RACE, CREED, AND COLOR

St. Louis Park was basically started by a band of stalwart New Englanders. In came the Germans and then the Scandinavians. The population of the Park was to remain homogeneous for many years. This chapter outlines some of the events that occurred on the road to the acceptance to all races, creeds and colors that we aspire to today.  Much of the immigration information found at the end of this timeline came from http://education.mnhs.org/immigration/   Your comments and contributions are welcome; please contact us. 

Also see our companion page, Jewish Migration to St. Louis Park
and the Hennepin County Library's web pages about Minneapolis:   20th Century Growth and Diversity, 20th Century Growth and Diversity Maps, 1930s, 20th Century Growth and Diversity Maps, 1990-2000, Religion,


The first known African-American in Minnesota was said to be George Bonga, a fur trader who died in 1874.

In 1820, the Missouri Compromise banned slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the southern border of Missouri.

The first African-Americans to come to Minnesota arrived as the slaves of Major Lawrence Taliaferro, who came to Fort Snelling on May 2, 1823. He sold some of the slaves to his friends at the Fort and freed the rest.

In 1851, the US Government signed treaties with the Dakota at Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, opening up southwestern Minnesota to white settlers.

In 1855, the US Government and the Ojibwe signed a treaty in Washington, DC.

Slaves Harriet and Dred Scott came to Minnesota with their owner, a Fort Snelling surgeon. in 1836.  In 1857, Scott sued for his freedom, since Minnesota was not a slave state, but a far-reaching Supreme Court decision ruled that he could not claim freedom; i.e., his owner had a right to his property.

The Territorial legislature considered a bill in 1854 that required African-American residents to post a bond of $300 to $500 as a “guarantee” of good behavior.

In a move to contest the right of foreigners to vote, the Know Nothing Party proposed a 21-year waiting period before immigrants could become citizens, as opposed to five years.  The secretive Know Nothings had been formed in 1854 to try to keep Irish Catholics out of the U.S.

Although Minnesota was admitted as a free state in 1858, there were those who supported slavery. In March 1860, the Democratic party put forth a bill that would allow slave owners to bring their slaves into Minnesota and keep them here for six months without challenge. That bill was defeated, and Republican Abraham Lincoln roundly defeated Democrat Stephen Douglas that same year.

In 1867 the State legislature created the State Board of Immigration to encourage immigration to Minnesota.

Black men first won the vote in Minnesota in 1868 after two previous referenda turned it down. That year, the Sons of Freedom was formed, open to all African-Americans in the State who needed assistance in jobs and trades, or in maintaining their personal property.

On January 1, 1869, black residents of Minnesota held a convention at Ingersoll Hall in St. Paul to “celebrate the Emancipation of 4,000,000 slaves, and to express… gratitude for the bestowal of the elective franchise to the colored people of this State.” Locally there were 16 black families that lived in Edina from the end of the Civil War until the late 30s, when they moved to Minneapolis.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 attempted to stem the tide of Chinese to the west coast.  The U.S. Bureau of Immigration was created in 1891 to enforce the law.

1892 was the height of Southern lynching, with 161 black men murdered at the hands of white mobs.  On May 31, the African American population of Minneapolis gathered at the Labor Temple to "protest the crimes of colored people in the South."  It was a prelude to the Republican National Convention which convened in June 1892. 

Minnesota’s first Mexican resident was Luis Garzon, a trained oboist and graduate of Mexico City’s Conservatory of Music. He came to play with the Mexican National Band at the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition in 1894 and stayed. His children were the state’s first Mexican-Americans.

J. Frank Wheaton was the first black State Legislator, elected to the House in 1898 and serving in the 1899-1901 session. Wheaton was also the first African-American graduate of the U of M Law School.  After his term in office he moved to New York City and became a prominent civil rights attorney.

The assassination of President William McKinley by an anarchist in 1901 led to the Anarchist Exclusion Act in 1903. 

In 1907, Congress established the Dillingham Commission to investigate the impact of immigration on the U.S.  The report favored northern Europeans and resulted in quotas on immigrants from southern and eastern Europe in the 1920s. 

Mexican migrant workers were known to be in Minnesota as early as 1907 to work in the sugar beet farms.  Most returned south for the winter. 

The 1915 film "Birth of a Nation" brought the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, which had been a post-Civil War organization located mainly in the South.  By the 1920s, one third of its membership was from the Midwest.

In 1916, the first permanent Mexican-American settlement was established on St. Paul’s west side. Residents formed the Sociedad Anahuac, with the purpose of promoting civic, social and religious activities of Mexicans and chicanos.

During World War I, blacks were encouraged to come north to work in the factories, but with the return of the servicemen, were considered "loathsome competition."

A 1919 state law prohibited restrictive covenants on the basis of religious faith or creed but not race.

Three black carnival workers were lynched in Duluth in 1920, accused of raping a white girl. No one is convicted for the crime.  Read about this terrible time at http://collections.mnhs.org/duluthlynchings/html/background.htm  In 1921, Minnesota passed the nation's first anti-lynching law.  The Klan came to Minneapolis that same year.

Minikahda Vista, carved out of the Hanke farm, was advertised in a pamphlet that listed "Twelve Facts to Consider Carefully." One promised "Building restrictions of $5,500 to $6,500 to protect your home investment." Also no apartments or duplexes, just single family homes that had to have two stories.

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set limits on the number of people of all nationalities allowed to immigrate in accordance with the number already in the country.

The Ku Klux Klan made its presence known through the newspaper Voice of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, published only twice in February and April 1923. It was published by the North Star Klan No. 2 of Minneapolis - one of up to 10 Klans in Minneapolis. The first issue features a letter to members of the Minnesota State Legislature signed by the "Exalted Cyclops," and provides a guide to what it stands for, which is freedom of religion, but not for Catholics in politics. The second issue makes it clear - the screaming headline reads "Plot of Rome to Grasp Control of U.S." A cartoon shows the Pope sitting on the globe, pulling puppet strings and aided by a bag of money contributed by the Knights of Columbus. Apparently the KKK saw as many Catholics infiltrating the government as McCarthy saw Communists. One statement meant to prove its righteousness is particularly colorful:

You will find every Bootlegger, Blindpigger, Dive and Resort Keeper, every Dope Seller, every Crook and Criminal in the United States individually and collectively opponents of the Ku Klux Klan, and lined up with these... will be found every Anarchist, every I.W.W., every "Red" Radical, every enemy of the Public Schools, every Servant of a Foreign Pope and every Alien Enemy of our country..."

For more on the Klan, see "One Flag, One School, One Language, Minnesota's Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s" by Elizabeth Dorsey Hatle and Nancy M. Vaillancourt in the Winter 2009-2010 issue of Minnesota History. 

In 1924, the Country Club District of Edina was platted. The subdivision, built by Samuel Thorpe, was based on a similar subdivision in Kansas City and from the first was meant for the higher classes. The first house, sold in June 1924, was located on Browndale Avenue in the heart of the development. By 1927, 200 houses and a golf course had been built, despite the Depression. Homebuyers faced many restrictions as to the cost of the houses they built, the kinds of trees they could plant, the animals they could keep, etc. Most notably, occupants were strictly restricted to the "white or Caucasian race." All restrictions were to expire on or before January 1, 1964 except the one regarding race, which was to remain in force forever. All such race-specific real estate covenants were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948. Such attitudes contributed to the movement of the Settle, Lucas, and Yancey families, black families that had lived in Edina for generations, to move to Minneapolis.

The Oriental Exclusion Act was enacted in 1924.  Also in 1924, the U.S. Border Patrol was created. 

In 1926, it is rumored that crosses were burned near Catholic residences in the Park. It is reported that a cross was burned in St. Paul on May 25, 1926.

A 1927 flier advertising lots in the Norwaldo neighborhood of St. Louis Park had many restrictions. Each street had a minimum amount that you had to spend to build your house. They ranged from $800 to $3,000, with the highest priced homes to be built on Lake Street and Minnetonka Blvd. The flier included the following:  "No lots sold to colored people or unnaturalized foreigners, belonging to the 'Dago' class."

In 1928, Father Francis J. Gilligan of the Archdiocese of St. Paul published his thesis "The Morality of the Color Line, An Examination of the Right and the Wrong of the Discriminations Against the Negro in the United States."

A 1932 note in the Hennepin County Review informs us that Miss Alice Feudner and Mrs. Alfred Truman were directing rehearsals of "A Night in Harlem," a negro comedy. 

In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act recognized Indians' right to live as a separate culture and form their own governments.

In 1938, Calhoun Realty advertised the new subdivision of Knollwood, "a restricted, architecturally controlled subdivision of beautiful picturesque homes." The term "restricted" sometimes meant that you had to build an expensive two-story house, and usually meant no Jews and no blacks.

In 1942, the Bracero Program recruited Mexican workers for the war effort.  The program ended in 1964; at its peak in 1956 it recruited more than 445,000 temporary workers. 

In December 1943, Governor Edward J. Thye established the Governor's Interracial Commission of Minnesota.  Father Francis Gilligan served as Chair and Clifford Rucker was Executive Director.  The commission worked to allow blacks into the National Guard, end segregation of veterans' burial plots at Fort Snelling, fight racial discrimination at St. Cloud Reformatory, and even fight the color bar at the American Bowling League. 

On March 10, 1944, the Hennepin County Historical Society hosted a talk by Rev. Edwin T. Randall of Hopkins. The subject of his talk was “The Race Problem in the World to Come.” Randall was the director of the Bible School of the Air.

Some of the earliest incidents of what would now be considered racism were the minstrel shows that various groups put on for fun or to raise money. They probably were not malicious, since most of the people involved had never even seen a black person.  These shows might be found in schools, churches, the PTA, and one in 1946 when St. Louis Park Cub Scouts held a minstrel show in blackface, performing to 700 people.

Meanwhile, African-Americans faced discriminatory practices that kept them out of the postwar building boom or restricted them to certain parts of town.  This discrimination was carried out by builders, but also banks, the Federal Housing Administration, and the Veterans Administration.

In March 1945, the Governor's Interracial Commission of Minnesota issued a pamphlet entitled The Negro Worker in Minnesota.  Among other things, it revealed that the largest employer of black labor was the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant.  Other major employers were Northwest Airlines, Munsingwear, Brown and Bigelow, International Harvester, and Honeywell.   

An article entitled "Minneapolis: The Curious Twin," written by essayist Carey McWilliams, was published in Common Ground magazine (September 1946). McWilliams proclaimed "Minneapolis is the capitol of anti-Semitism in the United States. In almost every walk of life, 'an iron curtain' separates Jews from non-Jews in Minneapolis."    See Jewish Migration to St. Louis Park for a description of the kinds of discrimination aimed at Minneapolis Jews.

As a response to the charges of anti-Semitism, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey appointed a task force to investigate the situation.  The task force confirmed the allegations, and also shone light on discrimination against Blacks and American Indians.  Humphrey turned the task force into a permanent Mayor's Council on Human Relations.  Ordinances were passed in the next two years that outlawed anti Semitic and racist practices in housing and employment.  In 1948, Humphrey gave a groundbreaking speech on civil rights at the Democratic National Convention. The damage had been done, however, and soon synagogues and whole neighborhood flocked to St. Louis Park, where they were welcomed and accepted.

In July 1947, the Governor's Interracial Commission of Minnesota issued The Negro and His Home in Minnesota.  Polling revealed that 63 percent would not sell their property to a black person, even if offered a higher price.  Other publications of the Commission, headed by Father Francis J. Gilligan, included "The Indian in Minnesota" (1947), "Race Relations in Minnesota" (1948), "Negroes and Whites as Fellow Workers" (1948), "The Oriental in Minnesota" (1949), "The Negro Worker's Progress in Minnesota" (1949), "The Indian in Minnesota" (1952), and "The Mexican in Minnesota" (1953).

A February 17, 1948, editorial in the Echo reads:

   The annual observance of American Brotherhood Week will be held throughout the nation February 22-28.

   The lack of tolerance in our country was demonstrated recently by an incident concerning the Freedom Train.  Most of us were shocked when we read that the very ideal of democracy had become the center of race controversy. Citizens were segregated as they entered the train to see such freedom documents as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation.  Negroes were told they could not see the documents which had given them their freedom and the vote.

   There are a few who have been misled, thinking that there can exist a brotherhood from which so-called "inferior" races must be barred.  Let us not be taken in by such a fallacy.  Under such a system our nation could no longer be "the place where hate must die."

   Not only during Brotherhood week but throughout the year we must fight intolerance.  It is not hard to be tolerant when you realize that those of another color or creed are not so very different from you after all.  You can't become tolerant with a resolution.  It takes work and study.  The more you learn, the more tolerant you will become.

On April 22, 1948, five students from Park High participated in a discussion on civil rights for the Junior Town Meeting of the Air program on WTCN radio.  Participants were Mary Dow, student director, John Kuntz, Peggy Woodward, Bob Bevensee, and Rex Pickett.  The students discussed the President's Civil Rights program. 

In 1948, race-specific real estate covenants were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court.  In Shelley vs. Kraemer, the Court determined that such covenants were in violation of the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. 

1949 was a year in which the Park Department was greatly expanding the number of parks throughout the Village. Gone were the days that children played in the fields surrounding their neighborhoods, as new houses replaced them. In one particularly ugly incident, a park was planned for 40th and Brunswick. But the man next to the proposed park, Mr. John V. Knotz, objected. In fact, he objected so strenuously that he threatened to sell his home to a “nigger” if the park was built. Local citizenry, afraid he would follow up with his threat, asked the Village authorities to move the playground. They did.

An editorial in the February 13, 1951 Echo had this to say:

Help to Eradicate All Prejudices

When you hear a beautiful song, do you stop to wonder about the color of the composer's skin?  After reading a good book, do you ask yourself, "I wonder what the author's religion and nationality may be?"  No, you appreciate the song or the book for its own value and don't care about the author's color, race or religion.

 

It is equally silly and unfair to hold a person's race or religion against him at any time, for he may have many wonderful qualities with which to serve the world.

 

The eradication of prejudice and intolerance takes time.  National Brotherhood Week, Feb. 18-25, is a start toward that goal.

 

With the world in its present chaos, racial and religious prejudices are as out-moded as high button shoes.  Through everyone's working together, the world may at last be - one world.

In March 1952 the St. Louis Park Echo reported that Carl T. Rowan, Minneapolis Tribune staff writer, would speak on "Race Relations and Education" before the High School PTA.  Rowan had been named "Outstanding man of 1951" by the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, "the first Negro to win the honor in the history of the Minneapolis Jaycee awards."  Rowan authored articles for the Tribune "How Far From Slavery?"  Rowan graduated from Oberlin College and took a Master's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.

Park’s first black family to move in was the Woodfin Lewis family. Lewis was a nuclear physicist who had come to the Cities in 1952 to work at Honeywell. First accepted, then evicted, they negotiated with their landlord in the face of public outrage at their eviction. They won, but only stayed for six months before moving into the City. Be sure to read the whole story by clicking above.

In the wake of the Lewis incident, in November 1952, representatives of 50 organizations met to see if they should hold a community conference on human relations. The meeting was held by the newly-formed Citizens Committee on Human Relations in St. Louis Park. Leading the meeting was Rev. Max Karl, regional director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

On November 3rd and 4th, 1953, Roger DeClercq and Jack Alwin produced the “Negro Classic Play ‘Green Pastures’” at the high school. “Green Pastures is an attempt to present certain aspects of a living religion in terms of its beliefs. The religion is that of thousands of Negroes in the deep south. With terrific spiritual hunger, these untutored black Christians have adopted the contents of the Bible to the consistencies of their everyday lives.” The show featured a 30-voice choir singing 20 spirituals.

The February 24, 1954 issue of the Park High Echo included an editorial entitle "Intelligence or Prejudice," under a sketch depicting Brotherhood Week.  The students wrote:

"Negro Refused Permission to Buy House in White Community."  It happens every day.  Often, such incidents aren't newsworthy enough to make the headlines.  Yes, it happens every day.  But why?

 

Reason and common sense tell one, "No, of course such prejudice is without basis in fact.  A member of any racial or religious minority group is no better at best or no worse at worst than any supposedly superior citizen.

 

On the other hand, emotions decree, "A member of a minority group is dirty or greedy or foreign in ideas and habits.  He is "different" so we must protect ourselves from him"  Unfounded in fact but staunchly upheld in practice, prejudiced views have lived for untold generations.  Father and son, mother and daughter, neighbor and friend have passed on these unfair, irrational, narrow beliefs.

 

It's easy to take the road of prejudice.  It's easy to condemn, to criticize, to hurt.  It's difficult to accept, to support, to cooperate against the practices of society.  And nobody can made the decision but you.

In the 1950s, the Park High Echo reflects an overwhelmingly Christian bent, with the Glee Club singing at churches, holidays called Christmas and Easter, and virtually no mention of other faiths.  The April 7, 1954, issue has a front page article entitled "Choir Honors Easter With Spiritual Works," accompanied by a large picture of an open Bible with the caption "My Redeemer Lives."  Inside is a sketch of a cross, captioned "Christ the Lord is Risen."  The Christmas and Easter holidays would not be renamed Winter and Spring until 1970.  There was an item about Hanukah in the December 3, 1958 issue of the Echo.

In 1955 the State legislature established the Fair Employment Practices Commission.  In 1956, the body was reconstituted as the Governor's Commission on Human Rights.

In his biography of Harry Reasoner, Douglass K. Daniel noted an "unusually frank" edition of the weekly show "Twin City Heartbeat" in the summer of 1956 called "The Invisible Fence."  The show about racial relations in Minneapolis and St. Paul featured interviews with middle-class black residents, who told of their experiences and "what they endured in a supposedly tolerant Northern city."  "Presenting incidents of inequality and injustice, the program closed with a plea for tolerance.  Variety [June 6, 1966] praised the program and Harry, and it won an honorable mention in the Robert E. Sherwood Freedom and Justice TV Awards." 

In June 1958, the owner of 15 acres on Wayzata Blvd. gave an option for $60,000 to builder Oscar Peterson to build an “all-colored subdivision.” This turned out to be a threat to the City as a result of the Council’s refusal to approve a pay dump in that area. The Council did not take the threat seriously, but it is an example of using the sale of land to blacks as a threat.

In 1959, the Rondo neighborhood, a center of St. Paul's black community, was razed for the construction of I-94.

In 1960, an incident in Morningside led the St. Louis Park Ministerial Association subcommittee on fair housing to issue a resolution deploring panic selling. The resolution called for fair housing and equal rights for all citizens and prospective citizens. That year, the minority population in St. Louis Park was .5 percent, and the black population equaled 21.

Also in 1960, St. Paul picketers joined the NAACP in a national boycott of Woolworth's until the company desegregated its lunch counters.

Black members of the Minnesota Twins were forced to live in segregated quarters during Spring Training in Orlando, February 1963.  Outrage ensued.

The May 16, 1963 Dispatch reported that Rabbi Sachs of B'nai Abraham was one of 19 rabbis who went to Birmingham, Alabama to support Martin Luther King and the Southern Leadership Conference.  The rabbis met with members of the SLC in the Gaston Motel, which was later bombed.  The rabbis attended prayer meetings and "tried to convey that American Jewery - and we hope all democratic mankind - understands and supports the Negroes right to human dignity."  Rabbi Sachs called Dr. King "a true decendant of Mahatma Ghandi." 

In 1964, St. Paulite Roy Wilkins was named executive director of the NAACP.

The mid-1960s were a time of racial violence, as city after city experienced unrest. In 1964, many were injured in riots in Philadelphia and Elizabeth, NJ. Protesters demonstrating for civil rights disrupted the subways on opening day of the New York World’s Fair.

In 1965, a group that was making noise was the John Birch Society, founded in 1958 by Robert Welch. The Society was opposed to the United Nations, the Supreme Court, and accused former President Eisenhower and other government leaders of being communists. In 1965, the St. Louis Park Republican party publicly excluded any member of the John Birch Society from taking office in the party. There were two dissenting votes.

In March 1965, Dr. Fred Lyons, president of the St. Louis Park Human Relations Council requested funds from the City Council to accept an award at a conference of the National Assembly on Progress in Equality of Opportunity in Housing, to take place in Springfield, IL on March 18-20, 1965.  No action was taken.

In July 1965, 22 white Minnesotans traveled to Peach County, Georgia to promote voter registration, education, and “community benefit projects in general where Negroes earn livings by picking peaches and pecans for a pittance (about 20 cents an hour).” The Dispatch declared that the group “will be Negroes by sundown Saturday.” Their leader was experienced civil rights worker Jack Mogelson, who was living with his parents at 3152 Florida Ave. in St. Louis Park. The project was called SCOPE: Summer Community Organization Political Education. Participants were students or graduates of the U of M.

Jack Mogelson was inspired to become a civil rights worker while watching the funeral of three other rights workers who had been killed in Mississippi. He dropped out of school and became a freedom rider in Mississippi himself. He was an organizer of the March on Selma, and then spearheaded the 1965 trip to Georgia. Jack did the lion’s share of the fundraising for these activities. He met his wife Judy, a nurse, on a picket line, and they moved into North Minneapolis just as most of the whites in that neighborhood were moving to the suburbs. He made his career as a Union organizer, working with hospital, University, and public employees. Jack died in about 2000.

In the 1960s, Phyllis Watson and another family from St. George's Church sponsored 12 Cuban families, many of whom moved to St. Louis Park. 

On September 17-18, 1965, community leaders from nine suburbs attended a Leadership Training Institute on Open Occupancy, which was sponsored by the West Suburban Council on Religion and Race.  Mayors, police chiefs and councilmen were invited to attend.  The purpose was to educate and stimulate community leaders to secure basic rights for all people, particularly as it relates to housing opportunities for minority groups.  Residents were refusing to sell their houses to members of minority groups, supposedly because of the neighbors.  Actions like these led to the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 eliminated the national origin quotas put into place by the Immigration Act of 1924. The main impact of the Act was to create a shift in traditional immigration patterns from the Western Hemisphere by allowing residents of more countries to qualify for admission to the U.S. Visa limits (available on a first-come, first-served basis) were set at 170,000 per year for immigrants from countries in the Eastern Hemisphere with a per-country limit of 20,000 and 120,000 for immigrants from countries in the Western Hemisphere with no per country limit. The amendments also strengthened the preference given to those with family members already established in the U.S. who could serve as sponsors, and there was no limit to the number of family reunification visas issued.

An April 1966 issue of Westwood Jr. High's newspaper the Westwinds reported an essay contest sponsored by the Human Relations Council of St. Louis Park.  Roberta Gelt won the contest with her essay, "If I were non-white, Would my color be a Barrier to my Future?"

In September 1966, the local Young Republican League held a forum around the topic Black Power, which was being espoused by Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Co-Ordinating Committee in Mississippi. Four African American organizations were represented, with two coming down on the side of Black Power and two espousing more conciliatory methods. At the time, blacks were still referred to, at least in the papers, as “Negroes.”

In an October 1966 interview with local band the Underbeats in In-Beat magazine there is a telling paragraph:

"The group agreed that the rise of quality pop music has revived this country's interest in rhythm and blues but their interest is not desegregated.  They pointed out that, ironically, it is difficult for Negro R and B bands to get jobs in the Twin Cities.  This, they said, was because many places in the Twin Cities won't serve or hire Negroes.  'A lot of really good Negro musicians can't even get in groups because the group is afraid that if they take them, they won't get jobs.'"

On July 19, 1967, racial unrest came close to home. Violence erupted along Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis. Crowds threw rocks and set fires over two nights. The unrest started up again, and Governor Harold LeVander called in 150 national guardsmen. Three people were shot, two policemen and one fireman injured, 34 arrests, and four businesses burned to the ground. Appliance dealer Ben Koval made a hurried move from Plymouth Avenue to St. Louis Park in the wake of the riot.

Given the large Jewish community in the Park, acceptance of every race, creed, and color has been a high priority. Park was the first in the country to canvass local neighborhoods to promote an open housing program, welcoming minority families on their blocks. The City Council established a Human Rights Commission, with seven members and one student. And in a show of support for the riot-torn area, the Park voted to use the Plymouth Avenue Branch of the First National Bank, located in North Minneapolis, as one of its official depositories.

City Council minutes for July 1967 show that Fred A. Lyon of the St. Louis Park Human Relations Council testified that acts of discrimination had taken place in the City.  He stated that the Minnesota State Legislature had authorized a Department of Human Rights, but it had not been established yet.

In an article dated November 22, 1967 in the Dispatch, City Manager Camille Andre estimated that (with no exact figures available) "the city's population included about 30 percent Catholics, 25 percent Jews and the remainder Protestants."

The December 13, 1967 issue of the Park High Echo featured an article "Local Negro Indicates Racism in the Park."  The article was about Dr. B. Robert Lewis's move to the Park.  Dr. Lewis was a veterinarian who took over Dr. Fitch's practice.  A petition was circulated saying the presence of a black person would bring down home values, but only one person signed it.  Dr. Lewis noted that the Fitch home and pet hospital were run down and he actually improved home values by fixing them up.  (The property at 5700 Lake Street was later demolished.)  Dr. Lewis became a much-respected member of the community, serving on the Park school board and in the State legislature.  At the time Lewis was one of 26 black residents of the Park.

In 1968, Frankie L. Taylor sued the School Board for not hiring him as a biology teacher because he was black. He lost the suit and was ordered to pay court costs.

George Mitchell, Dennis Banks, and Clyde Bellecourt formed the American Indian Movement in Minneapolis in 1968. The group was known for occupying public buildings, including the vacant Alcatraz Island outside of San Francisco.

On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law.  The law prohibited:
 

1. Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of his race, color, religion or national origin. People with disabilities and families with children were added to the list of protected classes by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.

2. Discrimination against a person in the terms, conditions or privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling.

3. Advertising the sale or rental of a dwelling indicating preference of discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin (and, as of 1988, people with disabilities and families with children.)

4. Coercing, threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a person's enjoyment or exercise of housing rights based on discriminatory reasons or retaliating against a person or organization that aids or encourages the exercise or enjoyment of fair housing rights.

Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed in Memphis on April 4, 1968.

In April 1968, Rev. Robert Bardy of Westwood Lutheran Church came before the City Council and urged it to implement a nine point plan for the elimination of bias.  It required all City employees, contractors, depositories, applicants for licenses and permits, and elected officials to operate in accordance with fairness and equality.  The declaration called for affirmative action, low-income housing, and changes in the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance.  The proposal was passed by the Council on April 21.  In May, Bardy appeared before the School Board with the same message.  An article in the Park High Echo by Steve Bob with the provocative title "White Racism Must Go!" noted that the proposal was similar to one put forward by Civilizing Communities, a group that included many Park High students. 

The May 8, 1968, Echo reported on a group called the Civilizing Communities, which was to present a proposal to eliminate white racism from textbooks and curriculum and to provide courses on minority groups.  The proposal also called for education of school employees in race relations, recruitment of minority teachers, statements from all contractors that they do not discriminate, and a policy of doing business with banks that provide at least 1 percent of loan funds to minority individuals "regardless of whether they are considered high risks."

The June 4, 1968 issue of the Park High Echo featured an article entitled "White, Black Need New Education, Says City Urban Affairs Director."  Interviewed were Robert Williams, Assistant Director of Minneapolis Urban Affairs and B. Robert Lewis of the St. Louis Park School Board.  Dr. Lewis rejected the idea of bringing black children to white schools as "phony," and advocated bringing black teachers from Minneapolis to Park High for a year instead.  However, finding enough black teachers proved difficult.  Organizations such as Head Start, the Twin Cities Opportunity Industrialization Center, and reading centers were advocated to help "the racial situation."

Seniors in Ronald Allen's fall 1968 social studies classes learned about minority problems, dividing study into the categories of law, order, and justice; education; employment and jobs; housing and welfare; protest movements; and prejudice-attitudes-social relationships.

Students were excused for three days in January and February 1969 while Park High faculty attended minority workshops "to give an introduction into the contributions and uniquenesses of the Negroes, Orientals, Jews, and Indians."  On January 29, 1969, the Echo reported that the faculty was "somewhat attentive" to Milton Williams, educational director of The Way, speaking on black and white race relations.  

Fall 1969's Nature of Prejudice classes were taught by Mrs. Lorraine Taylor. Tayor was a new teacher that year, with experience working in ghetto schools and community organizing in Chicago.  The class visited the Red Lake Indian Reservation to gain insight into the causes of prejudice against Indians and possibly develop solutions to the problem.  Other groups studied were Jews, Negroes, and Orientals.

On October 7, 1968, it was proposed to the City Council that a minority group subcommittee be formed of the Citizen's Advisory Board.

In 1968, the City Council committed the Park to equal opportunity in housing, employment, public services, public accommodations, and education.

The Park High Echo reported that on January 20, 1969, Milton Williams, educational director of The Way, spoke to Park High faculty on "Race Problems."  Reporter Sam Stern wrote that Williams claimed that "educators have helped create the problem of American racism [and] it is up to the educational institution to undo the wrong."  Stern described the faculty audience as "somewhat attentive." 

On November 18-22, 1969, Roger DeClerq directed the play "And People All Around," which "centers around specific events on the long road of trying to break down deep-rooted feelings against Negroes in the South."  DeClercq explained, "It's the idea of freedom workers bucking-up against prejudice and hatred for other Blacks."  The play was written in 1965 by George Sklar.

In December 1969, Walter R. Scott was selling his book called “Minneapolis Negro Profile” which included photos of black citizens in various professions, vocations, businesses, jobs, and civic activities.

In 1969 there were 22 churches and synagogues in St. Louis Park representing 12 faiths.

In 1969, Park High offered a "Nature of Prejudice" class taught by Mrs. Lorraine Taylor.  Principal Bertil Johnson stated its goal as "to create a necessary understanding of the minority cultures in this country."  The class studied the black, Jewish, Indian, and Asian communities.  In October, 50 students spent a day at the Red Lake Indian Reservation asking questions of the residents. 

In November 1969 Park High's Drama Department presented the play "And People All Around."  The Echo reported that the play highlights the martyrdom of the main character, Don Tindall, whose life crumbles because of his outspoken objections to bigotry.  Bob Brill played the lead role.  The play was produced and directed by Roger DeClercq.

In 1970, David Williams, a black janitor at Jenning’s Red Coach Inn and O’Toole’s, sued for harassment when his coworkers peppered him with racial slurs and aggressive behavior. Williams won $21,750.

In 1970 the minority population of St. Louis Park was 0.8 percent.

In January 1970, the School Board voted to change "Christmas Vacation" to "Winter Vacation" and "Easter Vacation" to "Spring Vacation."  The change came about through a request fromthe Social Action Committee of Westwood Lutheran Church. 

In March 1970, Archie Holmes of the State Department of Education addressed the Human Relations Council of St. Louis Park.  The headline in the Sun was "Schools Must Deal With Race as a Fact of Life."   Holmes stated, "It is difficult to teach people about minorities in a school where there are little or no minority people. But those are the places where it is really most important."  He urged his audience to examine the real estate system and local industry, and get them to house and hire minority people. 

The Park's Human Rights Commission was created by ordinance in 1970.  It consisted of 15 members.  City Council minutes show that one of its first actions was to recommend the removal of the book Minnesota, Star of the North from the library. 

In December 1971, the school board issued guidelines regarding the observance of religious holidays in schools.  The guidelines prohibited Christmas parties, Christmas carols, Christmas trees, and Christmas presents.  The new rules were adopted in response to state guidelines set the year before.  Approximately 350 attended a heated school board meeting in December.  Some parents, including leader Donald H. Wright, voiced "violent" opposition and threatened legal action.  The new guidelines stood for 1971, and a 15 member citizens' committee was set up

In June 1972, religious guidelines drawn up by a citizens' committee were approved by the school board.  The guidelines were consistent with guidelines on Christmas that were followed the previous year.  Under the guidelines, religious symbols such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees and Easter eggs could only be displayed "as part of a broad cultural study."  Songs like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," and "Dreydal, Dredal" were considered religious and could not be sung, while seasonal songs such as "Frosty the Snowman," "Jingle Bells," and "Winter Wonderland" were considered non-religious.  The citizens' committee included six lay Jews, six lay Christians, a Unitarian, a rabbi, a priest, and a minister. 

The 1972 population of St. Louis Park topped 51,000. This included 89 negroes (as reported by the Sun in 1973), 107 Indians, 92 Japanese, 41 Chinese, 12 Filipino, and 35 other. The foreign-born population was 5.4 percent.

In 1973, Park High teachers Lee Smith and Wes Bodin began offering a World Religions class.  In a September 14, 1979 article in the Park High Echo, Smith said the class is designed "to improve human relations, help kids learn about the religious diversity of the world, develop attitudes of understanding about their own beliefs and the belief and practices of others."  With grants from the State Department and the Northwest Area Foundation, the World Religions Curriculum Development Center was created.  Field testing of the curriculum involved 40 teachers and 5,000 students in eight states. 

In September 1974, Thomas Properties, 4500 Excelsior Blvd., was successfully sued by Leon Williams for not renting apartments to blacks, and for three months it was required to advertise apartment openings in at least one weekly newspaper serving the black community.

In 1975, $20,000 was awarded to Charles R. Lewis (Minnetonka Blvd.) against the Micro Switch Branch of Honeywell, Edina. His claims that he was paid less than other employees with the same job, denied promotions, and denied desirable job assignments were investigated by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Honeywell settled before the case came to court.

In April 1975, students at Westwood Jr. High "had the opportunity to hear and see a black poet, Mr. Roy McBride, who read and discussed his poetry in classes on March 11," reported the Westwinds newspaper.  It was during a unit on Black Poetry in 8th Grade English class. 

The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, passed by Congress on May 24, 1975, provided funding for the resettlement of Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian refugees who had provided assistance to the Americans during the Vietnam war. Refugees were processed through resettlement camps in the Philippines and elsewhere, paired with sponsors in the U.S., and provided with $300-500 resettlement grants.

In 1975 the first Khmer in Minnesota came from their native Cambodia as refugees escaping the brutal communist regime, the Khmer Rouge. By 2000, Minnesota could boast the sixth largest Khmer community in the United States, with more than 5,000 residents.

In the years following America's involvement in the war in Vietnam, the U.S. government and social services groups began to assist Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees to resettle in the United States. The Hmong began to arrive in Minnesota in 1976, and by the end of 1980 nearly 10,000 had settled in the Twin Cities - the nation's largest urban Hmong community.

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed in 1978.

In 1980, St. Louis Park was 97.9 percent white, with a minority population of 2.1 percent.  The February 6, 1980 issue of the Park High Echo featured an article by Steve Roth that headlined "Influx of foreign students creates need for English language class."  It noted that "Park has become a nicrocosm of America ..."  English as a Second Language classes had recently been added to the curriculum, but was offered only one hour per day.  ESL teacher Lyle Gerard noted that he receives a new Vietnamese student in his class every 3-4 weeks, as well as an influx of Russian immigrants and foreign exchange students.  

The Refugee Act of 1980 established U.S. policies for refugees using the definition of refugee as established by international law. Under this act a refugee is defined as "any person unable or unwilling to return to his or her country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."

In 1981, Pamela G. Alexander became the first African-American female prosecutor in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, and then set another precedent by becoming the first African-American woman and the youngest attorney to serve as a judge in Hennepin County, appointed by Governor Perpich in 1983.  She became a Hennepin County District Court Judge in 1986.  

By the 1980s, an estimated 6 million undocumented aliens were living in the U.S., most of them from Mexico. The Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed by Congress in 1986 in an attempt to try and limit illegal immigration to the United States. The law created penalties for U.S. companies who hire undocumented workers and also provided amnesty to illegal immigrants who had lived in the U.S. since 1982, legalizing nearly 500,000 individuals.

In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed, giving tribes an economic boost.

The 1990 census asked people what their ancestry was, and the big winner in St. Louis Park was German, which both the Norwegian (2nd) and Swedish (4th) together couldn’t beat. The city was 95.3 percent white, with a minority population of 4.7 percent. This number includes 826 blacks living in St. Louis Park. There were also 452 Hispanics.

In 1990, Carlos Mariani from St. Paul was the first Hispanic elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

The Immigration Act of 1990 contained changes to U.S. immigration policy that temporarily raised the ceiling on immigrants coming into the country to 700,000 per year for three years, and to 650,000 per year thereafter. The law favored family members of U.S. citizens, people who had invested more than $1 million in U.S. business enterprises, and while it did not address refugees specifically, it granted special consideration to political refugees fleeing government oppression in their homelands. It also held special protection provisions status for illegal aliens who would face hardship if deported back to countries where dangerous living conditions prevailed. The act provided an annual quota of 140,000 for immigrants whose job skills would benefit the United States.

While a small number of Somalis came to settle in the Northeastern United States in the 1920s, and others came to study in the 1960s, a surge in Somali immigration occurred in the 1990s as a result of decades of civil war, drought and famine. According to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, 55,036 Somali refugees came to the United States between 1983 and 2004. The largest community of Somalis chose to settle in Minnesota, attracted by educational opportunities and by job prospects in the food processing industry.

In 1992, former Viking Alan Page became the first African American on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

In 1990 Congress passed the the Tibetan Resettlement Act, which provided special visas for 1,000 Tibetans living in exile in India and other locations to resettle in America. The first Tibetans came to Minnesota through this program in 1992, settling largely in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

In February of 1993, an organization called the United Patriot Front appeared out of St. Paul. A flier against Jews shows a microwave oven, with slogans “Jew Dwarfs! There is an oven in YOUR future! Communism is Jewish! White America Unite!! Our Race is our Nation.” The flier against blacks shows two purported sketches of black men wanted by the police. The flier cries “WARNING White Citizens Beware! Black Crime Motivated by Pure Hatred for Whites!” There was some speculation that the anti-Jewish fliers were related to a bagel-throwing incident at a hockey game on January 9 between Cooper and Park, but the paper could not confirm that incident.

The St. Louis Park Human Rights Commission, originally chartered in the 1960s, was reactivated and expanded in 1992. Its big project was a Human Rights Expo, held on February 21, 1993 at the High School. The Expo featured entertainment, workshops, and exhibitors celebrating the diversity of St. Louis Park and its commitment to combat prejudice. It had unprecedented support by the City, allowing signs advertising the event to be placed in places that were otherwise off-limits. Co-chairs of the event were Pat Foulkes and Patrick Devine.

An attempted cross burning incident on the 5800 block of Goodrich Ave. on November 12, 1993 shook the community. This had never happened in St. Louis Park before. Police found a scorched newspaper wrapped around the bottom of a homemade wooden cross standing against the side of a garage. The cross had the word “monster” positioned at the top. Apparently the perpetrator had tried but failed to light it. Five African Americans lived in the upstairs of the duplex and a biracial family lived in the bottom. Community leaders held a press conference on November 15 to “condemn hate crimes and let the perpetrators know that bias crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Confederation of the Somali Community in Minnesota was founded in 1994.

Satveer Chaudhary was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1996, the first member of the state legislature of Asian Indian heritage, and was reelected in 1998. In 2000, Mr. Chaudhary became the first Asian Indian state senator in American history. He was reelected in 2002 and 2006. Senator Chaudhary's parents immigrated to the U.S. from India in the 1960s.

Ojibwe hunting, fishing, and harvesting rights were upheld by the US Supreme Court in 1999.

The Karmel Mall, the first Somali mall in the United States, opened in Minneapolis in 1999. The mall serves as meeting place and recreational facility for the local Somali community as much as it does a venue for commerce.

According to 2000 U.S. Census, 17,000 Asian Indians lived in Minnesota. This was double the 1990 figure.  The Census also revealed that 172,000 Khmer lived in the United States, with over 8,000 in Minnesota.
 

In January 2002, Mee Moua, a St. Paul attorney who came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1978, became the first Hmong American elected to a state legislature in 2002 when she was elected Senator for District 67 on St. Paul's East Side. She was reelected in November 2002 and in 2006, making her the highest-ranked Hmong-American elected official in the U.S.

In 2002 the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) was reorganized as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security. Enforcement of immigration laws was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to the Minneapolis Foundation, 1,000 Tibetans lived in Minnesota in 2002, the second largest number of any state, after New York.

In 2003, the U.S. stepped in to accept 15,000 Hmong refugees for resettlement, to prevent their forced repatriation back to Laos from their Thai refugee camp.

A new Hindu temple opened in Maple Grove, Minnesota in July, 2006. Construction of the building had begun in October, 2003, by which time the temple's membership had grown from 10 in 1973 to 130. The temple serves as a spiritual and social center for the Twin Cities Hindu community.

In 2006, Representative Keith Ellison was elected the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress.  Ellison represents the 5th District of Minnesota, which includes St. Louis Park.

Watt Munisotaram, the largest Cambodian Buddhist temple in Minnesota and possibly in the U.S., opened in Hampton, Minnesota in July, 2007. Construction of the temple had begun in 2002.

The 2008 U.S. Census American Community Survey showed 2.5 million Asian Indians living in the United States, with 29,000 in Minnesota.  The same survey showed 171,000 Hmong living in the United States. Of those, 46,000 lived in Minnesota, the second most of any state, after California.  83,000 Somalis were found to be living in the United States, with 27,000 in Minnesota.  While the number of Khmer in the United States had risen by 14,000 since 2000, to 186,000, the number of Khmer in Minnesota had dropped from over 8,000 to 5,000.

In a November 2012 article in the Sun Sailor, Seth Rowe reported:

Demographic information provided by the St. Louis Park School District indicates the minority percentages in St. Louis Park have increased district-wide from 14 percent in 1999 to 39 percent this fall. In that time, the percentage of students who speak English as a second language has increased from 3 percent to 9 percent while the number of languages spoken at home district-wide has risen from 30 to 44.

 

The percentage of Asian or Pacific Islander students and American Indian students has remained fairly stable, but the percentage of Hispanic students has increased from 2 percent to 10 percent. The percentage of black students has increased from 8 percent to 22 percent.

 

Meanwhile the percentage of white students has decreased from 86 percent to 61 percent.

 

Statistics at St. Louis Park High School largely mirror the district as a whole, with a slightly lower percentage of Hispanic students – 7.5 percent – and a slightly larger percentage of black students – 23 percent.

In 2008, Liberian immigrant and investment banker James Sanigular of Shoreview founded Global African Foods, Inc. to bring traditional African products into Minnesota grocery stores.  In October 2012, 17 Cub Food Stores, including the one in St. Louis Park, began to carry the company's products.  See the story in the Sun-Sailor.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.