February 2012
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Run, Harry, Run
Harry Davis in Campaign Mode, 1971
On February 20, 1971, Harry Davis won the DFL endorsement in Minneapolis’s mayoral race, becoming the first black Minneapolitan to run for mayor under a major party banner. Davis eventually lost big to incumbent Charlie Stenvig in the general election. The fact that Stenvig—a confrontational former cop who played off voters’ fears about crime—could...
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The Case Against Reserve
Reserve Mining Company, Silver Bay, MN, 1970s
On February 17, 1972, the U.S. Justice Department sued the Reserve Mining Company, alleging that the firm’s taconite plant in Silver Bay, MN, was dumping waste rock contaminated with asbestos-like fibers into Lake Superior. The resulting legal battle lasted five years and raised serious questions about the safety of drinking water in Duluth...
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Heist of the Decade
Seven Stolen Rockwells. Top L-R: “Spirit of ‘76,” “So Much Concern,” and “Before the Date” (2); Bottom L-R: “Lickin’ Good Bath” and “A Hasty Retreat.”
On February 16, 1978, someone stole seven Norman Rockwell paintings that were on display at Elayne Galleries in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park. Together, the works...
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Our Mom is Best
Ruth Youngdahl Nelson with daughters Mary and Elizabeth, 1954
On February 15, 1973, a national organization called American Mothers announced that it had chosen Minnesotan Ruth Youngdahl Nelson as its National Mother of the Year. Mrs. Nelson was a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, the wife of a Lutheran minister, and the mother of four grown children. She was, by all accounts, a really...
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A Domed City for Northern Minnesota?
Early Artist Conception of the Minnesota Experimental City
On February 12, 1973, an obscure state agency called the Minnesota Experimental City (MXC) Authority announced that it wanted to build a new city—with a population of a quarter of a million people—in northern Minnesota’s Aitkin County, about 30 miles south of Grand Rapids. Plans for MXC had been in the works since the mid 1960s....
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Minnesota Ratifies the ERA
Minnesota’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, on February 8, 1973, came nearly 11 months after the ERA’s passage by the U.S. Congress. Nine more states approved the amendment after Minnesota, but that wasn’t enough to secure its success. The ERA eventually died when it failed to secure the requisite 38 state ratifications by the March 22, 1979, deadline.
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The Debut of Steve and Sharon
KSTP-TV launched “Twin Cities Today” with hosts Steve Edelman and Sharon Anderson on February 2, 1976. The show’s later incarnation, “Good Company,” became the most popular locally-produced talk show in the United States. (Not quite Oprah, but not bad for a little Minnesota-made trifle).
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January 2012
33 posts
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Roe v. Wade and the "Minnesota Twins"
U.S. Supreme Court as Configured at the Time of Roe v. Wade (Burger seated at center; Blackmun standing third from left)
Two Minnesotans figured prominently in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, announced on January 22, 1973. Chief Justice Warren Burger and Associate Justice Harry Blackmun were childhood friends who grew up in St. Paul. Both were considered reliable...
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Marv Davidov Dies
Marv Davidov in the Wright County, Minnesota, Jail, November 6, 1976 (photo by Tom Sweeney, via Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Marv Davidov called himself a “non-violent revolutionary.” It was an apt description. For several decades, Davidov was Minnesota’s most persistent voice of conscience, engaging in civil disobedience on behalf of causes in which he passionately believed—from...
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The Co-op Wars
It may be hard to imagine from today’s perspective—what with mainstream culture’s acceptance of organics, locally-grown produce, and the like—but Twin Cities food cooperatives were once rife with intrigue and occasional violence. During the mid 1970s, the co-op movement in Minneapolis and St. Paul split into two factions. On one side were the “whole foods” folks who...
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A New National Park
Gov. Wendell Anderson (seated third from left) and former governors Harold LeVander, Elmer L. Andersen, and Karl Rolvaag gather to celebrate the passage of the Voyageurs National Park bill in 1971.
On January 8, 1971, President Richard Nixon signed legislation authorizing the establishment of the country’s 36th national park, Voyageurs, in northern Minnesota. The drive to create ...
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