mate

'I think she changed America'

Manske is a history and politics buff, so he doesn’t mind the work. But he's also a big Mondale fan. 

"The man's decency, just the respect that he had as a human being and what he represented,” he said. “If you wanted to talk about somebody that represented rural roots to your core, Mondale — he'd be the one."

The pick of Ferraro from a big city on the East Coast might at first have seemed out of sync with Mondale's rural roots. 

Not so, said Dave Hage, who helped Mondale write his book 

"The Good Fight: A Life in Liberal Politics.”

"By the time the Democratic Convention was over, he was way behind [Former President Ronald] Reagan in the poll, like 20 points behind,” said Hage. “He knew he had to make a dramatic gesture to get the attention of voters to sort of get back in the race, and he knew that choosing a woman would get people's attention, and it would motivate Democrats and progressives."

“He said, ‘My career is about opening doors, and here's another way for me to open doors,’” Hage said. “It was a symbolic gesture, but symbolic gestures have consequences. And he said, ‘You know, young girls all across America can see opportunity and hope and progress.’"

Mondale’s childhood home looks like every other house on East Mondale street. And it’s small — just shy of 1,400 square feet and with three bedrooms. Manske’s family bought it for some family members several years ago, said Manske’s aunt, Leah Paschke.

They’ve taken great pride in owning it, she said. 

“We all admire him quite a bit,” Paschke said, pointing to Mondale’s work on housing and equity as part of his legacy that she admires. “He really was very fond of his hometown and supported it and came back for events … He embodied integrity in politics, which is something difficult in our current time.”

But even though Mondale’s childhood home is nondescript, Mondale lore runs deep in Elmore. 

The old high school, which is now an assisted living facility, still bears his name. At the Elmore Museum, display cases are full of Mondale campaign hats, pins and souvenirs. His high school yearbook photograph is on display. 

Sue Dickson is on the museum’s board and has personal ties to the day Mondale arrived with Ferraro. She described standing on the sidewalk with her grandmother as the motorcade went by. 

“Walter goes by in his red Corvette convertible, and my grandma starts walking towards him,” she said. “Then, all of a sudden, the Secret Service are surrounding her, because she's walking up to the car. And he goes, ‘No, no, no, it's okay. She was my babysitter.’"

Dickson is also on the city council, and she said having the Mondale house listed on the National Register could bring welcome economic activity to the area that has seen steady decline in recent years. She’s optimistic that having the Mondale house on the registry would add momentum to attempts to revitalize the town. 

"With the town slowly kind of dying, we are reviving it. We now have a little grocery store, and we have a thrift store, a beauty shop that just opened up,” she said.

Manske said that if the house is listed, his family plans to hold Mondale-related events at the house and possibly offer tours of the home. He said his family hopes to learn this year if the house is listed. 

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Catharine Richert

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Former Vice President and U.S. Sen. Walter Mondale grew up in Elmore, just north of the Iowa border. Now, a few people want to put this tiny town on the map by listing Mondale's childhood home on the National Register of Historic Places.

In Elmore, an effort to keep the Mondale legacy alive

Jack Smith | AP 1984

AP Photo/Scott Stewart

Catharine Richert | MPR News

A display of items with Mondale's name and face.

In Elmore, an effort to keep the Mondale legacy alive

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