People of Minnesota

While making up a smaller percentage of Minnesota's population compared to national averages, African Americans have had a profound influence on the history and culture of the state from its earliest days to the present. Author David Taylor chronicles the rich history of Blacks in the state through careful analysis of census and housing records, newspaper records, and first-person accounts. He recounts the triumphs and struggles of African Americans in Minnesota over the past 200 years in a clear and concise narrative. Major themes covered include settlement by Blacks during the territorial and early statehood periods; the development of urban Black communities in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth; Blacks in rural areas; the emergence of Black community organizations and leaders in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; and Black communities in transition during the turbulent last half of the twentieth century. Taylor also introduces influential and notable African Americans: George Bonga, the first African American born in the region during the fur trade era; Harriet and Dred Scott, whose two-year residence at Fort Snelling in the 1830s later led to a famous, though unsuccessful, legal challenge to the institution of slavery; John Quincy Adams, publisher of the state's first Black newspaper; Fredrick L. McGhee, the state's first Black lawyer; community leaders, politicians, and civil servants including James Griffin, Sharon Sayles Belton, Alan Page, Jean Harris, and Dr. Richard Green; and nationally influential artists including August Wilson, Lou Bellamy, Prince, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis. African Americans in Minnesota is the fourth book in The People of Minnesota, a series dedicated to telling the history of the state through the stories of its ethnic groups in accessible and illustrated volumes.

From the colorful supermercados of St. Paul's West Side to the rural communities of the Red River Valley, Mexican Americans have left an indelible mark on Minnesota's landscape. As one of the state's fastest-growing ethnic groups, Mexican Americans have been part of Minnesota's history since the early years of the last century. The history of Mexicans in the Midwest has been, more than any other group of immigrants, a history of working-class people. Railroads, heavy industry, meat packing, and sugar beet production all offered jobs for Mexicans who first came to the region not in search of a better life and permanent homes, but to work. Welcomed as migrant workers even as they were shunned for being different from the state's dominant Northern European ethnic groups, Mexican Americans have grown deep roots in the state's urban neighborhoods and rural towns. They have sustained a wide range of community, religious, and cultural institutions and introduced traditional foods and conjunto music to their new communities. Author Dionicio Valdés discusses the struggles that these immigrants-particularly migrant workers-have faced in making Minnesota their home. He highlights an unprecedented feature of the late twentieth century, the growth of barrios and colonias in communities outside the metropolitan area.

No ethnic group is so identified with a single state as the Swedes are with Minnesota. From before statehood, Swedish immigrants flooded into the small frontier towns of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Encouraged by agents who promised inexpensive and fertile farmland, they came by the thousands. By the turn of the twentieth century, over 126,000 Swedes lived in Minnesota-and their impact on everything in the state continues to today. In this concise history of Swedes in Minnesota, the newest addition to The People of Minnesota series, Anne Gillespie Lewis tells the rich history of this ethnic group in the state they would make their own. Swedes in Minnesota recounts the story of the great Swedish migration through numbers-in the census reports and settlement patterns. It also tells the story through the cultural institutions Swedes founded-the churches, schools, and lodges, the Swedish-language newspapers and businesses, the neighborhoods and the associations. But mostly this book tells the story through the people: the anecdotes, letters, and interviews from the immigrants themselves and from their grandchildren. For the many Minnesotans of Swedish ancestry, Lewis provides a remarkably concise portrait of an ethnic group striving to become American while struggling to maintain its ties to tradition.

The first Finnish immigrants arrived in Red Wing in 1864, the vanguard of thousands who eventually and resolutely placed Minnesota second among the states in terms of Finnish population. Today we may recognize Minnesota's "Finnishness" in the popular sauna, in the characteristic tenacity known as sisu, or in place names and cultural markers that link to homeland. The newest contribution to the People of Minnesota series traces the Finns' migration to the state, particularly its northeastern region; their log construction techniques, including dovetail notching; and their ethnic organizations, from religious to political to fraternal. Colorful sidebars enliven the narrative, highlighting such topics as "Finglish," New World legends, and the 1920s Olympic competitors in track and field known as the "Flying Finns."A separate thread tells the story of the Finland Swedes-"the minority within a minority" whose members were born in Finland but spoke Swedish and thus straddled two ethnic groups, belonging fully to neither. The book concludes with a personal narrative of Fred Torma (1888–1979), a miner and carpenter from Nashwauk, who describes establishing a Socialist hall, involvement in the 1907 Mesabi strike, and founding a cooperative boardinghouse and store. His is just one engaging example of the vibrant lives and legacy of Finnish Americans in Minnesota.

Minnesota has always been a land of immigrants. Successive waves have each made their own way, found their place, and made it their home. The Hmong are one of the most recent immigrant groups, and their remarkable and moving story is told in Hmong in Minnesota.Chia Youyee Vang reveals the colorful, intricate history of Hmong Minnesotans, many of whom were forced to flee their homeland of Laos when the communists seized power during the Vietnam War. Having assisted U.S. troops in the "Secret War," Hmong soldiers and civilians were eligible to settle in the United States. Vang offers a unique window into the lives of the Minnesota Hmong through the stories of individuals who represent the experiences of many. One voice is that of Mao Heu Thao, one of the first refugees to come to Minnesota, sponsored by Catholic Charities in 1976. She tells of the unexpectedly cold weather, the strange food, and the kindness of her hosts.By introducing readers to the immigrants themselves, Hmong in Minnesota conveys a population's struggle to adjust to new environments, build communities, maintain cultural practices, and make its mark on government policies and programs.

Polish Americans have been part of Minnesota history since before the state's founding. Taking up farms along newly laid rail networks, Polish immigrants fanned across the countryside in small but important concentrations. In cities like Winona and St. Paul, Northeast Minneapolis and Duluth, as well as on the Iron Range, Polish American workers helped drive a growing industrial and agricultural economy.In this highly readable volume, author John Radzilowski tells the story of the Polish Americans, many of them political refugees, who created and sustained community institutions across Minnesota. He describes how they developed a significant literary tradition, published newspapers, and built distinctive churches that still adorn the landscape, and he traces the careers of individuals who immigrated with little and built businesses and new lives. This deft overview, filled with intriguing details, shows how Polish Americans established their own cultural identity within the state.

The earliest arrivals were German Jews who came when the territory was newly created. By the 1880s they were joined by immigrants from eastern Europe. Many settled in small towns or walked the roads as peddlers. Some found homes in the Iron Range towns of Virginia and Hibbing, but the majority lived in the Twin Cities. Gradually, as they clustered in neighborhoods, founded synagogues and community organizations, and sought to create Jewish homes, the two groups merged. A hundred years later, the process was repeated when immigrants from Russia arrived.Authors Hyman Berman and Linda Mack Schloff discuss such community leaders as activist Fanny Brin, rabbi and newspaper editor Samuel Deinard, and educator Dr. George J. Gordon in the context of local and international challenges to the Jewish community.

Minnesota's first Chinese settlers, fleeing racial violence in California, established scores of small businesses after they arrived in the late 1870s. Newspapers eagerly published reports of the small Chinese community's activities, including New Year's festivities, marriages, and restaurant openings-as well as allegations of tong activity and of their political ties to China. Beginning in 1882 federal laws stopping Chinese immigration and denying citizenship put particular pressure on the community, which was also accused of resisting Americanization. By the 1960s, a new wave of immigrants, including students, businessmen, and professionals from both Mainland China and Taiwan, began to bring new energy and issues to the state's Chinese community.This concise history of the Chinese in Minnesota, the newest addition to The People of Minnesota series, examines the rich history of this ethnic group including immigration patterns, cultural and social organizations, businesses, politics, education, and family life.Author Sherri Gebert Fuller relates their story from the early days to the flourishing of ties between Minnesota and China and the professional, educational, and cultural successes of this vital community.

The Norwegians, who first arrived in territorial days, created lasting farming settlements, especially in the Red River Valley. Their Lutheran churches continue to dot the landscape. But their experience was also urban, as they entered the trades and industries of the Twin Cities. Today, the Norwegian influence is evident in Minnesota art, culture, cuisine, and speech. Norwegian culture permeates the state's character and helps define Minnesota's unique social, political, and business environment.

Minnesota is often associated with its Scandinavian heritage, but in fact Germans are the largest single immigrant group in Minnesota history and were the largest ancestry group in the 2000 census. Author Kathleen Neils Conzen tells the story of German Americans and their profound influence on Minnesota history and culture.Conzen recounts their triumphs and struggles over the last 150 years in a clear and concise narrative. Landing in poverty, Germans transformed acres of wilderness into productive farms and brought to America their love of art, music, and sociability. Immigrants came to America intent on creating, in the words of one agent, "an earthly paradise of this Minnesota" and "a new Germany" soon rose in Stearns County. Conzen explores not only the well-known enclaves in Brown and Stearns Counties but also looks at the smaller communities of Winona, on the Iron Range, and along the North Shore, as well as in the Twin Cities.In recent times, a renewed interest in German heritage can be seen in towns like New Ulm, home to the thirty-two-foot statue of Hermann the German, hero of the wars against the ancient Roman legions, and Heritagefest, the ethnic heritage festival that occurs every summer.

The story of Somalis in Minnesota begins with three words: sahan, war, and martisoor. Driven from their homeland by civil war and famine, one group of Somali sahan, pioneers, discovered well-paying jobs in the city of Marshall, Minnesota. Soon the war, news, traveled that not only was employment available but the people in this northern state, so different in climate from their African homeland, were generous in martisoor, hospitality, just like the Somali people themselves.The diaspora began in 1992, and today more than fifty thousand Somalis live in Minnesota, the most of any state. Many have made their lives in small towns and rural areas, and many more have settled in Minneapolis, earning this city the nickname "Little Somalia" or "Little Mogadishu." Amiable guide Ahmed Yusuf introduces readers to these varied communities, exploring economic and political life, religious and cultural practices, and successes in education and health care. he also tackles the controversial topics that command newspaper headlines: alleged links to terrorist organizations and the recruitment of young Somali men to fight in the civil war back home. This newest addition to the people of Minnesota series captures the story of the state's most recent immigrant group at a pivotal time in its history.

Minnesota has long been home to people from the Korean Peninsula-from early arrivals in the mid-twentieth century to their expanding family networks as well as students and professionals in the decades that followed. About sixteen thousand Koreans live in Minnesota today, many of them first-generation immigrants. Many more are part of the Korean adoptee community, its members more strongly connected to Minnesota than any other state. In this newest addition to the People of Minnesota series, Koreans in Minnesota introduces readers to the history of Korean immigration here, including settlement patterns and the formation of religious and social communities. Organizations ranging from the Korean American Association of Minnesota-the cornerstone of Korean immigrant society-to the Korean Service Center, which provides social services to elderly Koreans, to AK Connection, a networking alliance of adult adopted Koreans, to educational groups and institutions that teach the Korean language and culture help to tell the stories of this varied group. Author Sooh-Rhee Ryu builds the narrative through interviews with community members and extensive archival work. A personal account by Mrs. Soon Ja Lee tells of arriving in 1953 and, along with her husband, helping to build Minnesota's Korean American community.

A concise history of Irish in Minnesota including farming, politics, and community organization.